- 2 days ago
After changing careers, moving back home, battling cancer and so much more, Rita Nazareno has no regrets. In fact, she'll say she is the happiest she’s ever been. An Emmy Award-winning Television Creative Services Producer, she later on became Creative Director of ZACARIAS 1925, a Philippine brand specializing in handwoven bags and home accessories. She is also a part of the Nazareno/Lichauco duo, known for their innovative and playful approach to furniture and interior design. Get to know her on this episode of Power Talks with Pia Arcangel.
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00:00She's the creative director of Zacharias 1925 and half of the Nazareno-Litschauco duo, known for their playful approach to interior and furniture design.
00:10Over the years, her work has become deeply impacted by her rich Filipino heritage.
00:15Tonight, we sit down with none other than Rita Nazareno and get to know more about her only here on Power Talks.
00:23My grandmother founded a company called Eze Vizcara. She's Sigundina Cornejo Vizcara.
00:28So you were exposed to a workshop, the craft, at a very early age.
00:33But was it something that you had imagined you would be doing later on in life, yourself?
00:37I think in the back of my mind, I knew I'd always come back.
00:40You know, my creativity was in full bloom, even in television.
00:44But it is here, but in like a different muscle group almost.
00:48So many years, decades ago, women in art weren't taken as seriously because we were women because of the gender.
00:57And of course, you have controversial pieces as well.
01:00Would you say that they're controversial?
01:01Yeah, I mean, some people would think.
01:03Well, obviously, what you're doing does make sense and people do appreciate it.
01:08Because you're not just here, but even in the international market.
01:12Until now.
01:14Can I record that and tell that to my mother?
01:17I'm kidding.
01:17I love you, mom.
01:18Let her watch the episode.
01:19All right.
01:26So, Rita, thank you so much for welcoming us into your workshop.
01:30It's a beautiful space.
01:32Thanks for having us.
01:33Are these like all the bags that you've done, collections you've done over the years?
01:38Some of them.
01:39Most of them are my mother's.
01:41We're at Esiviscara, which is the workshop that my grandmother started.
01:47My grandmother founded a company called Esiviscara.
01:50She's Segundina Corneja Viscara.
01:52So, my mom's an only child.
01:55And she made it what it is now.
01:59Everything since then has been made by hand.
02:02So, I put up a small little brand.
02:06It's an offshoot.
02:08Everything is made here also called Zacarias.
02:11It's 1925, which I named after my grandfather, Lola Karin.
02:14Oh, and 1925 because?
02:17Because that's when my Lola started the company.
02:20So, it's our 100th year.
02:23So, we'll have a book out at some point.
02:26And so, my mom's spearheading that.
02:29Oh, happy anniversary.
02:31I know.
02:31I'm so proud.
02:32So, this particular site, the workshop now, how long has this site been?
02:36I want to say the 70s.
02:39Oh, that's still a long time.
02:40Yeah.
02:41This used to be one of our stores.
02:44So, we, SFS Cara, had about 13 stores in the Philippines, in Hawaii, and in Guam.
02:54So, this was one of them.
02:57But you mentioned that, you know, growing up, you already saw how things worked at your grandmother's workshop.
03:04Were you a fixture at her workshop?
03:07Yes.
03:07Were you always watching, observing?
03:09At the store and upstairs from the store, the sewers were there.
03:14So, yes.
03:15Fixture by choice.
03:16You wanted to be there?
03:17Or because you were really interested?
03:19Or you just...
03:19I think, you know, at like 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 years old, I don't think us kids had a choice then.
03:27So, we always...
03:27You know, after school, summers, weekends, we'd be there.
03:32So, I remember, I was telling you, we had busloads of tourists.
03:37So, we would be helping in the cashier putting like the whatever people bought in like little bags and putting it.
03:45So, yes, we were always...
03:46Summers, we'd go to Hawaii and, you know, be at the stores as well.
