How did the VoiceBuilder, Dannes Serrano successfully achieve everything he has now? Are there secrets behind it? In this last part of the interview, he generously shared the life lessons that catapulted him to his present success and milestones achieved.
Reiterating The Power Of Yes And How To Use It To One’s Own Growth
Dannes emphasized again the power of yes and how it took him out of the comfort zone until he succeeded more in his journey, “Ako, my advice for a lot of people, don’t belittle the power of saying yes. If it’s a good thing, say yes to it. Of course, if it’s a bad thing, don’t say yes to it. I mean the power of just saying yes and just learning it afterwards. The opportunity knocks once. Mali yun sistemang itinuturo dito sa Pilipinas sa education system natin na pag nagtapos ka ng course na yan, dapat maghanap ka ng course na connected doon. It’s not bad. What I’m just saying is it’s not the final thing. You have much more dreams in life, maybe you wanna be a business owner. FYI, there could be more opportunities. Kaya ako, yun computer engineering ko, nagagamit ko kasi ang galing ko gumamit ng computer. Kaya ko ayusin sarili kong computer. Nagamit ko rin siya. Nag-poprogram ako sa work. Di ko na pinoproblema yun (computer) issue, yun ganun bagay kasi ako rin yun pero naging instrumento lang siya for a bigger dream and one of those things could be a business owner.”
As of this time (2019) when the interview was conducted, Dannes is in his young age of 34---a time wherein most professionals are wishing for promotions, he had already reached the stage of self-actualization. He explained further the importance of saying yes, “For people aspiring to become like us or like me, just make sure you say yes to opportunity, be positive, and if you have a dream...you should have an end goal. Kailangan ngayon pa lang, nappicture mo na kung ano. Draw it, paint it, share it to other people. Imagine mo yun mangyayari sa’yo at the end goal kasi if you don’t have an end goal, you’re like running a race without a finish line, that’ stupidity. Kailangan meron kang something sa dulo na gusto mong makamtam talaga para doon ka. Because the end justifies the means, whatever the ending is that’s what you gotta work on. Alam mo dapat kung ano yun final stage mo. I’m not saying I’m at the finish line but I’m almost there or maybe the Lord will give me another race and another finish line. But at least for the mean time, I reached it because of taking opportunities, believing in something even if it’s impossible at a current age of 34. Salamat, di pa ako 40 pero naabot ko na yun. When I become a training manager, I was still at my 20’s.”
Putting God At The Center Of Everything
A true believer remains steadfast in serving God especially in the multitudes of blessings he receives. Hence, the VoiceBuilder never forgets putting God at the center of his life, “Still, nandoon pa rin yun support ng parents ko. Still, I have the center which is my God. I never missed church. Now I became a pastor of our church as well. Because of all those things, nakuha ko na yun parang uy panahon na, buo na, I can quit my job already and focus on speaking. It’s good because my entire salary for a month, pwede kong kitain ng isang oras lang for a speaking engagement. I became a great speaker because I got a story to tell which is my story. All of these things happened because of I think, it’s grit and more of putting God at the center of your life. Because Philippines 4:13 said, ‘I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.’ Di nawala yun. Because of God, because of my center being in God, Siya nagdala sa akin sa mga tamang taong may takot sa Diyos and also could help reach to the success I ever wanted.”
Be Hungry For Learning And Generous To Giving Back And Helping
Dannes is honest in sharing he did start from scratch, even offering his public speaking services for free as he was still building his portfolio. He also remembered the days he only have one line in the dubbing script. His difference with other neophytes among his contemporaries is his hunger for learning and setting aside first the monetary gain, “As a speaker kasi, maraming nag-aaspire na yun pa rin yun...tama si Sir Choy na parang focus pa rin sila sa pera, sa magkano kikitain mo. Magsimula ka muna sa learning lalo kapag di mo pa naman nabbuild yun branding mo. Kaya dapat pag nag-uumpisa ka pa lang as a speaker or anything else for whatever you do, you focus on the learning. Kapag nag-focus ka sa learning, di mo iisipin magkano kinita ko dito, magkano ginastos ko dito kasi you want to learn. Doon ko nga nakilala yun VoiceWorx di ba? Kasi nag-seseach ako saan ako matututo. Tapos noon nag-umpisa pa lang ako, wala pa akong kotse dito. Nag-tatravel ako dito, isa lang linya lang script ko tapos 600 yun ginastos ko para lang magGrab papuntang CreatiVoices.”
