Finding Happiness And Balance / (In The Philippines)

Pea interviews John and Grace, an American-Filipina couple in Cebu City who run two businesses together: Purple Cow Agency (a digital marketing/BPO company) and Lush Deli (a restaurant they opened during the pandemic). The conversation covers how John chose the Philippines for his business, the realities of Filipino bureaucracy, the economics of starting a restaurant during COVID, sourcing quality ingredients, and how the couple maintains their relationship while working together. Pea also reveals that John was the first person in Cebu to take advantage of a 2019 law allowing foreigners to own 100% of a business through a One Person Corporation (OPC).

What's Covered ​

• John's background and why he chose the Philippines

  • Originally from California, also lived in Australia for 10 years
  • Ran Purple Cow Agency, a digital marketing company that builds websites and does marketing for clients worldwide
  • For over 10 years, he was working across multiple time zones — daytime with U.S. clients and nighttime with teams in India, Russia, Vietnam, and the Philippines
  • Got burned out being up across two or three time zones every day and started looking for one permanent office location
  • Chose the Philippines because out of all the countries he worked with, he most enjoyed working with Filipinos — though he notes he met wonderful people in every country

• How John and Grace met and their dynamic

  • Together for two years (anniversary that Sunday) at the time of filming
  • Grace was working full-time at a local Japanese company when she started helping John set up his Philippine business
  • She handled all the legal paperwork on her lunch breaks and after work — running to BIR, SEC, and other government offices
  • John admits he was "pretty clueless" about how much work was involved while he was still living in California
  • He credits Grace entirely: "without Grace none of that would have got done when it did"
  • John says having a partner who's involved in all aspects of life including business is "a game changer" — he was previously more traditional, thinking it was solely his responsibility to provide

• The nightmare of Philippine bureaucracy

  • Grace spent more than three months processing business paperwork, shuttling between city hall, BIR, SEC, and getting the mayor's permit
  • Government offices are slow and unpredictable — Grace explains you might be told "come back later because the person in charge is not there"
  • Pea and Grace bond over the shared frustration: in the West, most things can be done online with clear timeframes; in the Philippines, there's no such system
  • John contrasts: he recently processed new U.S. business paperwork in a single day, opened a business checking account in 15 minutes online, and got his California driver's license renewed and shipped in a week — all of which would take months in the Philippines
  • John acknowledges this fulfills the "foreigner stereotype of complaining" but says he knows "the onus is on me to adapt"

• Cultural differences in the relationship

  • John admits he's the impatient one; Grace is far more patient
  • Grace says his biggest struggles are "confusion" and "complaining a lot, especially when driving"
  • Pea declares patience in the Philippines "is not a virtue, it's a talent"
  • John says the culture shock was initially positive — he's never been to a country where people were as kind, sweet, and respectful
  • Grace notes foreigners sometimes get preferential treatment — in malls, security checks bags for Filipinos but waves foreigners through, which she finds unfair

• Opening a restaurant during the pandemic

  • The space behind their office used to be a milk tea shop that shut down in March 2020 at the start of the pandemic
  • They saw the empty space and recognized the local community needed a restaurant since everything was closed
  • Grace processed the restaurant paperwork during the pandemic — city hall staff were baffled that someone was opening a business when everyone else was closing
  • John's philosophy: "whenever people are worried or fearful or stop doing things, there's often a lot of opportunity"
  • They researched multiple business types (laundromats, John jokes about being "the first bald guy that owned a hair salon") before settling on food as "pandemic-proof" since people still need to eat
  • They have about 20 employees and didn't lay off anyone during the pandemic — something they feel good about

• The restaurant: Lush Deli

  • Serves a mix of American food (waffles, buffalo wings, BLT sandwiches, big American-style hamburgers) and Filipino dishes (Grace's famous humba, giniling, pork chops)
  • Their first employee was Chef Ken, originally from Mindanao, trained in the U.S. and experienced at good restaurants — they leaned on his expertise since neither John nor Grace had food industry experience
  • John jokes "you can tell I have experience eating"

• The challenge of sourcing quality ingredients

  • Major struggle compared to the U.S., where restaurant supply warehouses have everything at every price and quality point
  • They go to local markets but face availability issues — at the time of filming, chickens were scarce and expensive
  • John spent entire 8-10 hour days driving to small mountain farms near Cebu trying to find quality produce and came back with nothing
  • Specific potato problem: Philippine potatoes are too small for proper French fries — it took them months to find a supplier with adequately sized potatoes
  • They try to support local farmers when possible

• Running a business as a couple — maintaining the relationship

  • They deliberately separate work and personal time: "work is work, our relationship is relationship"
  • They maintain date night, which they call "popcorn time" (John's favorite snack) or "eating time"
  • The boundaries get "blurry" when working long hours across two businesses — they might talk about work in the car on the way home, at home, and even on weekend getaways
  • They have to regularly remind each other to stop checking messages and shut off work talk
  • Despite the challenges, John says working with a partner who shares all aspects of life is deeply fulfilling and rewarding

• YouTube and privacy boundaries

  • John has a YouTube channel (John Smallow TV) about life and business in the Philippines
  • It takes about a day and a half per week of his time
  • Both John and Pea agree they keep their personal lives relatively private on camera — this interview was the first time John and Grace shared this much about their life together
  • John says channels focused on issues, everyday life, or interviews make it easier to maintain distance from personal content; channels built around personal life make privacy harder
  • Pea says she started her own channel during the pandemic out of restlessness: "there's nothing to do, I'm getting antsy"

• What John likes least about the Philippines and what he misses

  • Least favorite: "the lack of systems" — the word he hears most at restaurants is "wala" (meaning "none/out of stock")
  • He and Grace have a running bet at restaurants about whether they'll hear "wala" — and he usually wins
  • Misses most: his family — first time being away from his kids for Christmas, birthdays, and Thanksgiving
  • Also misses food, especially authentic Mexican food ("there's no Mexican food here — it's not really Mexican, not like I'm used to")
  • Misses the conveniences, systems, and speed of Western life, but says relationships and people matter most and he prefers the Philippines "a hundred times more than living in the U.S."

• Future plans

  • Plan to stay in the Philippines for the foreseeable future, "maybe forever"
  • After the pandemic, they want to spend 1-2 months in California for John's family and to show Grace the U.S.
  • Grace describes their relationship in one word: "happy" — then adds "every day is Christmas, every day is Valentine's Day"
  • John hints at an engagement ("there might be something shiny on Grace's finger")

• Important legal note Pea adds at the end

  • John was the first person in Cebu to take advantage of a 2019 Philippine law allowing foreigners to own 100% of a business through an OPC (One Person Corporation)
  • This answers a common viewer question about how a foreigner can own a corporation in the Philippines without being married
  • John welcomes viewers to contact him directly with questions about the OPC process

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