Maniolas

Avon sales leader and President’s Club member for 31 years Era Taroc is proof that a clear goal paves the way to success.   MANILA, Philippines – She remembers it very well, like it only happened yesterday. The year was 1982 and Era Taroc was just starting out as a franchise dealer in Avon. The event was the Quarterly Sales Meeting at the Manila Hotel and it was there that Era first glimpsed the prestige of being a President’s Club member. “I was amazed by the exclusive gifts and offers extended to President’s Club members,” she recalls. “From that moment, all I wanted was to be invited into that elite group.”  Then 22-year-old Era did everything to reach the sales target needed to be included in the President’s Club. Not content with the number of people in her small neighborhood in Antipolo, she went to different cities in Metro Manila to gain more customers. Her goal — to be part of the President’s Club — took her to Quezon City, Novaliches, San Juan, even Alabang. To further grow her business, Era also re-enrolled in school at the National College of Business and Arts. “I wanted to learn about business because I knew it would be useful in my career with Avon, and since our neighborhood had a few people to sell to, I figured that I could grow my network by enrolling in school.”  While it seemed impossible to juggle school, her Avon business, and taking care of her husband and two kids, Era was able to do it and managed to enter the President’s Club the following Read More …

Sta. Elena Construction’s maintenance supervisor, Elias Altarejos with Sta. Elena HR head Pinky Rojas and Lancaster officials MANILA, Philippines – The name “Alice” means “noble” and generous indeed is this tribute to loyalty. As part of its corporate social responsibility, Sta. Elena Construction and Development Corporation (SECDC), led by its president, Alice Eduardo, is providing nearly 500 free homes to its employees.  The only equity required comes in the form of tenure and loyalty. For this purpose, the company has chosen Lancaster New City in Imus, Cavite where it has acquired an entire Phase covering over four hectares. By pure coincidence, the name of the model unit is “Alice.” The self-contained township is a mere fifteen minutes away from SM Mall of Asia via the CAVITEx. Elias Altarejos, who has been with Sta. Elena from the start, spoke for the entire team when he said: “Isang panaginip ito na ngayo’y nagkatotoo. Kadalasan at karamihan ng employee housing may partisipasyon sa bayad at napakalayo. Sa pabahay ng Sta. Elena ang tanging puhunan ay katapatan, malasakit at dedikasyon. Ito rin ay napakalapit sa Maynila.” Over the last two decades, Sta. Elena Construction has forged a strong reputation for building foundations, ports, roads and bridges, and power plants. The firm has made a name for itself not only in the quality of its work, but also in the way it takes care of its greatest asset: its people.

Author James Michael Lafferty with Joe and Billie Rosmarino and the Calvary Kids family MANILA, Philippines – The words “business” and “stress” go hand-in-hand for most of us. It’s an endless list of worries. “Will I make the annual target?” or “Will the new competitive launch put me out of business?” are just a meager few of the stresses that can get to us. Unless we are willing to forego a life in business, the stress is not going to go away. There will always be something because that is the nature of business. So our sole solution is to manage the stress, and that means keeping things in their proper perspective. I have spent nearly 30 years selling soap, diapers, razors, tampons, tobacco, shampoo, soft drinks — all coming from blue-chip multinationals, but in the grand scheme of things, not really that important.  I mean, if a consumer shifts from buying Coke to buying Pepsi, will the sun fail to rise tomorrow morning? We can somehow worry ourselves to the point we think the end of the world is coming simply because we did not achieve the market share we targeted, or we did poorly in a management presentation. It’s not the end of the world. If you want to worry about something, well, then, worry yourself sick about something that really matters. We love our children. We would do anything for our kids. We would die for our kids. If one of my kids needed a liver transplant, Read More …

What does it profit a person if he or she has amassed ill-gotten millions or billions, mansions or luxury vehicles, but loses his or her soul?  I recently had a session with DZMM radio hosts Alvin Elchico and Doris Bigornia. On the controversy about a police general and his many private donations for his official residence and a friend’s giving him a huge discount on his SUV vehicle, I said that in the US, Hong Kong, Singapore and other societies with strict anti-corruption laws, all gifts above a certain amount should be reported in full public disclosures. Why do we have what I call a shocking “culture of impunity” in our politics and government nowadays instead of a sense of shame, wherein some shameless leaders mired in scandals and gross incompetence should ideally resign or take at least a leave of absence? Even those in the private sector, NGOs or religious groups should ask themselves, “Are we always upholding transparency and accountability?” Recently, communication students from 21 universities and colleges behind the Metro Manila Alliance of Communication Students (MACS) invited me to speak at their conference at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP). MACS is led by president Irish Salinas and secretary general Marianne de la Cerna. They gave me the topic “The importance of ethics in communications,” and I expanded this topic to include the importance of ethics to achieve true success in any vocation or profession. Here are some of the points I discussed: 1. Maintain your Read More …

After their informative talks, Maria Ressa (center) and Kenneth Cobonpue (right) shared the stage with RJ Ledesma to answer questions from students during the open forum. Just two weeks ago, we had a very successful run of our Creativity and Innovation Summit in Cebu. We were delighted to see the participants so engrossed in the discussion and actively jotted down notes as a reference for their future entrepreneurial endeavors. It gave us a positive feel that there is now greater awareness and enthusiasm in developing and empowering everyone to achieve his or her dreams and become more successful in life. We came there with a mission to inspire, but we were the ones who got inspired by these determined individuals. I do believe that Cebu is a land of creativity and innovation. Because of their mindset, world-class products from well-awarded entrepreneurs became available in our market. Their love and pride for their culture add to the character of the products. We were glad to have Sen. Bam Aquino, Kenneth Cobonpue, Maria Ressa, Jay Aldeguer, Justin Uy, Josiah Go, Johnlu Koa and other distinguished guests in our program. They shared their stories and gave advice to the aspiring entrepreneurs in the audience. For sure, there were many empowered individuals who will now take their step towards entrepreneurship. This is what we are doing in Go Negosyo. We do not just hold seminars and summits just for the sake of having them. Instead, we have the vision and mission to develop Filipinos Read More …