About

About This Blog

I write about and share what I’ve learned on personal development and self-optimization. In other words, how to design your life and live better.

I’ve long held a passion for personal finance, education, parenting, happiness, faith, stewardship, business, marketing, portfolio careers, entrepreneurship, productivity, and design. Lately, I’ve been pursuing my interests in health, travel, homeschooling, and character education.

These are the kinds of books and articles I read, the talks and documentaries I watch, the online courses I take, and the things I share on social media.

My articles combine research from behavioral economics, positive psychology, neuroscience, and sociology with timeless biblical principles and personal experience. This is a collection of the articles I’ve written in print and online as well as new ones I post every week or so. My goal is to share with you what I’m learning and hopefully give you actionable ideas you can implement in your own life.

About Me

I have 20 years of experience as an entrepreneur, conference producer, seminar promoter, community host, training provider, magazine publisher, and editor-in-chief. In total, I have been involved in multiple industries, including media, technology, Internet, business outsourcing, and financial services as well as the marketing, HR, creative, and startup communities.

I’m a slasher almost from the beginning of my career 25 years ago. And I consider myself a lifelong learner. I’ve been blogging on and off, starting in 1999 until 2009 and briefly in 2013.

My career started in audit and business systems consulting and then asset management. I then pivoted to business and technology journalism. My work has appeared in Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Entrepreneur, BusinessMirror, ComputerWorld, PC World, The Web, Enterprise, and Philippine Daily Inquirer. I have also been interviewed on ANC, ABS-CBN, and GMA Network.

Currently, I am mainly active in the professional education space as a conference producer and training provider.

Conference Producer

I’m the co-founder and CEO of Learning Curve, Inc., one of the leading and most diverse business event producers in the Philippines. My company is the market leader in investment education in the country, producing the annual Money Summit & Wealth Expo, the pioneer in investment conferences in the Philippines. Previously, I was the conference producer of the International Contact Center Conference & Expo (ICCCE) of the  Contact Center Association of the Philippines (CCAP) for almost a decade.

Seminar Promoter

I also run several seminars on real estate investing under the Real Estate Academy brand and stock market investing under the Stock Market Academy brand.

Certification Provider

I am likewise the Program Director of our division DMHQ, the Philippine Education Partner of the Digital Marketing Institute (DMI), the global leader in digital marketing certification with over 18,000 graduates across 100 countries. My company also runs books trainers and speakers for corporate clients through TrainersHQ.

Community Host

Aside from running Learning Curve, I was also at one time the Manila host of Startup Week, an international movement for the startup community that began in Boulder, Colorado, and former Manila host Pecha Kucha, a worldwide series of multi-speaker events for creative professionals that started in Tokyo. In the late 90s, I founded and served as chairman of the Philippine Web Awards for almost a decade, which I grew into a nationwide industry-standard awards body.

Magazine Publisher

Learning Curve is also the Philippine Partner of Lighthouse Independent Media, publisher of Marketing and Human Resources magazines, the leaders in business publications and events in Southeast Asia. My role is as Philippine Publisher and Conference Producer. I was also the publisher of the industry publications of Contact Center Association of the Philippines (CCAP) and the Information Technology & Business Processing Association of the Philippines (IBPAP).

Editor-in-Chief

Since 2008, I have been the editor-in-chief of MoneySense, the only personal finance magazine in the Philippines. I started in the magazine industry as a business and technology journalist. In 1996, I was a writer for PC World and quickly became editor of The Web and Enterprise magazines as well as consulting editor of both PC World and Computerworld in the Philippines. I also produced and ran ITnetcentral.com, at that time the top technology website in the country.

Registered Financial Planner

I’m also a Registered Financial Planner (RFP®) with RFP Philippines, the premiere organization of financial planners in the Philippines. Both MoneySense and Learning Curve has collaborated with RFP Philippines numerous times. I also do financial planning for a few clients from time to time.