At one point or another, working moms struggle with mom guilt, that constant tug-of-war between career and family.
In our Mom's Month special of Ronna Asks, she sits down with Mybelle Aragon-GoBio, President and CEO of Robinsons Land Corporation, to talk about how she navigates motherhood, leads with purpose, and breaks barriers in the corporate world—proving it’s possible to thrive in both roles with heart and intention. #RonnaAsks #SmartParenting
In our Mom's Month special of Ronna Asks, she sits down with Mybelle Aragon-GoBio, President and CEO of Robinsons Land Corporation, to talk about how she navigates motherhood, leads with purpose, and breaks barriers in the corporate world—proving it’s possible to thrive in both roles with heart and intention. #RonnaAsks #SmartParenting
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00So it's precisely why I wanted to, you know, I want the conversation not to be about gender and about, you know, who earns more, who's more important.
00:08And really, it's about being a family. So there shouldn't be competition.
00:19Hi, Smart Parenting fam. I'm here with Maibel Aragon-Gobbio, President and CEO of Robinson's Land Corporation, and I'm here to ask her some questions.
00:30I think being a mom endows us with a certain level of empathy.
00:38And in that sense, it gives me a different style of leadership because I'm able to relate more to the people that I oversee.
00:49I'm able to understand, you know, the different perspectives that, you know, come with empathy.
00:55And so with that, I feel that I'm more understanding when it comes to dealing with a different set of people.
01:04Well, I must admit, from time to time, I feel that.
01:14But then if I were to advise moms like me who are working, I'd say let go of it, of that guilty feeling.
01:23Because, you know, working for families is really the ultimate expression of our care and our love for the family.
01:30Because we have aspirations for them, and so we work for them as well.
01:35You know, so you have to set them, and also boundaries and balancing, you know, what's important.
01:49And really, time management is really very crucial.
01:52So, you know, set time for work, set time for family as well.
01:56And, you know, and by doing so, I think there should be very good work-life integration.
02:03Was there ever a time that you felt that, well, I mean, the wrong call there?
02:06And, like, how did you?
02:08Well, certainly.
02:09I mean, you know, no mom, no parent is, you know, pass it on day one.
02:14Sometimes we make mistakes.
02:16But then I've been fortunate because my husband is also very present in parenting.
02:23My husband is there when I make mistakes, and he contributes also, you know, to the parenting.
02:30It's a two-person thing, and I've been very fortunate.
02:35So it's the partnership.
02:36It's a partnership, and, you know, each of us, we strike a balance.
02:42And we also are there to support each other.
02:46I think one thing good that I did was making her see how I work, you know.
02:58So it's very visible for, like, my day-to-day, you know, tasks.
03:04When I get home, I tell her what I did in the office, and then I make her understand what I do.
03:09So she appreciates it.
03:11And then she also learned about, you know, the importance of starting from the bottom.
03:17Because, like, I shared with her also stories of how I started out in Robinsons.
03:21And then she also became curious.
03:25So I think, you know, that's a big thing that I'm very proud of.
03:29And I was able to impart to her the value of resilience as well.
03:33Because, again, I shared with her my journey in the company as I started out, and I rose through the ranks.
03:39Just to share with you, I've been with the company for 31 years.
03:42I started out as a staff assistant, our then-president, Mr. Frederick Goh.
03:47And then from there, I just basically progressed.
03:50It gave me more and more opportunities to contribute to the business.
03:54So, yeah, fair enough.
03:56From staff assistant.
03:57From staff assistant, yes.
04:03Okay, values that I was very deliberate about imparting to Mbeya is really, first, the value of kindness.
04:12And then also the value of resilience.
04:15Because, you know, there's this generational difference, you know.
04:18A lot of kids their age, I think they're very different from my generation at least.
04:23And so, it's a very important value.
04:26And as I had shared earlier, the reason why I wanted to also let her see how I work and how I shared stories of how I started,
04:35is to make her see the value of building the foundation, you know, strengthening of character.
04:42For sure, I did, you know, under two things.
04:50It's really about balance and multitasking.
04:54Women are wonderful in multitasking, more so mothers.
04:58Because we realize that many things are important and many things are also priorities.
05:03So, it's all about juggling, really, balancing and making sure you cover all bases.
05:09I don't know, God made us so resilient and I suppose gave us the capacity to be able to do it.
05:16It's hard, it's hard to say no to a lot of things because it's hard to decide which is more important than the other, right?
05:30There are times when you'd have to sacrifice on certain things and then you go back.
05:35I don't know if you have the time and capacity to look at it again and you, you know, you try to compensate for it.
05:44But then, it is quite hard.
05:51First, I'd say start with your own needs, addressing your own needs first.
05:57So, if you're starting out as a young family, buy a small home.
06:01And then, but always keep in mind if there's a potential for it to grow.
06:06So, if you have now the capacity to save more or if you have more disposable income,
06:11then you're more mature and you're able to start your wealth building,
06:16then you invest more in other properties.
06:19Because real estate is really a very special kind of asset because it appreciates over time, you know.
06:26And you're also able to use it yourself.
06:29So, you have the benefit of it being an investment and for your own use.
06:40My aspiration for young Filipinas or even, you know, women in general is that there be no more question about, you know, being a woman.
06:51And questions being qualified and how does it feel to be a female leader or, you know, a female in a male-centric or male-dominated environment.
07:01I want the norm to be, you know, for women and men to be valued equally.
07:10So, it's precisely why I wanted to, you know, I want the conversation not to be about gender and about, you know, who earns more, who's more important.
07:22And really, it's about being a family, so there shouldn't be competition.
07:30And I'm very fortunate to have a husband who's very supportive and who doesn't have that insecurity, you know, very supportive.
07:38Yes.
07:38Be present for your child.
07:46When your child needs something or is in a difficult situation, one thing that I've always thought to myself and I've always made sure is to be present for her so that her top of mind is,
08:00okay, I reach out to my mom first or to my dad first and not to anybody else.