Listen Now

Alexis Mossige is a Filipina based in Stavanger, Norway.  Armed with her passion for cooking, plus her Kapampangan roots, she was able to build a name for herself, and today she is known as NordikPinay.   As they say though, success is not an upward straight line. Her career as a chef did not take off immediately, as being a foreigner in another country, she had to learn the language.   Now, with her undeniable grit in the kitchen coupled with her supportive husband who introduced her to the idea of bringing Filipino cuisine to Norway, her name became a brand.   What originally was meant as a name for her food business eventually paved the way to build a community of Filipinas thriving in Norway.   Alexis is also an events coordinator, traveler, and vlogger. Do check out her channel on youtube.

Aleah Marie Estanislao, an Entrepreneur Designer and a creative writer who seeks to inspire through her written poetry and prose and translates it into digital art and calligraphy. She is a full-time graphic designer who runs her own design business and helps small-medium enterprises through creative promotions. 

Alyanna Ferrer has amassed experience in the field of fashion. She is a fashion design graduate at De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde and had worked with different celebrity stylists and tv personalities.   As her eyes opened to the environmental issues associated with the fashion industry, Alyanna's design approach has shifted to fulfill a greater cause.   Just recently, she launched a sustainable fashion brand with its first collection, Reissue Volume 01.  She is a fashion designer who channels the power of her vision and action to break the fashion linear and to create thoughtfully for the people and the planet.  Today, she is the Head Designer and Creative Director of her own company, Alyanna Ferrer.

Kai is seasoned in the corporate world, with more than two decades worth of experience in multinational and local companies from different industries.   Among her educational pursuits, she is a communications graduate of the University of Asia and the Pacific, where she took classes at the University of Navarra in Spain.  She took her Management Development Program in Tokyo and her certificate courses in Life Coaching and Art Therapy in Singapore. She was at her latest job for 21 years where she successfully rose through the ranks from entry-level Research Analyst to Regional Director responsible for the Asia-Pacific region. She was exposed to hiring, training, management of operations to working across cultures, networking, and everything in between.  She was an OFW based in Singapore for 11 years before she came back to the Philippines to help coach employees on how to navigate their respective careers successfully.  She is now a freelance certified career coach who uses tools to immediately create an impact in the lives of her clients. To get in touch with her and know more about her.

Riza Mae Solis is a Marketing Director of FHMoms which was founded by Maria Korina Bertulfo. She is an introvert who does client engagements and public speaking for a living.  When not working, Riza just stays at home and reads books. Before the pandemic, she loves ultimate frisbee and engaging in hiking activities. She likes listening to podcasts and watching Netflix in her free time. Riza wants to be known as somebody people can rely on.  When asked about what it means to her to be human and authentic, “you just process it and not labeled by it”. Let’s get to know more about her in this episode.

EJ Mangahas has held various leadership positions in the last 10 years in both in-market and regional capacities with different renowned agencies in the Philippines, Singapore and now, Vietnam. Has also been featured in several publications, Adobo Magazine and Philippines Daily Inquirer to name a few Someone with a strong background in digital strategy & account leadership for top global agencies working with the world's best brands. Lastly, he considers himself a passionate builder of brands, businesses, teams and meaningful consumer experiences. Let's all learn from the CEO of Hakuhodo Digital, Emmanuel James "EJ" Mangahas.

Michael Sta Maria is a Filipino a fashion designer, a nurse educator, an artist and a businessman. He is one of the emerging fashion designers in the Philippines and is receiving international recognition, representing the Philippines at Los Angeles Fashion Week and Atlanta International Fashion Week, 2016. Also he showcased his couture works at The Mercedes-Benz Style Asia Fashion Week held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and a successful show in Scotland Fashion Showcase, United Kingdom; last 2015. He showcased his new collection with Panasonic Manila Fashion Festival held in Manila, Philippines this October 2018. His works was recognized by international media platforms like the major WWD where his collection for his LA Fashion week was featured, he also landed into the cover of a New York Based Fashion Magazine “Hues”, was featured by Blush Magazine Vancouver and other US based magazine like Black Chalk Magazine, Reflekt Magazine, The Dapifer Magazine to name a few. He was also named by a Dubai based Magazine “Illustrado” on their 12th year anniversary issue as part of the hottest and Top 100 fashion designers from around the globe under the couture category. Locally, he has been featured in Philippine magazines like Preview, Mega Magazine and Metro Magazine, was even named by Metro Magazine as one of the 7 Filipino designers made a name in the international fashion scene. What you'll hear about him in this episode though are not just about his accomplishments, the spotlight moments, but even the struggles that came with it. As the say, success isn't a straight path. Let's get up close and personal now with Michael Sta Maria here on Your Brand Your story, authentic conversations on humanness and authenticity.

