Since we're nearing our 123rd Independence Day, let's talk about freedom.

Many wish to have the freedom to choose what to do with their time.

To control their calendar as much as they can.

No wonder, a lot of people have turned to freelance.

To work anytime and anywhere they want.

Others do it to create work that they love to do WHILE inspiring others and making an impact. (Not just any work to exchange for money).

And that includes Marven.

He's one of our successful freelancers out there.

And he'll be sharing with us his journey to freedom.

The good, the bad, and everything in between.

Pedicab Driver Noon, Social Media Marketer Ngayon - JasSuccess Interview 06/9/2021

Introduction

A very inspiring interview of Marven Bore where he talked about his life, his career and his success in freelancing. We will see how his perseverance pays off. 

From a humble beginning who had a lot of odd jobs like being a Pedicab driver, factory worker, gasoline boy, carwash boy, salesman, warehouseman, printing press helper, and experienced waiting for the Agency coordinators until midnight to get his salary to being a confident Social Media Marketer in just 2 months after enrolling in the VA Bootcamp’s Accelerated Course. 

Notable Quotes

Sa ngayon maliit pa lang syempre nag-umpisa pa lang ako, newbie pa lang at kaka-start pa lang but the promise of something new na nadagdag sa buhay ko is exciting talaga sya.

Kasi iba sya, hindi katulad nung dati na puro corporate lang alam ko. Ngayon may iba na akong alam na pagkakakitaan.

Tapos dumami na yung mga friends ko. Sumali na rin ako sa mga iba’t ibang freelancing groups. Keep on-going pa din. Tapos sa ngayon marami talaga akong kailangang matutuhan pa.

Bale ilang buwan pa lang ako sa freelancing world alam ko marami pa akong pagdaraanan na ups and down. Laban lang sa Freelancing Journey.

Sa mga bago, wag mawawalan ng pag-asa. Talagang laban lang. Hasain nyo lang yung skills nyo. Tapos talagang wag kayong mahiya, wag nyong sabihin na mahirap makipag-usap, mahirap makakuha ng client. Hindi e! Pag na-optimize mo kasi yung profile mo sila yung maghahanap sayo e. 

Yung advice ko sa mga audience, gawin nilang stepping stone yung experience nila. Yung mga pinagdaanan nilang hirap. Kasi ibig sabihin nandun ka na. Naranasan mo na yung ganun. Pwede mo syang gawing fuel. Ano pa ba yung sasabihin mo sa sarili mo na “Eto na yung lowest ko e, may ilo-low pa ba ko”. Wala na diba. Wala ka ng ibang way to go up. When you’re on the lowest ano pa ilo-low nun? Meron pa ba? Wala na diba. So magiging stepping stone mo na sya to go up na lang. Hindi ka pwedeng umi-stop na lang dun sa lowest na yun.  

Anong mangyayari sayo? Parang maawa ka sa sarili mo or another is move up na lang go forward. Yung laging sinasabing “Lavarn”, (laban) 

Yun hasain lang yung skills nyo and wag matakot kumausap ng prospect, kumausap ng client. Kasi isang hindrance yan e, yung takot na baka magkaroon nga ako ng client tapos hindi ko naman magagawa yung trabaho. 

So para mawala yung takot na yun, hasain mo yung skills mo. Hasain mo sya para magawa mo yung trabaho na kailangan ni client. 

Journey to Freelancing

• He took advantage to earn money by being a Pedicab driver since it is the primary means of transportation in their area. He started this side hustle from his elementary days to buy the toys he wanted without asking for it from his parents.
• Then comes the turning point in their lives when their parents separated and they have to stop from schooling for 1 year.
• Being the eldest in the family, he then realized the big responsibility upon his shoulders.
• He then started to look for another job to provide for his family’s needs. 

He became a factory worker in a company making plasticwares. 

A gasoline boy but eventually quit due to a complicated schedule. 

A carwash boy for their landlord’s passenger jeepney. 

A salesman in Divisoria for 150 pesos a day selling seasonal products like school supplies and toys.

Warehouseman, printing-press helper and in an Agency where he experienced waiting for hours until midnight to get his salary.

