WBW 32: "To be an Entrepreneur is to be a Student for Life" part 1 of 2 with RJ Ledesma

Learning definitely doesn’t stop in four walls of the classroom. In the streets, there won’t be a teacher telling you which things are important to learn, nor books giving you the factors that lead to solutions. It more than often demands your own decision making whether or not you’ll learn, grow, adapt and succeed, enjoying all the interesting things the world has to offer. This week, RJ Ledesma, the famed Royal Tru Orange endorser, dating author, columnist and comedian, UNO magazine editor-in-chief and passionate realtor explores his experiences and how he tries to absorb as much lessons as he can from every step of his way.

Who is RJ Ledesma?

For those old enough to remember, we first knew him as Joey, the charming geeky kid from the Royal Tru Orange commercial. Though it may seem like a few seconds on TV for most people, it was the job that gave way for RJ Ledesma to work with leading film directors, namely, Lino Brocka, Ishmael Bernal, Peque Gallaga, and Jun Urbano. RJ continued his career media in shows like Teen Talk with Bea Lucero-Lhuillier, Alas Singko Y Medya and Magandang Umaga Bayan.

With this more prominent appearance in media, one may think that RJ starts and ends in media. However, the truth is far from it. Self-proclaimed school-aholic, RJ remembers his early years filled as an active student working hard and doing whatever he can to one day be able to land a prestigious multinational job that would eventually lead him to an MBA in Harvard – a childhood dream. Thus, after graduating in De La Salle University and becoming Proctor and Gamble’s brand manager for two years, he thought it’d be easy – but no. A few months and applications later, life hit him hard as he’d been rejected by Kellog, Wharton and finally, Harvard.

With a year of reflection and soul searching, he dragged himself up to be hungrier more than ever. Since then, he graduated with a Masters Degree in Massachusetts Institute Technology’s (MIT) Real Estate Development Program, self-produced a show entitled Men’s Room with Tim Tayag, became a humor columnist for the Philippine Star, a certified Yoga instructor, the author of the best-selling book “Lies My Yaya Should Have Told Me”, UNO magazine editor-in-chief, a renowned host for events, a proud and passionate realtor for Ledesco Development Corporation, and now, the happy father of baby Fortune Ledesma.

Not only is RJ Ledesma’s face plastered in Pinoy pop culture, he has also managed to become a true model of how it is to get back up from failures and achieve greater heights while having fun and getting a few laughs out of every experience.

Show notes:

Learning from failure

• There is as much learning in failure than success
• RJ Ledesma mentions Robert Kiyosaki’s statement that you shouldn’t work to earn but to learn
• Always worked hard in hopes of going to an Ivy League for an MBA; very active in college, became a brand manager in a multinational, then applied to Harvard, Kellog and Wharton
• Rejected in Kellog and Wharton, became the last 10% to be decided on whether or not to be accepted in Harvard
• Flew to US for a live interview instead of via phone only, just to find out that he wasn’t accepted a few weeks after
• Very painful because it was what he was dreaming and planning for ever since he was young
• Even quoted god as being unfair.

As one door closes, another opens

• A lot of things happened after, RJ took audit classes for MBA Computational Finance, got back to media with ABS-CBN, met a lot of friends, got in Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)’s real estate development program
• RJ Ledesma now works for the Real Estate business of the family – Ledesco Development Corporation – which  is very entrepreneurial in nature
• Difficult because he came from a very systemic corporate background as opposed to the family business which is not very systemic
• Everything now is constant learning for him, balancing between the hard skills – finance, marketing, etc. – with the soft skills – how to work well with the family.

Benchmarking with other people

• Doubts always come up, comparing salaries with your friends
• But once you get into that mindset, you lose a very basic sense of entrepreneurship which the possibility of success at any age.

Being a constant scholar

• RJ became an editor-in-chief for UNO magazine, which gave him the chance to meet with lots of people.
• Met two people who he admired a lot, 1) Joey Concepcion, the presidential adviser for entrepreneurship, and founder of Gonegosyo, 2) Washington Sycip, co-founder of the Asian Institute of Management (AIM), Sycip Gorres Velayo and Company (SGV) and Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP)
• Washington Sycip, quoting from RJ Ledesma, said he constantly exposes himself to younger people and read a lot of books. For Washington Sycip, work is not work anymore because he constantly learns from everything
• RJ now is always on the lookout for new things to learn from seminars, books, friends, etc.
• Joey Concepcion on the other hand taught him the true essence of entrepreneurship – seeing so much business models and yet still insists on an age old factor in business success, good product and good price
• Joey Concepcion, as an entrepreneur, is not an office guy of which work starts at 9 and ends at 5pm. His people may sometimes get 4am emails about ideas – a characteristic of which a lot of entrepreneurs share.

Difference between corporate and entrepreneurship

• Corporate is very rigid, and well studied whereas entrepreneurship thrives with an instinct
• And RJ is learning that he must pursue a good balance between both
• Balance between a passionate idea and feasibility
• RJ learns from Manny Villar that he likes having a lot of Filipino-Chinese friends because of the difference in mindset. A Filipino usually asks, “bakit wala ka pang trabaho?” as opposed to a Filipino-Chinese asking, “bakit wala ka pang negosyo?”, a very distinct difference in mindset
• Joining the family business is sometimes boring for most of the new generation, and so...
• RJ went into a phase of self-reflection, concluding that the family business was what he wanted to be involved in

RJ Ledesma: the Multitasker

• Doing different things keeps him sane, but also most of them are complimentary: real estate and media are very much complimentary
• Also has benefits of getting additional income
• Looks for different ways of income-earning, like becoming UNO’s editor-in-chief, a columnist, or hosting events
• Entrepreneurship doesn’t mean setting up your own business, it’s a mindset
• “My basic capital is not inventory, but my laway” – RJ Ledesma
• RJ basically made himself as a brand for a certain niche, not only is he working for an entrepreneurial business, but is also entrepreneurial product himself

Click here for WBW 32 part 2 of 2.