Meet Mylene.

[00:00:00] Victor: Good morning.

[00:00:00] Victor: Today we're sitting down with Mylene.

[00:00:02] Victor: She is a community success administrator for a sales coaching company.

[00:00:08] Victor: I'm not too sure what that is yet, so we're going to ask her all about it and get into a little bit about her day-to-day as well.

[00:00:15] Victor: So Mylene, welcome to the show.

[00:00:17] Mylene: Sure.

[00:00:18] Mylene: Hi.

[00:00:18] Mylene: Hello.

[00:00:19] Mylene: Hi.

[00:00:19] Mylene: I'm Victor.

[00:00:21] Victor: So let's get straight into it.

[00:00:23] Victor: Can you just tell me a typical day-to-day for you at this sales coaching company?

[00:00:30] Mylene: Well, I thought initially that I will become part of like one of the coaches or like one of those people that will help in learning and development because basically I myself was part also of learning and development.

[00:00:43] Mylene: But turns out I'm just doing the back end of it, which I totally enjoy and love doing a soft moment because basically all I did...

[00:00:52] Mylene: was to make sure that the members or the students are actually connected to their coaches, to their mentors, to their student partners, making sure that all communications are going to them according to timelines, deadlines, and also that they are participating into their events.

[00:01:10] Mylene: as well as announcements and also making sure that they are hitting and meeting their KPIs or their own scorecards so that they will be able to progress further with that sales coaching company.

[00:01:24] Victor: Okay, so let's take a step back.

[00:01:26] Victor: So this sales coaching company helps students sell better.

[00:01:30] Mylene: Yes, that is.

[00:01:31] Victor: Okay, so these students are not like students from high school.

[00:01:35] Victor: No.

[00:01:35] Victor: These are business owners.

[00:01:36] Victor: Professionals.

[00:01:36] Victor: Professionals of a certain field, and then they help them sell more, make more money, get more revenue.

[00:01:42] Mylene: That is correct.

[00:01:43] Mylene: They could go ahead and have everyone in the sales industry, but they are mostly coming from the mortgage.

[00:01:51] Mylene: The students and or the members are coming mostly from the mortgage.

[00:01:54] Victor: They're mortgage brokers.

[00:01:55] Victor: Yes.

[00:01:55] Victor: Okay.

[00:01:56] Victor: I see.

[00:01:56] Victor: And so when you say community, the only sort of community I'm aware of is like school.

[00:02:02] Victor: Is it similar to school?

[00:02:03] Victor: You know school?

[00:02:04] Mylene: Yes.

[00:02:05] Mylene: It just so happened is that this is a virtual kind of schooling wherein...

[00:02:10] Mylene: Yeah, so we are monitoring their progress and are tracking their scorecard from there through their participation in the events, in their coaching schedules, as well as how they are doing well with their sales goals and whatnot.

[00:02:25] Mylene: Now, the thing is, this community is more like of a social media.

[00:02:29] Victor: Okay.

[00:02:29] Mylene: Yes, because every announcement and every milestone that they are having, every wins that they are getting, we are posting it there.

[00:02:36] Mylene: Okay.

[00:02:36] Victor: So is this school or is this similar to school?

[00:02:40] Mylene: It is similar to school.

[00:02:41] Victor: Oh, but it's not school.

[00:02:42] Mylene: Yeah.

[00:02:42] Victor: Okay.

[00:02:42] Victor: Okay.

[00:02:43] Victor: I see.

[00:02:43] Victor: So basically you guys have gamified progress, like learning, doing different modules, and then people participate, say, hey, I had a win this week.

[00:02:52] Victor: I just closed three clients and this is how I did it.

[00:02:55] Victor: And then people, they do shout outs, they do supports, they have round tables, kind of like that, right?

[00:02:59] Mylene: Yes, that is correct.

[00:03:00] Victor: Okay, so you're the community success administrator, which means you're going around to all these students.

[00:03:08] Victor: And what do you do exactly?

[00:03:09] Victor: Are you saying like, hey, you got to post your weekly check-in?

[00:03:13] Victor: Or how many students are you managing, first of all?

[00:03:16] Mylene: Not necessarily just a specific count of student.

[00:03:19] Mylene: I'm mostly monitoring the actual community platform itself.

[00:03:24] Mylene: So I am managing and or making sure that all events are being posted on time, that those events are being reminded and or announced as a reminder to the students so that they get to participate, they get to attend.

[00:03:38] Mylene: and also i do the announcements in terms of the recaps the replays as well as doing the shout outs for anniversaries for wins for new members as well as for the scorecards who are the top notchers of the monthly scorecards and also the resources i post the resources within the community social platform making sure that they are accessible to the students

[00:04:03] Victor: Okay, I see.

[00:04:04] Victor: And what would you say is the hardest part about your job?

[00:04:08] Mylene: I could say that would be making sure that all events are being attended to and or being participated to.

[00:04:16] Mylene: Yes, because basically we have coaches in there who had invested their time to host and or to facilitate those events.

[00:04:24] Mylene: And we wanted to make sure that it is worthwhile for them and also worthwhile for the other students who have joined in, who have participated in.

[00:04:33] Mylene: So we would want to have more engagement for those kinds of events.

[00:04:36] Victor: I see.

[00:04:37] Victor: I'm curious to know what you do to help that attendance rate.

[00:04:41] Victor: We've run some webinars before.

[00:04:43] Victor: And I understand with these things is like you can get the RSVP.

[00:04:47] Victor: People say they'll be there.

[00:04:49] Victor: But then especially you're not working with people that have to be there.

[00:04:52] Victor: These are professionals that have day to day that run their own businesses.

[00:04:55] Victor: So what are some tactics that you use to, I guess, improve or increase the chances that people will show up?

[00:05:01] Mylene: Well, aside from making sure that the event announcement is being posted ahead of time so that they get to check their schedules ahead as well, we post announcements like two to three times before the actual event itself.

[00:05:16] Mylene: Like five days before the actual event, we post the first announcement.

[00:05:21] Mylene: And then the second announcement is two or three days before the actual event.

[00:05:25] Mylene: And then on the actual event, we post it as well.

[00:05:27] Mylene: And we make those announcement postings.

