Wing Now, Podcast Later

Opening Women's History Month and coming back this season is my friend Maribeth Jadina, who not only surprised me that she's already married, but news flash: She's not changing her last name! This episode Beth shares her views why she's not changing her last name to her married name, how it is rooted to her sense of self, and the importance of communication in setting the tone of the relationship.

Just a week before moving to Thailand from Hanoi, I had a time capsule chat with my artist friend Eisen Bernardo. After almost 5 years of living in Hanoi, he is now moving to the Thailand for a new adventure. In this podcast I asked him to share his life lessons learned after moving away from his comfort zone and what and how he is now as he moves on to a new adventure.

One Saturday night, I had this incredible opportunity to catch up with my former boss and mentor from the BPO Industry, Martin Cañzares. I was under his wing during my early twenties, and even ran to him for one on one coaching at the height of burn out days in my old BPO company (even when he's no longer my boss). The topic about finding a mentor keeps popping in my head for the past years and I knew that there's one person I've always wanted to ask the things I've always been curious about: How did he do it? I played this podcast more than four times, unedited version, before publishing. Something I've never really done before. Maybe this is why we need a mentor, and how lucky am I that my mentor agreed to time capsule our mini, one on one reunion, talking about what we were like in our early twenties: the time when we had access to money but still in our adult formative years, my career shoulda woulda couldas, his lessons learned as well as his generous sharing of wisdom blocks through the years. Thank you Sir Mart for saying yes, and for being there in the crucial career moments of my BPO life. With that I am publishing our time capsule on your birthday! Happy Birthday!

I've always wondered about New York, because I watched Sex and the City in my early twenties. My first manifestation of having my own one-bedroom apartment was inspired by Carrie Bradshaw's apartment in Manhattan. Even Carrie's date with New York inspired my last date with the city before I moved. My New York-based friend Tina Marfa, joined me today to talk about what it is like to live in New York pre-pandemic, how it is now that it's living it's new normal, and shared tips on what to do if you plan to visit New York when the pandemic is finally over.

In this two-part series, this second part, my friend Nina tells me why the quality of the people you surround yourself with are important, how money is just a tool and not the endgame, and why friendship is the best investment. I'm glad I time-capsuled this conversation through a podcast because after the recording, my mind felt clearer towards what and why I'm working, like I've been on a retreat. This is my proof of how I can feel (and absorb) people's energy. For better context, listen to episode 28.

When I started my journey to healthy financial well-being, one of the people that I asked help from was my friend Nina. I remember sitting together at a restaurant getting a crash course from her, and me telling her that if ever I get married, I don't want a bridal shower, but instead I want this kind of crash course. In this two-part series, we talked about our current investing journey, how was it like to be still investing during the pandemic, and how to budget and use money amidst these trying times. I've always wanted to ask if compound interest really work, and I'm glad that I actually know someone, who's not a financial expert to share what it is like. P.S. If you're expecting this podcast session to teach you how to and what to invest plus all the other basics of investments, this is not for you. Don't worry, there are plenty of information scattered on the internet.

I only got acquainted with the world of Kdrama and Kpop when the pandemic starter. Now. almost two years in, almost everyday Karen content content and studying Hanguel a year later, I sat down with my two younger colleagues and they gave me a crash course in the world of Kpop and Kdrama. This episode I let them do all the talking. What it's like to be in a fandom and their experiences in fangirling , where do they get their fan news, how fans tend to be loyal to the entertainment company, buying merchandise and tips in getting into this rabbit hole.

Whenever I schedule something with my friend, Jen "Jla" Lapis, I need to check first which timezone she is in. A "Traveholic" , Jla loves traveling both for pleasure and work and she's been to a lot of countries that I can only read in world map. In between her travel schedule, she sat down one weekend with me for a virtual catch up, reminiscing travel stories pre-pandemic. I took the opportunity to ask what it is like now, because I know for a fact that, with what seem to be like endless community quarantine and COVID-19 cases we have in the country, I'm not really looking forward to traveling just yet.

The conversation about manifestations and energies are not those topics that immediately people gets it, so I'm so grateful that not only I have a friend, but I have a cousin to talk these things with. Lei Panting-Jamora and I have always had these dates since we were in our teens and during on of our cousin-dates, we had a conversation about law of attraction, manifestations Cuz, thank you for being on board with me in the passion project!