03:51So, you were very familiar with the process very early on.
03:54Yes.
03:54Yes.
03:54And then in 83, it moved to more of... more manufacturing.
03:59Because in 83, there were some political upheaval here.
04:02So, there were no more tourists.
04:04So, we had to pivot, if I'm not mistaken.
04:07My parents had to pivot and then really look at the manufacturing more than retail.
04:17So, we've always had the workshop and now it just kind of expanded.
04:21So, kudos to my mom for putting that.
04:24So, you were exposed to the workshop, the craft at a very early age.
04:29But was it something that you had imagined you would be doing later on in life yourself?
04:34Not really.
04:36I think in the back of my mind, I knew I'd always come back.
04:40But I always...
04:42I was a kid.
04:43I loved television and films.
04:46We couldn't really watch TV.
04:48But I'm like...
04:49I knew when like eye to eye and see-through were on.
04:53Like, you know...
04:54Right before the news.
04:55Yeah, because that was like kind of the behind the scenes, right?
04:59She talked to like not just the actors, but she also talked to the producers and the directors, right?
05:06If I'm not mistaken, right?
05:08And it was like a mixture of showbiz and news.
05:10And showbiz and news, correct.
05:12So, I always kind of really was interested in like the behind the scenes of it all.
05:19So, yes.
05:19I always wanted to be in television and that was my career for a long time.
05:24So, when you went to college, you took a course that was related to television already?
05:28So, at Loyola Marymount, I graduated.
05:31My major was TV production.
05:34So, straight out of Loyola Marymount, did you go into television work?
05:38You know, I came here for about a year.
05:43And worked under...
05:45Oh, God.
05:46She was amazing.
05:48Tita Kechi Benedicto Paulino.
05:49Ah, yes.
05:50Okay.
05:50I never got a chance to work with her.
05:52But of course, I don't see this.
05:53She's a dear friend of my mom.
05:54And I was a PA for a little bit.
05:59And so, yeah.
06:00So, I saw that side of it also.
06:03Learned so much from her.
06:04And also from her daughter, Tin Tin.
06:08So, and then after that, went back to the States and did...
06:12I did my master's in film and video in San Francisco.
06:19And then, I stayed there na.
06:22So, when you started working in the States, were you doing music videos as well?
06:27No.
06:28What was I doing in the States?
06:29So, in the States, what I did was, you know, at that point, you work.
06:34You find whatever work you can find.
06:38When I moved from San Francisco to LA, I had, like...
06:43I remember having, like, two jobs.
06:46I was an audiovisual technician.
06:50So, literally, in, like, hotels and in their meetings, I would put the projectors, the microphone.
06:56I would, like, I would put down the cords, the microphone cords and the cables.
07:03And I would, like, tape that.
07:04As in, palagang...
07:05It was, um, crazy work.
07:09But it was fun work.
07:11And then, I also, you know, I was, uh...
07:14I was, I worked at a retail outlet.
07:18And I remember, I was just, like, wow.
07:20I remember just having to, like, mop the floors.
07:23And I was just, like, it humbles you.
07:26But work is work.
07:27It's honest work.
07:28So, you know, it was one of my proud moments.
07:31I read that you were an Emmy Award winning TV producer.
07:34So, what was your big break in television?
07:36So, I was working those two jobs.
07:39And I was faxing my resumes to everybody.
07:43Faxing pa.
07:44Yeah, faxing.
07:46La pang email.
07:47So, I was faxing to everybody.
07:50I had two companies who reached out.
07:54One of them was Fox 11.
07:56And it was for...
07:58Which was a Fox station in Los Angeles.
08:01And it was for, like, a, um...
08:04A programming and publicity assistant.
08:07And, look, I had my master's already.
08:11And my boss...
08:15Obviously, I got the job.
08:17He interviewed me.
08:19And he said, look, there's no production work.
08:21It's an assistant job.
08:22You're only here part-time.
