Do Career Women Miss-Out on Something?

By ROSE DE LA CRUZ

A saying that one cannot serve two masters at the same time does not seem to hold with modern-day career women.

They have devised ways to compensate for the time sacrificed from their loved ones because of their careers. And often, the ways have worked well beyond their expectations.

Village Connect tried to elicit responses from some of the busiest women in town involved in Marketing and corporate World.

They were asked what areas of life they miss in pursuing their careers and if they still enjoy quality time with their loved ones.

Q:  In pursuing your career what areas of life are you missing? 

Q: Do you still have quality time with family like your parents, spouse and kids? 

Here are their responses: 

DR. MARIVIC LUALHATI                                      President & CEO                                                  BEYOND  MEDICAL HUB

I am in a good place having a leadership platform being a trainer and consultant of Inspire leadership consultancy and being President and CEO of Beyond Medical Hub. 

But I miss actively mentoring young leaders, the way I used to when I had talented committed young leaders who gave their all to achieve the tasks ahead of them, working selflessly with fervor, initiative and with critical thinking.

On quality time, being single I am blessed with time for myself and to enjoy family time. Bonding with my nieces during weekend lunches, or laughing over milk tea, traveling with my mom once every quarter is part of family time.           

Those give me balance. It’s not a choice of getting a career or being a family person. It’s all a question of life-work balance and focusing one’s priorities. 

MS. AMOR JOAQUIN-GOLIFARDO,    Marketing Manager                                                  SHARP PHILIPPINE CORPORATION

In pursuing my career there are things that I surely miss but I always weigh things based on priority. One should have a firm decision and focus. Sometimes, one has to sacrifice time with family, friends and even the “me” time.

On quality time for parents, spouse or kids, it is very hard, but I do my best to give them quality time by managing time between family and career. One way is to make up for a lost time by taking them abroad or out of town or even in staycation and dining out. I also make sure to constantly communicate with my daughter. 

MS. ANJ T. ALIP                                                    Marketing Manager                                  BIOESSENCE

I would like to say, I am not really missing any specific area in my life. I am very lucky to have a family that supports me so much.

Yes. Not the typical “family time” though. It is hard to balance but my family contributes ad adjusts so we can all make time for each other. Nowadays, I believe, it’s not about finding balance, rather, CREATING balance.

MS. SUE GEMINIANO                                              Corporate Marketing Head                                        GLOBAL COMFORT GROUP CORP.

To think about it, I did not miss any area of my life while pursuing my career. In fact, I even gained a lot in different areas of life in doing that. When I was already in the field where I wanted to be, I became more ambitious and meticulous in doing my job.

That was when I became too focused and I may say I have missed out certain things while sustaining my career, not while pursuing it.

This was when I missed the fun of being a young professional like going out, clubbing after office hours because I was forced to act maturely as I had my first promotion as a Manager at age 24 and all my subordinates were practically older than me.

I chose to miss these things to keep up with my goal, as I jumped from the medical industry to the corporate world. As I was sustaining that career I always wanted to be on the loop and always on my toes.

I got so busy, and yes have missed some areas like the times that I could’ve been teaching my daughter with her lessons, the PTA meetings. But what I did not miss out on was the school program performances, I see to it that I am there to capture those moments and the time that I should have taught her to play the piano, but on hindsight, it taught her to be independent, self- reliant and learn things on her own which made me realize that it was not missing after all, but a blessing in disguise.           

On quality time yes I do, though not as much as if you are not working because sometimes I work even on weekends and holidays. But I make it a point that at least once in every semester I will go on a vacation with my daughter or with the whole family.           

We make sure that a simple dinner or lunch will be a quality time, where we share our hobbies, and things we love doing be it 2 hours or 24 hours.

MS. CHELE D. MENDOZA
Managing Partner
Head of Public Relations
LOREMIPSUM, INC.

I don’t miss out on anything when pursuing my career. Since I started my career even during my college days, I promised myself I will never miss out on any aspect of my life be it career, family, love or self. I have always lived each day to the fullest.

I see to it that every minute is spent wisely – and that no one and nothing in my life will ever feel neglected or lacking.

MS. ANNA ILLADA                                                              Sr. Marketing Manager                                              SHOPPING CENTER  MANAGEMENT CORPORATION

What areas of my life am I missing? The fun side of life. It’s difficult to maintain a healthy work-life balance when my job eats up most of my time.

On quality time with loved ones like parents, spouse or kids I try my best to keep my Sundays strictly for family.

 

MS. JOVY MEDINA LEONARDO                          Marketing Manager                                              RSVP Digital Production Philippines

Highly successful people measure themselves on some major factors such as Family, Financial, Business, Social Spiritual and of course Physical.

As a career woman, I try to maintain a balance with all these factors to live a healthy and fulfilling life. Admittedly though, it’s quite difficult to maintain and sustain all these key areas.

I think if there are some areas that I miss a lot, it’s probably family and friends. Due to limited time and busy schedules, sometimes even your weekends are pre-occupied.

Next to this is health and fitness. This I believe is the most important area that I need to focus on since everything else depends on this to attain good quality, harmonious and well-balanced life.

MS. MA. CLARISSA CLAVO DELOS AMA    Director for Revenue Management and Marketing                                                        GROXACO ASIA HOSPITALITY CORP.        Consultant for Independent Hotels on Revenue Management

I think this question will be answered differently considering that am separated and that in essence, I am single. I had to be excellent enough to ensure I was valued and to continually grow in the company (bawal mawalan ng work) but not workaholic as a mom I made the decision to allot as much time with the kids as I did for work but it meant limited time for anything else or “me time”.

So to answer the question I did not miss much except some me pamper-ring time. Pursuing a career in my case does not mean losing part of yourself.

Yes, that decision as mentioned has to be conscious. A great career woman would know how to allot time for all facets of her life.

We wanted to take this opportunity to hear some of the women who have shaped their careers. Though they may not all be household names (yet), we think these women’s impressive accomplishments and careers hold valuable lessons for all of us.