[00:05:30] Mylene: as engaging as well as exciting as we could possibly be so that we will be able to entice them further into joining in or participating in those events.

[00:05:40] Victor: Yeah, I find, you know, at the end, you have to just remind people why this will help them.

[00:05:46] Mylene: Yes.

[00:05:46] Victor: Because, you know, as much as you want them to show up because your coaches are there or that you guys work really hard, you have to remind the participants that, you know, this is for you.

[00:05:56] Victor: This is why I'm assuming they're paying you guys, right?

[00:05:59] Victor: To be part of this program.

[00:06:01] Victor: So you have to remind them of that.

[00:06:02] Victor: Okay.

[00:06:03] Victor: How many people do you work with on a daily basis?

[00:06:06] Victor: Like how many colleagues do you?

[00:06:07] Mylene: In terms of colleagues, we do have like around 50.

[00:06:11] Mylene: Yeah, 50 in terms of the management side as well as the coaches side.

[00:06:16] Mylene: But in terms of my direct or the whole community success team, we're only two at the team.

[00:06:21] Mylene: And then, yeah, those are basically it.

[00:06:24] Victor: So changing gears a little bit, before we started recording, you said you're taking a social media break, like a detox of sorts.

[00:06:32] Victor: But then you also said that this work is similar to social media.

[00:06:36] Victor: So can you just maybe tell me why you're taking a social media break in the real world?

[00:06:41] Mylene: well the real world world is very stressful already so having so many unnecessary noise is very like very not peaceful anymore and not very calming in any sense

[00:06:58] Mylene: So if I find it that I am no longer finding peace and or sincerity and everything that I could see in social media and whatnot, I stop.

[00:07:09] Mylene: I take a break.

[00:07:10] Mylene: And yeah, I just use other channels or other medium to invest my time in order to check on something else or to learn more things.

[00:07:20] Mylene: So there.

[00:07:20] Victor: You know, the reason why I picked up on that when you mentioned it before we started recording is because I think the Philippines score very high on the social media usage index or something, right?

[00:07:32] Victor: Like everywhere you go here, you're at the mall, you're at the restaurant.

[00:07:35] Mylene: Everybody's scrolling.

[00:07:37] Victor: Everybody's scrolling.

[00:07:38] Victor: You know, they're behind the kiosk.

[00:07:42] Victor: Look, our videographer is scrolling right now.

[00:07:43] Victor: Yes, that's true.

[00:07:44] Victor: Yeah.

[00:07:47] Victor: But, you know, I make social media content.

[00:07:49] Victor: Actually, that's why...

[00:07:50] Victor: your content is more likely to succeed in the Philippines just because there's so many people viewing it.

[00:07:56] Victor: And to your point, I found myself the other day, I was scrolling.

[00:08:00] Victor: I don't even know which platform it was, but they started showing me people getting arrested videos in the States.

[00:08:07] Victor: And it's very entertaining, right?

[00:08:08] Victor: Because...

[00:08:09] Victor: you know people just lose their mind outside in a walmart and then they get tased and they get arrested and it's like a 15 minute long video but then now my entire algorithm is just just like that but then i find i couldn't sleep afterwards because i basically scrolled for 45 minutes watching like very confrontational

[00:08:28] Victor: aggressive content, right?

[00:08:31] Victor: So do you find that here in the Philippines when you start scrolling, it also turns into that like very political divisive sort of content?

[00:08:40] Mylene: Yeah, I think so too.

[00:08:42] Mylene: Because I've been hearing from the news that there has been lots of like children being affected by the social media on a negative manner, a negative way.

[00:08:50] Mylene: And yeah, I think that too much negativity really affects one psychological mindset or thinking.

[00:08:57] Mylene: So that is why as much as possible, I would want to veer away or steer away from that kind of views, perspective, and whatnot.

[00:09:06] Mylene: I really would want it to be chill and relaxed.

[00:09:09] Mylene: Nonetheless, that is the very reason that I started doing the detox or the break from social media.

[00:09:14] Mylene: Because if I'm not learning something from it, I'm totally out of it.

[00:09:18] Mylene: I don't have anything to do with that.

[00:09:19] Mylene: I don't want it.

[00:09:21] Mylene: I am going to scroll some other things.

[00:09:23] Mylene: I'm going to check some other sites or do some other stuff.

[00:09:27] Victor: That's great that you have that self-control because sometimes, you know, I can catch myself, but I don't have the luxury of deleting social media on my phone because of this and then, you know, everything, the content that I have to make.

[00:09:39] Victor: But yeah, it is a very slippery slope.

[00:09:41] Victor: And what you said about kids, I think first principles is pretty logical.

[00:09:46] Victor: A lot of countries now they're moving to ban social media for like high school and middle school students.

[00:09:52] Victor: Yeah.

[00:09:52] Victor: OK, so let's talk about on the extension of social media, you're the community success administrator.

[00:09:59] Victor: I keep repeating it because it's a very long title.

[00:10:01] Victor: OK, but do you ever have to do any moderation?

[00:10:05] Victor: I'm assuming most of your members are pretty chill and they're pretty behaved.

[00:10:11] Victor: But do you have to do a lot of moderation on the content?

[00:10:13] Mylene: no not at all because basically we as you are aware and as you have mentioned they are professionals they are sales people who are very aware of what they needed to do in the community and what they needed to post so they are solely focused on showcasing their wins

[00:10:33] Mylene: And also seeking help from other colleagues or from other coaches.

[00:10:37] Mylene: And if they don't have or if they do not know what they wanted to learn or what they wanted to do on some leads and whatnot, they go ahead and post it there.

[00:10:46] Mylene: So in terms of moderation itself in the social media community of that sales coaching company.

[00:10:53] Mylene: we don't really do like deleting anything or what we are just going to re-profile it according to what space they should go to because we do have spaces or like folders of where the posts should go those are just like the moderation that we do but in terms of like totally deleting or removing one post we don't do that i see

[00:11:12] Victor: Do you have any form of a success metric in this space for how much people should participate?

[00:11:21] Victor: So, for example, I've been part of a few different school groups before in various kind of spaces.

[00:11:29] Victor: And, you know, some of them are quite big.

[00:11:30] Victor: They'll have like 500 members or something like that.

