Never settle for anything less than what you love doing and do well. – Colin Powell
I have almost done it all. I got pregnant and was prematurely married at 18. It may not be that shocking today, but in the 80s and on a quiet Filipino family, it was like a whistle bomb dropping in the middle of a family lunch. It broke my parents’ heart big time.
Doing this after finishing valedictorian from high school, my reputation took a nosedive in a small village where my mom was a respected public school teacher. I stopped university for 2 years, tried full-time motherhood and worked in the farm. I admonished myself I can’t be doing it forever!
I eventually picked up the broken pieces to finish a degree in Public Relations. My dream was to become a writer but I can’t remember how I ended studying PR. A year before I graduated, I gave birth to my second daughter.
I had 3 children in all at 27, a single mom at 28. To survive, I juggled on 3 jobs – day job at an electric company, a weekend job at an export business and a Thursday night job as secretary for a Rotary club.





