Behind many great success stories are

tales of struggle and adversity

WILL SOON FLOURISH By Wilson Lee Flores (The Philippine Star) | Updated August 28, 2016 - 12:00am

4 699 googleplus0 3

Andrew Tan of Megaworld and Emperador , George S. K. Ty of Metrobank , Henry Sy Sr. of SM Group of
Companies, John Gokongwei Jr. of JG Summit Holdings, Lucio C. Tan of Lucio Tan Group of Companies,
Manny Villar of the Villar Group, Amancio Ortega of Zara
Whenever Forbes

magazine, Bloomberg or others come out with their wealthiest lists, most people generally lionize the success
stories, focus on the fortunes and become fascinated by the perceived glamorous lifestyles of the billionaires.
In my case, since I didnt inherit any wealth but had to earn every centavo myself, I prefer studying those rags-
to-riches self-made men and women, their stories of overcoming often cruel odds and how they achieved their
dreams. I believe that behind many self-made fortunes are inspiring tales of struggles, adversity, persons with
strong character of Olympian proportions.

A poor boy who saw his mother turned away at a grocery store
At about age 13, a boy in a tiny village personally saw how his mother got rejected for credit at a grocery shop.
This acute and early realization that his family was poor was a strong motivation and driving force for him, so
he left school and started working in a clothing shop to help his family. His mother was a housemaid and his
father was a railway worker.
This boy eventually went into the clothing business and opened a retail shop, building up a fashion empire with
the global brand name Zara. Now this former poor boy from Spain named Amancio Ortega is ranked the
worlds second wealthiest person with a net worth of $67 billion. He has not changed his humble lifestyle, his
work ethic, or his dreams of doing well.

A poor boy who cried when he saw his fathers difficult life as a sari-sari
store owner
At age 12, a boy arrived in Manila to join his father in his sari-sari store business. The Japanese military
invasion and occupation of the Philippines caused the loss of his fathers two stores one was burned and
one was looted in the war chaos. His father was so dejected by this setback he decided to go back to his
hometown. The youth started a business with a business partner, but the partnership turned sour and he had to
make sacrifices to start a store on his own again. This youth, who was undaunted by hardships, who had grand
vision, perseverance, frugality and extraordinary work ethic, is ranked the Philippines No. 1 wealthiest, Henry
Sy, Sr. of SM Group and BDO, with huge investments and philanthropic interests.

Several years ago, when Time magazine featured him on its cover and the journalist wrote that when the 12-
year-old Sy first arrived in Manila, he cried upon seeing his father, I asked him why he cried. Henry Sy
explained to me that he saw how difficult the life of a sari-sari store owner was, so he cried.

Lifestyle Feature ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch:

The boy who lost his dad, their home and business
A boy was only 13 when his businessman father died; their family then lost their big house, their chauffered
cars and moviehouse businesses to the banks. Half his friends in school dropped him when he could no longer
treat them to free movies. More difficult than a rags-to-riches life is a riches-to-rags-to-riches saga, because
it is not easy to adjust from a comfortable and secure life to that of adversity and struggles.

As a kid, the boy remembered their home even had a piano and his parents hired a Spanish mestiza piano
teacher whod bribe him with apples for him to practice. All those were gone. He had to quit schooling to help
the family. He became a trader. This boy had bold vision, extraordinary work ethic, discipline, frugality and
strategic thinking. Eventually, John Gokongwei, Jr. built up one of Southeast Asias top industrial
conglomerates, giving away philanthropic donations to schools, and he is now ranked the second wealthiest
person in the Philippines.

A youth who endured a lot of sufferings

One of the countrys most accomplished business leaders and one of its most generous philanthropists once
told me that he endured a lot of sufferings in his youth. Perhaps this is one of the reasons he is well known for
his extraordinary personal discipline, hard work and determination? This business leader is Metrobank, PS
Bank, AXA Life, Toyota Philippines and Metrobank Foundation taipan George S.K. Ty.

A youth who dreamt of studying science abroad, but dropped out to

work
A boy who came from a poor family told me that his childhood dream was to study abroad and to become a
scientist. He even researched the top schools in the west. He was a working student who studied daily at night
and on Sundays, yet he still had to drop out to work full-time and later to start his small business. Today, the
frugal, disciplined, persevering and workaholic Lucio Tan has become one of Southeast Asias wealthiest
taipans and owner of Asias first airline Philippine Airlines; he is also one of the countrys most generous
philanthropists.

Two rising tycoons who overcame the 1997 Asian financial crisis
This self-made entrepreneur was already on his way to becoming one of the Philippines top tycoons when the
1997 Asian financial crisis hit and many businesses collapsed across the region. It was at this time that his
creditors, executives of American finance giant J.P. Morgan called me via conference call in Tokyo and Makati
to angrily complain about this entrepreneurs not paying his companys bonds.

Out of fairness, I called up this entrepreneur to get his side of the story. He told me his version of the impasse
with his creditors, admitting that his firms faced difficulties, but it was not true he was unwilling to fulfill his
obligations.

He revealed that a top blue-chip competitor in his industry almost bought his whole firm and they already
agreed on the sale price, but when this competitor wanted to take advantage of his difficult situation and tried to
squeeze him for a harder bargain, he balked. This hardworking and smart entrepreneur eventually survived the
crisis, bounced back and has become much bigger and richer than before, he is realty billionaire Manny B.
Villar.

This other self-made entrepreneur was already one of the rising stars of Philippine business when the 1997
Asian financial crisis hit, and there were rumors then spread by his detractors that his firm was in dire straits. I
heard stories that a group of prominent stockbrokers even reportedly pulled the carpet under him in this time of
crisis. During that regional Asian crisis, almost nobody was immune from possible catastrophe, but this self-
made entrepreneur is known as a hardworking finance and business whiz; he not only overcame the worst
crisis, he persevered and grew his businesses. Today, Megaworld, Emperador and Alliance Global Group
founder Andrew Tan has emerged as one of Southeast Asias top billionaires.

***

Steve Goodier said: Those who overcome great challenges will be changed, and often in unexpected ways.
For our struggles enter our lives as unwelcome guests, but they bring valuable gifts. And once the pain
subsides, the gifts remain. These gifts are lifes true treasures, bought at great price, but cannot be acquired in
any other way.

Let us not fear difficulties or whine about life being unfair. In fact, I believe adversity and struggles are what can
make us better, wiser, protean, more resilient and stronger persons in the long run. Crisis can toughen our
character, cleanse our soul and make our dreams imperishable!

***