Cindy Cortez Wong is a Filipina entrepreneur who is now based in Siberia. She is also a travel Specialist and a Writer who has written several books. As she loves traveling and immersing herself in different cultures, Cindy has designed her businesses to suit her passion and lifestyle.  Also, being a writer, it just makes sense that she also helps aspiring book authors in their self-publishing journey through her wandering bookstore, 8Letters. We'll know more about this in a bit. She was also included in Marketing in Asia's Rising 70 Professionals that Filipino Should Follow on LinkedIn in 2020. Learn more about Cindy as she shares how she started to write at a very young age, as well as how she ended up traveling in luxurious and enviable destinations, and eventually both in her businesses. 

In the competitive world of beauty and skin care, one may actually think twice before jumping into the bandwagon where the “no makeup look” is becoming a trend among women in the recent years. From facial skin care, to face slimming and contouring (without having to fake it with a mobile app), to eyelash perming, to eyebrow enhancing, to lip tinting, the list of services just goes on as more and more women want to spend less time on doing their routine makeup and just achieve a more natural look. As an entrepreneur, whether you’re building a beauty name or skin care brand or a revolutionary piece of skin care or cosmetic technology, more often than not, the business model and the product (or service) always come first. But getting those right is not easy. And while we focus on these elements – regardless if we’re in the beauty industry or not – we have the tendency to forget on what really matters: the journey and pain points of our clients. One particular lady CEO of a skin and beauty center in the northern part of the Philippines has proven that she has what it takes to exemplify that a thriving business CAN have a heart. Listen to Jasmine "Mine" Punsalang Cabral, a beauty entrepreneur who started her beauty center at the age of 20 and is now celebrating 10 years in the business, with several franchisees believing in her brand and advocacy. Indeed, the best lessons in life and in business and made up of just simple words. Listen to this episode.

Leilanie Gomez-Maranao  is the Managing Director and Founder of The Life Auditor, an organization that caters to Freelancers specifically in the area of Accounting, Graphic Designing, Social Media Management, English as second language teaching and Virtual Assistance.  She is a Certified Public Accountant, Xero Advisor, Xero Payroll Certified, Quickbooks Proadvisor and a Certified Life Coach. Right now, she is also working as a Freelancer while managing The Life Auditor and taking care of her family. Her vision is to mentor Filipinos who want to start their freelancing journeys. Find out more about her in this episode.

Cristina Nira Macaspac is what most people would call nowadays as a multi-potentialite. She is a certified life coach, specifically a transformational coach for women. But on top of that, she is also the founding president of her own company, UProgressph, an NLP Practitioner, and a licensed professional teacher. More importantly, she is the mother of  two adorable children. Get to know more about her life, her work, as well as her insights on building and gaining confidence in this episode.

Kristine Loyola is a Radio Broadcaster, an experienced Communications Trainer, a motivational speaker and a professional event host. She is also one of the Training Consultants of John Roberts Power Manila and also owns Kristine Loyola Training & Consultancy. Kristine has been conducting workshops and seminars on Communication, Self-Confidence Building, Personal Branding, Presentation Skills and Customer Service Training for 9 years now.  She started training since she was in college which lead her to countless avenues in the field of training. Her clients include Mitsubishi Philippines, PCSO, TGTI, Jollibee Foods Corp., Mentor Group Philippines, Shell, SMART and Globe Telecommunications and other established companies. Krstine also completed her Organization Development Certification at Ateneo de Manila University and she’s also a certified educator in teaching English as a Foreign Language. Get to to know more about Miss Enerhiya of DWBL 1242 herself in this episode.

Atty. Alfe Ladao-Roder is a Filipina who was born in Davao City, Philippines. She is currently the Director of Australian Migration Law and Visa Avenue Pty Ltd. and also a legal counsel at Augustine and Co Immigration Lawyers in Melbourne, Victoria.  She was admitted to the legal profession as a Lawyer in the Supreme Court of Queensland in 2015 after completing her Australian law studies and Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice at Bond University, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. She also took up Juris Doctor at Bond University and completed in 2013.  Prior to migrating to Australia, she completed Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Science in Accountancy from the University of Mindanao in the Philippines, then in 2007, she pursued my career as a registered migration agent.  Let's get to know more about this amazing Filipina immigration lawyer, why she does what she does and how she became the person she is today.

