MARIBETH Bailon-Santiago is the only girl in a brood of six. Being the only girl, she grew up protected and sheltered. Her brothers monitored her every move like they were a counter-terrorist unit, and did not let her go to parties. To get around their strict rules, she made a deal with her brother and chaperone Mike: For as long as he could date her friends, she could go out alone. Smart! Of course, he agreed. Men!

At 16, she married Chris Santiago, who was into movie production. (He is the son of the late filmmaker and movie icon Cirio Santiago, who built Premier Films.) Did he know beauty when he saw it? Definitely. Did Maribeth meet his high standards of beauty? It would seem like it. For Maribeth, these all sounded so flattering; but in 1992, when after childbirth her weight ballooned to 198 lbs, Chris affectionately ribbed her and called her weight ?cookie weight.? Meaning, if she ate just one cookie, she would hit 200 lbs. Was she offended? Well, yeah?for about two seconds. So what she did was, she hit the gym and worked out three hours every day. She also imposed the ?no dessert on weekdays? policy in her home.

But then on weekends, she began to notice that her sweets-deprived family would scurry to the chocolate kiosks in malls and devour unimaginably huge amounts of chocolates. Inspiration struck, and she decided to enroll at Barry Callebaut Asia Pacific in Singapore to learn chocolate design. From this was born what we know today as Chocolate Confections, her Belgian truffle business that specializes in customized orders.

Apart from the hours demanded by her chocolate business, Maribeth also puts in time and effort in her role as the vice-president for finance of GJB, a family corporation that manufactures street and traffic signs, as well as license plates. She is responsible for bank issues and letters of credit.

Having lived in a house with six brothers, she became quite adept at playing their games, growing up feminine yet athletic, like Sporty Spice.

Today, she bikes four times a week and runs or boxes on other days. Her sporty nature has rubbed off on her children. Daughter Sam is captain of Ateneo?s women?s soccer team, her son Indy is with Ateneo basketball team. A perfect way for them to stay out of trouble.

As sports and exercise are part of her routine, she invests heavily in sportswear. But while churning out her chocolate goodies, she prefers casual jeans and tank tops. When she wants to look feminine, she chooses dresses that are comfortable but stylish. She prefers solid colors so it?s easy to mix-and-match and accessorize.

Maribeth has managed to stay fit through discipline, focus, and hard work?the same traits that make her business thrive, like the smooth and silken taste of her Belgian chocolates.