Ateneo de Davao University alumni turned entrepreneurs emphasized the importance of passion, grit, and professional network in another episode of 4G Your Future: Gain, Grit, Grow, Give webinar series.

Borromeo Insurance Agency president Paul Borromeo, PAR Travel and Tours general manager Pia Lourdes Montano, and Xpanse CEO Josh Supan shared their experiences and pandemic struggles through a free-flowing discussion last Saturday.

“Forget about your limitations… We should be able to transform ourselves, reinvent ourselves, to be better and better contributors,” Borromeo said, adding that labels are self-limiting beliefs that put people into boxes.

In agreement, Supan said that disadvantages “might be realities but those are not limitations.”

“Like Pia who has the passion and Josh who saw innovation and the drive to succeed, I banked on my failures in the past. Those were expensive lessons but they were lessons nonetheless,” Borromeo said, considering his 20 years of experience in the insurance industry.

He also admitted that the first few weeks of the pandemic was a “mixture of fear, anxiety, confusion” for his business that operates on relationships which inspired the company to develop a webinar series with experts from different fields that connect them to their clients.

“When your back is against the wall, you will find, you will do whatever it is to be able to succeed… The only reason why we were able to overcome it was because we came together as a team with a very clear vision of what it is that we wanted to achieve and it was no longer about the profit and the money, it was more about the people,” he added.

Although Supan, founder of an e-commerce enabler, admitted that his company is not that disturbed with the pandemic, his “offensive plan” turned to a “defensive plan,” equally reassuring his team and employees who are also experiencing the same.

On the other hand, Montano, who is in the travel and tours industry which the pandemic struck hard, used this time to do product research and teach tourism management “as a way of giving back.”

“This is something I’m very passionate about… Even if a crisis will happen like what we have now, this is something very close to my heart,” she said, which motivated her to remain in the business despite the uncertainties.

The 4G Your Future: Gain, Grit, Grow, Give webinar series is initiated by the Ateneo Career Center and Alumni Hub and the Ateneo Blue Knight Association to cater to the needs of the AdDU alumni. The last webinar happened last July 25 which tackled labor market trends and interview strategies.