[00:11:33] Victor: But then it's only just like the same 12 people that participate.

[00:11:37] Victor: Do you guys have any sort of metric to guide you with your work or does that not really exist?

[00:11:43] Mylene: On my end or on our side at the customer success team, we don't have that kind of metrics.

[00:11:48] Mylene: It's only relevant to the student or to the member itself.

[00:11:51] Victor: Okay.

[00:11:52] Victor: Yeah.

[00:11:52] Victor: Okay.

[00:11:52] Victor: Okay.

[00:11:53] Victor: I see.

[00:11:54] Victor: Okay, changing gears again, what were you doing before this work?

[00:11:59] Mylene: I'm actually a head of HR and customer success.

[00:12:02] Victor: Okay, so you did customer success before.

[00:12:04] Mylene: Yes.

[00:12:05] Victor: But I saw from your CV that you graduated from accounting.

[00:12:09] Mylene: Yes.

[00:12:09] Victor: It seems like everybody finishes accounting here.

[00:12:11] Victor: And then the last thing they want to do afterwards is accounting.

[00:12:14] Victor: So can you walk me through what happened?

[00:12:17] Victor: You know, maybe just going back in time a little bit.

[00:12:19] Victor: You finish accounting.

[00:12:20] Victor: What was in your head going on to the work world?

[00:12:24] Mylene: In terms of that, accounting was not really my first choice.

[00:12:27] Mylene: I'm more of an arts person.

[00:12:29] Mylene: I really love doing arts, but well, my parents did not like that.

[00:12:33] Mylene: So I have to take a different path.

[00:12:37] Mylene: And I was just really challenged of like finishing accountancy in college because basically we're not well off.

[00:12:43] Mylene: So I really do not have that kind of chance and or leeway to change courses.

[00:12:51] Mylene: So I have to finish it up.

[00:12:52] Victor: Because it costs more money?

[00:12:53] Mylene: Yeah, that is correct.

[00:12:55] Mylene: So yeah, I have to finish it up.

[00:12:57] Mylene: It's just that even before I graduated college, I was already working at the BPO.

[00:13:03] Mylene: Yes.

[00:13:03] Mylene: So I was already working at the BPO.

[00:13:06] Mylene: And then when I finished, I still took the chance to have a review for the board exam and even to apply for a board examination.

[00:13:17] Victor: That's a CPA exam.

[00:13:19] Victor: Okay.

[00:13:19] Mylene: Yes.

[00:13:20] Mylene: I was even assigned to school where I should take my exam.

[00:13:24] Mylene: I was there.

[00:13:25] Mylene: Two Sundays, I was there, but I did not go inside.

[00:13:28] Victor: Interesting.

[00:13:29] Mylene: I got scared.

[00:13:30] Victor: So you walked right up the door.

[00:13:32] Mylene: No, I was just because the school that I was assigned to was the Consolation in Manjola near Malacanang.

[00:13:41] Mylene: There is a McDonald's outside that school.

[00:13:43] Mylene: I was just staying there.

[00:13:45] Mylene: Everybody's already lining up, going in so that they could take the exams.

[00:13:49] Mylene: But I was just in McDonald's.

[00:13:51] Mylene: I was just sitting in there and it's like... Refill iced tea, please.

[00:13:55] Mylene: Yes, I was just like, why do I have to take this?

[00:13:58] Mylene: I might not pass.

[00:13:59] Mylene: So there.

[00:13:59] Mylene: Wow.

[00:14:00] Victor: Oh, okay.

[00:14:01] Victor: But you went there twice?

[00:14:02] Mylene: Yes, because the schedules were two Sundays.

[00:14:05] Victor: Did you notice anybody else at that McDonald's that also were waiting?

[00:14:10] Mylene: I don't think so.

[00:14:11] Mylene: I'm not sure because I'm the only one wearing white because there's a uniform when you take the board exam.

[00:14:15] Mylene: You should wear white and then jeans.

[00:14:20] Victor: So did your parents know about this?

[00:14:22] Mylene: No, until today, no.

[00:14:24] Mylene: Okay.

[00:14:24] Victor: Oh, wow.

[00:14:24] Victor: Well, hopefully they don't watch this then.

[00:14:27] Victor: Don't worry.

[00:14:28] Victor: Viewer retention is very low.

[00:14:30] Victor: Usually they just drop off after 45 seconds.

[00:14:32] Victor: So I don't think they'll make it to this part of the podcast.

[00:14:35] Victor: That is so interesting.

[00:14:36] Victor: So you almost took the board exam.

[00:14:38] Victor: And we have a finance team here.

[00:14:41] Victor: And the ladies already tell me the CPA in the accounting field is coveted, right?

[00:14:46] Victor: People really respect it.

[00:14:48] Victor: And if you finish your Bachelor of Science in Accountancy, then you should take it.

[00:14:52] Victor: My advice to them has always been

[00:14:54] Victor: Don't do it.

[00:14:55] Victor: It's a waste of time because you're just going to compete with everybody else that does the same thing.

[00:15:01] Victor: And the only people that respect you for it is the people that already have it.

[00:15:05] Victor: Because they also, you know, I get it, but they need validation that what they did is the right thing.

[00:15:11] Victor: So it's a big kind of circular weave.

[00:15:14] Victor: No, I find that sort of interesting.

[00:15:15] Victor: So do you feel any guilt or how did you move on from that?

[00:15:20] Victor: Like, so you went to the McDonald's twice and what happened afterwards?

[00:15:24] Mylene: I think this is like one of the biggest lies that I did in my life.

[00:15:29] Mylene: I forged like a negative result.

[00:15:32] Victor: Oh, you failed.

[00:15:34] Mylene: Yes.

[00:15:34] Victor: This is fascinating.

[00:15:35] Mylene: So that I will be able to present it to my parents and that I could tell them that I did not best.

[00:15:41] Victor: Wow.

[00:15:42] Mylene: Yes.

[00:15:43] Victor: So this is so interesting because I just, I'm going to do a bit of talking here.

[00:15:46] Victor: So I did my CFA exam.

[00:15:49] Victor: I don't know if you know CFA.

[00:15:50] Victor: It starts for Chartered Financial Analysts.

