You Can Do This!

The more talents and skills you bring to the table, the greater your chances for success. Flexibility, versatility, and adaptability are key, as are several revenue and passion streams, says award-winning chef and veteran restaurateur Chef Gene Gonzalez. The bestselling cookbook author, food writer, cooking show host, and founder of the Center for Asian Culinary Studies once gave up a career in co...

Listen up and live longer: Breast Cancer is the most common cancer among Filipinas. Here, your wakeup call for what you need to know and do ASAP to prevent it—or detect it early while it’s curable, according to Dr. Beatrice "Trixie" Tiangco, oncologist, epidemiologist, and president and CEO of Cancer Registry Philippines (CARE). We owe it to ourselves to take action now: 3 in every 100 F...

The two key beliefs she has instilled in her daughters to teach them to be decisive and vocal about what they want are what we adults need to imbibe as well: that we have the agency to choose the kind of life we want and the ability to speak up and fight for it. Myrza chats with the brave and outspoken host, #PaanoBaTo creator, freedom advocate, and She Talks Asia co-founder about her career journ...

Becoming a photographer not just saved his family from poverty, it also saved his life, says Marc Nicdao, who almost missed his calling when he told his mother he wanted to be an OFW instead of going to college. However, he secretly took the U.P. College of Fine Arts Talent Determination Test, and to his surprise, placed No. 21 overall! To make ends meet, the Visual Communications major painted mu...

Once you’ve bought the dream, you need to work really hard despite all obstacles, advises 90s supermodel-turned-super-makeup-artist Lala Flores. “If you don’t fight for your dream, who will? There will always be someone more determined than you. It’s really a race to the top,” she says about what it took for her to get there, but clarifies: “I just do my best every day with passion and determinati...

Ideas, inspiration, and motivation from the creative genius behind many of the most compelling and transformational visuals in the Philippine fashion, advertising, and entertainment industries in the last two decades. Myrza chats with Vince Uy, Co Studio founder and former executive creative director of Summit Media and Preview about his creative process surprisingly rooted in preparation, discipl...

Popular radio DJ and events host Tony Bueno’s successful career has lasted for over 20 years, but not many know about all the struggles and hardships he had to undergo before Boys' Night Out on Magic 89.1 turned his life around. The minute he finished college, he fled Canada without his family’s blessings and took off for Manila with no concrete plans, very little savings and an uncertain futu...

“It’s not just a dress, it’s how you make your client feel.” A mini-master class on creative entrepreneurship by top fashion designer Rajo Laurel sharing his design, business, and life wisdom applicable to any industry. His father forbade him from pursuing his dream of becoming a couturier, but this initial obstacle only fueled Rajo’s fire and drive to succeed. What started out as a one-seamstress...

Christmas in Our Hearts is the Philippines’ bestselling album of all time, with its eponymous title song heralding the holidays every year on September 1. But for each of Jose Mari Chan’s hits such as “Beautiful Girl” and “Please Be Careful With My Heart” are hundreds of other songs and compositions that failed. When he was a teenager, his father told him his voice was ordinary and to just make mu...

No matter how difficult work or life gets, never compromise your values, says this award-winning beauty mogul, model, and mom. Learn about the struggles and secrets of success of the author of the best-selling book Read My Lips: What It Takes to Build a World-Class Homegrown Brand, Ernst & Young Woman Entrepreneur of the Year, and UN Women advocate. Her many metamorphoses from bullied school “...

Dying to be your own boss and to finally give in to those entrepreneurial urges and give birth to your very own business? Listen to this mini-master class by serial entrepreneur and venture builder RJ Ledesma, an Agora Awardee for Excellence in Entrepreneurship, Accredited GoNegosyo Mentor, CEO and founder of the award-winning Mercato Centrale, and founder of Bounce Back Philippines. Learn about t...

Will be forever grateful to have been able to create and capture this wonderful memory with the late iconic and award-winning actress Cherie Gil. Our chat covered her incredible life in a nutshell and was a master class on living life on our own terms without any regrets or apologies. 

