When Paolo Romano Garcia first stepped into the world of sales and marketing, it wasn’t inside an office, a classroom, or a corporate training program. It started with four unused, rusting 6-wheeler trucks sitting idle in his family’s property—vehicles that symbolized declining business and missed opportunity.
“I couldn’t stand seeing them rot,” he recalls. “I didn’t know anything about marketing at that time, pero sayang. I just felt something could still be done.”
He was still in college when he opened his laptop and began Googling how to look for clients. No strategy, no framework, no roadmap—just instinct and a determination not to waste what was left of his mom’s business. He tried posting simple ads, experimented with online inquiries, and responded to clients one message at a time. Slowly, the bookings came in.
But the real turning point didn’t happen behind a computer.
Because they had no workers, Paolo became the “pahinante” himself.
“I was literally loading cargo with the drivers when we got ‘lipat-bahay’ bookings,” he says. “It grounded me. I saw how hard the delivery side really was. It made me respect the work even more.”
That hands-on experience gave him a rare 360-degree understanding of how marketing actually connects to operations. Every successful ad meant real sweat, real timelines, real coordination. Marketing wasn’t theoretical—it directly affected lives, income, and output.
“When those trucks started moving again, I realized something important: marketing can give life to something that everyone else already dismissed.”
That lesson stayed with him. The revived fleet eventually expanded into 10-wheelers, marking the first big proof that marketing—when paired with grit—can turn overlooked assets into revenue.
“That experience changed me,” he says. “It taught me to always look for potential where others only see decline.”
From College Hustle to Leading an Entire Marketing Department
That early win gave Paolo the confidence to take sales and marketing more seriously. He immersed himself in digital tools, industry trends, and branding—long before he imagined working in a corporate marketing environment.
Then came the call from his father.
He was asked to lead the Brand and Marketing Department of Ramon F. Garcia & Company, CPAs, one of the country’s established professional services firms and a member of Crowe Global. The task: align the local firm’s identity with international branding standards while crafting campaigns that still honored its Philippine roots.
“It was a different kind of pressure,” he says. “From reviving trucks to rebranding a firm in a global network—it felt like I had to grow up fast.”
But his early experience taught him something that would become central to his leadership style: strategy only works if you understand what happens on the ground. That perspective helped him balance creative execution with the realities of professional services work.
Today, Paolo, now Certified Marketing Professional, leads the firm’s brand strategy, digital presence, campaigns, and partnerships. He also supports community programs under the Moirasia Foundation, which now helps more than 60 scholars—a reminder that marketing impact extends far beyond visibility.
The Lesson That Started It All
Paolo often looks back at those trucks—not as a hardship, but as the unexpected beginning of everything he knows about marketing.
“That was the first time I understood what marketing really is,” he says. “It’s not about fancy ads or buzzwords. It’s about creating opportunity where people think none exists.”
For him, it will always go back to that moment in college: a laptop, four idle trucks, and the decision to do something instead of accepting loss.
“That experience taught me that marketing is not just a job—it’s a way of giving things a second life,” he says. “You just need to see potential and be willing to work for it.”