[00:15:52] Victor: It's very hard.

[00:15:53] Victor: Now, I had the opposite sort of journey as you because I didn't study.

[00:15:59] Victor: And when I showed up to the exam hall that day, no one was wearing white.

[00:16:03] Victor: There was no dress code.

[00:16:04] Victor: But I saw everybody and their face and how serious they were.

[00:16:10] Victor: And they were all looking at their notes outside the exam hall.

[00:16:12] Victor: You know, this exam is very serious.

[00:16:14] Victor: You're only allowed to bring, like, two pencils, calculator.

[00:16:18] Victor: It has to be the specific model.

[00:16:19] Victor: They check your passport.

[00:16:21] Victor: And you can't even have an elastic band on your table.

[00:16:23] Victor: You know, this is very serious.

[00:16:25] Victor: And when I saw everybody as a competitive person, that's when I realized I screwed up.

[00:16:32] Victor: Like I should have studied because there was no way I was going to pass.

[00:16:36] Victor: And so that actually got me to try for it again after I failed.

[00:16:41] Victor: But I find what's fascinating about your story is most people, when they commit forgery on their resume or something, they say they've achieved something or that they were able to do something or they get an A instead of a B or B instead of a C. But you said I failed.

[00:16:56] Mylene: Yeah.

[00:16:57] Mylene: Yeah.

[00:16:58] Victor: Is that a, do you think that dynamic, because I'm a Chinese Canadian, so I grew up with a tiger mom in China as well, right?

[00:17:06] Victor: And so do you feel like, is that just an Eastern dynamic?

[00:17:09] Victor: Is that a Filipino dynamic?

[00:17:10] Victor: Or is that just your family where you feel the pressure to...

[00:17:14] Mylene: I think it's somehow popular, common here in the Philippines where you're going to be pressured by your parents and whatnot.

[00:17:21] Mylene: But it really just depends on how you are going to close that loop of pressure.

[00:17:28] Mylene: In my end, I just wanted to have it closed, done deal that I did not make it.

[00:17:33] Mylene: That's that.

[00:17:34] Mylene: But I do not want to tell them that I just do not want it.

[00:17:37] Mylene: I don't want to do it.

[00:17:40] Mylene: I just want them to know that I tried, though I did not, but I did not make it.

[00:17:46] Mylene: Because that's the closure for them.

[00:17:48] Victor: And they still don't know this.

[00:17:49] Victor: Yeah.

[00:17:49] Victor: Okay.

[00:17:49] Victor: Okay.

[00:17:50] Victor: How did they react to that?

[00:17:52] Mylene: Because they know that I've been earning already because I told you I was already working at the BPO.

[00:17:57] Mylene: I've been supporting them already.

[00:18:00] Victor: That was just like customer service job?

[00:18:01] Mylene: Yes, yes.

[00:18:02] Mylene: It was like a CSR.

[00:18:04] Mylene: And then, yeah, they said that it is what it is.

[00:18:08] Mylene: That's a bahagana.

[00:18:10] Mylene: Yeah.

[00:18:11] Victor: Interesting.

[00:18:12] Victor: So you feel the pressure to follow in their will.

[00:18:16] Victor: It's the concept like to obey your parents.

[00:18:18] Victor: Is that fair to say?

[00:18:20] Mylene: Yes.

[00:18:20] Victor: But then your parents also have the, because I find Filipinos very empathetic and they're very patient and compassionate.

[00:18:27] Victor: So then when you fail, then they're like, oh, it's okay.

[00:18:30] Victor: You tried your best.

[00:18:31] Mylene: Yeah.

[00:18:32] Victor: But up until that point, you have to keep doing what they say.

[00:18:35] Victor: Yeah.

[00:18:36] Mylene: Yeah, up until the time of that, I'm already earning and I could already decide on my own.

[00:18:40] Victor: Also, the earning is a big piece of it too.

[00:18:43] Mylene: Yes, because it means that I could already go ahead and support myself and also them and help them out.

[00:18:49] Mylene: I see.

[00:18:49] Victor: But they don't care.

[00:18:51] Victor: So their concern is not from the quality or the category of that earning.

[00:18:58] Mylene: No, not necessarily.

[00:18:59] Victor: So they wanted you to study accountancy so you can have a stable job.

[00:19:02] Victor: Yes.

[00:19:03] Victor: But since you have a stable job already...

[00:19:05] Victor: It doesn't really matter.

[00:19:06] Mylene: Yeah.

[00:19:06] Victor: How does it feel to say this on air?

[00:19:08] Victor: You feel good?

[00:19:09] Victor: I mean, I'm sure your friends know.

[00:19:12] Mylene: Well, there are only a few people that know.

[00:19:15] Mylene: I mean, of course, my partner.

[00:19:16] Victor: You guys, lips are sealed.

[00:19:18] Mylene: Of course, my partner knows about it.

[00:19:20] Mylene: But nonetheless, yeah, there are very few people that knows that I did not take.

[00:19:25] Victor: What would you say to anybody out there that was in that situation as you, you know, they're sitting at the McDonald's and they're watching all the people line up.

[00:19:34] Victor: And it doesn't have to be accountancy.

[00:19:36] Victor: It can be anything else.

[00:19:38] Victor: Any words of advice?

[00:19:40] Mylene: Maybe as long as they can...

[00:19:42] Mylene: Forge.

[00:19:43] Mylene: No.

[00:19:44] Victor: Tell them what font to use.

[00:19:46] Mylene: No.

[00:19:46] Mylene: As long as... Well, there's already AI.

[00:19:48] Mylene: They can do it on their end.

[00:19:51] Mylene: Well, as long as they can actually back it up, they know how to stand on that decision.

[00:19:57] Mylene: Well, whatever that decision that is, it's up to them.

[00:20:03] Mylene: Again, as long as they can stand on that decision and they have a definite plan afterwards, then they'll be good.

[00:20:11] Victor: That's so interesting.

[00:20:12] Victor: I think this is one of the most interesting things I've heard.

[00:20:15] Victor: I have a good friend.

[00:20:16] Victor: When I went to university with him, the first year we stayed on campus.

[00:20:20] Victor: So we live on campus and we lived in one of the biggest party houses in North America.

