AN EXECUTIVE YEARNS FOR HER HOMETOWN

Ella with the products she helped develop & launch at CCPI.

While growing up in Moncada, Tarlac, Ella Marzan imagined herself putting up her own business someday. During her younger years, there were only small businesses in her hometown--the typical neighborhood stores, bakeshops and pharmacies—and commerce was centered at the public market.

With a dream of getting into something bigger in business, she enrolled at Ateneo de Manila, where she earned a BS Management degree. After graduation, Ella decided to go corporate specifically in FMCG Marketing (fast moving consumer goods), which she felt at that time would prepare her in putting up her own business. However, her corporate career flourished and it brought her to various multinational corporations in Manila, Jakarta, Singapore and even in Leverkusen, Germany.

Ella’s employment track record of more than twenty years includes stints with some of the biggest names in consumer marketing: Johnson and Johnson, Avon and Bayer. She was eventually tapped by a local company to set up its consumer business—where she took charge of product development, preparing the business plan, setting up the organization and market launch. She said this was her most challenging job ever as she set it up from scratch.

Today, she is managing Consumer Care Products, Inc. in Pasig City, responsible for a portfolio of household brands such as: Kwik Insect Killer, Splenda Furniture Polish, Solbac Disinfectant Spray and Guard Insect Repellent.

In a way, Ella says she has partially fulfilled her dream of being an entrepreneur, that is, when she set up Consumer Care Products, Inc. It may not be her own company yet but she considers her brands like her “babies” and she is happy to see them doing well in the market.

Currently, she resides in Quezon City, where on weekends, she enjoys strolling with her dogs around her village to view the hills of Montalban. To Ella, the green scenery helps relish her dream of moving back to Moncada one day to put up her own business--a garden café--and in the process, help further propel her hometown’s progress.

Some of  Ella ’s pointers for new college graduates :

• Have your own vision. A lot of graduates just go with the flow. They go where their “barkadas” go or what the trend is. Early on, you need to have a vision of where you want to go. Have a clear goal and align your decisions and actions to that direction. Write it down. Make a collage with pictures to help you get reminded every day.

• Dream big. Go for a challenging goal. Do not be dissuaded by your friends, relatives or family. Dreaming big will push forward when you meet difficulties.

• Be prepared to work hard. This means working smart. Remain focused. Remember that mere motion or appearing busy is not achievement. Hard work yields measurable results.

Read more about Ella's pointers for new college graduates, specifically for those aspiring to be in Consumer Marketing.

"Pointers for New College Graduates," by Gerry P. Siquijor.  Available at Fully Booked,  St. Pauls and Paulines Bookstores, and branches of Catholic Book Center.