Whenever I see a pesto sauce, it automatically takes me back to the time I buy a pesto pandesal from my former colleague, Thadie Magadia. Thadie and I used to work in the same BPO industry and she used to make these pesto pandesal and sell it in our office. I loved it so much that I requested to order just the sauce so I can enjoy it at my pleasure. Years later since we last saw each other, Thadie shares how she was able to turn her side hustle into her main gig, and how, despite being so busy, she can still manage keeping a side gig. Thank you Thadie! It's always fun catching up with you.

Full disclosure: I'm really glad I have friends to fangirl with. It's only this year 2021 that I became an ARMY (BTS Fan). Last year I was sort of in denial, because I've never really been into Kpop. Another disclosure: It's also this year that my friends got on board. These are not just watching-their-vids, listening-to-BTS-on-spotify, kind of fan. These are paying ARMYs, those who buy BTS fan membership, legitimate BTS merchandise, watches paid content, and most importantly, a Tita one at that! Hahahaha! Sharing BTS memes and BTS fan pages are part of our love language. We were supposed to go on backyard camping, inspired by BTS In The Soop series (again, a paid content) and gush over BTS the whole day together, but Ms. Delta Corona delayed our plans. So while we wait til everything is okay, we have this BTS Tita in Zoom for the meantime.

I never thought my first podcast guesting would be in my own podcast. It was Eisen and Aya's idea and on the day of the recording we had a surprise guest Yeye. I overshared bits of me in my crazy twenties, my realizations now, what I learned and came to peaceful terms with, and my thing about birthday blues. I guess it's a good idea to time capsule that season of my life. Before, I used to just read what I have been like through my blogs, now I get to hear myself in other seasons too.

I'm back after a few weeks hiatus. It got a bit overwhelming at some point and I went on and concentrated on my other "lives". I intentionally wanted scheduled the return on Thanksgiving Day, but instead of the actual day publishing, I just lived the whole day being grateful. So how have you been?

Before I close this podcast sessions for a season break, I saved this spot for a topic close to my heart. I've known Mini Malabanan as this pretty, smart, and funny lady that I've known since childhood. She's well-educated, well-travelled, has a loving family, great friends, and a thriving business. So how can a fully functioning individual, have a mental health concern when the environment seems everything was in her favor? In this episode, Mini shared how she came to decide to seek professional help and how she was finally set free. Thank you Mini for trusting me with your story and for not being afraid to speak up and advocate for mental health. It's about time that we have this kind of conversation in our society. P.S. I know it's not easy to recognize if we need help, but just in case you want to try taking the first step, help is available online and for free. Check out https://www.mhfirstresponse.org/. This is not sponsored but something that I have tried out myself.

My friends Eisen and Aya are back and this time we reminisced our mean/bad/naughty/dark days from grade school to the real world. While my stories are more of Karen Smiths to Regina George (of Mean Girls), until I became intentionally mean at some point in my adulthood, here we discussed our turns of being mean and how we've come to some realizations at some point and why is it important to acknowledge and manage our dark sides.

Two years ago, Paully and I would meet over dinner and coffee on a Friday night. This time we spend our Friday night, straight from our working hours, on a virtual catch up. This episode, we reminisced how it was like when we catch up after work, talking about frustrations after a long day, and simple practical tips how to deal with it.

Joining me in this episode is my long-time friend, Cecile Devaux-Villamar, who is one of those economically resilient people that I know. We've been friends for so long but it is only in this episode that I learned when her business streak started. She shared why she doesn't want to be employee, her lessons learned as a business owner, with a little life crash course in between. Thank you Cile for granting my advance birthday gift: agreeing to be in this podcast!

I only read it in instagram captions: Quit your job, pack your bags, leave the city. Then you would see those words printed on top of the backdrop photo of a relaxing island, enticing corporate workers tied to their desk jobs, nudging them to look towards the calendar and plan their next vacation. The whole idea was a seductive narrative for me that I doubted if anyone actually lived it, until I remembered my friend, Rob Garcia. Rob had it all: condo, car, career and cash, until some life twists had him wanting to leave Manila. Like a true city boy, he was initially planning to move to another city outside the country, when out of nowhere he randomly made a decision to move to an island he's never been to before, finding happiness he never imagined attainable. For better context, listen first to Episode 15. Thank you once again for this, Rob, and thanks for co-hosting with me, Charm.