He continued, “All of those things brought me to the power of learning. Magsimula talaga doon sa learning muna, matuto ka muna. Most of my speaking engagements a long time ago was for free. School na ‘to pero sasabihin ko na lang, ‘For free po pero pwede po ba doon sa page ninyo, ilagay po ninyo ako yun naging speaker ninyo?’ Walang nakakaalam I speak for free but I give it for free and they market my name so ang dumating ang panahon, pwede ko sabihin na I spoke in PUP, I spoke in UP, I spoke in ganito ganyan. Some of those are for free pero at least pwede ko na ilagay sa portfolio ko it’s true that I did the talk there. Nobody will ask how much you earned from it. Yun ang umpisa ko pero dahil dalang-dala ko na yun sa portfolio ko, pag tumaas na yun aking profile, pag may humingi sa akin, nagsabi akong ito yun asking price ko, P15,000 mababa na yun sa school o corporate, P60,000. This is what you need to pay me. They say yes to it. That is the time nagsimula na akong kumita ng malaki pero sa simula, di muna ganun. It’s really focus on learning.”
Despite his current impressive speaker portfolio wherein he can charge high for his rate, he always make time to do public speaking especially to schools who may not afford his services. This is because he always finds joy in helping and giving back, Even until now that I’m earning so big in my speaker skills but if somebody would go and say, ‘Sir wala po kasi talagang pera yun school, pwede po bang libre? Pwede po bang kahit pamasahe na lang?’ Given my situation and my passion to speak and to teach, because my focus is not on the earning primarily. Focus ka muna sa learning and knowledge. Because your purpose is to help people, as a speaker, you are a helper. Lagi kong sinasabi sa mga aspiring speakers, ‘You don’t stand because you want to speak to them. You’re here because you want to help them.’ Helping goes with sometimes doing things for free so because I want to help and passion ko pa ring magbigay ng libre, I say yes to it. Kahit na mataas na profile ko ngayon, nagbibigay pa rin ako ng libre because of that, I stay positive, I continue to become humble. Humble pa rin ako kasi di pwede yun aba may ganito na ako ngayon eh. So walang ere, walang yabang. I don’t publicly say it to people na ‘Uy nagbigay akong libre.’ kasi baka lahat mag-aspire ng libre but I know kung talagang di nila kaya. The question is will I help them out? Absolutely! That’s a habit that you should always have. You always come from a place of help and you help other people, that’s your goal in life. I’m not a speaker, I’m more of a helper. I serve people, that’s what I do. Kaya di sumasama loob ko kung sakaling di ako mabayaran o kaya di pala ako babayaran. I don’t care kung dumating man yun pero sa awa ng Diyos, wala pa naman. If it happens, I don’t care because I’m not focused on the money, I’m focused on helping people. That’s primarily the joy of it.”
The VoiceBuilder’s ABCD To A Completely Changed Life
In his concluding words, he revealed an effective framework as to how anyone can change for the better, “I also have my brand which is JUMPSTARTS. My goal is to help people. Yun phrase na ‘don’t change’, di ako naniniwala doon. Kasi di ba sa mga sulat, ‘oh I love you so much please don’t change’. O yun kanta ni Joey Mcintyre na Stay The Same. Because that’s the mistake, kaya maraming relationship nag-go down o maraming pamilya ang gulo-gulo, or company na gulo-gulo insisting people to be the same. But it’s not supposed to be like that. Change is inevitable. It’s something that needs to happen. Kaya ako, ang ginawa ko sa akin, ang goal ko sa JUMPSTARTS is to help people change. I cannot change people completely, only God can do that but I can be the instrument to jumpstart the change in their life. What I do is I introduce them How, paano magsisimulang magbago. Just in a quickbox, if you’re asking for advices, my goal in JUMPSTARTS is to help them change and to do that, it’s always begins with acceptance. Bago ka makapagpabago ng ibang tao o mabago mo sarili mo, kailangan mo muna tanggapin. Ano yun tatanggapin mo: Who you are right now, who you are. Sinabi ko na yun pangalawa, actually yun pangalawa is believe. First one is accept, ABCD lang yan eh. B is believe but before you believe di ba nakapowerful yun tanggapin mo yun future kahit di mo pa nakikita, paniwalaan mo na, natanggap mo na siya. Pero di mo magagawa yun kung di ka muna magtatanggap, acceptance muna.”
