Papemelroti chief shares business tips

Papemelroti MD, Patricia Alejandro Paterno, has shared leadership tips for aspiring leaders in Asia, as she and her family set to celebrate the 50th year of their family business, Korben Corp.

Korben is Papemelroti’s mother company named after Paterno’s parents, Corit and Benny.

“We have started to prepare the 50th celebration of our family business Korben Corp, since my Mom and Dad started their shop in 1967. There is so much work to do. We think of it as 50 years of miracles,” said Paterno.

The first Papemelroti store opened in 1976 in the new Ali Mall in Quezon City. Since the gift shop is a separate business from that of their parents’, Paterno and her siblings divided the responsibilities among them. Now Papemelroti has about 20 stores.

“We challenged ourselves to establish our own store. I and my four siblings Peggy, Meldy, Robert and Tina decided to create our brand name from our first names, combining it into Pa-Pe-Mel-Ro-Ti. My father said people would not remember such a name, however we did it, and today, 40 years later, our stores are still called Papemelroti,” she said.

Central to Paterno’s business visions are faith, the country and its people.

“We believe that God is really a working partner of our business. And we believe that we should feel good about being Filipino and that we should be committed to the success and prosperity of our country.”

In her recommendations for aspiring leaders in Asia, she said one must first recognize one’s gifts.

“We all have unique gifts, and we need to study to discover them, and then put them to use in our work, and make them grow through practice. Leadership and success starts inside us, it takes work to see that and to bring it out.”

Second, one must work with God, she said. “I believe deeply that by working with God, we can discover our best vision and plan. We are ultimately spiritual beings, and we can integrate our spiritual side into our work and business.

Her third recommendation is to recognize the gifts of the people around.

“When we know our gifts and how to work with divine inspiration in our daily work, we can more easily recognize the gifts of the people we work with in our business. We discover how to truly inspire them to do their best. We bring it out of them, together.”

Read the full interview with TransformationFirst.Asia, a Singapore-based company that offers leadership coaching for executives, here.