[00:20:24] Victor: So after the first year, he was in a very prestigious business school in the West Coast.

[00:20:31] Victor: And he got kicked out because his grades were so bad.

[00:20:34] Victor: And he didn't tell his parents.

[00:20:36] Victor: Mm-hmm.

[00:20:37] Victor: Because he's an international student.

[00:20:38] Victor: He didn't tell his parents for a whole year.

[00:20:40] Victor: He was transferred to like a nameless community college.

[00:20:45] Victor: And he had to work his way back up.

[00:20:47] Victor: And he worked his way back up and re-transferred in.

[00:20:51] Victor: And so that whole chapter on his life was just like void.

[00:20:55] Mylene: It's like void.

[00:20:56] Victor: Yeah, it never happened.

[00:20:58] Victor: Everybody knows.

[00:20:59] Victor: Okay, so going on from that, super fascinating.

[00:21:02] Victor: You're working at the BPO.

[00:21:05] Victor: And tell me a little bit about that, your BPO journey and where that led you.

[00:21:09] Mylene: I could say that was one of like the...

[00:21:13] Mylene: Many stepping stones of most professionals nowadays in the community, as well as in the VA world.

[00:21:21] Mylene: BPO is definitely like a foundation for almost all of us in the VA industry.

[00:21:27] Mylene: In my BPO years, I worked as a CSR and then a customer service representative.

[00:21:34] Mylene: And then in terms of that work, I only stayed there for like a couple of years.

[00:21:38] Mylene: And then...

[00:21:39] Mylene: I had that will to, I don't want to take phone calls too long.

[00:21:44] Mylene: I really wanted to step up of the ladder.

[00:21:47] Victor: Because the phone doesn't stop ringing, right?

[00:21:49] Victor: Yes, that's correct.

[00:21:50] Victor: It truly is non-stop.

[00:21:52] Mylene: Yes.

[00:21:53] Victor: By the way, sorry, I should have done this.

[00:21:54] Victor: BPO stands for Business Process Outsourcing.

[00:21:58] Victor: It's, you know, if you're listening to this from the West, it's basically a call center.

[00:22:01] Victor: Cubicles, cubicles, like rows on rows.

[00:22:04] Mylene: Yes.

[00:22:05] Victor: You know, when I first saw one, I thought, well, that's a really fun work environment because you can just like roll your chair back and go, hey, Susan, what are you doing this weekend?

[00:22:13] Victor: Actually, nobody can do that because the phone just, it just rings nonstop.

[00:22:17] Mylene: Yes, that's correct.

[00:22:18] Victor: Okay.

[00:22:19] Mylene: And basically, yeah, as I have mentioned, I really don't want it to have my career all throughout in just answering phone calls and also faking it, faking it till you make it, even if you really wanted to curse the other person on the other line because their concern was just definitely shit.

[00:22:38] Mylene: Sorry for my French.

[00:22:39] Victor: Go ahead, go ahead.

[00:22:41] Mylene: So there.

[00:22:42] Mylene: But yeah, that is why I make it a point to be promoted as a trainer.

[00:22:47] Victor: Right.

[00:22:47] Mylene: Yes.

[00:22:47] Mylene: And then that's where my journey started in terms of learning and development.

[00:22:53] Victor: So you were coaching other CSRs how to fake it all.

[00:22:58] Mylene: Yes.

[00:22:59] Mylene: And basically, I find it fascinating that I can actually help out and I can train.

[00:23:04] Mylene: I like to talk, but I wanted them to learn from my talking.

[00:23:11] Mylene: So that is why the line of my life progress and growth really equated into that training, learning and development, HR, human resource.

[00:23:21] Mylene: So there.

[00:23:22] Victor: What type of accounts were you covering?

[00:23:24] Victor: You don't have to say the company name.

[00:23:25] Victor: Yeah, that's fine.

[00:23:26] Mylene: Well, telco.

[00:23:28] Victor: Okay.

[00:23:28] Mylene: Healthcare.

[00:23:29] Mylene: Okay.

[00:23:30] Mylene: Financial.

[00:23:31] Victor: Okay.

[00:23:32] Mylene: Well, this is just all throughout my career, but most of those companies that are like considered BPO is now like known as KPO or Knowledge Process Outforcing.

[00:23:44] Mylene: So there, I have financing as well.

[00:23:46] Mylene: And also hotel and restaurant management.

[00:23:50] Mylene: Oh, I forgot industry, but yeah, it's related to hotels.

[00:23:54] Mylene: Okay.

[00:23:54] Victor: So you're mostly speaking to, is it American clients, Canadian?

[00:23:58] Mylene: All over the world.

[00:23:59] Victor: And then they call and they say, hey, there's a $2 surcharge on my credit card.

[00:24:04] Victor: Please reverse it, something like that.

[00:24:06] Mylene: Yes, yes.

[00:24:07] Victor: Okay.

[00:24:07] Victor: No, I totally understand.

[00:24:10] Victor: Yeah.

[00:24:10] Victor: You mentioned that the BPO, or outsourcing space, is foundational for a lot of people who then later transition to virtual work or just anyone in their career.

[00:24:21] Victor: Why do you say it's foundational?

[00:24:23] Mylene: Because one, it's the communication as well as the skill sets that have been offered and also have been promulgated within the BPO industry as well as the KPO industry that I think are very essential and valuable when you transition to the VA world.

[00:24:41] Victor: So the most obvious way for me to interpret that is that you speak English very well.

[00:24:45] Victor: But is there anything else part of that training?

[00:24:48] Victor: Yes.

[00:24:48] Mylene: Well, aside from that, we'll be, well, this is a cliche, but multitasking is one of the skill set that they have always been promoting.

[00:24:55] Mylene: But, well, for one, I don't believe in multitasking because it only promotes procrastination.

[00:25:01] Mylene: And that's another topic for another day.

[00:25:03] Mylene: But yeah, well, the other skill set would be related to technical, how to navigate through tools and whatnot, and also critical thinking, analytics, and so on.

[00:25:16] Victor: Do they teach you conflict management?

[00:25:19] Mylene: Not every one, but there will be instances, especially if you will be starting from one position to another and you're already moving up of the ladder.