08:24I go, I'll take it.
08:25He goes, you seem overqualified for this.
08:28And I said, it's okay.
08:29I will take it.
08:31And I did.
08:32Three months later, he promoted me.
08:35And then I stayed with the Fox for a while.
08:38And I loved it.
08:39I had, like, my little Filipino mafia.
08:42Because all the business and accounting, they were all Penais.
08:47So, they totally took care of me.
08:48If I needed petty cash, bless.
08:51You know, so they really introduced me to everyone.
08:53You all banded together.
08:54And, yeah, and then, you know, and I loved working there.
08:58And I moved.
08:59So, that's where I got the Emmy.
09:01And I finally moved to the creative services department.
09:07And I started shooting there.
09:10And I started writing, directing.
09:13So, that was fun.
09:15I always loved it.
09:16It was a union shop.
09:18So, we had editors.
09:21We had, but, yeah, so we were able to shoot and film.
09:25Do you have a favorite project you want to talk about?
09:28Oh, God.
09:29You know, I had plenty.
09:31But, and then I moved to Texas.
09:33Where I became, which was a top 10 market.
09:36I was the creative services director there.
09:38So, from, like, five, number five kami, in the market.
09:45We, before I left, I think we were, like, a strong second, third na.
09:49What does a creative services director do?
09:51We promoted the station.
09:53So, everything from news to whatever we were airing.
09:58So, yeah, so we shot all the promos.
10:01You don't call it promos here.
10:04The 30 seconds.
10:05We call it plugs.
10:06The plugs, yeah.
10:07So, we did that.
10:08And we worked closely with the news department.
10:11And how long did you do that?
10:13Gosh, it was in television for maybe about a decade in the States.
10:18That's a long time.
10:19And then I left.
10:20And then I decided to, I decided to come back here.
10:24And what happened was I had broken up with a partner at the time.
10:30And when you're a bit younger, and, you know, now I know how to express myself.
10:35You're just like, you think heartbreak is like the end of it all.
10:40But it's not.
10:41I'm like, you know, but so my mom said, why don't you just come back here and move here
10:47and do this?
10:48And I'm like, I made myself cool.
10:50And I said, yes.
10:51So emotional at that time.
10:53And I'm like, I said, yes.
10:54So I left my, I left television.
10:58I miss it.
11:01And my bosses at that time was like, are you sure you're going to leave?
11:05They were like, you know, anytime you want to come back, you have a job here.
11:10So, you know, so which is great.
11:11But I never, I never took them up on it because I'm here now.
11:15I went to, I went to London to get my second master's because I knew nothing about fashion.
11:21So I went to London College of Fashion.
11:23Then I came back here.
11:24And so now that you've been here since 2010, no regrets having left television?
11:31None.
11:32There are times when you think about it, when you're like, I wonder what I would have been
11:36doing now if I stayed.
11:39But none.
11:40I'm, you know, I'm at a place where I'm the happiest I've ever been.
11:45I can actually see that and feel it.
11:47There's that energy just speaking with you.
11:51So it's important that you're happy doing what you're doing.
11:55And not everybody gets a chance to, you know, shift careers and be happy.
12:00You know, it's like being blessed twice over.
12:03Yes.
12:03So what is it about design that you're doing now and designing and manufacturing?
12:09What is it about this career now that you truly enjoy?
12:14Gosh, so many aspects of it.
12:15Number one, you know, my creativity was in full bloom, even in television.
12:20But it is here, but in like a different muscle group almost.
12:26And then I get to work with our weavers and our workers who have been, some have been with
12:31us for generations, some have been here for years, and just watching their skill and it's
12:39just really quite amazing for me.
12:41And then I get to work with, I get to collaborate with my design partner, Gabby Lechaoko.
12:46We put up Nazareno Lechaoko, which we design objects and spaces.
12:50And that's amazing.
12:52It gives my life meaning.
