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| Andre Abad, OOH Manager, Starcom Mediavest Group |
Recently, I met a fellow Thomasian by the name of Andre Abad, an OOH Manager at Starcom Mediavest Group.
Coming from a family whose head of the household practices law, Andre, being the eldest son, was under the impression of having to follow his father's footsteps. As a result, he ended up taking Literature at the University of Santo Tomas as preparation for law school’s massive amount of readings. He then decided to shift to Communication Arts where he found his interest in accounts and media planning. Then, in 2009, he joined Starcom. Currently an OOH Manager, Andre still enjoys doing media planning and buying where he handles more than 10 brands altogether.
But just when you thought Andre’s work is toxic, he still finds time for what he truly loves – sports and cars. He makes sure he gets to play basketball even on weekdays as well as running. He also surfs occasionally.
His love for cars makes him want to venture into auto detailing. He says it’s his God-given talent and I must say it’s true. He has shown me his “babies” and they all look brand new regardless of how old they are. It’s almost as if I can do my makeup in front of his car doors. And just when I thought I was OC, Andre is on a whole new level of OC-ness. “When you do something, be passionate about it.” he said. “I really pay attention up to the last detail. Even when I do media, that’s the most important thing. That’s the level of my OC-ness.” he added.
I asked him: “Isn’t your work toxic? How come you’re still able to do all of these?” And he answered:
“When you work, you look for challenge. You don’t look for work that’s petiks (lax) because when you don’t do anything, you’re just wasting your talent. When there’s downtime, I always feel that what the company is paying me is not being maximized so I always look for things to do… It’s my wanting to stay really busy that keeps me sharp.”
With this principle of Andre’s, he was able to prove one advertising/media stereotype wrong and that is rendering overtime to be considered great at what you do. According to Andre, it is true that media work entails having to work long hours There’s no doubt about that but he believes that “when you’re able to enjoy your after office hours while delivering quality work, that speaks highly of your capabilities.”
During the course of our conversation, I saw his passion that brought him to where he is now. It’s what keeps him going and makes him happy. “Actually, I won’t be here for seven years if I’m not happy. This job has given me almost everything that I have – learnings, friends, connections. It has made me a better person.” he concluded.
An achiever at such a young age, Andre imparts wisdom with this quote:
“When you decide to pursue something, make sure there is passion and dedication to be good at what you do. Celebrate the positives while treating failures as motivation to get better. This way, you get to enjoy both life and your craft more.”
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