10 Years Of Being The Youngest In The Boardroom

What They Don't Tell You About Success

At 8, I was in Student Council. At 18, I was leading disaster relief operations, coordinating with public officials and the Philippine army. At 23, I presented to the President of Jollibee. At 25, I cracked the Top 20. At 27, I was leading brand and creative strategy in APAC for the biggest brand in the world. At 30, I'm living in my 3rd country, driving campaigns around the world. If you were dating me, your mom would either beg you to marry me now or tell you to run away. 

See, on paper, these are all great achievements but IRL they take so much toll on mental health. At 31, I’m on meds for anxiety and depression and have a bench of therapists on retainer. So before you go all F1-level racing towards success, here are 10 Things You Need To Know. Don’t say you have not been warned.

1. Behind high-speed success is a mountain of sacrifices. For you to have a voice in the boardroom in front of people who have been around for decades longer than you, you will need to have read at least 200-pages of literature on their business, category, history, current events, and pop culture. Because how else will you add value? This means 12-16-hour shifts. No weekends until maybe your 5th year on the job. Also, no Valentines’ day…unless your date is willing to get you McDonald’s at 2am and then walk you home. It’s only cute at the start.
   

2. Your brain will not stop working even when you want it to. 
   

3. You will lose track of time for things you can’t take back. You’ll wake up one day only to find out that you haven’t had the chance to process anything. Reflection and processing are crucial for personal growth. You need time to process childhood traumas so you can progress into adult relationships like a proper human being. You won’t be able to do these things if you’re always too busy chasing the next KPI. So think long and hard if this is what you really want.
   

4. You might feel limitless but you’re not. Your body will remind you. 10 doctors across 3 different hospitals will remind you. Listen to it before it’s too late. The Boardroom will still be there when you’re ready to fight again.
   

5. Money is not going to make you happy. Toby Bardagoli, my sister’s pup, does. 
   

6. It’s lonely at the top. When you’ve sacrificed everything and everyone to get to where you want to be, the success is not as sweet. It’s just filled with new heights you need to climb. So choose people. Choose love. Choose yourself.
   

7. You can’t cram experience. Your confidence is built by the many experiences you’ve gone through, the wins and losses, the mishaps and misalignments, the bruises and the broken bones.
   

8. When you’ve sacrificed so much to get to where you are, kindness becomes a choice. Your standards are unbelievably higher and so are your expectations of people。Choose to be kind anyway.
   

9. Pacing is key. Life is a marathon. There is no hard deadline as to when you should succeed. You can take it slow and steady. 
   

10. It’s never too late to course-correct. If you catch yourself in this position and you feel even more depressed after reading this, take stock. You were making the choices you thought were best for you at that time. You still have a long life to go. There's always time for healthier habits. And more self-love. More self-discovery. More fun.