Ana, originally from the Philippines, graduated in artistry and painting. After graduation she  worked in 2 art galleries, leading to two realizations. One was that she did not find art as enjoyable as it was during her college education and secondly in the Philippines there aren’t a lot of opportunities for art. She bravely took the risk of starting a new career in a different area. She then worked in a hotel, in PR and reception, and after in an advertising agency. However, she soon realized she was not passionate about either of these fields. 

 

She then tried a Project Management position at Union Bank. She explained, “I didn’t fall in love with banking, but I ended in love with the technology of banking.” After a couple of years, she moved into corporate banking for a multinational company. She realized she wanted to become an expert in this field and pursued an MBA. Six years ago, as Union Bank started its digital transformation, the CEO asked Ana if she could set up the customer experience. From there the rest is history, and today she is the chief of customer experience as well as the chief digital channel officer for Union Bank, Philippines.

 

The main challenge she had, as a woman, was prioritizing time. She was fortunate to work under a lady who inspired her and used to say, “It’s gonna be tough, but if you love what you do, it will be worth it” this helped ana to approach challenges from that perspective. Ana also finds inspiration from Oprah Winfrey's quote, “You can have it all. Just not all at once”. Her mom and husband have been wonderful supports for her all her life. From the early stages, her mom use to motivate her and prepare her to stand on her own feet, as well as survive financially and emotionally. Similarly, her husband was super supportive of her career and together they learned how to perfectly balance life and work.

 

Ana's advice to the younger generation is “Don’t necessarily look for a job look for a leader you wanna work for, it makes a world of difference when you have someone that supports you”. Ana also believes that women possess a few unique traits that make them a good leader. For example, women have extraordinary emotional intelligence, are great at multi-tasking in both professional and personal life, and think in webs rather than lines making them excellent at problem-solving. She believes in using these traits to our advantage.