When Janina Micca Perez, Certified Hospitality Professional (CHP), looks back at her career—from hotel work in Oman to marketing partnerships in Manila, and now leading a hospitality college—she doesn’t describe her journey as strategic or perfectly planned. She describes it as the result of one habit she never abandoned: she kept learning, even when the next step required her to start from scratch.
Her confidence in communication came only after years of practice. She wasn’t the most outgoing person early in her career, but she slowly realized that her ability to speak clearly, calmly, and thoughtfully could shape the outcome of almost any situation.
As she puts it, “If I have to choose just one, top of my list will be communication. Most things, if not everything, boil down to it. When we pick the right words and say them at the right time to the right people, we’re able to turn things around. That’s when we see how much better we can serve.”
For her, communication isn’t just a professional skill—it has been the thread connecting every career move she made, from front-of-house service to client management to teaching.
Staying competitive, she says, depends on the willingness to continually learn. Her approach is simple: remain teachable, and treat curiosity as a long-term advantage. “When people ask me what I love doing, I always say I like learning. It’s genuine. I enjoy discovering new things, whether it’s attending industry conferences or trying something completely unrelated like pottery. Learning keeps me adaptable, and adaptability keeps me relevant.”
That philosophy led her back to school several times. After completing a Master in International Marketing in 2023, she realized she wanted to deepen her expertise in the field she now teaches—so she enrolled in a second master’s program in International Tourism and Hospitality Management. For her, learning is not a season. It’s part of her identity.
She traces her approach to a message she first saw as a child, printed on a notebook she bought in Grade 5. “That line said, ‘Be the best wherever you are.’ At first I thought it meant competing with others.
But as I went through my professional life, I understood it differently. For me, it became about competing with my old self. Improvement can’t come from anywhere else. If I want to find myself somewhere better, I have to take the step toward it. So I kept stepping forward—one opportunity after another.”
That mindset made her flexible when a major pivot presented itself. After several years in hotels, she shifted into marketing—a field she didn’t formally study. She admits the learning curve was steep. “I wasn’t a marketing graduate, so the jargon, the software, even the way the work was done felt unfamiliar. But I realized customer service is applicable to so many industries. The skills I built in hospitality still mattered. I just had to learn the systems. And eventually, I did.”
This pivot opened doors that surprised her: client-facing roles, global coordination work, and finally, the path to education. She eventually discovered that her hospitality foundation transferred naturally into teaching and program development.
Today, she encourages professionals to stay ahead by investing in their own growth. She believes future-proofing a career means refusing to remain the same. “Upskill. Be hungry for more. You get ahead in life by choosing to be more than you are right now. Today, so many trainings and courses are accessible at our fingertips—not like before, when you had to be physically present for everything. There’s no excuse not to keep learning.”
Janina’s journey shows what the modern hospitality career truly looks like—fluid, transferable, and shaped by the ability to adapt. She didn’t follow one rigid career lane. She built a career by expanding her skill set every time the industry shifted.
Her story is a reminder that the strongest professionals aren’t the ones who start with all the advantages. They’re the ones who stay curious, communicate well, and never stop learning—no matter where their career takes them.