That’s the secret to her four decades of staying power in the biz. With an abundance of talent in so many fields, she excels in whatever she pursues. Popularly known as the “Queen of Heartbreak Songs” and as Nathalia Lucero in series The Broken Marriage Vow, she is also a critically acclaimed actress in cinema (Ang Larawan, Quezon’s Game) and theater, an award-winning and chart-busting recording a...

In today’s gig economy, we all want to work on our own terms: have enough independence to decide what kind of work we want to do, when and where to do it, and how much we want to get paid for it. Freelancing skills have now become essential more than ever. Kate Alvarez, a freelance travel and lifestyle journalist, content creator, commercial model, live-streamer, podcaster, actress, and founder of...

Her wild and crazy, hard-partying former life is an open book—and her no-filter, acne-prone skin, exposed on social media for all to see and judge—or be inspired by. Sanya Smith shows us how to find and celebrate true beauty in our imperfections, struggles, honesty, courage, and and authenticity. Get started by listening to this revealing and uplifting chat with the spunky host, DJ, mental health...

He was just a choir boy from a poor family—but he outworked everyone and honed his talents all the way to the West End, Broadway, and Hollywood. Pick up a motivating life lesson or two about struggling, quitting, and fighting for your dreams in this inspiring chat with international actor and singer Jon Jon Briones, best known for his roles as Dr. Richard Hanover in Netflix’s Ratched, Modesto Cuna...

“I came from nowhere and I practically have nothing to brag about,” she once said in an interview. This high school graduate was a factory worker in Bulacan whose life and luck changed dramatically one day when she was scouted in a panciteria by a fashion designer, makeup artist, and film director. She skipped college to make a living as a model to support her family in Pampanga, and in just a few...

And just like that, half the year is over—but fret not: there’s still hope for the other half and enough time to make this year a fruitful one. Take advantage of this mid-year check-in session with certified life and career coach Aurora Suarez and learn about the 5 Rs (Reset, Rediscover, Remind, Repair, and Responsibility) you need to get back on track with or reevaluate and recalibrate your goals...

Did you know that as a teenager, this top hairstylist and salon chain owner swept hair off the floor of the salon where his mother worked? Find out how a brave little boy with humble origins but big dreams surpassed countless obstacles through the decades to build not just a successful salon empire but also the trust, admiration, love, and respect of the country’s wealthiest, most famous and most...

Your image is a powerful tool for presenting yourself as a confident professional in any industry. Ms. O, as she is more popularly known, helps people achieve their goals by elevating their self-image to gain a competitive advantage in whatever they do. The renowned and sought-after certified image, etiquette, civility, and protocol expert is also currently the president of the AICI (Association o...

At the end of the day, you're only accountable to yourself, so no one should be able to tell you what to do or how to dress or who to love, etc. If you can live with yourself and your decisions…that's all anyone can really ever ask of you,” says award-winning filmmaker and LGBTQ+ advocate Samantha Lee. Sam has fought to create films that champion queer representation in mass media, the mos...

“Sheer determination” is what international bag designer Rafe Totengco of Rafe New York says has kept him not just surviving but thriving throughout more than three decades. A top fashion designer when he left Manila, he found himself starting from the bottom all over again when he moved to New York. He was a salesperson in a fashion store before he became a fashion stylist, and eventually, a bag...

We may not all be award-winning journalists like Atom Araullo, but we are all storytellers with the power to help shape history. Listen and learn from this lockdown chat about his long-lasting career, the changing role of journalists in a world of ever-evolving nano-speed technology and their responsibility in taking a more active role in effecting change in the world. Plus, important lessons from...

Whether you’re looking for writing tips and advice, seeking thought-provoking insights, or just want to be entertained by his humor and wit, you’ll enjoy eavesdropping on our chill (and some parts chilling!) chat with Lourd de Veyra. Be inspired by the story of how the son of a policeman grew up to be an iconic writer, musician, artist, emcee, poet, journalist, TV host, broadcast personality, best...

Just when we think we’ve survived the worst comes even tougher and more tragic times, No wonder we’re forever in survival mode. Is it possible to even thrive and live the life of your dreams when it’s so difficult to even just get by? This episode might just be the turning point in your life when you learn to turn it around.   Dr. Rene Samaniego, award-winning psychiatrist and former president of...