In an exclusive interview with Lifestyle Asia, Danielle del Rosario reflects on kindness and compassion as the foundation for building a fulfilling career while championing the value of family.
Creativity and resilience are characteristics embedded in every woman’s DNA. Her innate ability to navigate roadblocks and obstacles through sheer craftiness and determination displays her power. Furthermore, in a seemingly devastating situation, creativity and resilience will help you rise above it all. Danielle del Rosario did just that.
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In an exclusive interview with Lifestyle Asia, Danielle, the chief operating officer of Union Insulated Panel Corporation under the PHINMA Group, gave us an inside look into her journey to success. She bared with full honesty the difficulties of building a meaningful career amidst the challenges of family life while striving to be an engaged and devoted mother to her daughters.
Turning Pain to Power
Before becoming a trailblazer in her field, at 34 years old, Danielle experienced one of the biggest plot twists in her life. “I had three babies. My eldest was only four years old. The next one was two, and the youngest was a newborn, and my marriage fell apart,” she openly shared. It was her husband who decided to pursue other things in life—things that did not include her.
Growing up and seeing her parents be the epitome of love and a prime example of building families, she was shocked by what was happening. Before this, she was in the banking industry for six years, creating meaningful relationships with her peers, and honing her skills, while balancing her time as a mother who strived to be present for her children. However, this turn of events made her feel lost, for the first time in a long time.
Having the sudden burden of solely being responsible for raising and taking care of her daughters, she had to pivot fast. In a leap of faith, she reached out to her father. “I wrote my dad a formal email when I found out that my marriage was going to fall apart, and I said, ‘Dear Dad, is there somewhere in your large organization where I could be of service now that I’m raising my children, is there somewhere I can use my skills and also learn at the same time how to educate the youth,’” she shared.
Fortunately, that leap of faith turned out to be a door of opportunity opening for her. Danielle took the helm as PHINMA’s executive director for its National Scholarship Program. She closely worked with college-level scholars, allowing them to be mentored by professionals while providing them financial support.
Femme Fatale
She helped these young adults in her capacity as an executive director for two years. Since she excelled in that role, she was invited to be part of the energy group—wherein they expanded her scope of work to include corporate social responsibility and communications. Through her outstanding performance, she gained traction, and learned to be comfortable in her own skin—she was starting to feel like herself again. She discovered the power of embracing her authentic self and continued contributing to this department for six years.
Though it was rewarding, she acknowledged the challenges of being in a male-dominated field. “I have to project myself as very serious and I even would have to adjust the way I speak and look. And there was a lot of learning there, but it was stifling. But again, it’s like matriculation. It’s tuition. It’s learning,” she said.
As she moved on from the energy sector and progressed into her career—becoming part of the parent company for three years and eventually earning the position as COO of Union Insulated Panel Corporation, she learned a lot through the years. “So in my case, I think I figured it out early on that I shouldn’t try to be a man. I will walk in my own high heels. I will not try to step into the shoes of the men who came before me,” she looks back.
Danielle’s ability to excel in whatever role she is given can be credited to how comfortable she is with her femininity and womanhood. “I think the reason I am where I am today, is because I’m a woman, and I think that makes me unique. It makes us unique,” she shared. Moreover, she acknowledges that a woman’s innate creativity and caring nature make them resilient. “These are qualities of women that I feel strengthen the unique approaches that we have, not only to business but to life, to our families.”
The Power of Enduring Impact
When Danielle was asked what’s her greatest triumph? She simply says, her kids. “My biggest triumph, I would say is my daughters. My daughters are my priority in my life. I do everything I do, it’s really for them. My successes are what I feel is the best role modeling that I can do for them,” she answered with so much love.
She is raising her children with abilities, values, and skills that would lead them to make good decisions for themselves. Danielle acknowledges that there will be a time she will no longer be around with her children, however, she believes that as she prioritizes her children’s welfare, they will be well-equipped to independently make good decisions in the future.
Career-wise, Danielle sees that her greatest success is having the ability to make lasting change. In the same breath, she defined power and success as something that is more people-centric. “Power is the ability to make good and lasting changes. I think it has to be good and lasting changes. Because it’s not merely a force. Force, you can push something, but is it going to last? Power is the ability to influence for good, influence for change.”
Advocacy Led
Danielle takes pride in the advocacy she instilled in her current role and organization. “It’s really about food security,” she announced. Through Union Insulated Panel Corporation, they are making lives better by building up infrastructure for cold chain solutions and farm-to-market infrastructures. Furthermore, they are creating innovative products through recycling.
Her passion for her advocacy strengthened when she saw how one typhoon wiped away a huge percentage of the farmers’ crops. “We’re looking at putting cold storage units in farming communities. We’re also working with agricultural groups to see the best way to help. It’s not about just putting something there and it will solve itself. So much of it is raising the value, improving the value that farming and food-growing communities can have,” she discussed.
Furthermore, her innate creativity, hard work, and good team coordination led to the creation of insulation panels made from recycled plastic. Moreover, Danielle is also excited about one of her upcoming projects. She saw how coconut husks are usually discarded, she saw an opportunity to use this material for a community-building project.
“I’m working with a group based in Switzerland making wooden boards using coconut husk. So the Philippines actually has 10 billion coconuts wasted every year. The husks aren’t used for anything. In fact, they’re burned because creatures and snakes inhabit mounds of coconut. So imagine if we can turn coconut husks into wooden boards,” she excitedly announced.
Danielle Believes in Leading with Heart
Her career is not defined by her last name or her womanhood. She earned every single ounce of respect and square foot of power she has now. “And I had to do it with a lot of kindness and a lot of compassion,” she mentions. She is grounded by the idea that everyone in her organization, whether they are an internal or external stakeholder, is family to someone first before they are a worker.
Danielle makes sure there is a balance between all her roles, which also applies to the people working for her.
“So luxury for me would be able to have and enjoy my own time. I think it’s essential to be able to balance life. Is every day always balanced? No, not at all. But what I do is, I give everything my all. So if I’m in work mode and we have something to get done, we’re working on a project, or we’re working on signing a contract, or we have a board meeting, that’s 100%. But after, I’m a mom again, I’m home again, I’m a homemaker again,” Danielle says.
Photos by Kim Santos of KLIQ, INC.