[00:25:28] Victor: Okay.

[00:25:28] Victor: I do find the communication styles are different.

[00:25:31] Victor: You know, for example, I found that here the work culture Filipino is very non-confrontational.

[00:25:37] Victor: Whereas in the West, we speak very direct.

[00:25:40] Victor: And it's usually not personal.

[00:25:41] Victor: It's just, hey, where's my $2 refund?

[00:25:43] Mylene: Yeah, that's right.

[00:25:45] Victor: So do you guys get any cultural training about the different areas of, say, the United States, how they do things, or not really?

[00:25:55] Victor: Yeah.

[00:25:55] Mylene: Yes, that's part of the soft skills training wherein we do the training for US 101.

[00:26:04] Mylene: Aside from training the different states of the US, we also needed to inform or to train the students as well as the BPO new hires how to manage and also how to help out.

[00:26:20] Mylene: those citizens coming from different states.

[00:26:22] Mylene: Because for example, the New Yorkers, they tend to speak fast and also they wanted fast and swift resolution.

[00:26:30] Mylene: Meanwhile, there are states wherein somehow it's okay to be linked back.

[00:26:35] Mylene: The West.

[00:26:37] Victor: West Coast.

[00:26:38] Mylene: Yeah.

[00:26:38] Mylene: Well, yeah.

[00:26:39] Mylene: So those are like the different things and scenarios that were helping out in training the New Hires before.

[00:26:46] Victor: If you go to New York and you just walk too slow, people will yell at you.

[00:26:50] Mylene: Yeah.

[00:26:51] Victor: So there's some soft rules built in that society.

[00:26:55] Victor: Okay, so after you became a trainer in the BPO, what happened afterwards?

[00:26:59] Victor: So at this point, you were still working on site.

[00:27:02] Mylene: Yes, that is correct.

[00:27:03] Mylene: I was working on site up until 2022.

[00:27:08] Victor: Pandemic.

[00:27:08] Mylene: Yes.

[00:27:09] Victor: So then you were forced to stay at home?

[00:27:11] Victor: Yes.

[00:27:12] Mylene: That's basically one of the, like, written rules before during the pandemic that we had to stay inside.

[00:27:19] Mylene: And so we were forced to just stay at home and work from home.

[00:27:24] Mylene: So that's the start of where I really wanted to, like, okay, this sounds fun.

[00:27:30] Victor: Yeah, this is nice.

[00:27:31] Mylene: Yes.

[00:27:31] Mylene: I'm not going out.

[00:27:33] Mylene: And I don't have to deal with so many people.

[00:27:36] Mylene: Because for one, I really don't like...

[00:27:39] Mylene: meeting other people.

[00:27:41] Victor: Okay.

[00:27:41] Mylene: Hi, guys.

[00:27:43] Mylene: So, yes.

[00:27:44] Mylene: Or even going to the grocery store.

[00:27:47] Mylene: I really don't like being touched, being, you know, whatever.

[00:27:51] Mylene: So, I really don't.

[00:27:52] Mylene: I hate crowded places.

[00:27:54] Mylene: So, I don't say that I like the pandemic era, but the pandemic era is only allowing one person per household to be out.

[00:28:03] Mylene: And I like that kind of list.

[00:28:05] Victor: Oh, that's the rule here?

[00:28:07] Victor: One person per household?

[00:28:08] Mylene: perhaps household, going to the grocery store and doing shopping and so on.

[00:28:13] Victor: I heard people really went crazy here.

[00:28:15] Victor: Like this, I mean, not policy wise, but I just mean, cause I'm not allowed to say that.

[00:28:20] Victor: It's just to be clear.

[00:28:21] Victor: But I just like people's psychology, but you liked it.

[00:28:25] Victor: Cause you like staying home.

[00:28:26] Mylene: Yes.

[00:28:27] Victor: Okay.

[00:28:27] Mylene: I like that idea.

[00:28:29] Mylene: So from being a trainer, I handled people of my own.

[00:28:33] Mylene: I became a supervisor in a collections company.

[00:28:36] Mylene: I went back to training, became a training and quality supervisor for another collections organization.

[00:28:43] Mylene: I became an assistant HR manager and handled learning and development for a retail company locally.

[00:28:50] Mylene: And then...

[00:28:51] Mylene: yeah that's when the pandemic happened pandemic had stricken and then there i like being at home so that's why when we were already forced of going back to work reporting back to the office it's like i don't want to be back in the office

[00:29:08] Mylene: So that's where I look for other jobs.

[00:29:11] Victor: You started transitioning.

[00:29:12] Mylene: Yes, I started transitioning, but not necessarily into the VA world first.

[00:29:16] Mylene: It's more of like a hybrid setup wherein I was part of the hotel and management industry where I was doing project management.

[00:29:25] Mylene: I was onboarding people.

[00:29:26] Mylene: I was still also training people, but online.

[00:29:29] Mylene: And that's where I was able to speak with lots of people all over the world because I'm not only handling North America, but I was also taking care of Asia Pacific, of EMEA.

[00:29:40] Mylene: So I was doing training of any nationality in terms of the tools that they are going to use when they open up a hotel or a spa for their hotel.

[00:29:51] Victor: You speak very well.

[00:29:52] Victor: So I can see that put, you know, you being in a, any role that's high leverage.

[00:29:56] Victor: And I define that by just like you put in one unit of effort and there's multiple units that come out.

[00:30:01] Victor: So if you're training 50 people, I see that's great.

[00:30:04] Victor: I could also see you do really well in sales just because you're very conversant.

[00:30:09] Victor: Okay.

[00:30:09] Victor: So that's all very good.

[00:30:11] Victor: What would you say is the most important lesson that you've learned in your career so far?

[00:30:16] Mylene: In my career so far, actually people will tell me that you don't have like a specialization.

[00:30:22] Mylene: How could you be, how could you consider yourself like a professional, like a successful person if you don't have like one specific thing that you are very good at, that you are an expert at.

[00:30:34] Mylene: Like a CPA.

[00:30:35] Mylene: Yeah, like a CPA.

[00:30:36] Mylene: But for me, that's my strength.

[00:30:39] Mylene: I am a Jill of all trade.

