Episode list

Contrary to popular belief that giving or being too generous with our time and our gifts could be an ingredient for failure, I have learned throughout my childhood and adulthood that giving is, in fact, a recipe for success, for thriving. Imagine if everyone shifted to a GIVING mindset, maybe - just maybe - nobody would have to be in the rat race anymore. Hopefully, parents wouldn't also need to be worried about their children because the dog-eat-dog world no longer existed; because they wouldn't just survive, they would THRIVE.

In 2004, I attended a training on Stephen Covey's" 7 Habits for Highly Effective People." The first of the 7 habits states, "Be proactive." From what I learned, being proactive means more than taking initiative. It means taking responsibility for our lives - our future - and that our behavior (or response) is a function of our decisions, and NOT our conditions. Victor Frankl once said, "Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom." Let me share with you a story about an accident that I met years ago and how it has taught me this great lesson in life.

It's amazing how humanness and authenticity can catapult a person's success. Get to know more about Maricar Hernandez, CEO of Beyond Limits BPO where, aside from her focus and dedication to her company, she has also learned to embrace her authenticity as it has become her greatest strength in attracting clients and building her company.

In award winning book, "Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking (2005), " Malcolm Gladwell talks about a mental process that arrives at a sound decision by using relatively little information. The so-called process is called "thin-slicing." It basically suggests that the human mind has the ability to process limited information to come up with a spontaneous, yet logical conclusion. Mind you, "Blink" is not a marketing book. Far from it. And I got to read the book even before I got back into marketing. If you believe that marketing is about building relationships, Gladwell's concept of thin-slicing can help you achieve that. Listen more on Spotify.

Virginia Bautista is an independent LinkedIn trainer and founder of VB Consulting. It is no surprise that she was featured in Forbes twice, was featured as well in Entrepreneur.com and Marketing in Asia, as her mission is to help people build a strong LinkedIn presence that helps them get found and attract opportunities. Listen on Spotify as Virginia shares her back story; her struggles when she was just starting out; how she managed to transition from her career in the academe to become a well-known independent trainer in LinkedIn. Find out how her views on important topics like authenticity and humanness and how both are important in order to thrive in today's world.

Zu Anjalika Kamis Gunnulfsen was crowned Mrs Singapore Globe in 2017, and was also featured as one of the most inspiring women in Malaysia (where she's based at the moment). She is also an Image Branding and Lifestyle Consultant and Singapore's News and UGC Editor for Marketing In Asia. Her favorite mantra? "Dress how you wish to be addressed." She has always been big on dressing well and putting her best face and foot forward. She is a great believer on living life fabulously; being happy and celebrating oneself every single day. A really proud Asian, even prouder Singaporean, Zu talks about her journey towards being Mrs Singapore Globe 2017, as well as her most recent vulnerable moments; who she is when she's not writing or not with clients. Amazing person, amazing personality. Simply a lover of life. While she's my colleague, I feel privileged to know the other side of Zu in this conversation with her on "Your Story, Your Brand" podcast.

Myke Celis has shown the way to a lot of people that unicorns do exist. More specifically, I'm referring to his process now known to a lot of people in the Philippines as #unicorning - which is also one of his hashtags. And this is all because of his beliefs, values and convictions which is written all over his best selling book aptly titled "#bestmeever." Aside from being a best selling author, Myke is also a Global Life and Neuro Linguistic Programming Master Coach, a TEDx speaker, a radio talk how host and an entrepreneur. In "Your Brand, Your Story," you'll find out what makes Myke this successful, and why being vulnerable is his strongest suit.

Linda Pallien is a World Class Coach, International Best Selling Author and A TEDx Speaker. Renowned for her genius in building relationships, asking killer questions and bringing out the best in people, Linda has helped thousands of people around the world transform their personal and professional lives. Also find out more about her best-selling book, "How to C.A.R.E.E.R."

In the latest episode of "Your Brand Your Story" podcast is another conversation not only of authenticity and humanness but also nuggets of marketing insights by the big boss of Marketing In Asia himself, Azleen Abdul Rahim. Azleen's quiet, unassuming and humble behavior is compensated by his reverberating vision that resonates with the people he works with at MIA. Find out more about his humble beginnings during his younger years, about his parents, and how his entrepreneurship journey started. Find out why he likes Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft. Find out what he thinks of the Philippines and its growing potential in the global market. And a lot more.

Dolores "Tiny" Florentino is the founder of Philippine Home Based Virtual Assistants, an online community in the Philippines for aspiring virtual assistants. With over 80K members, Tiny continues to grow her passion in helping individuals who would like to start working from home as virtual professionals. She regularly creates content which mostly include practical guides to help people so they can start working from home. You'll see her content on Youtube, on her website, and even on Marketing in Asia.