12:54So the transition wasn't that difficult.
12:56Because you were already in a creative industry.
12:58Yes.
12:58It was difficult.
13:00It was.
13:01It was difficult.
13:01Because you had to do like actual drawing and stuff.
13:04No, because you're going from a very corporate environment to a family environment.
13:10And at a certain point, your family will always think of you as a kid, right?
13:14Are you the youngest?
13:15Huh?
13:16Are you the youngest?
13:16No, I'm the fourth out of five.
13:18Oh, it seems like you're still here.
13:19So it's like, which is great.
13:26Because then you're like, you know, so you have to work almost twice this hard because
13:31you want to make sure that, you know, what you're designing, what you're doing makes sense.
13:36And it won't be difficult, right?
13:38Well, obviously, what you're doing does make sense.
13:41And people do appreciate it.
13:43Because you're, you know, not just here, but even in the international market.
13:47Until now.
13:49Can I record that and tell that to my mother?
13:51I'm kidding.
13:52I love you, mom.
13:53Let her watch the episode.
13:56No, but really, I mean, looking at your designs, they're all so interesting and all very unique.
14:00Are these all ideas that come to you like spur of the moment?
14:04Or do you sit down?
14:05Some, yes.
14:06Some, no.
14:07Because there's no set.
14:10Every day is different and everything is different for us, for me anyway.
14:15I look at things that interest me.
14:20I don't really follow trends.
14:22I'm very privileged to have the workshop to be able to experiment and work on them.
14:29So I look at things that interest me that would be architecture, culture, contemporary art, cinema.
14:37So, you know, so, so for example, this, this is based, this Walang Basaganan Trip, if you look closely at it, it's like cross-stitch.
14:46So I looked at subversive stitching for this, so many years, decades ago, women in art weren't taken as seriously because we were women.
14:59Because of the gender, women used mediums and materials such as, they used sewing, they used fabric, so subversive stitching was, was a thing that they, that they did, that some women did.
15:14So I thought that was really pretty cool.
15:16So, so, so, you know, and plus the subversive, Walang Basaganan Trip.
15:20There's one actually that says the future is female and it's, and it's based on a portable sewing machine case.
15:28So they're, they're not just artistic pieces, they're also statement pieces.
15:32I would like to think so.
15:34In my head, they have stories to tell.
15:36So this is based on, this is the, a tea room bag.
15:40It's based on, I was looking at different tea rooms because I love Japan.
15:45So there's, you know, a couple of architects that do, that have done tea rooms.
15:52One of them, Shigeru Uchida, did this really pretty cool kind of cube-like tea room that had this like kind of woven see-through quality to it.
16:04So I kind of referenced that.
16:06I showed you the TV.
16:07And of course, you have controversial pieces as well.
16:10Would you say that they're controversial?
16:11I mean, some people would think, I just think they're just pieces, but I'll show you.
16:16This is, I call it the B-bag because it could be whatever you want it to be.
16:21All right.
16:22Yeah.
16:23It's very interesting.
16:24I thought it was, you know, my daughter has, I mean, when she was much younger, she had a bag shaped like, you know, lips with lipstick.
16:31Yeah.
16:31So I thought that's what it was initially.
16:33But is that what it's meant to be?
16:35You know, I had it, that's why I called it the B-bag.
16:39So it could be whatever you want it to be.
16:40He thought it was a shell earlier.
16:42You spoke also about how you have a furniture line.
16:46Yes.
16:46I mean, you said objects.
16:47We do objects we have, yeah.
16:49So, and that one is in collaboration with Gabby Lichauco.
16:52Yes.
16:53Did you decide all of a sudden one day that you wanted to do furniture as well?
16:57No, I think my parents had already been doing home accessories and stuff.
17:03And then, you know, and then I got to meet Gabby and we just hit it off.
17:07Okay.
17:07And he would come here and he was like, let's make some lamps, like lamps.
17:12So we did that.
