From Sabangan to Texas

Here's the story of one of our kailians, Marlene Paredes from Sabangan, Mountain Province. She's currently the only Filipino who's working as a marketing strategist at Texas Instruments (TI)in Dallas, Texas. The article originally appeared in Cordillera Today's May 6 issue. Happy reading!:-)

Picking Up Stones, Gaining the World

Fifty centavos. This was her first salary as a six-year-old girl who had to carry stones from Sabangan River to a house being constructed near their house. In her village, almost all the children earned money this way. They would jump at the opportunity to get paid for an easy job because they do harder work at home for free. After she got her pay, she hopped to the store and bought a soy sauce for their use at home. “I don’t remember buying myself a candy because I was just so excited to buy something for my family,” she recalls.

Today, she travels frequently from the US to Europe as a marketing strategist for one of the world’s leading semiconductor firms. Only 39, Marlene Paredes is currently the only Filipino working in strategic marketing for Texas Instruments (TI) in Dallas, Texas.



Often the smallest and only female in their team, Marlene (extreme left) poses with her colleagues during a business trip to Salzburg, Austria.

Barely 5’1, bereft of jewelry and without any trace of make-up, Marlene looks fresh out of college in a pair of gray denims and long-sleeved white shirt. She presents herself the way she’d like to be known: a simple woman who’s grateful for every blessing that has come her way. Indeed, there are few Filipinos, Igorots for that matter, who have reached what she has achieved.

“As a marketing strategist, my work involves defining and executing marketing and business strategy for the European and Korean automotive markets. I travel a lot to Europe and sometimes to Korea to visit customers and also our sales groups for these regions,” she says.

Marlene’s excellent work served as her passport to her present job. She was then working as an engineer at Team Pacific in Taguig when she learned of an opening at TI’s Mexico City factory. Without any connections and just her resume to back her up, she was immediately hired as a process engineer. In 1994, she left the Philippines for Mexico City, where her career would bloom.

“It was my first time to work in a foreign country and I was still very new in the corporate world. And I also couldn’t speak Spanish! I felt homesick during my first few weeks,” she shares.

Thus, she poured all her energy at work while learning how to speak and write in Spanish. Just after six months from being hired, she was promoted engineering manager for assembly and in less than one year, as operations manager. Not even in her 30s, female, and a newcomer, Marlene was tasked to manage about 80 percent of the semiconductor operations at TI-Mexico.

Right after her promotion, TI Mexico’s top management gave her the authority to redesign the whole factory. Despite her broken Spanish, she successfully led and executed the project, putting TI Mexico in the radar screen of the executive management. “Our factory’s output increased by over 1000 percent after we were done with it,” Marlene recalls, smiling.

There was no stopping her after that. Marlene then co-wrote a paper on factory re-engineering which was chosen as one of the 12 papers to be presented in an international conference of semiconductor engineers in Mesa, Arizona.

She was the only woman and the only Filipina presenter in that event attended by semiconductor manufacturing engineers all over the world. “As I stood to present, I was literally shaking but after about five minutes, I got my full bearing and presented like a real pro,” she shares.

When she left Mexico City , Marlene received about 10 despedidas, many from people who, at the start of her work, asked “why someone with a red badge (at TI, this indicates the employee has less than 5 years’ experience) can lead someone with a gold badge (over 20 years’ experience).”



Marlene visits the Eiffel Tower in Paris during one of her business
trips to Europe.

Achieving success at an early age meant Marlene had to postpone her personal life as she focused on her work. After almost five years in Mexico, she decided to shift career from the technical side to the marketing side of the business. “I told myself, ‘Now that I have proven that I can be who I want to be, it’s time to focus on myself.’”

Moving to Dallas, she started doing apprentice work for marketing before getting into her current position. She was able to learn the business side of TI while having time for herself and her family. “I was able to spend more time with my family traveling to Hongkong , Singapore , Thailand and Cebu. My priorities now have shifted from career to my personal life,” she adds.

Being a manager is actually no big deal for Marlene. “The business environment these days is very, very dynamic. Within the past few years, we have seen lay-offs in our company and around us. If you can’t add value to the organization, you are gone,” she explains.

Is it difficult working in a predominantly male environment? “Most of the men I work with respect and acknowledge me as a woman so I disregard those that don’t. Regardless if you are a woman or not, how you carry yourself has a huge bearing on how people treat and respect you.” She enjoys her current job because it allows her to get an insight of how cars would look like in the future. The best part of all is that it enables her to work with talented people from all over the world.

Born and raised in Sabangan, Mountain Province, Marlene was valedictorian from elementary until high school. She finished electronics and communications engineering from Saint Louis University in 1988 and obtained her license in the same year.

It’s ironic that this talented woman never dreamed of becoming an engineer. “I wanted to be in business. I was supposed to take up commerce but when my sister decided to enroll in the same course, I chose engineering instead so there would be no sibling rivalry.”

She chose to major in ECE later because it was new at that time and there was a big demand for communications engineers. “I have no regrets now of my choice. I think someone up there was guiding me throughout.” But Marlene still hopes that one day, she would be able to fulfill her dream of running her own business.

Her constant hunger for learning and boundless love for her family push Marlene to give her best in everything she does. “Losing my dad and almost losing my sister at a very young age matured me early. I have always wanted to give my mother and my family the best that I can.”