Reuniting after 17 years, I "met" with my first ever work friends, Rob Garcia and Charm Pangan. In this episode we took a trip down the memory lane as young adults navigating our adult formative years, our first jobs, and where we've been. Charm was an overachiever, straight A student who was in law school when we met, but quit on her third year. Rob was an in demand, client-favorite, hot shot, rockstar trainer in the Business Process Outsourcing industry who gave up his successful city life to move to an island. Years later since we last sat down for a good talk, they shared how their breaking points turned out to be their breakthroughs, and why, after everything, it was so worth it. Rob and Charm, spending an entire afternoon with you guys felt like a vacation. Thank you so much! Such good content if I say so myself. Make sure to listen to episode to 16.

When asked what's the most annoying question a single woman gets asked, my friend Aya Montesur says this question tops her list. This episode covers girl talk about being single, the annoying questions we get asked, why some dating style didn't work for us, our experiences in trying online dating just to get it over with, and coming to our own terms and enjoying independence.

It's nearing two years since we last saw each other as a complete group and with the popularity of zoom video conference last year, we were not even able to utilize it. This year my friends, Franco Jamias, Paully Valencia, Aya Montesur and Yeye Urtola, came together to support me in this passion project. Making up for the lost years, we talked about our new life routines, living through new normal, finding another version of ourselves and reminiscing our days in graduate school over a decade ago when we became friends.

We met as 20 year olds trying to navigate our respective careers but now we're in the stage of making big life decisions . My long time friend Karen Tumaliuan shared how she single handedly achieved big ticket items in her goal list and the steps she did to achieve it. Listen for her very practical tips in buying a car and a house, and what it took for her to make it work despite the challenges in order to achieve those dreams.

When I was 15 years old, my dream is to be a script writer. Do you have a friend who is living your dream job? I do! Yeye Urtola, my friend who I met in graduate school, shared how she switched careers from being a corporate banker to living her creative life as a TV drama writer. Realizing the need to follow her heart, she took me on a quick trip down to memory lane to have a glimpse of her writing journey, and what would she tell the 15 year old me.

My friend is back from New Zealand! Beth Jadina is a friend and a former colleague and she is back in the Philippines fresh from her PhD studies in New Zealand. I wanted to ask what was it like to be a Filipino living in NZ, and what was it like during the time of crisis, most especially during the onset of COVID-19. This episode, Beth shared her experiences of living in New Zealand and sharing a peek of her life as a student abroad.

Joining me in my passion project are my friends, Senior Communications Specialist and Digital Artist behind @magplusart, Eisen Bernado, and Communication and Advocacy Officer, my Fairygodbaker Aya Montesur behind @weekendhomebakers. Today we talked about the things we do for fun, how we feel about our hobbies, putting it out on social media and how the things we do are manifestations of our childhood desires. My small win behind-the-scenes of this podcast: I learned how to bleep!

More than 9 years later since my Dad passed away, I still receive his wisdom nuggets, through my sister. I'm glad my sister still remembers some of it and when I have the chance, I make sure to document it.

This episode featured my first ever guests, my long time friends Karen Tumaliuan and Gino Buendia. Karen, Gino, and I go from way back in 2004 where we were in our early twenties and in our first long term jobs in BPO. This more-than-two-hour special covers the stories of how we met as BPO agents to how they got to be the BPO rockstars they are now. I tried to cut this episode in half but it's just too good to be put in two parts. Karen and Gino, thank you sooo much!

Hi guys, how are you? I'm logging in to say hi and share a good life hack that learned recently. This life hack was actually from Gretchen Rubin and its about reframing your day.

It's been a month since my last podcast. It's not like I don't want to record a podcast because I have a bunch of guests lined up. It is because I still can't figure out how can I record the conversations (with their consent, of course). Anyway, how are you?

Today I talked about how this podcast came to life. I recorded this on a holiday and the first one where I completely went off script. I think I'm going to start doing this kind of podcast. Episode 4 is still experimental, we'll see it from here.

I went to my first on-site assignment after working from home for almost 4 months. You know how some Vloggers have their edition of "A day in the life of"? Well, this is sort of that version. Episode three is still in my experimental stage and has no particular structure. I didn't expect that it'll be this long but if you need a replacement for white noise, be my guest.

I almost got credit card scammed twice in less than amount. In this episode I shared a small clip of what the call sounded like (pardon the sound quality) and shared tips on what to do so it won't happen to you. I didn't expect that it will happen to me either, I thought it's just one of those "lucky" ones we see on social media.

Do you remember what your first demo sounded like? I do! This first episode talks about my first demo audition as an assistant trainer when I was 22 years old. I came in unprepared, and true to the episode's title, this is also the first episode that sounded like a first demo! I haven't recorded anything in the past months since I started the podcast channel in 2020, bnut bear with me we'll get there. I'm still figuring things out.