17:13And like one of our very first, you know, it was an electric fan.
17:16But a small portable electric fan.
17:18Before the small portable fans that we know now even came to be.
17:23Okay.
17:24So it was really cool.
17:26And you guys exhibit abroad, right?
17:28We do.
17:29Yes.
17:30Do you have a preference?
17:31I mean, between designing bags or doing furniture pieces?
17:35No, actually.
17:36No preference.
17:38It's just what makes us, what makes me happy anyway.
17:41And it differs in any given moment, right?
17:46So yeah.
17:47So I enjoy like conceptualizing spaces as well.
17:54That's so interesting.
17:55And it's so cool to see how, you know, you're not just focused on your work.
18:01I mean, you have so many other things going on.
18:03So your love for sports is a big factor for you.
18:06I mean, it keeps things balanced for you.
18:10Yes.
18:10So I play pickleball now, as many other women my age do.
18:16So I enjoy that.
18:17So I've always watched sports.
18:20Never really played.
18:22So I feel like I'm in my like athlete era now.
18:25It's, I'm so not good now.
18:27But, you know, but it's fun.
18:30And I play majong now.
18:32That makes, for me, you know, I mean.
18:36It keeps you sharp.
18:37It keeps you sharp.
18:38And my friends are just the best.
18:41I just enjoy, you know, your, that social aspect that caring at this age, you know, your women friends are very important.
18:52Especially at this age, I think.
18:55So I'm very happy that I have that.
18:57Yeah.
18:58I mean, I have my family and then I have, you know, that social aspect.
19:01I don't go out anymore.
19:03Because it's late, right?
19:04But, you know, you go out, it's mainga, whatever.
19:07So now I have, you find your own tribe.
19:11You find your own things that make you happy.
19:13And I know I told you this earlier that I love your energy, your vibe.
19:17It's so pleasant, so happy.
19:18Do you have to like work on it?
19:21Is it a conscious effort to make sure that, you know, everything is pleasant, everything is happy?
19:25Yes.
19:26Yes.
19:27So how do you do it?
19:28Look, the world is, oh my God, I think, you know, it's been really awful, right, around, you know, from what's happening in Gaza, from what's happening in the United States.
19:44I'm, you know, I lived in the United States for a long time.
19:46I'm a registered Democrat.
19:48And I'm, you know, what's happening there now is kind of really sad as well.
19:54So, you know, especially for LGBTQ, for people of color, for, you know, it's, we have to kind of speak up and fight, continue to fight.
20:08But despite that, joy is resistance, right?
20:11For me and my little community, in my little life, you know, I do want to put kind of, find the joy kind of in that.
20:20So in your personal life.
20:21So I would do work on it also, you know, as you asked.
20:25So yes, you know, whether it's meditation, whether it's, you know, Saturday games with friends and, you know, or majong table, chikahan.
20:36It's, you find your own thing.
20:39I like how you mentioned joy is resistance.
20:40So that helps even in personal challenges.
20:43What are some of the biggest personal challenges you've had to face since coming back?
20:47I have breast cancer.
20:50So, yeah, so that's kind of, so I have no more breasts.
20:53I have no more boobs, but I'm alive.
20:56So, yeah, and to me at that point, it was, it was tough.
21:01But again, you find things that kind of music was a big part, making sure that, you know, you had laughter around you, that friends, and sometimes, you know, you go through the cancer treatment and then, okay, okay na, tapos na, you're okay na.
21:16But it's not, it continues, it lingers on, right?
21:19You have, you have to deal with other things that, you know, you're not as, you know, your blood is not as great as, you know, your legs are, you know, kind of edemic now or whatever.
21:32So those are things that because of the, the, the treatment, it lingers on until way after.
21:39So you have to deal with those, but then for me, I try to deal with it, you know.
21:45In a very positive way.
21:47Yeah, like, I can't really lift heavy stuff like I used to.