For all that she has achieved, Marlene believes that success is not measured in terms of money and power. “Inner peace, love, faith and contentment are harder to find and can never be bought.”

Believe in yourself and work hard to get to your dream, Marlene advises. “Start by being proud to be an Igorot and to be from the mountains of Cordillera. Every time I tell people I am an Igorota, I get a strange look and they say ‘You don’t look like one.’ I ask them, ‘How does an Igorota supposed to look like?’ I should know better because I am one,” she shares with a laugh.

“I thank God first of all and my family for keeping my feet on the ground. Today, I can say that I am truly content with my life and that I have remained the same person as I was, the same little simple girl who bought soy sauce with her 50-centavo pay,” she ends, beaming.

A Kailian Writes from Boston

I'm happy to share with you an article written by a dear friend, Rosella Bahni from Benguet. She's pursuing her MA in Cultural Production at Brandeis University in Boston.

Her class in Museums and Public Memory successfully put up an exhibit of Sudanese paintings entitled "Leave the Bones and Catch the Land." Read more about it here . The Boston Globe also wrote about this pioneering class project.

Here it goes.

Introduction
What started as a class project turned out to be more than just participating in the exhibition of the south Sudanese paintings. I found myself taking the journey with them from their homes, through the deserts to Ethiopia and Sudan, and their desire for education while in the United States. I had the privilege of this vicarious experience in my encounters with them. Reading "The Lost Boys" was my first encounter with the civil war in Sudan told from the vivid accounts of three boys who endured and survived the hardships of losing their parents and communities at a very young age.

Personally encountering the south Sudanese themselves were deepening moments for me. When I interviewed Panther Alier, I met for the first time a south Sudanese. His narratives corroborated the experiences of the Lost Boys and he gave a face to them. I also interviewed Yar Alieu who stressed the importance of retaining their cultural values that make them a community. I was particularly honored to be told about her mother whose voice Yar still vividly remembers and treasures for the sake of her child. Yar’s sharing provided the balance of gender perspective in looking at the exhibit. Another encounter I had with the south Sudanese was during the fund raising activity held on October 14. I saw part of their rich cultural tradition while they sang and danced. I was happy to become part of their effort to gain support for their education. I likewise prepared a paper for the development of a south Sudanese museum. All these contributed to enrich and guide my involvement that culminated in my participation with the exhibition of the south Sudanese paintings.

From the beginning: October 9 first day in the gallery
I was present on October 9 on the first day that the paintings were brought in the gallery. I was witness to and became involved in the dynamics of starting an art exhibition such as the following:a. Assessing the exhibition space - before all the paintings were classified, those present looked at the over-all design of the gallery to consider how to maximize the available space, the vantage view of the windows, and the two doors. These were analyzed vis-à-vis the story line of the paintings and perceived movement of viewers to attain better understanding of the exhibit.b. Assessing the paintings: their meanings and messages - the available paintings were studied as to the initial meanings and messages these convey and the group present proposed several categories to classify these. Additional categories were later added by the class.c. Creating the story line or format for locating the paintings - From the categories identified, the story line was developed starting from remembering homes to hopeful paintings. This was later developed by the class to end with ‘prophetic visions.’

The Technology of Setting-up an Exhibit
In the succeeding days, I witnessed the class in the refinement of the story line and the proper classification of the paintings according to categories. I also became part of the design team that gave more extra hours to look at the entire exhibit. In the process, I was involved and enriched by the other’s input as well.

a. The Element of Wonder: Placement of Paintings - the design team tried to address aesthetic concerns on the placement of the paintings. Once the story line was established and the largest painting was located, the design team arranged the paintings according to these bases: colors should not contrast but blend; images should not jar from the paintings beside it; there should be smooth transition between categories; certain paintings have more impact than others and placed above the rest (I am happy to suggest that the painting "Still Coming" should be placed above the maps.); and balance should be observed but to allow for certain imbalances that are nevertheless attractive. Other paintings were reviewed as to relevance and placement in the story line. Non-relevance meant non-inclusion of the paintings.

b. The Element of Resonance: Understanding the Context - I strongly felt that the exhibit is not only to meet aesthetic purposes but also aims to raise awareness so that more sectors will be involved in addressing the concerns of south Sudanese. I was happy that background information was given regarding Sudan and its conflicts and the student statement carried a paragraph advocating for action.c. Captions Preparations - every member of the class was involved in preparing the captions. I learned the importance of listening to the voice of the artist and the people represented in preparing captions. These were my contributions in this part of the exhibition preparation: interviewing and uploading the results of the interview with Panther and Yar; formulating captions in partnership with other students; helping a bit in editing the captions; mounting the captions on foam paper; and pasting the captions on the wall.

Conclusion: The Opening Night
I participated, albeit very minimally, with the opening committee in conceptualizing the Opening Ritual. I liked the idea of a south Sudanese to have a major part in the ceremony because the exhibit is actually their own. I met Yar and Panther again. I am happy to share in their moment of ownership by singing their song. On this opening night, I received a gift of t-shirt from Susan Winship in gratitude for the volunteer work I did during their fund raising activity. Actually, I should be the one to express my gratitude to Susan for her work enabled me to meet the south Sudanese. By "journeying" with them, I became aware of my responsibility as a member of the community of humanity. And through my participation in the exhibit, I hope to have contributed in their quests for peace and justice.