Liteblock

Slater Young has found his calling. If you’re wondering why the Cebuano looker, who won the Pinoy Big Brother edition in 2012, hasn’t been visible in showbiz for several months now, it’s not for the lack of acting projects. He has moved back to his hometown and has become a “full-fledged” entrepreneur.


“For now, hindi muna,” said Slater when asked what happens now to his showbiz career. “When I went back to Cebu, I thought I’d be a lot less stressed. But it turned out that I had more things to do there. Showbiz, for now, is a sideline.”

The media caught up with Slater last Tuesday when he was introduced as the newest endorser for Globe Telecom’s Tattoo Mobile Broadband.


“I keep on getting offers from ABS-CBN, although not quite as much but meron pa rin. There was even a movie offer, teleseryes, hindi naman major roles, but I have to respectfully turn them down,” he admitted.

“When I decided to go into entrepreneurship -— which I feel is really my calling ever since I was a kid because my family, for one, is very entrepreneurial — I still got offers. It was hard to say no. It was hard to say no to people who really took care of you… But sometimes, you have to really decide. I have to choose a path.”

A civil engineer, Slater has followed the family tradition by venturing into real estate and construction. He established a company called Liteblock that offers an environmental-friendly technology to building homes.

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He has also set up a tech startup that has developed a mobile dating app named KLIK to be launched next month. He chose these types of businesses because “I think of entrepreneurship as (a way of) finding and solving problems.”

“(Liteblock) is really my main business. What’s happening to the Philippines is that we’re not that innovative when it comes to construction. We tend to stick to what we know. Itong technology na ‘to (to make houses greener and cheaper) has existed 30 years ago but it was never brought to the Philippines,” said Slater, who went to China, Australia and other places where Lightweight Concrete, the technology he is referring to, is being used.

According to Slater, the technology will help construct sturdier houses for those who suffered from natural calamities. “Basically, it’s perfect for Tacloban. We’ve been getting a lot of inquiries. It’s the same technology used to rehabilitate Phuket after the tsunami,” said Slater, who also shared that they’re working on a partnership with global housing NGO Habitat for Humanity.

As for the dating app inspired by the popularity of Tinder and the like, it was already tested in the market, but was only limited to iOS users. “We were able to get 12,000 to 15,000 users,” he said, adding that they had users who downloaded the app from the US and UAE, although majority came from the Philippines. “We just wanted to test it and see if it would work, and it did. So, we had to revamp the whole thing because it wasn’t made to handle that much traffic.”

The revised app will now cover Android users and the main feature of it is aimed at taking care of the usual concern that photos on dating apps might not be real or updated. “When you chat on our app, you can send selfies from time to time. You can’t upload from your photo album, you can only upload photos straight from your camera, so current lang ang photos that you send.”

It is for his sense of innovation coupled with his digital-oriented work and lifestyle that he was selected as the ambassador for Tattoo Mobile Broadband’s flagship data promo GoSURF50.

Under the Tattoo GoSURF50 promo, subscribers enjoy a browsing experience with a data allocation of 300MB and it also comes with 400MB of free data to access top mobile games like Cash of Clans, Candy Crush Saga, Boom Beach, Soul Seeker, among others, as well the music streaming service Spotify, all for P50 valid for three days. “

“We really want to identify with people who have the energy for innovation, people who are really embracing technology, and I think Slater embodies that. (He’s) so busy, and (he’s) so young, and he has so many endeavors and he has sort of mixed career with his interests and that’s the kind of values that we want to espouse. You know, with Internet connectivity and the technology that we have -— that really gives you the freedom to pursue your dreams and to pursue your career with such ease now, that’s why we chose Slater,” said Ray Guinoo, director for the Tattoo Mobile Broadband.

“All my businesses wouldn’t be possible without Internet connection. I’m really happy to be their endorser because it fits my line of work and my personality,” Slater said.

Meanwhile, the Pinoy Big Brother season is back and Slater has some advice for the “housemates,” who may or may not make it to showbiz after their PBB stint. “For me, I joined PBB in the hope of becoming an actor really. I was very happy that I was able to experience that. I think (the experience) will always help you whether you choose to be in show business or not. Life’s like that. It’s always about trying. We wouldn’t know right away what our calling is until we try it.”