[00:30:42] Mylene: You can go ahead and place me anywhere.

[00:30:43] Mylene: You can go ahead and place me at back end.

[00:30:46] Mylene: I could still perform.

[00:30:47] Mylene: You can go ahead and face or put me on the front line.

[00:30:50] Mylene: I could still go ahead and perform.

[00:30:52] Mylene: I could be in the middle of the management.

[00:30:54] Mylene: I could still go ahead and perform.

[00:30:55] Mylene: I can support the organization 360 degrees.

[00:30:59] Mylene: And that's my greatest strength.

[00:31:01] Mylene: So as long as you can.

[00:31:04] Mylene: be successful on your own, be successful on the decisions that you are doing in life, you're fine.

[00:31:11] Mylene: You're good to go.

[00:31:12] Mylene: You don't really have to have that license to be considered successful.

[00:31:17] Mylene: If that is your point of view, okay, then so be it.

[00:31:20] Mylene: Go ahead and you do you.

[00:31:22] Mylene: But for me, my definition of being successful is me being able to do what I needed to do.

[00:31:28] Mylene: 100%, 200% of the time.

[00:31:29] Mylene: So there.

[00:31:31] Victor: Thank you for that.

[00:31:32] Victor: Yeah, it reminds me of that quote, and I'm not caffeinated enough, but it's something about, you know, being a master of none.

[00:31:39] Victor: You know, jack of all trades is a master of none, right?

[00:31:42] Victor: Yes, yes.

[00:31:42] Victor: But actually, whenever people quote that quote, they don't finish quoting the whole quote because the whole quote actually says, you're jack of all trades, which means you're a master of none, but it's always better than a master of one.

[00:31:55] Mylene: Oh.

[00:31:56] Victor: But somehow when you look on memes and, you know, quote, inspirational things, people always leave out that last bit.

[00:32:03] Victor: But that's the full sentence.

[00:32:04] Victor: So I totally agree.

[00:32:05] Victor: I think generalists definitely run this world, especially if, you know, now we have AI.

[00:32:11] Mylene: Yes.

[00:32:12] Victor: You really don't want all your eggs.

[00:32:13] Victor: Correct.

[00:32:14] Mylene: That's very true.

[00:32:15] Mylene: That's very true.

[00:32:16] Victor: Yeah.

[00:32:17] Victor: So really it comes down to, you know, being, I was going to ask you, do you feel threatened by AI?

[00:32:22] Victor: I feel like your work is pretty human.

[00:32:24] Mylene: No, I'm not very much threatened by AI.

[00:32:28] Mylene: I am using AI as a tool.

[00:32:31] Mylene: I could say that I am still indispensable even in this AI world because no one will be able to replace my human touch.

[00:32:39] Victor: There you go.

[00:32:40] Victor: I see.

[00:32:40] Victor: What do you like to do for fun?

[00:32:41] Victor: So you said you like anime and manga.

[00:32:44] Mylene: Yes.

[00:32:45] Mylene: Despite my age, I still love...

[00:32:47] Victor: Well, I understand.

[00:32:49] Victor: You know why?

[00:32:49] Victor: Because I started reading One Piece, for example, when I was 15.

[00:32:53] Victor: Okay?

[00:32:54] Victor: I'm 35.

[00:32:56] Victor: And so I stopped a few years ago because I was like, this is never going to end.

[00:33:02] Victor: And I need my Wednesdays back or whatever.

[00:33:04] Victor: Because I think it would drop on, like, Wednesdays or something.

[00:33:08] Victor: And then I really stopped reading when...

[00:33:11] Victor: The last one I think I was reading was, like, Hunter X.

[00:33:15] Victor: And then, you know, they stopped.

[00:33:17] Victor: Yeah.

[00:33:17] Mylene: Like, it was on hiatus now.

[00:33:19] Victor: Yeah.

[00:33:19] Victor: What do you like, just for people listening?

[00:33:21] Victor: I don't know if I might know it, but what do you like?

[00:33:24] Mylene: I like Haikyuu.

[00:33:26] Mylene: volleyball okay back in all these ones yeah i end into sport um manga nowadays yes that's why blue walk

[00:33:37] Mylene: I don't like the animation, so I'm not.

[00:33:39] Mylene: Sorry.

[00:33:40] Mylene: Sorry to blue lock, but I'm not into blue lock because of the animation.

[00:33:45] Mylene: The latest one that I really read was, I forgot the title of that manga, was For a Badminton.

[00:33:51] Mylene: All Ladies.

[00:33:52] Victor: Okay.

[00:33:53] Mylene: Yeah.

[00:33:53] Mylene: And also Free.

[00:33:54] Mylene: That's the latest anime.

[00:33:56] Mylene: Free is like a movie type of anime, not a series one, wherein it's for swimming.

[00:34:02] Mylene: All guys.

[00:34:02] Mylene: Yeah.

[00:34:03] Victor: Okay.

[00:34:04] Victor: Interesting.

[00:34:06] Victor: Interesting.

[00:34:07] Victor: Okay, great.

[00:34:07] Victor: And then you mentioned that you like to travel within the Philippines.

[00:34:12] Victor: Yes, yes.

[00:34:14] Victor: The one place, I just want to share this with everybody because it's very peculiar that you like to visit outside the Philippines as well.

[00:34:21] Mylene: The stands, the five stands, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and so on.

[00:34:26] Victor: And why do you want to visit there?

[00:34:27] Mylene: Oh, it's because of the geography, the nature.

[00:34:29] Mylene: But you have mentioned they are known for something else.

[00:34:33] Victor: They're known for wrestling, like grappling arts.

[00:34:37] Victor: Some of the world's best jiu-jitsu and MMA fighters come from that region.

[00:34:43] Victor: And they're also known for great weightlifters because it's a hard country.

[00:34:47] Victor: Yeah.

[00:34:47] Mylene: Oh, okay.

[00:34:48] Victor: And it's a very, don't test my kind of history and geopolitics, but I think it's like Soviet influenced.

[00:34:57] Victor: And so people have this very hard mentality.

[00:34:59] Victor: They swim in cold rivers and stuff.

[00:35:01] Victor: Like the guys there, they're all very kind of macho.