Jennifer "Jen" Pacilan is the CEO of Virtual Help. She was also part of the Top 100 Filipinos To Follow On LinkedIn For Learning And Inspiration 2019 as published by VB Consulting and Marketing in Asia. She's currently the Cluster Head/Director at Filipino Online Professionals Service Cooperative. A digital marketer, a corporate trainer, a content writer and travel consultant. Find out more about her as a person, who she is when she's not working, as well as her backstory, her struggles as a woman and as a mother.

Louie John Banta is the CEO and Founder of Learning Just Made Better (LJMB) Consulting. Founded by Louie in 1996 then registered the training outfit in 2005 as a sole proprietorship. In 2017, LJMB became a corporation. By 2018, LJMB was able to deliver 397 training days to 51 local and global clients - majority are leaders in their respective industries. And during the lock down brought about by COVID-19, LJMB delivered more than 100 webinars reaching over 10,000 people from more than 100 organizations in the last 10 weeks. Louie has 27 years of hands-on experience in the combined fields of Training-Development-Education, Human Resources Management, Organizational Development. Started out as "specialist" then served as "line manager/executive". Has over 20 years of corporate experience in leading/managing functional teams and project teams. As a consultant to client companies, has provided Training and OD consulting services to more than 300 organizations from 20+ industries in the Philippines, US, Australia, Germany, Singapore, India, Indonesia, Dominican Republic and United Arab Emirates.

Eunice Punzalan is known in the Philippines as the lovely curly-haired FIlipina who is an advocate of remote work. She is into growth hacking and is currently the community manager of an online Facebook group called Filipino Freelancer with Australian clients. And because of the value of the content and strategy she regularly creates for the group, she was able to grow the group organically to more than 20K members in just almost 2 years. She has also been featured on Marketing in Asia because of her insights when it comes to community growth hacking. Get to know more about her and her insights when it comes to online community management, as well as who she is when working and even outside of work.

We've all been there. And while we've all heard the classic routine just-be-confident-you-can-do-it-plus-a-pat-on-the-back to help us pass that nerve-racking job interview, one thing still remains certain: Self-confidence cannot be built overnight. Let's face it. A pat on the back boosts our morale, but it doesn't necessarily give us the confidence that we need to survive that dreaded interview. So, what does?

Chris Acebu is a Master Life Coach, Business Strategist and the founder of Success Coaching Lab. He helps purpose-driven entrepreneurs get crystal clear on their goals and what they need to do to achieve them. When he's not writing or coaching, you'll find him reading non-fiction books, play the piano, binge-watching with a bowl of salted popcorn, or running at the park blasting hip-hop on his headphones. Find out more about Chris and his insights about purpose, intuition and love. And yes, he also talked about AUTHENTICITY - something entrepreneurs and business owners should gain insights from if they want to thrive in today's world.

Angelica is a Certified Life Coach at Wisdom Institute for Leadership and Global Advancement (WILGA), as well as an Independent Business Strategy Consultant. She believes that enlightened leaders will pave the way for real transformation in the workplace by combining their solid business acumen with self-mastery practices. She has been cultivating her own self-awareness, self-development, and self- mastery since 2007. A multi-cultural and global leader with 18 years of experience with Nestle - that's in 4 countries in 3 continents (Philippines, Thailand, Switzerland, Middle East) and with responsibilities spanning to over 30 countries, Angelica has shown success in a variety of situations - from small businesses where she created growth, to declining and even dying businesses where she put it back on track, creating growth in a mature business.

Nikki Tang is a pioneer in the distribution of dermatology-cosmetic and medical aesthetic devices in the Philippines. As CEO of Beautypreneur PH, DMark Beauty and DermAsia Corporation and with over two decades of experience, Nikki is able to distribute renowned skin care brands globally, has received multiple awards, and has been featured in lifestyle magazines. To name a few of the award she has received, Nikki is a recipient of the Asia Pacific Entrepreneurship Award, was featured in the Philippine Yearbook Influencers, Shakers and Movers in 2013, and most recently was named as one of Marketing in Asia's 70 Rising Personalities on LinkedIn in Philippines You Should Follow in 2020. Here, we will not only know about her triumphs and successes but also her struggles as a person reaching for her ambition, as a single parent to her two boys, and who she is when stripped off of her title as a CEO and when she's not working.

KJ Gonzales is a creative professional who helps businesses create online content, does social media management for clients, writes stories for game developers, and is also into brush calligraphy and water color painting. What not a lot of people know is she is also an accountant at the same time. This is where she shares how she transitioned from being a full time accountant to doing the creative the work that she loves, what struggles it involved, how she goes about with her creative process, as well as her thoughts on setting her client's expectations and being selective of those who have the same core values as hers.