He went on to explain, “Ibig sabihin ng acceptance, what you see is what you get. Look in the mirror and say, ‘Yes, this is who I am. Thank You Lord because you made me who I am. I am not regretting because my face is like this or my life is like this.’ Maybe, you’re poor right now and accept it. You can never change anything you don’t accept first. You’ll never clean your face without accepting the fact it is dirty first. Kailangan mo munang unang isipin uy marumi mukha ko, kailangan ko linisan. Ibig sabihin, before you go to that change, pagtanggap muna. What you see is what you get. Be grateful, thank the Lord you are who you are and now that you know what your weaknesses are, where you stand, saka ka magsimulang ‘What do I want to achieve in life?’ and that’s where believing begins. Ngayon naman, iisipin mo this is what I wanted and I want to believe. ‘Right now pa lang, imagine ko na ito gusto kong mangyari sa buhay ko.’ Even if it’s not happening yet, you believe, share it, write it. Letter C is catching the right thing, catching goodness in other people’s lives. This is where you become positive. Positivity that is more of a habit rather than just an instant positivity. It should be a lifestyle. It should be a habit. Something that you always do. It’s very simple, bakit ka hindi maghahanap ng mali sa kapwa mo o sa ibang tao o sa paligid mo? Because laging meron (mali). Anong tawag mo sa lagi mong hinahanap eh lagi mo namang nakikita? So wag mong hanapin yun lagi mong nakikita. Look for something that is outside-of-the-box and we don’t usually look at that. If you start having the habit of catching goodness, ibig sabihin intensyon mong hanapin yun mabuti sa kapwa. Pag may intention kang mabuti ang hanapin sa kapwa, then you will draw more good people into you. You may never know these maybe the same people who would lead you or help you reach your dreams and success in life as well. Letter D is discipline. It goes last but it goes with the habit. Kailangan lang talaga disiplina kasi itong ABC ito, should be a lifestyle. That’s where discipline comes in. This ABCD process, soon enough I’ll gonna have a book for it as well. Itong ABCD na to, it works so well for every opportunity. I go to corporate talks, this is my center topic. I go to parents, I go to kids, this is my topic...lalo sa mga magulang kasi gusto nilang magbago anak nila di ba? Ang problema, they keep on telling the kids na magbago ka na. Ang tanong kasi sa akin kung ako yun anak, bakit nga eh, paano? They cannot just tell them na magbago, they need to explain what it is. If they don’t feel your acceptance first, they will never listen. Kaya nga ang proseso niyan, kailangan magsimula muna sa ‘Anak, siraulo ka pero tanggap kita, mahal kita.’ Acceptance muna. Remember, my parents, that’s what they did to me. Itong sine-share ko because my parents did this to me. Naniniwala sila sa akin tapos paulit-ulit na ‘Anak ang talino mo.’ kahit di totoo, paulit-ulit lang. But guess what, I became very successful and it manifested. Because they never stopped thinking and believing on it. Pwede naman akong bugbugin, paluin sa mga kalokohan ko.”
Dannes Serrano a.k.a. The VoiceBuilder’s story is a reflection of the lifelong advocacy of the VoiceMaster Pocholo De Leon Gonzales’ desire to help more people reach their dreams and fulfill their life purpose. His life is also a living testament to how God can change anyone for the better according to His will and plan.
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