in doing his business, the why's and how's always revolve around his purpose wherever he or his

business is in. He will realize this later in his life

currently, he is the founder, president, and CEO of coffee bean & tea leaf holdings including many other
businesses while having over 15 years of experience in financial services industry

Now for his education

He graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) from the University of Michigan with a
concentration in finance and accounting from 1993 to 1997

Plus, he holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of the Philippines

Lastly, he is also certified by the CFA Institute as a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and by the New
York State Education Department as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) -- which only further proves
that he is truly professional when it comes to financial designation and other spectrums related

Walden Chu's mission as an entrepreneur

At first, his mission was to help his father's business as it was crumbling due to the Asian financial crisis.
He left Michigan and decided to stay in our country, the third world country for his father.

Having worked and studied in North America and Asia, he had the privilege of sampling the best coffee
and tea experiences that both continents have to offer. When the best coffee and tea experience (CBTL)
presented itself to him, he knew he had to finish another mission as an individual and as a professional
in the industry

Soon, his passion turned his mission into another one. As he built his business, he had a philosophy: If
Filipinos come out of a CBTL or a Red Box more closely knit, smiling, amid dire economic and political
realities, then we would have done our part. As we open more stores, we hope to touch more Filipinos,
one person at a time, one community at a time.

In all of this, he's had no advice that guided him. Instead, he says: In retrospect, I was creating rules as I
was learning them. Finally, his mission was to be better than his peaks and uphills because how you rise
to the next level is what will define you.
Next is how walden chu turned his challenges into success specifically his main business which is the
coffee bean and tea leaf

For the first Coffee Bean branch he leased a 250 square meter space in Greenbelt 3, Makati at a time
when most of the competitors were either downsizing or seriously considering doing so.

He outfitted his store with expensive fixtures and built a commissary. A commissary is a fixed cost that
you spread out across different profit centers. He had zero profit center at that time , and he invested in
a commissary.

The source of their coffee beans and tea leaves are only from the top producers worldwide. They use
the pricey emmental cheese for their sandwiches, romaine lettuce for their salads, and hotel-grade
chicken sausages.Their pastries and cakes are freshly baked in their commissary and being delivered to
their stores daily because nothing on their menu is outsourced.

At this point, everything was going well. Although there were some ups and downs especially when he
didn’t anticipate the third store’s failure due to its location. Nevertheless, after two years

The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf’s significant presence in the Philippines could have been derailed within its
first year of operations had it succumbed to the conviction that early successes would naturally replicate
themselves.

“My team and I opened two stores that by all financial measures surpassed expectations,” says Walden
Chu, president and CEO of CBTL Holdings Inc. “We planned for a more aggressive rollout in the second
year that hit a snag when our third store in Tomas Morato, despite a fantastic location, did not meet
targets and adversely strained our very young company’s limited financial resources.”

After Chu began taking serious efforts to “adopt several paradigm shifts and further develop the
business model,” The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf propagated a long-term approach and viable plan since
that third-store scare to expand into a 100-store network with new product innovations like Nitro Brew
and Nitro Chai rolling out this year. And yes, that Tomas Morato branch has since turned itself around.

In two years time Coffee Bean has grown into 11 stores in key business and lifestyle centers in Metro
Manila.

However, despite all the expansion, the profit was still more elusive because in 2003 to 2009, they
actually never made a decent profit

GOLDEN RULE:
"Exist only for your customers. In a fickle market, that's the only decision that will last, the customer
choosing you over the others."

Chu, founder, president and CEO of CBTL Holdings Inc., had to steel himself to face the company board
and ask for additional capital even if the operation’s numbers were clearly dismal.

It was a very difficult time, but he knew he had to go through this as an entrepreneur to surpass his
limits. This was a critical moment in his business and his life.

It was a very difficult time, Chu said, but turned out to be the formative years that he had to go through
as an entrepreneur.

