Well, I got a 3-month project on corporate restructuring which kicked off on the first week of July. We are now in the half-way mark and there's still a lot to be done. The other week, I got a formal job offer to join a customer experience & relationship company. The offer is good enough given my current financial status and direction. Status quo, I'd say but I would like to think that it's a breath of fresh air career-wise.
Projects still seem to be pouring in such that my hands (and feet!) are tied-up. I'm not complaining. I just hope I'll be able to extricate myself from them as soon as I join Level One (the new company) by October. I'm looking forward to the next 20 years of my career. As they say, life begins at 40. (Close. I'm 39 now.)
A review of what I have been through the past 20 years of my working life:
At 18, I joined a direct selling company (MLM) and was promoted to supervisor in just 1 month. This kicked-off my sales career such that I even did wholeselling of eggs a few months into the MLM business. By the time I graduated from university (U.P. Diliman) with a bachelor's degree in communications research, another sales career pushed me to sell publications and subscriptions.
Wanting to practice my learnings, I joined McCann-Erickson at 20 and got a staff post at the media department handling the San Miguel Beer account. This was despite a note from the president at that time (Ray Dempsey) to put me in accounts management. What do you know, they exported me to the accounts department after about 8 months. A year and a half later, I was pirated by the client via San Miguel's Magnolia Division (from beer to ice cream). I was only 22 at that time and the position I got involved me creating the media department. What a promotion from a junior account executive post!
In Magnolia, I had a great mentor: Bert Anido. He was the one who broke the news to my father who was the head of R&D at that time and who didn't even have a clue I was joining the company to be with him! Such a great mentor was Bert that I was pirated by Ramon "RJ" Jacinto and became the RJ Group's corporate marketing director (at 24!). I turned around the company in only 6 months which resulted in the creation of more radio stations and business opportunities for RJ. I left RJ after 2 years due to a simple misunderstanding.
Some months later, I found myself in publishing, having joined the Asian Sources Media Group (now Global Sources). After almost 5 years and a 500% increase in revenues (as an outstanding country sales manager), I moved to Benpres Publishing (now ABS-CBN Publishing) where I became its marketing director for 2 years.
I then moved into various phases as a consultant and chief marketing officer for a U.S. publication and two dotcoms (worldroom.com and clickthecity.com). I consequently joined a telco (Digitel) and a start-up ad agency handling marketing and communications. I also did work for business development for events companies and a toy company.
I am currently a project consultant for a marketing services company and do other consulting work for others in various fields such as IT, below-the-line media, direct marketing, and events.Through all these, together with my wife, I have been involved in various religious and social activities through Couples for Christ and Gawad Kalinga. This, I believe, adds to the balance in my life and family.
We have been in CFC since 1995 and have been entrusted with God's work in various ministries including the youth, music, education, police and
military, and the environment. I'll cover this part of my life in another page in the weeks or months to come as 11 years of fulfilling work is truly an exciting discussion for me. Something which me and my wife believe is worth doing till the end of our days.In the meantime, I'd say I'm wanting and preparing to embark on another career. I want to get the best out of life and experience its twists and turns. That's where the excitement of life is -- the experience. Life begins at 40? Well, it really never ends. You just have to re-boot when the keys hang. With Level One, I'd like to believe that this is the right step in the right direction.
