As a little girl growing up on a tiny island in the Philippines, Kate Hancock may not have started off dreaming big. But this young serial entrepreneur has certainly not let her humble beginnings stifle her multi-industry success in e-commerce, beauty, hospitability, real estate, and tech.
As founder and CEO of Metaverse XYZ in Ladera Ranch, California, Kate’s company runs immersive events and conferences in the web3 space, with a mission to bring 100 million people to the Metaverse.
Impassioned by helping other entrepreneurs expand into web3, Kate thinks it will ‘benefit women, entrepreneurs, gamers, and investors as well as venture capitalists and tech companies wanting to open new markets in new regions.’
Rated as 2021’s Top 8th Asian American Influencer by TripAdvisor and recognised as one of the 100 Most Influential Filipina in the World, Kate has a fascinating success story.
Moving to the US after finishing college in the Philippines, she worked odd jobs, including handing out food samples at Costco and later getting a job in skincare.
Her first taste of the internet – renting a computer at an internet café – led to her listing a beauty product online by investing just $20. In less than a year, this venture had a million dollars in revenue; within three years, Inc.5000 rated it as one of the fastest growing e-commerce businesses in the US.
During a recent presentation – Creating Infinite Possibilities for Women in the Metaverse – Kate admitted she ‘probably worked a lot harder’ than she should have, quipping it was her work ethic, not her intellect that helped her advance in life. This included creating the Bintana Sa Paraiso hotel brand in the Philippines (named one of the country’s top hotels), opening a beauty spa, and creating a 100,000-member global entrepreneurs’ community on Clubhouse.
The Metaverse, which she says is ‘the internet on steroids where everyone can thrive, no matter their location or circumstances,’ is just one of her passions. In advising women-led tech companies globally how they can make it big with this new metadata-driven economy, Kate says in the past year, there’s been ‘a new breed of applications and services’ powered by the paradigm shift of web3 and the Metaverse.
“One of the key trends that has emerged is the tokenization of real-world assets on blockchains, which allows fractional ownership of assets and opens up a whole new world of investment opportunities.”
Kate asserts that ‘Web3 could be one of the largest global economic impacts we will see in our lifetime,’ because most of the world has or will have high-speed internet access that will open them up to participating. E-commerce will also be completely disrupted, giving ‘most companies an option to purchase in a virtual world or add something tied to blockchain.’
“With the Metaverse allowing users to interact with each other in a virtual space, it has the potential to revolutionize many aspects of our lives, from the way we communicate to the way we transact business.” Its possibilities of impacting the world are endless. “Imagine being able to visit any place in the world – or any time period – virtually and meet people from all cultures and walks of life.”
It could also solve global problems by bringing people together to find solutions, open new prospects for social interactions and collaboration as well as change the way we consume information.
However, she remarks ‘from a technical standpoint, building a high-quality metaverse is incredibly complex and difficult,’ explaining it requires advanced skills in 3D modeling, animation, lighting, and audio design.
Addressing concerns about security and privacy in virtual worlds are necessary before people will feel comfortable using them on a regular basis.
In addition, Hancock comments ‘most people are creatures of habit, and are reluctant to try new things, while many also lack the basic literacy skills required to use virtual worlds effectively and may not know how to navigate them.
’What she’s most excited about the future is ‘helping disadvantaged kids have fun, learn new skills, and earn money doing what they love most – playing.’
“The more we empower the youth with creativity opportunities and income generating skills, the better their lives, and becoming self-reliant adults will be.
”With Kate’s resolve to impact 100 million people in her lifetime, you really BELIEVE when she says, “If a little girl from an island was able to build several multi-million-dollar companies, so could you.”
KATE HANCOCK’S METAVERSE & WEB3 TIPS AND RESOURCES
Website: metaverse-xyz.com
