After serving in government under two Philippine presidents, my career would take a u-turn heading back for the corporate world. It was a time when call centers and BPO's were unheard of here in the country and automated customer service was frowned at: "What? Me talk to a machine?!"
It was an early job interview and i remember that balmy October day i drove my way through Roxas Boulevard to meet a lady who I have always admired since that first time i watched her host a variety talk show on tv. The show was Ms. Ellaneous over at GMA 7 and the lady: Ma-an B. Hontiveros.
The interview went well and so a month later there i was in a conference briefing with the rest of the team, and Ma-an was there, too. The company was TeleMessage Philippines, one of the pioneers in the customer contact services in the country and Ma-an was our CEO.
I have never felt more excited about anything the way i felt that day listening to Ma-an describe the many opportunities the new technology and industry we were about to embark on offered. She was speaking about changing the face of marketing in the Philippines and how new job opportunities would open up. Heck, it was like i was lost in a trance. But it was a good feeling. The one you get when you are mesmerized by someone speaking and you hang on to every word.
That is the effect you get from Ma-an. Various references to her would often describe her as a veteran broadcast/journalist but she is more known for her active and pivotal participation in the First Edsa Revolution. Nowadays, Ma-an is now vice-chairman of Ballet Philippines, a devotion she has kept after serving as its president for sixteen years. Wow, talk about constancy!
For me, Ma-an was the ideal boss. When i became the General Manager for TeleMessage, i saw glimpses of Ma-an's business savvy and expertise first hand. But i would remember her more for her humanity. I remember how she fought for all the employees when the time came that the principals decided to sell out the company as more and more industry players wanted a piece of the BPO action. Ma-an took extra effort to see to it that everyone was well-compensated and even offered her own resources to train some employees for new skills that could help them find work elsewhere.
I recall that afternoon i went to her office to formally bid her goodbye and extend my thanks for the many grand memories. Although i cannot fully remember what brought about the exchange, but her words are marked and i carry them to this day: "Gabby, people like us will never run out of new things to do. We will find other doors. We are never afraid to knock or move on." I must have been staring at her for quite some time before i could respond because i can still see her calm, almost serene, look as she assured me that things would soon be back on their tracks.
I am certain Ma-an was referring to my professional options at that time. But nobody between us knew how those words would come to carry me through one of the darkest, loneliest moments of my life.
Ma-an made me braver and more solid. I learned to summon my own strength the way perhaps Ma-an would at those many times she faced adversity in her own life: with grace and serenity but with an 'in-your-face' attitude. An oxymoron, you might say. But I call her Ma-an Hontiveros.