Claudine Valerie Vivar-Sycip is the owner of a well-known events company in the Philippines which has spanned for almost 2 decades. She's also the Chief Events Curator of Do Me A Favor whose works have graced the pages of famous local print and online magazines and newspaper; whose designs ranged from the simplest yet very elegant themed parties to the most jaw-dropping, really-a-feast-for-the-senses party themes. I personally reached out to her to be my guest on this episode, as her company is one of the few events companies I know who've lasted this almost 20 years. Let's get to know more about Valerie - her work, her wisdom and insights as a creative and as an entrepreneur.

Rossana Llenado is known in the Philippines as one of the early adopters when it comes to incorporating technology in education, or what we now call as "edutech" or "edtech". She founded her own company, then a tutorial and review center, in the late 90s when she was only 26. As mentioned, she was one of the early adopters who discovered the benefits of technology in education when she submitted the first-ever computerized thesis in the Philippines. It was during that time when she saw firsthand just how beneficial access to the latest technology can be when it comes to education.  This epiphany led her to invest heavily in ensuring that her company stayed ahead in the EduTech game, whether in buying the latest hardware and software, or continuously upgrading her team’s skillset and knowledge. To date, all of company’s services are now online, and this is not just limited to delivering education, but also in the company’s business processes. In this episode though, Rosanna shares her wisdom and insights from her experiences in the education and edtech game. Let's get to know more about Rossana Llenado, CEO and Founder of AHEAD Learning Systems

Jane Prior is originally from the UK, and founded a regional communications consulting firm called Priority Consultants. She has a proven track record at driving corporate change, and specializes in Crisis Communications, Leadership Communications, Business Leadership, Enterprise Communications, Marketing, and Change Management. Jane is a business enabler with a proven ability in crossing cultural and social divides to engage with key stakeholders at every level.  She coaches senior leadership teams on how to communicate and cascade their corporate vision to deliver better results through increased stakeholder engagement.  Also, Jane has the rare ability to handle business challenges from conceptualising solutions to successful execution. Delivering on a personal commitment, she grew a small health-sector non-profit organisation into a major national brand with established partnerships across the education, government and enterprise sectors. Let's get to know more about Jane today at Your Brand Your Story's Authentic Conversations with Jane Prior.

It's not everyday that we get to witness incredible inspiration. In this episode, we've been fortunate enough to have invited an amazing human being who has become an inspiration to many Filipinos, particularly writers and freelancers in the Philippines. She has worked as a trainer for the Department of Information and Communications technology, also for clients here and abroad doing content writing and social media management and has also author a book which was even published on Amazon. All these achievements and providing for her own family at the same time despite having cerebral palsy. Let us all be inspired by Racquel Sarah Castro.

Welcome to Season 3! We thank you all so much for the love and support you've been giving us for the past seasons. We will strive our best to make each episode more insightful and more meaningful and worth your time. I'm sharing this episode with you to introduce our 3rd season which is all about finding one's purpose. For this first episode, let's share with you how I was able to find mine. I've aptly called this episode, "Why Your Just Because Could Just Be Your Just Cause" because that's what exactly happened to me.  As cliché as it may sound, but at this stage, the best analogy that I could give is our concept of love for another person. We love a person just because. We do certain things JUST BECAUSE. And while it's still good to do things for people JUST BECAUSE, it helps to inspire people by letting them know our JUST CAUSE. At the end of the day, we want more people to support and rally for our cause, especially if it will help make the world a better place. At this point, I'd like to borrow the words of Simon Sinek: "Our Just Cause is our WHY projected into the future. It describes a future state in which our WHY has been realized." You see, the things that we do JUST BECAUSE could just be an answer for our JUST CAUSE.

Meet Ralph Leandro Ruiz. He is an architect who continues to spread his knowledge online despite today's global health crisis. Together with his wife, Elaine, they teach technical and soft skills through their online platform on Press Start Studio's Facebook page. As this pandemic has affected majority of the population, Ralph does his own little way of helping people in his community how to survive and thrive in the midst of this pandemic. Find out more about PressStart and what it stands for, as well as Architect Ralph's backstory.

Meet Carla Sapiandante. She became a part of our recently concluded 30-Day Coaching Program on Personal Branding Basics and Thought Leadership. She was one of those who seriously took action and created her own action plans in terms of building her own personal brand. While people's stories are based mostly on their profession and business, hers is more meaningful, as she is passionate in sharing her journey as a single parent to her only son, who is now 15 years old. Despite being a registered nurse and a licensed teacher at the same time, she take pride more in her achievement as a parent and as a provider. Learn more about Carla in this episode.