21:51But when I travel, you find ways where, you know, you're just like, oh, I'm sorry, ma'am, sir, can you promise it?
21:58Yeah, ask for help.
21:59Yeah, or, you know, you find ways to, you just use your leg or whatever.
22:04You, you know, you just take a little more scenic route to get to your, wherever.
22:11But yeah, so you find ways.
22:13Usually, you know, when we talk to designers or business owners, their dream is usually, you know, to make it a global brand, to make it known abroad.
22:22But you've already achieved that.
22:24So, at this point, what kind of impact do you still want to have or what vision do you still have for Zacharias?
22:31For Zacharias, and I think for my life also, I realized quite recently that I'm happy with having enough.
22:41I don't need more, more, more.
22:43I mean, it would be nice to have more money.
22:45It would be nice to have more like this.
22:47But I'm happy with enough.
22:49I'm happy where I am right now, where I don't have to be working and burning myself out.
22:57Right?
22:58Because sometimes the burnout is real, huh?
23:01And you're like, you know, you get depressed, you get, you get, and I'm like, okay, I want to have, to balance myself, to have time to enjoy my life as well.
23:11And enjoy the people I'm around, and to enjoy the stuff that I'm doing.
23:16Because if you can just keep on doing it, it's just, at the end of the day, it's greed, it's, I don't know.
23:23I don't know.
23:24It's just too much.
23:25So, I'm okay with enough.
23:27And also finding meaning to what you're doing.
23:32I think that's important.
23:35I think when, I think when I was younger, there was this kind of, this pursuit for happiness.
23:42This, and then, as you got, as I got older, it was like a pursuit for purpose, a pursuit of purpose in your life.
23:51Now, I'm like, I'm in the pursuit for meaning in my life.
23:56I think that's slightly different.
23:59So, yeah, I think I'm at that point now.
24:01I love how you align your vision for Zacharias with your vision for your life.
24:07That means your work and your passions in life are really closely connected.
24:12Yes.
24:12And it doesn't, your work doesn't stress you out the way, you know, other careers would.
24:19Or the way it used to.
24:20The way it used to.
24:21Because it used to stress me out.
24:23Yeah.
24:23And so, the mindset of, you know, finding that point at which you know you're happy and recognizing it is very important.
24:30Thank you for sharing that with us.
24:32How about your vision for Philippine design?
24:34What do you want to see in the entire design industry?
24:36Yeah.
24:37Where do you see it moving?
24:38I love that there's this design community that really take care of each other.
24:46And there are different generations of that.
24:50I'm kind of in this generation with, you know, with Sila Tisha De Borja, with obviously Gabby and, you know, so, and really kind of take care of each other.
25:00And we're all kind of, we're friends.
25:03And so, I love that.
25:05And then there's the younger ones that, you know, that I'm very proud of my design partner, Gabby Lechaoko.
25:12He, you know, he put up a collective 10 years ago called the New Folk Collective with that kind of fostering, giving a platform for designers.
25:25And then 10 years later, now he did it for, you know, a younger set of designers.
25:31And you'll see, you see him mentoring and other people mentoring other designers.
25:36And that's how you make a sense as a country, right?
25:39And as a community.
25:40And so, I love that.
25:41I love seeing also just themselves just finding their own platforms and to show and to, you know.
25:49So, I love that.
25:53I'm seeing that.
25:54I'm also part of an initiative that I help with called the Beniled Open for Design and Art.
26:04And we're in our second year now, our second iteration, I must say.
26:12Beniled Open gives out up to 300,000 pesos per grant.
26:18So, 10 grants of up to 300,000 pesos for anyone.
26:23Any creative design, designer, architect, artist, interior, musician, filmmaker.
26:33So, if you guys want to, you know.
26:35So, that's, I think that's great.
26:38So, to be able to realize and realize projects.
26:43So, it's a production grant.
26:44So, that's great.
26:45So, yeah.
