The RJ Ledesma Podcast

Why do some brands become household names while others, despite having great products, struggle to get noticed? The secret may not be in having a better product, but in how you position your brand in the customer's mind! That's what I explored with Laura Ries, global branding expert, bestselling author, and daughter of legendary positioning pioneer Al Ries, on The RJ Ledesma Podcast. We ta...

Ever sat through a business meeting where the same people do all the talking, the same ideas keep coming up, and nothing really changes? What if your next big business breakthrough could come from playing with LEGO? Sounds crazy? Think again! Meet Myke Santos, founder of Brick Management Consulting, LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® facilitator, and author of Brick by Brick: Building the Change You Want. After...

What if you could run your business more efficiently, respond to customers faster, and automate repetitive tasks—all without hiring more people? And what if the entrepreneur helping businesses do all this was someone who started her company while she was still in college? Meet Sophia Sy, founder of SOFI AI Tech Solutions, a young entrepreneur who is helping Filipino businesses harness the power of...

Miguel Tan didn’t exactly choose to enter the family business early. The responsibility simply fell on his lap. While he was still in high school, his father suffered a serious medical emergency, and Miguel suddenly had to step in and learn the business the only way he could—on the job. He had to understand an industry he was still new to, work with people far more experienced than him, earn the r...

What happens when an entrepreneur takes the same drive he used to build businesses—and applies it to art? For David Kaufman, becoming an artist wasn’t about leaving entrepreneurship behind. In many ways, it was another entrepreneurial journey. You still have to take risks. You still have to develop your own point of view. You still have to put something out into the world without knowing exactly h...

What if your business could shift to renewable energy, lower its power costs, and work toward its sustainability goals— without having to spend heavily upfront to install solar? Enter Berde Renewables. Through its Solar Power Purchase Agreement or PPA model, Berde can design, install, operate, and maintain a solar energy system for a business, while the company pays for the electricity the system...

Eric Manalo once worked as a waiter at the Westin Philippine Plaza, watching real estate salespeople receive their awards—and dreaming that one day, he’d be on that stage. Today, he has closed 800+ properties, trained 5,000+ salespeople worldwide, and helped sales teams generate over ₱80 BILLION in property sales. So what transformed a hotel waiter into one of the country’s sought-after real estat...

Don’t you hate it when you’re working harder and harder on your business… but somehow, the business still isn’t growing the way you want it to? Sales are unpredictable. Your team still depends on you for everything. You’re putting in longer hours, but profits aren’t necessarily following. And sometimes, you—the business owner—end up becoming the biggest bottleneck in your own company. But what if...

What do you build next when you’ve already helped reshape how Filipinos buy and rent real estate? Anthony Leuterio first built Filipino Homes into a nationwide real estate network marketing projects from many of the country’s biggest developers—including Cebu Landmasters, AboitizLand, Megaworld, Avida Land, Federal Land, Filinvest Land, SMDC, Robinsons Land and Vista Land—and earning top sales rec...

Before becoming one of the biggest names in Philippine dentistry, Dr. Steve Mark Gan had already explored a very different world—from DJing and producing concerts to trying his hand at different businesses. But eventually, he found the business that would define his career: dentistry. And he didn't just want to open another dental clinic. He wanted to raise the standard of dentistry in the Philipp...

Sometimes, that difference is exactly what determines whether your business stays stuck—or starts to scale. Julian Cañita started his career as a hotelier before becoming an entrepreneur, executive coach, and consultant helping business owners make one of the most important shifts in entrepreneurship: From running the business themselves to thinking and leading like a CEO. In this episode of The R...

Who looks at something as ordinary as a bag of ice and thinks: “I can build a business empire out of this.” Gerry Santos did. Through Mr. Freeze, Gerry took a product most of us barely think about and built it into a nationwide business—earning what I like to call him, the Ice King. But what did Gerry see in this seemingly ordinary business that others didn't? In this episode of The RJ Ledesma Pod...

Some entrepreneurs create products. The best entrepreneurs create brands. When Denise Caranto co-founded KONU during the pandemic, her vision wasn't simply to launch another snack. She wanted to make snacking exciting again. Using everything she learned from her years in corporate brand management, Denise built KONU into a fun, playful snack brand that people genuinely wanted to experience, share,...

