Frost Technical Lead Anna Enriquez is living proof of the upward trend of women leaders making waves in IT and STEM fields. Learn more about her story and her journey right here.
Design Operations is more than just having a Design System in place.
Design Operations is more than just having a Design System in place.
Design Operations is more than just having a Design System in place.
Leigh urges everyone to grow continuously and Frost is the perfect environment that fosters this type of growth. Frost will always take on bigger and bigger challenges and, you can trust that she and the rest of our Frost Practice Heads, will be there with you, every step of the way.
What does it take to build a legacy? Follow our Project Management Practice Head Leigh de Joya - de Guzman in this story of skills, snacks, and success.
Our team is currently seeking exceptional designers who are passionate about creating innovative and impactful designs.
Our team is currently seeking exceptional designers who are passionate about creating innovative and impactful designs.
Our team is currently seeking exceptional designers who are passionate about creating innovative and impactful designs.
Let’s lift the veil and level up as we follow Part Two of the story of our Project Management Practice Head Leigh de Joya - de Guzman.
Design Operations is more than just having a Design System in place.
Design Operations is more than just having a Design System in place.
Design Operations is more than just having a Design System in place.
Design Operations is more than just having a Design System in place.
Take a look at how Frost designers react to Midjourney image generation AI, and find out if this promising tech is truly worth the hype.
Our team is currently seeking exceptional designers who are passionate about creating innovative and impactful designs.
Our team is currently seeking exceptional designers who are passionate about creating innovative and impactful designs.
Our team is currently seeking exceptional designers who are passionate about creating innovative and impactful designs.
Take a look at how Frost designers react to Midjourney image generation AI, and find out if this promising tech is truly worth the hype.
Since its inception, Frost has always broken new grounds and reached new heights. It owes much of its achievements to the hard work and dedication of its outstanding leaders. These are the people who have mastered their craft and exhibit our core values, the people whose ideas and vision shaped the Frost you see today.
In this limited series, we’ll tell you their stories of struggle, sacrifice, and success, and we’ll share how these people earned their stripes as esteemed Frost Practice Heads.
In Part 1 of our PMO Practice Head feature, we shared the story of how Leigh de Joya - de Guzman overcame the struggles of studying IT only to face even more challenges in her first job. This time, we’ll dive deeper into her story and find out if all her efforts bear fruit.
“I thought we were going to fail,” Leigh said, looking back on that fateful day. “We presented our POC in a really friendly, light-hearted way, the way any person from Marketing would present. We were like ‘Hey! What’s up?,’ and I could see in their faces that some of them weren’t happy with our approach.”
Her communication skills have vastly improved but now, she was doubting maybe she was being too casual in their presentation. The boardroom was filled with a lot of important people. Was their technique really the right choice for the occasion?
As if to add more weight to the meeting, she received a message from her higher ups moments before she was about to start. They wanted her to meet them after the presentation.
“I was nervous before the presentation. I was nervous after the presentation,” Leigh began. “I remember thinking, ‘Are they going to fire me because of what we did?’” While many of the attendees were satisfied with what she showed, she admits the overall reaction was mixed. It just made her even more nervous.
In hindsight, she wasn’t sure where her nervousness came from. All things considered, she knew she did a good job. There were no hints that indicated they were about to terminate her. This was, of course, because she had good rapport with them.
She has spent time cultivating a connection with her colleagues, and she trusted them just as much as they trusted her.She learned the importance of building relationships years before when she requested to shift from Solutions Consultant to Project Coordinator.
She recalled another instance where she was asked to do another project POC. This was before her big POC presentation as a Project Coordinator. The main challenge for this particular project was its timeline: she only had 30 days to prepare for it. She knew it would involve long hours and possibly a lot of sleepless nights.
When the COO first asked her to tackle this assignment, he called her into his office and, as a way to convince her to say yes, offered her a few items from his stash of snacks.
In the end, the COO relented and gave her the chocolates she was eyeing. Years later, the story of Leigh’s chocolates would become one of his favorite anecdotes. He would tell this story to the other managers and while the emphasis was often on how Leigh negotiated for something better, he would also joke about her tenacity to ask the COO for his chocolates.
It was the kind of story that earned her a nice little back and forth with her managers and, at the same time, got her a few pieces of expensive but well-deserved chocolate.
With confidence and communications skills down pat, Project Coordinator Leigh of 2010 was more than ready to handle the boardroom full of VIPs. More importantly, with negotiation skills in her arsenal as well, she was well-equipped to meet with her managers after the presentation.
“I knew then that at least I was doing something right,” Leigh announced.
That project would later be quoted as one of Smart’s most innovative products of 2011. It also put Smart Communications, Novare’s client, on the map internationally. In 2012, Leigh’s project would help win Smart the Innovation Award in the Asia Communication Awards held in Singapore. Clinching the title over the region’s top operators and providers such as Singapore’s SingTel, and Malaysia’s YTL Communications.
“In the same week, Novare also gave me the first-ever core value award: Excellence!” she added happily.
The importance of knowing that hard work leads to both success and reward is a legacy she wants to keep alive in Frost presently. As Frost CEO, she has made it one of her objectives to always look out for the little guy. With initiatives like profit sharing, Leigh, along with the help of the Frost Practice Heads, aims to make sure contributions are always recognized, and never overlooked.
“I’m a firm believer that success is meant to be shared,” Leigh promised. “I always want to look after Frost talents. I want to be able to support them especially when they’re growing and facing changes in their lives.”
This change is inevitable, no matter where you are in life. Leigh understands that the people that make up Frost are at different places in their journey. She wants Frost to be an organization of a few good men. Men and women who are masters of their craft and contribute back to Frost. As they grow, so too does the organization which, in turn, means more growth for the talents.
From a humble IT college student who was struggling in her lessons, to the IT Specialist jump-starting her career, to growing as a Solutions Consultant, to gaining experience and confidence as a Project Coordinator turned Project Manager, and now, finally, as CEO, Leigh’s journey mirrors that of Frost. Looking back at her roots allows her to always acknowledge the contributions everyone makes in building the company to where it is today.
“All we ask in return,” she said, “is that Frost talents invest in themselves, invest in their growth, in upskilling. We want them to invest in broadening their horizons, and to be in charge of their careers. At the end of the day, no one wants to be stagnant. After all, how can we dream of being global if all we want to be is stagnant?”
Leigh urges everyone to grow continuously and Frost is the perfect environment that fosters this type of growth. Frost will always take on bigger and bigger challenges and, you can trust that she and the rest of our Frost Practice Heads, will be there with you, every step of the way.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Block Quote
