Valuable mentorship from industry’s best

Ovialand, which is in the midst of an expansion, is set to gain from invaluable insights, wisdom of respected veterans

In business, having a mentor is a privilege as it’s an opportunity to “borrow experience” and learn from the invaluable expertise and insights of the veterans. That Pammy Olivares-Vital had two mentors, both formidable, respected veterans in their field, is a unique opportunity—something that the president of Ovialand Inc. feels grateful for as she prepares to bring her company to a new level of growth.

In business, having a mentor is considered a privilege—an opportunity to “borrow experience” and learn from the invaluable expertise and insights of the veterans.

That Pammy Olivares-Vital had two mentors, both formidable, respected veterans in their field, is thus a unique opportunity—something that the president of Ovialand Inc. feels grateful for especially as she prepares to bring her company to a new level of growth and expansion.

Ovialand Inc. is in the midst of an aggressive expansion plan that will see the company growing its footprint outside South Luzon and scaling up production to 10,000 housing units a year by 2030, from its current capacity of 600 units a year.

“Many business podcasts and books recommend you to find your business mentor that will guide you through your career path. It is challenging to find a mentor to begin with,” Olivares-Vital said in an interview with Inquirer Property.

“So I feel very lucky to not just have one, but two mentors who have a well of experience and wisdom—mentors who have made their mark in the business of mass housing and are both sincere and eager to help me grow and achieve even beyond. Most importantly, (they are) mentors who share the same principles and values as I do,” she added.

DEVELOPING GRIT

Olivares-Vital points to her father, Giovanni Olivares, founder of Malate Construction and Development Corp., and mass housing veteran Januario Jesus Gregorio B. Atencio III whose holding firm, Januarius Holdings Inc., had come in as a strategic investor in Ovialand last year.

She shared that her first mentor, her dad, taught her about business even before she started working for the family corporation. At a young age of 5, she would regularly accompany him to developments and spend countless hours waiting for him in the office. As such, she witnessed first hand how her dad had to overcome the challenges that go with the business.

When she started working with her dad, all the more did Olivares-Vital see how he was unafraid to face any challenge. No matter how big the challenges are, giving up was never an option.

“Everyone talks about grit these days, but there’s no way one can develop grit without overcoming a challenge. Grit is like a muscle that needs to be trained and flexed for it to be developed. That is the biggest lesson and legacy that my dad taught me in the past 15 years. Some people will call it grit, some people will call it being relentless, others will call it passion, but for me, grit is commitment,” she explained.

LEARNING TO BE CREATIVE

“My dad is committed to his family, that’s why he continued to persevere no matter the challenges he faced. By a stroke of luck, or maybe the stars aligned, in a housing convention in Davao, I approached JJ Atencio and asked him if he would be interested to partner with us. By that time, I had been working with my dad for 12 years. I knew enough about mass housing, but I was also ready to take it further,” Olivares-Vital said.

“JJ is a legend in the mass housing industry, and I told myself, what do we have to lose by asking? In a 15-minute pitch, we showed JJ how we viewed the mass housing as something that can be more premium for the market. We showed him our broad strokes and he gave his comments and asked us to come back and see him in Manila. The rest is history,” she recalled.

Atencio did not only become an equity partner, he also became Olivares-Vital’s mentor.

Olivares-Vital shared that Atencio took their mentorship seriously, with the latter generously sharing his deep wisdom on business and life. He is patient and articulate, taking extra steps to make sure that she understood his points of wisdom and experience. She pointed out that Atencio does not rush or push, but he takes time to help her realize the important things.

“While JJ has shared so much wisdom and knowledge with me, I think my favorite lesson to date would be about learning how to be creative in any situation. Do away with knee-jerk reactions and always be in control of emotions so that you can think clearly and be creative in solving whatever problem or challenge you have in front of you,” she said.

CRUCIAL TRAITS IN BUSINESS

All these lessons—particularly grit and creativity—have molded her as a person—enabling her to gain from the wisdom of the veterans as she infuses her own vibrancy, knowledge of today’s market, and keen foresight in growing Ovialand. “These two traits (grit and creativity) have changed me in business. Instead of seeing challenges as problems and something that you just want to sweep under the rug, I have learned to face truths with an open attitude. This has allowed us to untangle knots and improve ourselves... This is what we strive for as an organization, constantly growing, evolving, learning and being better than what we were,” Olivares-Vital explained. “Grit and creativity, especially, are crucial traits in our business as we are not only just in the business of building houses. We also have the commitment to provide ‘Premier Family Living’ to all our clients,” she concluded.