BizLife: Timely inspiration for executives and entrepreneurs

By Mhicole A. Moral, Special Features and Content Writer

For almost four decades, BusinessWorld has earned the trust of corporate executives, policy makers, and entrepreneurs through accurate reporting and detailed analysis. Now, the business newspaper and multimedia content provider goes beyond the daily broadsheet to bring to the Philippine business community not just timely information but also much-needed inspiration.

BusinessWorld has started doing this with the launch of BizLife, a new publication catering to modern business leaders and entrepreneurs. It aims to provide stories and features that go beyond traditional business news, focusing instead on leadership styles, workplace culture, and the ideas shaping the future.

“BizLife is a magazine that showcases the next-generation management and how their mindset will influence the future of business. It is poised to be the BusinessWorld of millennials and Gen Z,” BusinessWorld Executive Vice-President Lucien C. Dy Tioco shared in an email to BusinessWorld.

According to BizLife Editor-in-Chief Katherine L. Magsanoc, the magazine’s concept started from the aspiration of the company’s leadership to revive High Life — a former BusinessWorld title catered to fine living — but turning it into a format that speaks to today’s generation of executives and entrepreneurs.

“The pandemic gave rise to more self-made and brave entrepreneurs across different age groups, and not all have a Business degree,” Ms. Magsanoc observed. “Their stories are also worth telling.”

BizLife intends to highlight a wider view of leadership through stories that combine business and lifestyle, showing both the professional and personal lives of leaders.

“The name itself combines ‘Business’ and ‘Life,’” Ms. Magsanoc said. “We know, for them, business is life. But, we are also sure they have a life outside their business. And we want to tell these stories, too.”

Consequently, BizLife is written with a specific readership in mind. The magazine is aimed, first, at executives at the highest level of their organizations, those whom Ms. Magsanoc described as “the leader’s leader.”

Beyond executives, Ms. Magsanoc adds, BizLife also targets “the changemakers who challenge the status quo, implementing better ideas and processes that drive progress; the visionaries who chart a course for the future, inspiring others to join them on the journey; and the catalysts who push for progress, driving change and inspiring action within their spheres of influence.”

The editor also explained that the goal of BizLife is to let readers see business leaders in a new way. The stories show different sides of executives, beyond what is seen inside offices and boardrooms.

“We hope our readers can get inspired by ideas that can make money but also help others or make the lives of people better. We hope our readers who dream of starting or having their own business find the courage through the stories of success in every page,” Ms. Magsanoc added.

The launch of BizLife is part of BusinessWorld’s effort to connect with audiences who are looking for stories about leadership, innovation, and lifestyle.

Bannering the inaugural issue of BizLife, themed “The Changemakers,” is the next-generation leadership at the Filinvest Group, namely Isabelle Therese Gotianun Yap, vice-president and chief strategy and transformation officer of EastWest and director of Filinvest Development Corp.; and Francis Nathaniel Consunji Gotianun, first senior vice-president of Filinvest Hospitality, who shared how the companies they lead are building a better future for their respective industries and the nation overall.

In the cover story, Mr. Gotianun shared that the most fulfilling aspect of his work at Filinvest Hospitality extends beyond financial success — knowing that the company is helping to make dreams come true.

“There’s something special about creating moments that delight our customers while also supporting communities and jobs around the country,” he said.

Ms. Yap, meanwhile, expressed her passion to create a more inclusive and equitable environment at EastWest and Filinvest where women are not limited by societal expectations.

“I hope that my work inspires more women to feel empowered — we are a meritocratic and resilient organization. We recognize performance and reward for everyone,” she said.

Also featured in the first issue are key people within the MVP Group, among them Belen M. Al-Humayed of Multisys and Bison Management Corp., Menardo G. “Butch” Jimenez, Jr. of PLDT, Jovy I. Hernandez of Metro Pacific Agro Ventures, and Erickson Y. Manzano of Landco Pacific Corp.

Leaders and movers in the Philippine startup ecosystem are also profiled in a story about IdeaSpace Ventures, a pioneering firm in the startup space, with stories and recollections from Executive Director Alwyn Joy E. Rosel, Betterteem Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Bo Discarga, and Flying Tigers Express CEO Shad Roi de la Cruz.

Another highlight from the issue is a first-person account from Athenna Ordoña, the young marketing and corporate communications lead at Multisys, on being a millennial in the boardroom, present at board meetings with PLDT executives, including Manuel V. Pangilinan.

Other executives and entrepreneurs featured in the issue are Eric Puno of Army Navy and Pizza Telefono, Kayla Sayson of mobility business Popcycle Ebike Center, Engr. Marlon Pabustan of Bataan-based Khalimah Handicrafts & Souvenirs, Camille Escudero of femtech company Lily of the Valley, and Kat Erro of homegrown leather brand Katre.

The first issue of BizLife already shows how the magazine intends to move forward, with leaders who are not confined to boardrooms. The magazine highlights that leadership is also about impact, values, and innovation that reach beyond numbers.

Moving forward, Ms. Magsanoc said, the team behind BizLife plans to create multimedia content that will be available on BusinessWorld’s website and other digital platforms. Readers can expect features that connect the magazine to BusinessWorld’s online channels, with the possibility of crossover stories appearing in the main newspaper as well.

Such approach shows how the content provider is responding to the changing habits of its readers, especially as people today look for information in different formats. BizLife offers a bridge between these platforms, allowing the publication to reach more audiences without abandoning its traditional readers.

“We just started, so we will keep doing what we have done in the first issue: celebrate all kinds of leaders in business, and spread the word about the good they do with their business,” said Ms. Magsanoc.

The first issue of BizLife can be purchased at BWorldX. Visit www.bworld-x.com.