Mothers, particularly mothers working outside the home, are often asked, "How do you manage your family life, work, and personal interests?" For Mybelle Aragon-GoBio, Robinsons Land Corporation's first female president and CEO, gender is not the opening line—it isn't where she prefers to take conversations. And Smart Parenting believes the same, especially when it comes to family.
"I want the conversation to not to be about gender and about who earns more, who's more important. It's about being a family. So there shouldn't be competition," Mybelle says.
To close Mother's Month, we sit down with Mybelle to discuss the realities of being a working mom, how she managed to be a present mom to her daughter, Bea, while climbing the corporate ladder, and investment advice for moms.
On being a working mother
Smart Parenting (SP): How does being a mom define your leadership, management style, and work ethic?
Mybelle Aragon-GoBio (MAG): I think being a mom endows us with a certain level of empathy and in that sense, it gives me a different style of leadership because I'm able to relate more to the people that I oversee. I'm able to understand the different perspectives and come with empathy. I feel that I'm more understanding when it comes to dealing with different sets of people.
SP: Many moms who work, whether outside of or from home, which is more common now, deal with working mom guilt. Is that something you’ve ever dealt with?
MAG: I must admit, from time to time I feel that. But if I were to advise working moms like me, I'd say, ‘Let go of it, of that guilty feeling.’ Working for our families is really the ultimate expression of our care and our love for the family because we have aspirations for them, and so we work for them as well.
'Women are wonderful at multitasking, more so mothers. Because we realize that many things are important and many things are also priorties.'
SP: Filipino moms are often expected to juggle several responsibilities–we have our immediate family, careers or small business, kids. Ideally, you also have a social life, and then you have your extended family and your partner’s extended family. All of that falls on our plate. How did you do it?
MAG: There are two things. It's really about balance and multitasking. Women are wonderful at multitasking, more so mothers. Because we realize that many things are important, and many things are also priorities. So it's all about juggling, balancing, and covering all bases. I don't know. God made us so resilient and I suppose, gave us the capacity to be able to do it.
SP: Was it easy to learn to say no?
MAG: It's hard. It's hard to say no to a lot of things becaus it's hard to decide which is more important than the other, right?
On making investments
SP: Do you have financial advise for moms in particular?
MAG: The power of saving. Even small amounts over time, it should grow significantly. It's as simple as that.
SP: How did you teach your daughter to be financially responsible?
MAG: I think it was early as when she was nine or 10 years old. She wanted to save up for a horse. And so she joined this kid-centric bazaar. She'd buy stuff from Divisoria, like stationery and other cute things, and then she'd sell those in the bazaar. It didn't amount to much, but it instilled in her the discipline of earning your own money if you have an aspiration.
SP: What would you advise families who want to buy their own homes or invest in properties?
MAG: Start with your own needs, addressing them first. If you're starting out as a young family, buy a small home, but always keep in mind if there's potential for it to grow. If you now have the capacity to save more or have more disposable income, then you're more mature and able to start building wealth, and you invest more in other properties. Real estate is a very special asset because it appreciates over time.
On family dynamics and parenting
SP: Now that your daughter is an adult and done with her years at the university, in hindsight, what would you say was the best thing you did for her in her younger or preschool years?
MAG: I think one good thing I did was make her see how I work. It's very visible, like my day-to-day tasks. When I get home, I tell her what I did in the office, and then I make her understand what I do. She appreciates it and has also learned about the importance of starting from the bottom. Because I also shared with her stories of how I started out in Robinsons. And then she also became curious. That's a big thing that I'm very proud of. I was able to impart to her the value of resilience as well, because again, I shared with her my journey in the company and how I started out, and I rose through the ranks.
SP: What were the values, habits, or disciplines you were intentional about while raising your daughter?
MAG: First, the value of kindness, and then also the value of resilience. It's a very important value. The reason why I also wanted to let her see how I work and why I shared stories of how I started is to make her see the value of building the foundation and strengthening of character. The last is the power of curiosity. If there's something that interests her, I encourage her to read up on it, and then we talk about it. We have a lot of conversations about different subjects. So it's served her well.
SP: How did you train her to be resilient?
MAG: She's in a unique sport. She's an equestrian. A lot of people probably are not very familiar with that sport. It's difficult dealing with a live animal. You're basically partnering with a horse. It takes a lot of discipline and a lot of resilience because training is not an overnight thing, because you're teaching yourself and you're also teaching your horse to cooperate. So that's one thing that we also did for her.
SP: Some couples find it a challenge to navigate when women have prominent roles at work or may be earning more. What would you say to these couples?
MAG: That's precisely why I want the conversation to not to be about gender and about who earns more, who's more important. It's about being a family. So there shouldn't be competition. I'm very fortunate that I have a very supportive husband who doesn't have that insecurity and is very supportive.
SP: What's one parenting wisdom you've held on to since becoming a mother?
MAG: Be present for your child. When 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 to be is to be present for her. So that her top of mind is, "Okay, I reach out to my mom first or to my dad first. And not anybody else."
*Quotes have been edited for clarity.
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Photos by Belle Dinglasa
Shot on location at Holiday Inn Galleria
Special thanks to Roseann Villegas
