Meeting Mark Zuckerberg and My Facebook Friends Day Experience

Last January 31, 2016, Fellow Filipino Abby Asistio flew to San Francisco and had the   wonderful opportunity of being chosen as one of the eighteen invited by Facebook on their 12th   Anniversary Friends Day celebration with California-based Alopecia awareness advocate,   Rachel Regal.  Alopecia is an autoimmune condition which results in partial or total head and   body hair loss.  

Abby Asistio have had it since she was four while Rachel just developed it   sometime in 2012, the same year she discovered that her 10-year-old daughter, Eliana, had it,   too.  Six inspiring stories were picked by Facebook among its 1.64 billion users and Abby’s   friends were all amazed when theye’ve found out that Abby’s Alopecia story was one of them.    

Imagine that!  Abby and Rachel met each other through the double A hand sign campaign that Aby started in   2012, and They've been "connected" since then.  Last year, Facebook Stories featured how these   two were able to build a friendship, as well as campaign for disease awareness through   Facebook! 

And last February 1st, Abby and Rachel had the chance to tour FB headquarters in   Menlo Park, San Francisco, meet and chat with the people behind Facebook (Founder & CEO   Mark Zuckerberg, COO Sheryl Sandberg, CPO Chris Cox, and a whole lot of awesome people),   get crazy cool gadgets and have one of the best experiences of their lives.  

Abby recounted that it was such a surreal feeling to be in the same room as the creator of   Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg. Mark Z was wearing his trademark look (jeans, sneakers, shirt and   a big smile on his face), and had such a friendly, approachable aura and demeanor about him.    

Not at all intimidating!  He shared stories about how the company started, its mission-vision, the   ups and downs that come along, and their future plans.  Those invited also had the chance to ask   him questions. When Mark Z was asked about achieving success and life’s “impossibilities”.  He   said, “There’s a difference between impossible and things taking a really long time. 

Even if   you’re not going to be able to do something in a short time period, if you care about something,   you want to see the world to move into that direction…  So the best thing to do is just get started   and not be discouraged.  It’s tough because this stuff is hard, or else people would’ve already   

Abby Asistio got the chance to ask a question to one of the world’s 50 most powerful, successful   women in business, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg.  Aside from Alopecia awareness, Abby is   also an active Real Beauty advocate with girls and women struggling with various insecurities,   being so consumed by the world’s unrealistic and sometimes superficial standards of beauty.  So   Abby asked Sheryl about her perception of it.  

Sheryl said that beauty is just like success and that   no one could really define it for you.  We are all unique.  We have different stories, dreams and   desires. We should explore our own inner and outer beauty, believe and embrace that we are   beautiful, and never allow anyone to tell us otherwise.  Mark capped off his talk by sharing their company philosophy with everyone present. 

Though   already having over 1 billion subscribers, there are still 7 billion people all over the world   without access to all the meaningful connections and information that Facebook brings.  One   thing that the company stands by is that “things are always 1% completed”.  It keeps them grounded, reminding them that there is always so much work, growth and progress to be done,  and so many people to reach out to and help.   

Everything about the Facebook trip was overwhelming and inspiring according to Abby.  More   than anything, it reminded her about “responsibility”.  We are all given our own platforms, in   this case “accounts and connections”, to make a dent in this world.  It is up to us to become   complacent and take these vehicles for granted, or maximize the opportunities and use them to   make a positive impact in this generation.  

Abby is grateful that Facebook has become a medium   for her to communicate disease awareness and touch people beyond the confines of her tiny   room and her country.  Abby is also glad that she and Rachel are two out of millions of people   choosing to recognize the importance of social media in contributing to making this world a   better place, and actually doing something about it.  

Truly, God plans the best adventures and creates the most beautiful surprises.  Abby knows that   she wouldn't have been handpicked for this if it weren't for Him, as well as the countless   individuals who have cared and showed support for my advocacy.  

Abby would like to leave a   positive thought to everyone that we should really take the time to search for and identify our   “purpose” – that one unique, very specific calling that is the result of our talents, dreams, desires,   passions and experiences.  Once you find it, be faithful to it no matter how long or difficult the   journey towards its fulfillment may be.  

You’ll never know where it could lead to, how far it   could go and how large it could grow.  Abby is also thankful that her campaign continues to   spread and reach new heights and she is particularly grateful to Facebook for giving her this   opportunity and to Novuhair, 

Nature's Answer to Hair Loss (www.novuhair.com), for always   being so supportive of her advocacy and endeavors.  Abby is proud and honored to have   represented the Philippines and the Alopecia community in this once-in-a-lifetime, international   event.