• Marven and his mother also tried to buy-and-sell RTW in the streets of the public market carrying big plastic bags where they put the clothes they were selling.
• When he came back to school he continued his side hustle of being a pedicab driver every night to have money for his school needs. 
• The struggle of a pedicab driver is when it is raining but Marven took advantage of it because he knows that he can get more passengers when it’s raining. 
• He graduated High School the following year and enrolled in Information Technology in PUP but he dropped it after six months because he needed to provide for his siblings.
• Then someone from a NGO offered them a scholarship for a 2-year vocational course. But he refused it because he doesn’t want to experience starvation again while in a class. 
• He also suffered from a lung disease, luckily the medicines he needed for the six months treated is free and available in their Barangay Health Center.
• After getting better from his sickness, he then grabbed the opportunity to go back to his studies through the NGO that offered him a scholarship. He is studying in the morning and still doing his side hustle as a pedicab driver. There was even a time that he met his former classmate and offered him to be a working student, not knowing that he was already a working student at that time. 
• He eventually finished his Electro-Mechanics course and still managed to get a bronze medal for his hard work.
• After graduating, he was absorbed by the company where he took his OJT as a Technician and eventually got promoted as a Line Leader.
• They also sent him to Germany in 2006 for training. That was his first time to ride a plane and be out of the country. Then when they returned to the Philippines, he got promoted again as an Assistant Supervisor.
• Then in 2008 he was sent to Germany again for another training then got an offer from a different department as a Technical Manager and at the same time as a Senior Manager in his then Research and Development department. 
• But due to the recession during that year, his Multinational Company decided to close their branch here in the Philippines. And at the same time, still depressed by losing his job, his lung disease had a recurrence so he needed to undergo a six months treatment again. 
• He then got another offer from his former boss to work in China. Until now he’s working there.
• Before, he can go home to the Philippines every 2 - 6months before the pandemic. But when the pandemic started in 2020 he wasn’t able to travel back to the Philippines because of the travel restrictions and the uncertainty that he might lose his job when he did so.
• That’s when he started to pursue freelancing. 

He started to hear about freelancing in 2016 and joined some Facebook Groups but he was not really that decided at that time.

• Then in February 2021, due to increasing cost of basic necessities he started to search on “How to earn online?” He then found Coach LJ’s FREE Webinar about FB Ads. He joined the webinar and got lucky to be one of the five chosen to have access to his courses. And from there he got interested and pursued to learn more about FB Ads.
• He then found out that Coach LJ was a member of FLIP so he also joined the group and soon after enrolled in the VA Bootcamp course in March 2021.
• When he was just starting, he had the challenge of self-doubt whether he could make it into freelancing because he still had a full-time job. But he eventually overcame it when he joined as an Admin Intern in the VA Bootcamp.
• His next challenge was making Cover Letters. He has low confidence in writing since he is a Technical Person. What he did was, he joined the May Guided Hustle Challenge and met Coach Jowi.
• He is now confident as a freelancer. He is not that anxious whether he would lose his corporate job because he is already prepared if he would suddenly be sent home. He is very thankful to freelancing because he got another source of income.

 Question And Answer

Q: At this stage in your freelancing career, masasabi mo ng confident ka kahit pauwiin ka, Tama?

A: Oo confident ako kasi may mga nag-apply ako na humingi ako ng mga malalaking rates e, payag e, binibigay. Kaya confident ako. 

Q:  Could you tell us more about your experience with your first client? Kasi sabi mo nagkaroon ka ng mga challenges dati, yung pag-susulat ng cover letter, yung confidence level? Could you talk to is about yung experience mo sa pinaka unang client.

A: Nung sumali ako ng May Group Hustle Challenge, everyday kailangang magpasa sa mga platforms like Upwork, ng cover letter. Sa OnlineJobs. Yung dalawa lang, dun ako nagpapasa kasi meron pang isa pero hindi ko na pinapasahan. Gusto ko lang talaga magfocus dun sa OnlineJobs and Upwork. Sa first week pa lang nung Group Hustle Challenge nung May, may nagreply agad dun sa pinasa kong cover letter sa OnlineJobs. Tuwang tuwa ako kasi dati wala namang sumasagot e, walang nag-eemail back. So nag-apply ako tapos nag-email back, sabi ano yung mga gamit ko, ano yung mga equipments ko tapos magkano yung gusto kong per month na rate. Tapos sinagot ko sya “My required salary is 2000USD”. “Okay” sabi nya “Add my Skype”. Tapos nung nag Skype na kami, tapos pinadala na nya yung mga learning materials tungkol sa FB Ads. Sabi ko “Hala totoo pala to”. Sa isip-isip ko parang hindi sya possible e. Ang alam ko lang dati is kailangan sa corporate ako magtrabaho, hindi ako kikita online. Hindi ako marunong kumita online. Tapos after nun, nung second week na, so hindi na ako nagpapasa sa Online Jobs, ang ginawa ko puro Upwork naman. Yun meron na namang ang daming interview daw tapos yung iba naman mag-send daw ako ng proposal, hindi ako nawawalan. So ang dami ng nandun sa Upwork ko. Tapos yun nga nung nag-call kami sabi nya papagawa naman sya ng chatbot, ayun ginawan ko. Taga America naman sya kasi yung sa Online Jobs sa Europe yun e. Sabi ko nung una hindi talaga ako confident na makipag-usap sa mga English. Kasi Chinese dito e hindi naman English ang salita namin dito. Kumbaga hindi na ako nasanay mag-English. Nung time na yun nagka-confidence na ako sabi ko “hala ganito lang pala makipagusap sa mga client”. Sabi ko kakayanin ko to kung uuwi man ako, kakayanin ko na to mawalan man ako ng full-time job. Hindi man sa ngayon, halimbawa mag-umpisa ka muna sa maliit, palaki naman sya ng palaki. Kaya naging confident na ako na pwede akong makakuha sa platform pero meron din akong client outside. Merong nag-message sa Facebook hindi lang isa, marami. Nagpi-PM ng “how much magpa-Facebook Ads” / “How much will you charge me?” Yun yung mga message. 