Rey Baguio is a digital marketer from the Philippines and is the founder of Digital Marketing Circle PH. Prior to joining the digital marketing bandwagon, Rey used to wear different corporate hats - from being a Philosophy professor, to an HR practitioner, to a BPO employee - and this was all after he came the seminary,. When he decided to make the freelance switch in 2011, he never looked back. Find out more about him and his views and how he stays relevant in the digital marketing world.

Your Brand Your Story podcast celebrated its 1st month on July 22, and to celebrate our mini-milestone, we invited Eunice Punzalan to do that "payback time ordeal" by asking me the same questions I ask my guests. Eunice: Who is Jen? What problem are you trying to solve? Me: After having dabbled with technology for many years, I just want in my own little way, for us #humans, to realize that these advancements in technology are not supposed to just fulfill our own interests, but to allow us to help each other as well, for us to be even more connected.

Raymond Victorino is an HR Professional who is skilled in talent acquisition, performance management, employee and labor relations, and training and organizational development. He is also a writer, a speaker and a facilitator. He writes content on LinkedIn about his field of expertise as well as inspiring and motivational topics. You'll easily find his posts through the hashtag #loveleadlive. Most of all, he loves to share thoughts about his faith as a Christian. As we kick off Season 2, Raymond shares not only about his personal and professional life, but also his insights about purpose, life and love, as well as how his faith has changed his life for the better.

Meet Nela Dunato. Two years ago, I stumbled upon her book when it was being talked about by an online freelancing community on Facebook. I got curious as people were sharing their positive experiences about it, so I looked it up, eventually downloaded it and read it. I ended up reading the first chapter, really absorbing page after page after page, until about 2am, I decided to look her up on LinkedIn, connected with her and sent her the message to let her know how much her book resonated with me. The rest was history. Her book, "The Human Centered Brand" is one of the reasons why I eventually had the courage to share more insights that are along the lines being empathetic, being human, being authentic, embracing one's weirdness and accepting one's uniqueness. Just so you know, aside from being an author of this amazing book, Nela is a brand identity designer, and is based in Croatia where she helps service based business owners and independent creatives grow and promote their business, and bring out their unique individuality into the spotlight. Find out more about her insights on human centered branding and who Nela is as a person, as a human being.

Sheena Yap Chan is an author, a public speaker and a self-confidence consultant whose sole purpose and passion is to help women build their self-confidence from the ground up. She inspires women everyday through her podcast, "The Tao of Self-Confidence" where she interviews various Asian women around the world about their inner journey towards self-confidence. In my interview with her on Marketing in Asia, I remember her mentioning that her mission is to help Asian women boost their confidence to live their authentic self and create a stronger representation for Asian women. Find out more about her insights on self-confidence, as well as how important representation is, and find out as well how Sheena is as a person, as a human being.

Jomarc Baquiran is a mechanical design engineer, a technology evangelist, an Autodesk Expert Elite, Autodesk Certified Instructor, LinkedIn advocate, BIM advocate, Creativity advocate and an Adobe Education Trainer. He was also named one of Top 100 Filipino Professionals to Follow on LinkedIn in 2019 published by VB Consulting and Marketing in Asia. As he is a LinkedIn advocate, and is part of the LinkedIn community in the Philippines, with his access to LinkedIn Live, has initiated to have Filipino LinkedIn Professionals share insights on different topics. Find out why he advocates education, his journey and struggles, and who he is as a person, as a human being.

Martine started her online presence as a lifestyle blogger, then a brand ambassador and a blog/brand coach. She was also a writer and a social media content producer. Today, she is a Transformational Coach, a creative consultant: specifically, a Performance Coach for women leaders, and a Mindset Mentor in the area of feminine embodiment. She believes that making a life of fulfilling experiences and contributions - even from one's failures and the school of hard knocks - is a gateway to limitless creativity and possibilities in today's emerging workplace and entrepreneurial world. In her words, she said, "My brand story has been riddled with both pain and pleasure, and yet I am truly grateful for each chapter I've lived. I hope that my brand story will help people to awaken to the idea that they are the Source and Cause of everything they wish to be and have. I'll focus on my "H.O.N.E" Approach to personal self-expansion, radical self-belongingness, and how these apply in life, relationships, and yes, at work." Find out more about Martine, her life, her work, her thoughts on imposter syndrome, and who she is as a human being.

Boaz Moldez is not just your ordinary copywriter. He is a product launch formula copywriter, as well as an aspiring novelist currently working on his first novel. I had this privilege to hear him share his insights when it comes to PLF and email marketing. He is an active member of the Social Media Academy, and was also recently recognized as one of Marketing in Asia's Rising 70 Filipinos on Linkedin for 2020. Really helpful guy who also goes beyond when it comes to helping people in his circle. Get to know more about him and his work.

