PEOPLE  ASIA:  TO  A  WORKING-EXECUTIVE  MOTHER,  FAMILY  ABOVE  ALL

[PHOTO AT LEFT - Doyee Tumpalan with her children. Family above all. Being mother  to  her  2  wonderful  children]

MANILA, SEPTEMBER 14, 2009 (STAR) By Fatima Parel (People Asia) As an enterprising wiz, Rhodora “Doyee” Tactacan-Tumpalan has achieved success beyond compare. But all these pale beyond what she considers her most important feat: being mother to her two wonderful children.

“I can drop everything for my family,” swears Doyee in earnest when in the course of the interview, the conversation stirs to family vacations and the dilemma that working mothers are often faced with – how to divide their time between work and family.

As president of First Vita Plus Marketing Corp. – which produces the all-natural health drink First Vita Plus and other energizing products – Doyee’s days are often spent in the office. Her husband, Socrates “Soc” Tumpalan, who is the chairman of the company, handles the information technology department and other major aspects of the business.

Speaking in the vernacular, Doyee shares how pressure on the job can sometimes get too much. “I know that all of my actions will affect thousands of people, that’s why I really think hard before I make my decisions, because I’m responsible for so many people. I often get so drained but I know that I shouldn’t show any sign of weakness.”

Her weariness, however, fades away every time she meets with her employees and dealers. “They seek me out when they need advice. Sometimes I scold them but they know that (it’s because) I’m concerned about their welfare. More than anything, I want to build a relationship with them because this is more than just business,” she discloses.

While she avers that the success of her enterprise is important, there is one thing which she holds more essential and critical: raising her kids right – knowing that she and her husband are great role models for their children.

“I’m always very conscious (about the fact) that my kids look up to me, same with my husband… and that if they ask for something then I’ll tell them straight if I’ll be able to get it for them or not. We’ve always been honest with them.”

While the long hours that she spends with her “extended” family (that is, her thousands of business associates all over the country) is financially productive, it is her own family which she considers the source of her strength and joy. Whenever the 39-year-old mom is with her kids – Miguel Luis “Lance” (14) and Ma. Patricia “Patita” (11) – Doyee reveals that she can’t help express her happiness by hugging them constantly, with her kids gladly reciprocating the loving gesture.

“Every single day, before going to school, they always go to our room to kiss us and say goodbye. And later in the day, they’ll call me up and ask what time we’ll be going home. I tell them if I’ll be home late or if their dad will be the one who’ll be home early. That way I’m assuring them that when I tell them I’ll be home on that exact time then I’ll be really home on that time,” shares Doyee.

And every moment with her kids is something that she will never take for granted, especially with the difficulty that she went through in both of her pregnancies. With her first pregnancy, Doyee experienced such serious bleeding that the doctors even advised her to consider abortion, to which she vehemently objected. The nine months that followed were spent in a hospital bed. With Patita, she was bedridden for four months straight, not allowed to move strenuously. That’s why she would often tease her kids not to give her a hard time considering what she went through for both of them.

As an incentive for working hard for the rest of the year, the whole family goes on vacation in Canada every summer. And for three, whole months, Doyee, Soc, Lance and Patita share all the household work together – doing the laundry, cooking, cleaning, grocery shopping – you name it and the four of them will work on it.

“For us, a vacation is a must. I learned that from my parents, that education should not only be confined in a classroom. Traveling broadens our horizon, that’s why we bring our kids everywhere we go and we learn a lot from them,” tells Doyee.

And it’s not only in vacations that they get to spend family time. During this interview, for instance, both kids were in Doyee’s office waiting for all her appointments to be done. It was a Friday, you see, and the whole family had planned to see a movie together. It’s from spontaneous decisions such as these where they often get the most fun out of.

In turn, the bond between the parents and their children has become so strong that Doyee and her husband would often consult with Lance and Patita on business matters. The children become the critics on some of their products. It seems that business runs in the family, literally. Doyee even showed her kids’ business cards indicating Lance as the chairman and Patita as president, a sure sign that they’ll be following in Doyee and Soc’s footsteps.

Just like any other parent, Doyee also has her hopes and fears. Finishing school, for one, is what she would want the most for her two lovely children. Pressure, she said, is something that she doesn’t want her kids to experience. “I dread the day that they’ll be miserable because I pushed them into something that they would not want to do.”

Because for Doyee, it is not wealth and success that’s important, it’s how her kids will turn out that matters most. “I would always wish for their happiness. I want them fulfilled as persons and be whatever they want to be,” this lovely mother concludes.