26:46And that will go a long way.
26:47Yeah, yes.
26:49So, I mean, check it out.
26:50It's beniledopen.com.
26:52Well, you said that it's great that there's a community.
26:56And you know, they say strength in numbers.
26:57So, strength in community.
26:59That means if everybody works together, there's a brighter future ahead for everyone.
27:03Yes, mentorship, I think, is key also.
27:06And the great artists do like to share.
27:09Yeah.
27:09Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
27:10You have to share because before, it's like, no.
27:12Yeah.
27:13You can't, right?
27:13I hope that it's different.
27:16I see that it's different now.
27:17And I think it's important that, you know, you do this for younger generations.
27:21Because then, the younger generations will do it for the next generation.
27:25Yes, yes.
27:25You pay it forward, right?
27:26So, you foster that culture already.
27:27Yeah.
27:27Well, thank you so much, Rita, for sharing all this with us.
27:31We do look forward to what Zacarias has in store for us.
27:34What the Philippine design industry has in store for everyone in the future.
27:40But, of course, we don't just end here.
27:42We like to pick the minds of all our guests.
27:44We have a segment called Confessions of an Icon.
27:46Oh, God, God.
27:46So, we ask questions that, you know, sometimes people probably ask.
27:48Where's your icon?
27:49Because I don't know, but thank you.
27:51You're the one.
27:51So, if your grandmother were to walk into your workshop today,
28:01what do you imagine she would say about your designs?
28:04Maybe like this.
28:05And what would you hope to tell her about your creative vision?
28:09I think she would laugh.
28:11My lola had the heartiest laugh.
28:14And I think she would find it, I was very close to my lola,
28:18she would find it amusing.
28:20Some more than others.
28:21She would make me curot for some,
28:26but she would still enjoy it and give me the space to show it.
28:32If you could design something that isn't a bag or isn't furniture,
28:35what would it be?
28:36I would make a film.
28:38Fair enough.
28:39Have you ever made a full-length film?
28:41I have produced a full-length with Eric Hezon and Giselle Tongi.
28:47So, a while back.
28:49Called Langit sa Piling Mo.
28:50I had written a short film for Eric Hezon.
28:54I have written a screenplay and I'd love to shoot it at some point.
29:03If it's gonna happen,
29:04I don't know if it's ever gonna happen, but yeah.
29:06Okay, this is our last question.
29:08If you had to give the younger Rita,
29:11what piece of advice, what would that be?
29:13I'll have one advice I'll just tell you later without the cameras.
29:17And then one advice.
29:18I think I'm gonna need a more interesting piece of advice.
29:21No, no.
29:22No, I'd enjoy it more.
29:24Like, be present and enjoy it more.
29:27And just be kind.
29:29There were times where I'd be like,
29:30oh, I should have been nicer.
29:32Parang, yeah.
29:34Yeah.
29:35Just be kind.
29:36Be kind and compassionate to everyone, ha.
29:39Not just for people who look like you or think like you.
29:42To everyone.
29:43Right?
29:44So, yeah.
29:46Don't be racist.
29:47Don't be classist.
29:49Don't be, you know.
29:50If you can.
29:50Yes, please.
29:52Be kind to one and all.
29:52Be kind to everybody.
29:55Right?
29:55And even if you don't understand them,
29:58the LGBTQ community,
30:00you don't understand them,
30:01but just try to understand.
30:03Just learn more.
30:05Great piece of advice.
30:06Not just for the younger Rita,
30:07but for everyone.
30:09Thank you so much, Rita.
30:10Thank you too.
30:11For sharing your story,
30:12your journey with us today.
30:14Thanks.
30:16Thanks for watching.
30:17Don't forget to like, subscribe,
30:19and download Power Talks with P.R. Canghel
30:21on Spotify, Apple Podcasts,
30:23GMA Integrity News streaming platforms,
30:26or wherever you listen.
30:51P.R. Canghel