THIS PHILOSOPHY MAJOR GOT TALENT FOR "FLAIR"

Larry G. Guevara, and his fiancee Sharleen, together as "Liquid Concepts"

One of Larry  G. Guevara’s grandfathers was a priest that had great influence of him while he was growing up. It was no surprise then that he decided to enter Our Lady of Peñafrancia Seminary in Sorsogon, where he completed his high school and his degree in Philosophy.

After eight years in the seminary, he concluded that he could “do more” even outside of the priestly ministry. Growing up, he was into stage acting, dancing and bands--so he decided to respond to the call of music and performing arts.

Larry remembers that once, while he was on a summer apostolate in one of the remote areas in his province, he came upon young men and women doing table skirting and preparing food inside the convent’s kitchen. He was fascinated by their tasks that he asked them about where they learned their skills. He was told that they were Hotel and Restaurant Management students from the Philippine Women’s University (PWU) in Manila. Larry thought of going into HRM himself so he headed for Manila to enroll at PWU.

His plan of becoming a chef changed when he signed up for Bar Management class. He saw some of his classmates flipping bottles—also called “flair bartending” and it completely fascinated him.

Larry began his bartending career in 2003 and worked at one of his “dream jobs”—at TGIFriday’s. There he was considered as one of the most   talented bartenders when it comes to flair and showmanship. Just three months into the job, he was selected to serve as an official representative to the Inter-store Bartending Championship. He emerged 1st Runner-up and won the Best Original Concoction for a cocktail called “Tea-kle Me Once.” That achievement became a door opener for Larry—he got invited to give talks, seminars, workshops and even had the chance to appear on national TV programs.

In 2004, a store guest invited him to work for Louis Cruise Lines. Larry fel he was ready to work abroad so he took the offer and started working at the cruise lines for four years. He later moved to Celebrity Cruises, where he spent another four years before he finally decided to return to the Philippines in 2013 to be with the love of his life,  Sharleen Antonio.

Today,  Larry  is the Chief Operating Officer of "Gilario Guevara Bartending Training Services,"   and he serves as a College Instructor.  He demonstrates his passion for music and performing arts each time he does the “flair" with those beverage bottles before his students.

Recently, Larry and his fiancee Sharleen Antonio were featured in one of the country's top-rating talent shows.  Their tandem "Liquid Concepts" was given a golden buzzer that allowed them to go straight to the semi-finals.  And more memorably,  Larry proposed marriage to Sharleen, the first on Philippine primetime TV.  See clip here.

(We  wish Larry and Sharleen all the best!)

In the book "Pointers for New College Graduates." Larry shares the following pieces of advice:

• Unlearn what you learned in school. “Unlearning” here means letting go of your ways of thinking and of doing things. You are no longer students, who will just come to class, read books, take exams and submit requirements. In the “real world,” you will realize that there are more to learn than you could imagine when you were in school. You have to seek opportunities to apply what you learned formally and informally in school. This way, you can better evaluate the new tasks and the challenges before you and make well-thought decisions and corresponding action plans. This is how you can add value to any employer.

• Adapt, be like water. For someone who has been through a lot of ups and downs in life, I realized that one of the best ways to tackle any difficult situation is to be open to new ideas, new ways of doing things to solve problems. Thus, the need to be “like water” moving to fill gaps and to expand into new spaces.

• Find your own voice. Following the crowd, conforming to what  is popular in order to belong becomes an ever-present temptation. Finding your own voice means listening to and learning from others, taking in what are beneficial and having the courage to speak up for what is true and constructive.

Real more about Larry's pointers for  college graduates aspiring to  join the Hospitality Industry.

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