MOST FILIPINOS THINK THEY NEED MORE MONEY TO INVEST IN REAL ESTATE. WHAT IF THEY JUST NEED BETTER KNOWLEDGE? That's one of the biggest lessons from my conversation with Maves Angeles, CEO of Centro Maven, on The RJ Ledesma Podcast. For years, Maves has been helping aspiring and seasoned investors make smarter real estate decisions. As the head of Centro Maven, she has empowered countless Filipinos...

Some people succeed in real estate. Others shape the entire industry. Alejandro "Andy" Mañalac—better known as "The Shark"—has spent more than three decades selling, leading, mentoring, and developing some of the country's top real estate professionals. When major developers want to train their best salespeople, he's one of the first people they call. But here's the question... What does it really...

When the pandemic brought uncertainty to the real estate industry, most people were playing defense. Jonathan Caro and Alejandro "Andy" Manalac did the exact opposite. After decades of successful careers with some of the country's biggest real estate companies, they walked away from corporate life, bet on themselves, and launched Havitas—a boutique real estate company with one bold belief: F*CK OR...

Some entrepreneurial journeys come full circle. When Simon Dayrit was growing up, he watched his parents build their business at Mercato Centrale. It wasn't just a weekend market—it was where they learned invaluable business lessons, grew as entrepreneurs, and helped provide for their family. Years later, Simon returned to the very same community—but this time as an entrepreneur himself. Armed wit...

In this episode of The RJ Ledesma Podcast, I sit down with creator-entrepreneur, content creator, and fellow podcaster Acushla "Killa Kush" Obusan —who also happens to be my niece. After building a sizable social media following and launching her own podcast, The Bad Bitch Bible , she transformed her personal brand into a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem. What started with buying and selling clo...

Can taking a nap actually make you a better entrepreneur? For years, we've been told that success belongs to those who hustle the hardest, sleep the least, and stay busy around the clock. But what if that's exactly what's holding us back? In this episode of The RJ Ledesma Podcast, I sit down with Dr. Shakti Katyal, founder of Real n Royal, former finance professional, entrepreneur, author, and adv...

What if the most valuable currency in the future isn't money, data, or even AI? What if it's trust? In an age of misinformation, digital fraud, deepfakes, and AI-generated content, the ability to verify what is real may become one of the most important challenges of our time. That's exactly the mission behind BYC Ventures. In this episode of The RJ Ledesma Podcast, I sit down with Paul Soliman, on...

Most executives spend their careers looking for the next sure thing. Jojo Malolos did the opposite. After helping build some of the most important names in digital banking and fintech—from Smart Money (now Maya) to Wing Bank and GoTyme Bank—he made a surprising decision: to take over PayMongo at one of the most challenging moments in its history. Why would a veteran fintech leader leave a comforta...

What does it take to become Mercato Centrale's Next Big Food Entrepreneur? As the co-founder of Mercato Centrale, one of the country's leading food entrepreneur incubators, this episode is especially meaningful to me because it features the winners of a competition we created to discover, mentor, and launch the next generation of Filipino food business owners. This year, I sit down with the founde...

The wedding industry is worth billions of pesos. Yet for many couples, planning their big day can be one of the most stressful experiences of their lives. Who can you trust? Which suppliers are legitimate? And how do you know you're making the right decisions for one of the most important milestones you'll ever celebrate? While most wedding fairs simply bring vendors and clients together, Michelle...

Most people think aging is just something we eventually learn to live with. Mike Chan believes we may soon be able to manage it far more proactively. On this episode of The RJ Ledesma Podcast, I sit down with the Founder and CEO of House of Gaia, the Philippines’ first AI-powered longevity center, to explore how technology is transforming the future of healthcare and human vitality. From full-body...

He wasn’t in retail. He wasn’t in distribution. He wasn’t even planning to start a business. He was an IT professional. Then one day… he saw something on Shark Tank. That product? Scrub Daddy. What started as a simple “what if” turned into something much bigger. In this episode of the RJ Ledesma Podcast, I sit down with Dustin Ng of Wincorp—a former expat IT professional who took a chance on a pro...