Q: Kung sa phone pa lang ay walang Google Services, How much more dyan sa China na kailangan mo na may VPN para lang may access ka sa Facebook at saka iba-ibang websites. Does this affect your work? 

A: Kailangan ko talaga na may VPN. Naapektuhan sya kasi minsan mahina yung VPN. Ang ginamit ko talaga yung premium na VPN kasi hindi lahat ng VPN dito is pwede, iilan lang. So ang ginamit ko dito is yung pinaka number 1 dito. Yung EXPRESS, yun ang ginagamit ko kasi yun lang talaga ang malakas dito. Yung iba hindi sila gumagana. Gumagana man siya hindi tulad nung ganito na smooth yung magiging usapan natin. Kahit nga ngayon naputol na ng isang beses. Tapos hindi ko nagagamit yung video call, yung messenger na Voice Call and Audio. Chat lang pero pag yung Facebook Video and Call hindi sya pwede. Pati yung Discord hindi ko sya nagagamit yung mga call features pero Chat lang. Kaya ang nagagamit ko lang Zoom at yang Streamyard pag video. Ang number 1 kasi dito is WeChat, WeChat talaga pag halimbawa tumatawag ako sa misis ko kasi meron syang WeChat.Yun WeChat hindi na kailangan na mag-VPN nyan. 

Q: If it is a challenge for you Marven, paano mo naipursige pa rin ang freelancing knowing the fact na kailangan mo pa ng VPN so gagastos ka pa, bibilhin mo pa yang VPN na yan and magiging hassle yan tuwing magwowork ka. Does that not disappoint you at all? 

A: In a sense it’s disappointing. Disappointing sya pero nasanay na rin ako sa katagalan kailangan ko talaga syang gamitin kung gusto kong yung world is ma-ano ko pa rin. Fear of missing out so kailangan kong mag VPN para makapag Facebook diba. Para hindi ako ma-FOMO. Kailan ko lang nalaman yung Fear-of-missing-out. 

In a sense kahit nadi-disappoint ako yun yung workaround e. Kailangan ko talagang gawin yun, kailangan kung hindi e hindi ko alam yung nangyayari. Kaya kailangan ko talaga syang gawin

Q: Let me ask you about sa pag-aaral mo. Hindi ka ba nahirapan dito sa VA Bootcamp?

A: Sa umpisa lang, nung mga first sabi ko pano ko nga ba pag-aaralan kasi yung time na ilalaan ko, anong oras ako mag-aaral? Ayun nag-a-lot ako ng madaling araw. Gigising ako ng minsan 4am, pipilitin ko talagang gumising. Minsan hindi ko kaya, 5am , 4:30am para pag-aralan lang yung mga courses. Kasi gusto ko kasing sumali nun sa April (Admin Interns) kaya tinapos ko sya. Yung Va (VA Bootcamp) lang naman, diba kailangan may certificate dun. Tinapos ko yun. Hindi ko pa naman natatapos yung ibang course sa Accelerated, andun pa rin, hindi pa sya tapos. Pero yung E-commerce yung nasa VA (Bootcamp) din na course yun dal’wa na yun tinapos ko. 

Q: Kung tutuusin marami ka namang experiences. Marami ka ng work experience. Sangkatutak ang work experience mo pero bakit kulang pa rin ang confidence mo nung una? 