[00:35:04] Victor: And they have to do a lot of physical work, you know, to develop their bodies.

[00:35:08] Victor: So I've also wanted to visit, but I've never thought about that area.

[00:35:12] Victor: I wanted to visit Mongolia.

[00:35:14] Mylene: Oh, the Mongols.

[00:35:15] Mylene: Yeah.

[00:35:16] Victor: And actually, so the tip I was going to recommend you because sometimes traveling can be very expensive is there is a volunteer program and we're not affiliated at all.

[00:35:24] Victor: My wife and I use this to travel the world.

[00:35:26] Victor: It's called workaway.info.

[00:35:28] Victor: Oh.

[00:35:29] Victor: So you basically, you can go anywhere in the world and you work five days a week, five hours a day, and then they give you room and food for the whole week.

[00:35:39] Victor: Okay.

[00:35:40] Victor: So five hours a day, most of the time, if you start early, and it could be farm work, it could be cleaning the house, washing your kids.

[00:35:47] Victor: It's like 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. And then you're done.

[00:35:50] Victor: You have the whole day.

[00:35:52] Victor: But then you have breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

[00:35:54] Victor: And then you have accommodation for the whole weekend's off as well.

[00:35:58] Victor: So we did that in Norway.

[00:35:59] Victor: We did that in the Netherlands.

[00:36:01] Victor: We did that in Poland.

[00:36:02] Victor: It's just a very economical way to travel.

[00:36:06] Victor: You still have to cover for your own fare.

[00:36:07] Victor: Mm-hmm.

[00:36:08] Victor: But it's also a great way to experience a country in its true form.

[00:36:12] Mylene: Correct.

[00:36:13] Victor: Because then you're not just going to be in a hotel or a hostel living in the city center.

[00:36:19] Victor: So if you went to Dagestan and there's a family that want a cultural exchange, a lot of them are very forward because they want...

[00:36:27] Victor: other cultures that come to their home to give their kids an experience, for example, something like that.

[00:36:32] Victor: You can live with them.

[00:36:33] Victor: You know, they'll feed you goat's milk or whatever.

[00:36:35] Victor: They eat over there.

[00:36:37] Victor: And then you can maybe even learn how to ride horses.

[00:36:40] Victor: So Norway, they taught us how to ride horses.

[00:36:42] Victor: nice yeah yeah like because if you pay for that out of pocket horseback riding lessons i don't know how much you have to pay but because we were balling king on a horse farm learning to take care of horses they just needed you know free labor but for us we got a really rich experience so you you get to tend to the horses

[00:36:59] Victor: Yes, yes.

[00:37:00] Victor: I was in the horse pen.

[00:37:01] Victor: The only time I had to come out was there's a storm.

[00:37:05] Victor: And so one of the horses was freaking out.

[00:37:06] Victor: And the horse says, get out of there right now.

[00:37:08] Victor: Because these things are really big.

[00:37:11] Mylene: Yeah.

[00:37:11] Victor: You know, they're not ponies.

[00:37:12] Victor: And so there's a risk factor to it.

[00:37:14] Victor: But overall, I really recommend it.

[00:37:17] Victor: So I'll put in the show notes where I'll send it to you afterwards.

[00:37:20] Victor: Just maybe down the road if you wanted to.

[00:37:22] Mylene: Yeah, yeah.

[00:37:23] Victor: And for some really remote places, because they need help, they'll even pay for your travel.

[00:37:28] Victor: Wow.

[00:37:28] Mylene: Oh, and that's nice.

[00:37:29] Victor: So if you just... And by the way, because you could still work.

[00:37:32] Mylene: Yeah, true.

[00:37:34] Victor: Right?

[00:37:34] Victor: Mm-hmm.

[00:37:34] Victor: You know?

[00:37:35] Victor: So you just have to balance it.

[00:37:37] Mylene: Yep.

[00:37:37] Victor: But you didn't hear that from me.

[00:37:38] Victor: No, still work part.

[00:37:39] Mylene: Okay.

[00:37:40] Victor: Yeah.

[00:37:40] Victor: Anyways, any parting message you want to give to the world or anybody listening, maybe aspiring, people who are in an office right now and they want to transition to work from home, what would be the number one tip you'll give them?

[00:37:52] Mylene: For one, if you're watching this podcast...

[00:37:57] Mylene: It's your sign.

[00:37:59] Mylene: Go ahead and try doing virtual assistance.

[00:38:03] Mylene: If you don't know where to start because you don't know where to get clients and so on, go ahead and start with Trendly.

[00:38:10] Mylene: Trendly is definitely providing the needed resource and also good clientele in terms of providing you that VA experience.

[00:38:21] Mylene: go ahead try it out you will never know there's definitely no way of learning something if you're not going to try it out and you will not be able to tell yourself if you've been successful in that role or in that position if you will not be able to take a feel for it have a feel for it and see if okay i think i can do it

[00:38:42] Victor: Yeah, you just have to try, right?

[00:38:43] Victor: Yeah.

[00:38:43] Victor: You know, and thank you, Mylene, for the shout out.

[00:38:45] Victor: You didn't have to.

[00:38:46] Victor: I always say to clients and VAs because they always say, like, well, what's the chance that, you know, this is going to work out?

[00:38:53] Victor: And I said, very low.

[00:38:55] Victor: Very low.

[00:38:56] Victor: Like, if this is your first time outsourcing to a different culture, this is your first time working for a New York client, I give you three weeks survival time.

[00:39:04] Mylene: Correct.

[00:39:04] Victor: But you should still try.

[00:39:05] Victor: Yes.

[00:39:06] Victor: Because then your next time will be six weeks.

[00:39:09] Victor: And hopefully your next time is not 12 weeks, it's six months or something.

[00:39:12] Victor: But I think the whole world is coming together to collaborate, but you can't underestimate the cultural differences.

[00:39:19] Victor: You can't underestimate these things.

[00:39:21] Victor: But once you're able to figure it out, then it's quite beautiful.

[00:39:26] Victor: It works for everybody.

[00:39:27] Victor: It's win-win, win-win for all.

[00:39:29] Victor: But Myles, thank you so much for coming on the chat.

[00:39:32] Mylene: Thank you so much as well, Victor, for having me.