Rochefel Rivera started her humble beginnings as a Virtual Assistant back in 2013. Since then, as she eventually discovered her true passion, she was able to grow her influence by making a difference in people's lives and was able to forge her own path in the digital marketing and business development space through training and consultancy for small business owners. Today, she is now co-founder of a nationwide-based cooperative in the Philippines which aims to raise the bar of the Filipino Online Professionals industry, to help them attain sustainability and growth in the virtual workspace. Find out how she started, what she's passionate about, what makes her tick, and why she's doing the work that she does.

Roxanne Lineses is a Freelancing Coach and Excel Trainer and Dashboards Developer. She just loves working with data and has been doing so for over 13 years now. Today, she teaches individuals and companies transform data into more meaningful formats in the form of dashboards and scorecards. Today, let's learn more about her, and her insights about the balance of simplicity, functionality, and design of Reporting. So to freelancers and those who heavily work on Excel, this is for you. Also let's get to know who she is, why she does what she does, her insights and journey in freelancing, and how she views life in general.

Audrey Pe put up her own company when she was just 15 years old. She developed a love for coding at a very young age, and eventually got inspired to pursue a career in technology, but because of the lack of female tech role models, she discovered the mission to empower other women to harness the power of technology and ultimately close the gender gap in the tech industry. So in 2016, Women in Technology or WiTech was born, a nonprofit organization based in the Philippines that aims to educate, inspire, and empower youth to make a difference and break gender barriers using technology. Awarded a Global Teen Leader in 2019, Audrey is also a public speaker and has graced the TEDx, ASEAN and UN stages. She was also one of Marketing in Asia's 70 Rising Personalities On LinkedIn In Philippines You Should Follow In 2020. Today, at 19, aside from being the founder and executive director of WiTech, Audrey is also is an incoming freshman at Stanford University. Find out more about her, as a founder, as a student, a youth leader, and a human being.

Maria Korina or MK Bertulfo, CEO of FHMoms, is a finalist in the finest startup competition in the Philippines called The Final Pitch Season 4 and a part of a cohort of AIM and Facebook Accelerator Program. She's also a Business and Career Trainer, Speaker and Ambassadress of Onlinejobs and Canva. As mentioned, she is the CEO and Founder of Filipina Homebased Moms, the first and biggest freelancing group for Pinay moms with 231,000 members nationwide. MK is passionate about helping stay-at-home, corporate and overseas moms thrive in their chosen career either as an entrepreneur or freelancer so that they can earn enough without having to leave their family. A woman with a strong advocacy, MK aims to change the world, one mom at a time. Find out more about how she started, what her struggles were, how she sees life, and what has made who she is today.

It's not everyday that we get to witness incredible inspiration. We've been fortunate enough to have invited an amazing human being who has become an inspiration to many Filipinos, particularly writers and freelancers in the Philippines. She has worked as a trainer for the country's Department of Information and Communications Technology, also for clients here and abroad doing content writing and social media management and has also author a book which was even published on Amazon. All these achievements and providing for her own family at the same time despite having cerebral palsy. Let us all be inspired by Racquel Sarah Castro.

Jane Prior is originally from the UK, and founded a regional communications consulting firm called Priority Consultants. She has a proven track record at driving corporate change, and specializes in Crisis Communications, Leadership Communications, Business Leadership, Enterprise Communications, Marketing, and Change Management. Jane is a business enabler with a proven ability in crossing cultural and social divides to engage with key stakeholders at every level. She coaches senior leadership teams on how to communicate and cascade their corporate vision to deliver better results through increased stakeholder engagement. Also, Jane has the rare ability to handle business challenges from conceptualizing solutions to successful execution. Delivering on a personal commitment, she grew a small health-sector non-profit organization into a major national brand with established partnerships across the education, government and enterprise sectors. Let's get to know more about Jane today at Your Brand Your Story's Authentic Conversations with Jane Prior.

Rossana Llenado is known in the Philippines as one of the early adopters when it comes to incorporating technology in education, or what we now call as "edutech" or "edtech". She founded her own company, then a tutorial and review center, in the late 90s when she was only 26. As mentioned, she was one of the early adopters who discovered the benefits of technology in education when she submitted the first-ever computerized thesis in the Philippines. It was during that time when she saw firsthand just how beneficial access to the latest technology can be when it comes to education. This epiphany led her to invest heavily in ensuring that her company stayed ahead in the "EdTech" game, whether in buying the latest hardware and software, or continuously upgrading her team's skill set and knowledge. To date, all of company's services are now online, and this is not just limited to delivering education, but also in the company's business processes. Listen as Rosanna shares her wisdom and insights from her experiences in the education and "edtech" game. Let's get to know more about Rossana Llenado, CEO and Founder of AHEAD Learning Systems.