Recently, on “The Truth About Success” podcast, I was joined by Pidoy and Ting Pacis who were gracious enough to share some amazing nuggets of wisdom from their 39-year marriage and being in business together for the past 20 years. They are the CEO of AC Tristar and the Vice President for the Global Filipino Markets, respectively. Pidoy began in banking as an assistant accountant and throughout his career was responsible for setting up 12 joint ventures and partnerships in pharmaceutical companies before migrating to Canada. Ting Pacis has a Bachelor of Science in pharmacy in the Philippines. She then went on to become a sales manager of EA Northern Pharmaceutical Corporation, and a branch manager of CityTrust Banking Corporation prior to their move.
Since joining Saladmaster, they opened up their own branch, became number one in the world as a direct dealer and as a senior dealer, have won 72 World Champion Awards and have been number one in the world seven times! Not to mention they were voted the most valuable life changer in the Saladmaster business twice. So, let’s delve into some of the things that helped them achieve their success today.
You Have To Burn Bridges To Create Bridges
First, I prompted Pidoy and Ting to explain why they decided to move from the Philippines to Canada. Of course, the move was a very difficult choice. However, they felt that moving to North America would provide a better opportunity for their family, especially their children. Pidoy put it into beautiful perspective, “Sometimes you have to burn bridges and create new bridges.”
Without taking any risks, you cannot reap any rewards. Life for them in Canada has brought with it challenges, frustration, and disappointments. Starting from scratch was not easy, but at the end of the day it’s been very rewarding for them and has enabled them to practice their vision and lead to the dreams and aspirations that they’d like to achieve. Whether you’re moving to a new country or just considering a change in careers, you first have to make the decision to jump and build your new bridges along the way.
Make A Commitment To Your Vision
When Pidoy and Ting committed to life in Canada they were able to draw on their past experiences to help them create new opportunities for themselves, without dwelling on the past. Business and life in general is going to give you lots of hurdles, but if you have defined your “why” and focus on achieving your vision the challenges become easier to overcome. Adapting to new rules and regulations, change in currency, and even the different management and leadership styles between Canada and the Philippines certainly provided plenty of challenges for them. Not to mention, navigating raising their children and starting a new business in a completely different environment. But again, they leaned into their “why” and when they were able to laser focus on where they wanted to be, they hit the target right on point.
So, what kept Pidoy and Ting fired up to keep pushing forward? The knowledge that success is dependent on you and so is failure, too. Failure is part of your checklist on the way to success. You’re going to fail sometimes, it’s part of the game. But, you can’t allow failure to eat at you or you’ll continue to fail. You have to keep your vision of what you want on the horizon, practice resiliency and keep moving forward.
Born To Be A Champion
What is a champion? Someone who may fall many, many times but continues to make the choice to overcome those difficulties. It’s your attitude and your acceptance of your big why that really creates the champion mentality. Ting knows that she was born to be a champion, but she shared with me how to get there for those people who don’t automatically associate themselves as such.
Make mistakes, get a mentor or a coach, and become a great student. You need to be willing to learn and get up in the morning and just go, go, go! Pidoy adds, if your ultimate goal is not being a champion, you’ll never get to where you want to be. Having a very clear vision helps. Not just a vision, but where you’re going, your timeline and what you want to achieve. Plus, a winning attitude is a key aspect to becoming a champion and achieving success!
Champions In Love
Speaking of champions, Ting and Pidoy have been married for 39 years, I know that is not an easy feat. So, I asked them to share some of their secrets to remaining happy. They both attribute their relationship to a few core tenants: love, respect, forgiveness, faith, and communication. Most people separate because they can’t communicate how they’re feeling with their partner, but in order to make a marriage last you need to be able to understand each other, be willing to make sacrifices and practice selfless love.
In fact, they shared the key to a successful relationship is finding happiness. If you aren’t happy then don’t continue down that path. But you also have to consider the happiness of your partner. Do some things for yourself that bring you joy, but also be willing to do things for the love or your spouse or children. It’s all about compromise. When you’re willing to compromise, it’s already a victory between the two of you.
What Makes A Winning Team?
There are a lot of couples who wouldn’t be able to work together professionally on a daily basis, so Pidoy and Ting shared some of their tips for success in that arena too. First and foremost, they put their relationship and family first and the business second. They also expressed the importance of defining each person’s role and trusting each other to perform those roles. Plus, not blaming one another if a mistake is made, everyone is human so those are bound to happen on occasion. It also comes down to trust. When you trust your partner to take care of the areas you’re not paying attention to, you become stronger together.
Also, they advise people to not rush into a decision without thinking it through. This pertains not only to working with a partner who is also your spouse, but in business as a whole. You will always have your own thoughts, but you have to listen to other people too, because it is the team that will bring you to greatness. Sometimes, you cannot rely on your own judgement alone.
That’s also why it’s important to surround yourself with people who understand your vision. One of the hardest decisions people have to make in business is deciding to let someone go who doesn’t belong to their vision. As you transcend in your vision, people’s behavior also needs to transcend. That’s how you achieve growth! Each year, Pidoy and Ting, ask themselves are the people around them going to help bring them to greatness, and that’s something you should be asking yourself too!
There Is No One Definition For Success
I asked Pidoy and Ting to share their own definitions of success. For Pidoy it involves spiritual success, mental fortitude, building a legacy, and seeing his children achieve success. For Ting, she believes having happily fulfilled the goals that you have set for yourself, for the people that you love, and for your community is the root of achieving success. Both of their responses were different, and yet they are both correct which is one of the points we try to make on “The Truth About Success,” there’s so many areas you can be successful in. It is going to look very different for everyone! But one thing is true, to get the big success, you have to have thousands of little successes along the way that you celebrate together. Pidoy and Ting are certainly doing that, and I’m so glad they shared their perspective with us. Make sure you listen to these nuggets and take action! After all, knowledge is only powerful when we use it.