00:00So it's precisely why I wanted to, you know, I want the conversation not to be about gender and about, you know, who earns more, who's more important.
00:08And really, it's about being a family. So there shouldn't be competition.
00:19Hi, Smart Parenting fam. I'm here with Maibel Aragon-Gobbio, President and CEO of Robinson's Land Corporation, and I'm here to ask her some questions.
00:30I think being a mom endows us with a certain level of empathy.
00:38And in that sense, it gives me a different style of leadership because I'm able to relate more to the people that I oversee.
00:49I'm able to understand, you know, the different perspectives that, you know, come with empathy.
00:55And so with that, I feel that I'm more understanding when it comes to dealing with a different set of people.
01:04Well, I must admit, from time to time, I feel that.
01:14But then if I were to advise moms like me who are working, I'd say let go of it, of that guilty feeling.
01:23Because, you know, working for families is really the ultimate expression of our care and our love for the family.
01:30Because we have aspirations for them, and so we work for them as well.
01:35You know, so you have to set them, and also boundaries and balancing, you know, what's important.
01:49And really, time management is really very crucial.
01:52So, you know, set time for work, set time for family as well.
01:56And, you know, and by doing so, I think there should be very good work-life integration.
02:03Was there ever a time that you felt that, well, I mean, the wrong call there?
02:06And, like, how did you?
02:08Well, certainly.
02:09I mean, you know, no mom, no parent is, you know, pass it on day one.
02:14Sometimes we make mistakes.
02:16But then I've been fortunate because my husband is also very present in parenting.
02:23My husband is there when I make mistakes, and he contributes also, you know, to the parenting.
02:30It's a two-person thing, and I've been very fortunate.
02:35So it's the partnership.
02:36It's a partnership, and, you know, each of us, we strike a balance.
02:42And we also are there to support each other.
02:46I think one thing good that I did was making her see how I work, you know.
02:58So it's very visible for, like, my day-to-day, you know, tasks.
03:04When I get home, I tell her what I did in the office, and then I make her understand what I do.
03:09So she appreciates it.
03:11And then she also learned about, you know, the importance of starting from the bottom.
03:17Because, like, I shared with her also stories of how I started out in Robinsons.
03:21And then she also became curious.
03:25So I think, you know, that's a big thing that I'm very proud of.
03:29And I was able to impart to her the value of resilience as well.
03:33Because, again, I shared with her my journey in the company as I started out, and I rose through the ranks.
03:39Just to share with you, I've been with the company for 31 years.
03:42I started out as a staff assistant, our then-president, Mr. Frederick Goh.
03:47And then from there, I just basically progressed.
03:50It gave me more and more opportunities to contribute to the business.
03:54So, yeah, fair enough.
03:56From staff assistant.
03:57From staff assistant, yes.
04:03Okay, values that I was very deliberate about imparting to Mbeya is really, first, the value of kindness.
04:12And then also the value of resilience.
04:15Because, you know, there's this generational difference, you know.
04:18A lot of kids their age, I think they're very different from my generation at least.
04:23And so, it's a very important value.
04:26And as I had shared earlier, the reason why I wanted to also let her see how I work and how I shared stories of how I started,
04:35is to make her see the value of building the foundation, you know, strengthening of character.
04:42For sure, I did, you know, under two things.
04:50It's really about balance and multitasking.
04:54Women are wonderful in multitasking, more so mothers.
04:58Because we realize that many things are important and many things are also priorities.
05:03So, it's all about juggling, really, balancing and making sure you cover all bases.
05:09I don't know, God made us so resilient and I suppose gave us the capacity to be able to do it.
05:16It's hard, it's hard to say no to a lot of things because it's hard to decide which is more important than the other, right?
05:30There are times when you'd have to sacrifice on certain things and then you go back.
05:35I don't know if you have the time and capacity to look at it again and you, you know, you try to compensate for it.
05:44But then, it is quite hard.
05:51First, I'd say start with your own needs, addressing your own needs first.
05:57So, if you're starting out as a young family, buy a small home.
06:01And then, but always keep in mind if there's a potential for it to grow.
06:06So, if you have now the capacity to save more or if you have more disposable income,
06:11then you're more mature and you're able to start your wealth building,
06:16then you invest more in other properties.
06:19Because real estate is really a very special kind of asset because it appreciates over time, you know.
06:26And you're also able to use it yourself.
06:29So, you have the benefit of it being an investment and for your own use.
06:40My aspiration for young Filipinas or even, you know, women in general is that there be no more question about, you know, being a woman.
06:51And questions being qualified and how does it feel to be a female leader or, you know, a female in a male-centric or male-dominated environment.
07:01I want the norm to be, you know, for women and men to be valued equally.
07:10So, it's precisely why I wanted to, you know, I want the conversation not to be about gender and about, you know, who earns more, who's more important.
07:22And really, it's about being a family, so there shouldn't be competition.
07:30And I'm very fortunate to have a husband who's very supportive and who doesn't have that insecurity, you know, very supportive.
07:38Yes.
07:38Be present for your child.
07:46When your child needs something or is in a difficult situation, one thing that I've always thought to myself and I've always made sure is to be present for her so that her top of mind is,
08:00okay, I reach out to my mom first or to my dad first and not to anybody else.
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