In celebration of women’s month, Philippine Tatler brings you the stories and the views of women in power. In this edition, the first Filipina to hold the general manager (GM) position at a five-star hotel in the country, Diamond Hotel Philippines’ Vanessa Ledesma-Suatenco shares her inspirations, her personal journey to success, and her thoughts on women breaking the glass ceiling.

Philippine Tatler: What is your formula for success, if you have one?

Vanessa Ledesma-Suatengco: I will not call it a formula, but a set of values that helped me become successful at what I do. The first is passion, which I practice in everything I do. The next is consistency, which means everything I do has to follow a certain direction. Aside from those two, attention to detail is also important. I make sure that everything is according to plan.

All these things—I live by these values. They are my guiding principles in life, even at home.

PT: When you were still studying, what did you originally set out to do once you graduate?

VLS: From grade school until I was in college, I wanted to be a doctor. I had all these science books and toys because I always thought I was going to be a physician. However, I belong to a family that is very conservative, and the concept of co-education was not acceptable to my parents. So, I went to an all-girls school.

PT: What or who has been the biggest inspiration in your life?

VLS: I was born into a family that is very matriarchal. My grandmother, who had a very strong personality, brought up her family of six children by herself. She had no college degree, but she became a very successful and astute businesswoman. As for the rest of my family, the women are really the ones taking active roles. In fact, I had an aunt who was a congresswoman, and she was very active in going against the regime of the Marcoses. That was the kind of environment I grew up in, and as a result, all the girls in our family also grew up to have strong characters.

PT: Studies have shown that women are actually more effective leaders than men, and yet in the Philippines’ hospitality industry in particular, women don’t get to occupy the top positions. What do you think is the biggest obstacle when it comes to women “break the glass ceiling”?

VLS: I think the problem is making a choice, because there’s always that trade-off between making time to raise a family and building a career. I know that most people try to find the right balance between the two, but it doesn’t always work. For me, because I have no children, the problem of balancing the different aspects of life is not as hard to solve as someone who has, say, two children to raise. At the end of the day, you miss out on some things because you can’t completely balance everything. Although, some people might be successful because they have very supportive families.

PT: Personally, what has/have been the biggest challenge/s you’ve faced in your career?

VLS: The first is being accepted in this hospitality industry, because as we all know, it’s a male-dominated world. Secondly, my background was in human resources and administration, not operations, and that played a part in my struggle to be accepted [as GM]. I had to try twice as hard, because I am a woman and because of my background.

Also, work in operations does not end. We’re on-call during holidays, weekends because industry operates 365 days a year.

PT: What advice would you give young women who are aspiring to be successful in their fields?

VLS: As I said, you have to have passion and drive because if there’s no fire, there’s nothing to push you to desire for more, exert greater effort, and face the challenges. You will fail at some point, but when you have the passion, perseverance, and tenacity, you will stand up again and fight.