18 June 2021
She works in finance, real estate and IT through the family company, the Marajo Group, and credits her parents as her primary mentors in learning the creative side of the business.
ON WORK
What have you learned from being part of your family business, the Marajo Group?
Despite owning the business or being the boss, you are never at the top of the food chain. Clients always come first. Service is what will differentiate you in everything you do.
Can you tell us more about how you and your friends came up with Ignition Venture Studio?
Ignition Venture Studio’s main thesis was helping up-and-coming businesses get a leg up in the Philippine business market given the growth of start-ups. We provided professional services and space for these start-ups to grow. Then Covid hit and our partner start-ups and ourselves had to pivot. The partners have since decided to migrate the different business units to specialized entities. I focused on financial advisory with a focus on accounting and payroll and continue to collaborate with my partners who have also focused on their own specializations.
What are your plans after Ignition?
I will keep pivoting and growing. Officium, the new company for financial advisory, is a pivot to the Ignition story. It’s a neverending evolution to grow, survive and prosper.
How have you adjusted to work during the pandemic?
I’ve become even more sensitive to the needs of employees. I pushed even more for the “future of work tech” at this office, regardless of rank, age or preference. It wasn’t an option.
What has become your go-to coping tool to help you deal with the challenges presented by COVID? How do you stay fit, mentally and physically?
Video conferencing! It has kept me in touch with clients, friends, and yes, even fitness! Friends and my fitness coach keep me on track for fitness in Zoom!
ON STAYING FIT
How did you become interested in tennis? You have a few Club Championship titles under your belt. What can you advise the young / tennis players today?
My family loved to play tennis and I picked it up while waiting for my parents when they were playing with their friends.
My advice would be to master yourself by mastering focus. It’s hard to focus but really, that’s what you practice when in court and off-court. Get that and things will fall into place. It may be faster for some, but it will come, and you will reap benefits you may never even have expected. I earned my first club championship after years of practice in my 20s. The second one came after a better understanding of myself and focusing on each and every point– knowing when to fight and when to defend.
When you began playing competitively and on a national level, what was your training regimen?
I was in college, training two times a day, five to six days a week. It sounds intense, but I was good friends with my teammates in and outside of Polo. We were together even off the court. It was a great way to grow up in the Club and get through college.
Which workouts do you enjoy?
I love tennis but Polo Fit is what keeps me in shape.
What lessons from your competitive tennis experience have you been able to apply to your own professional and personal life?
Focus, as I mentioned before. You also develop the spirit to keep fighting and to get up when you get beat. And graciousness in defeat has yielded me more “wins” than actual titles as I gained the respect of friends and foes on and off the court.
“Master yourself by mastering focus.”
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Friends on and off the court
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Champions Party for the grand Hernandez Cup bringing tennis players, members and guests alike, in fond memory of Coach Willie Hernandez
CLUB ACTIVITIES
Are there any previous Club traditions that you want to revive or wish our Dependents now get to experience, too?
I wish we could get the juniors back and see more tournaments with the kids and see new faces! I would also love to revive our intercolor tournaments.
As part of the Board, what were the challenges you encountered in coping with the pandemic?
How to keep the community flourishing yet keeping everyone safe.
Communicating our wishes to the community became a challenge. We reached many people prior to pandemic face to face; now we needed to pivot to so many channels and are still struggling to grow the means by which we constantly stay in touch with our Polo family.
How has the pandemic influenced your plans for Sports, Infrastructure, and IT projects for this year?
We tried to make use of the sudden silence in the Club to see what we can upgrade and catch up on in terms of maintenance.
It is encouraging to see people’s love for fitness and community encourage people to “beat covid” by coming back respecting social distancing. It has helped the Board and Management in planning a safe reopening of Polo.
You have been active in digitizing some of the important systems/processes in the Club — facilities reservation, contract tracing via Polo Pass, member queries and feedback, employee access and attendance. What hurdles have you faced in implementing them?
Adoption rates I think are low because our initiatives are somewhat breaking age-old habits. I’m hoping people see the long-term safety and convenience of these initiatives which don’t just achieve the main task at hand but help us build other processes that inevitably help the members even more.
Do you think our Members are ready to join virtual sports tournaments if given the chance?
We have been surprised that we have a growing community asking for this! I am new to it, too, and I’m so happy to see people reaching out with new ideas!
Tell us more about the e-games. How do you think the Club can get more Dependents to join this virtual event?
It’s the old-school word of mouth. The attendees last time spread the good news to peers and older/younger members altogether. I’m excited to see how we can capture even more attendees.
What “new normal” initiatives do you have lined up that the Members can expect in the coming months?
We will try to move more and more online so that members can “reach the club” more quickly and more efficiently.
How do you balance work and your Club commitments, given that you are one of the active members of the Board?
There is no balance. You just work through what is on your plate, and hope you catch more than what falls through the cracks!
I’m very grateful the Board operates as a TEAM together with Management. I had to be away for a few times and I’m very thankful that my fellow Board Members and Management helped me.
What is the toughest part about being on the Board that you wish our Members knew?
It is a tough balancing act for with every “ask”, we must assess “many potential gives”. A response to a query is never as simple as it seems between juggling community/finance/safety parameters. It helps that many representatives from various stakeholders share their views so we are always getting enlightened to “another angle” thus the decisions sometimes take longer than people expect.