A change that doesn’t focuses on the products but to include people as well

What followed was the expansion of the company’s priorities to include the people, the building of their
capabilities so that they would go beyond their limitations, with the help of The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.

And this is where his ultimate purpose was created.

The shift coincided with Chu’s own faith journey toward dedicating his life to serving Jesus Christ.

He rearranged his priorities and vowed to build a company that was going to serve a higher purpose.

Not forgetting his business, he has dedicated a portion of his time to volunteer work in organizations
such as Habitat for Humanity and Stiftung Solarenergie Philippines.

He also chaired Real Life Foundation, which honors God by serving and empowering the poor of the
Philippines through educational assistance, character development and community service.

That change was the shift from a laser-like focus on just products to include people.

What followed was the expansion of the company’s priorities to include the people, the building of their
capabilities so that they would go beyond their limitations, with the help of The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.

The shift coincided with Chu’s own faith journey toward dedicating his life to serving Jesus Christ. He
rearranged his priorities and vowed to build a company that was going to serve a higher purpose.
“We threw the last seven years of playbooks out the window. We wanted to build a culture that was
genuine, sincere and authentic,” Chu said.

In the succeeding years, the company developed, among others, its own training program called
Masterpiece, a three-day program that every single employee has to go through. The participants and
the leaders do not talk about coffee or tea or food, but about leadership, service and becoming their
best possible selves.

Together, he and his team managed to get out of their worst years in business with real transformation
in the company as it develops. Up to this day, Masterpiece continues to be a training program for every
single employee where they become their best possible selves.

One of the main reasons on how he is successful is because of his work ethic.

I work as hard as I do and am driven to succeed because of my investors, partners, and my team, who
have all placed their faith in my vision. Their faith is sacred to me, and I cannot imagine giving them
anything less.

Even though he is now successful, after everything he is still humbled through his humility, serving his
purpose and still looking forward to his dream food place that he is still building.

While still keeping a close eye on the bottom line, he has dedicated a portion of his time to volunteer
work in organizations such as Habitat for Humanity and Stiftung Solarenergie Philippines.

He also chaired Real Life Foundation, which honors God by serving and empowering the poor of the
Philippines through educational assistance, character development and community service.

An iconic Southern California brand that was founded in 1963, The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf operates over
1,200 units worldwide across 20 countries.

Southern Capital has a successful track record of acquiring and growing businesses with enterprise
values of between $50 million to $200 million.

One of the main reasons on how he is successful is because of his work ethic.

I work as hard as I do and am driven to succeed because of my investors, partners, and my team, who
have all placed their faith in my vision. Their faith is sacred to me, and I cannot imagine giving them
anything less.
Then, despite all the success in his life, after everything he is still humbled by his humility, serving his
purpose and still looking forward to his dream food place that he is still building.

Today, he is now a founder & ceo of entech global solutions- an environmental services provider
delivering pest management, professional cleaning and environmental solutions.

a founder & ceo of Vanguard Transformation Partners – where they spread God’s wisdom in workplaces.

founder & ceo of cbtl holdings, his main business, which now operates as an investment holding
company, through its subsidiaries primarily engages in food & beverage retail; and food & beverage
manufacturing.

The term "holding company" describes its purpose, which is to hold investments. Their sole
reason to exist is to control other companies instead of producing goods or providing
services. A holding company can also exist just to own specific types of property

Member of the Philippines Chapter in Entrepreneurs’ Organization - Global community of

Served on the Board as Finance, Learning, Membership and Forum Chair.

He was even a board trustee in Stiftung Solarenergie Philippines - empowers rural and marginalized
Filipinos through access to sustainable solar energy solutions and partnership-driven community
engagement.

Until now, he is still doing his purpose internally both as a person and as a professional, which is to serve
Jesus Christ. He had volunteered in many organizations including Way Up Foundation, Habitat for
Humanity Philippines, and Real LIFE Foundation.