A: Yun nga, dahil nasa China ako, iniisip ko is yung English ko is down. More on nasanay na ako magsalita ng Chinese to communicate. Wala naman ako kausap na English dito. Then iniisip ko nawala na yung communication skills ko sa English. Kaya pag halimbawa may i-interviewhin ako foreigner siguro wala na, mauutal na ako or hindi ako makakapag-usap ng maayos. Yun kaya nawala yung confidence ko. Iniisip ko kakayanin ko ba yung mag Freelancing na ganito kung ang magiging mga clients ko is mga English speaking, mga foreigner. Saka sumali talaga ako sa mga internship and challenges. Yun talaga yung naging belief ko nun na wala na yung Englisn ko, wala na, Carabao na ko. 

Q: Bakit pagdating sa Ingles, wala kang confidence samantalang dumaan ka na sa maraming challenges sa buhay. 

A: Dahil bigla akong nagkaroon ng takot na maki-pagusap. Kahit nga ngayon diba, sabi ko tagalog na lang kasi baka mamaya magkamali-mali ako sa pag-e-English kaya tinagalog ko na lang yung pagbibigay ko ng story. Pero ngayon nagkaka-confidence na ako. Ang dami ko ng naging kausap sa interview. More than I think sa Upwork pa lang more than 10. Tapos may mga nagsa-submit pa sakin ng invitation to submit a proposal. Hindi ko nga nasasagot yung iba. Sabi ko iba talaga pag optimized yung profile, naka-focus ka lang. Hindi pa nga ako masyadong nag-e-engage / naghahanap kasi mahirap din kasi nagtatrabaho. Yung time mo syempre ilang oras ka sa work so after lang ng work or sa umaga gigising ako ng maaga. So dun lang ako mag-aapply or dun lang ako makikipag-connect, makikipag-engage sa mga prospect. Ganun, so challenge talaga. 

43:43 (PM-ed question of Sir Phoenix about niche)

A: So nag-focus ako sa mga solar panel businesses. Gusto ko kasi yung renewable energy. Gusto kong tulungan yung market ng renewable energy. And my friend told me that in the Philippines, siguro mga several years from now magbu-boom na yung solar panel na business. Parang yun yung nakikita nung friend ko na ma-o-open na sya sa Pilipinas para din makahelp sa problem natin sa electricity. So kung yung mga tao magiging aware sila sa renewable energy lalo ang solar panel makakatipid na sila sa pagbabayad ng kuryente makakatulong pa sa kalikasan. Yung Carbon footprint mababawasan kasi renewable energy sya. Hindi ka na magsusunog ng charcoals and mga gasoline o mga fossil fuels. So kung renewable energy sya mababawasan yung tinatawag na greenhouse (effect). Yun kaya gusto ko talaga mag-focus na lang sa solar panel mga renewable energy. Kasi na-optimize na yung mga batteries ngayon, yung mga rechargeable batteries malaking tulong talaga. Kailangan na lang yung mag-cha-charge sa kanya, so yung solar panel business tingin ko yun yung magandang i-focus ngayon.

Nag-ooffer ako ng Facebook Ads. 

Q: With your experience, imagine nagsimula ka talaga nung bata ka pa lang sa pedicab and you have been through so many ups and downs in your life. Anong masasabi mo ngayon na napasok mo na ang freelancing, are you happy?

A: I’m very happy kasi sabi ko andito na ko sa dream ko na maging mataas yung position, ano pang kasunod. Ano nang kasunod? So ang gusto ko talaga is makasama na yung family ko gusto ko ng makauwi lalo ngayon sobrang tagal ko na dito. Pinakamatagal ko na stay dito sa abroad na hindi ko nakasama yung family ko, more than a year, Before less than a year lang kasama ko na agad sila kung gusto ko umuwi, uwi na agad ako. So ito yung challenge ng pandemic kaya ang solusyon talaga is freelancing. Kaya happy talaga ako that I pursue na yung freelancing.  

I plan to go home na.

Q: Kailan ang balak mo umuwi? Kailan mo masasabi na “Okay nasa posisyon na ako na pwede na akong umuwi talaga, uuwi na ako”?

A: Sa ngayon sinet ko lang sya ng within a year kasi ngayon mahirap talaga mag-travel. Kung uuwi ka agad medyo mahirap talaga. Sabi ko lang kung kaya pa, pero uuwi ako agad. Gusto ko ngang umuwi agad ng September. Ayun kaya lang hindi pa talaga sya smooth yung mga travel restrictions. Hindi mo pwedeng sabihin na “Uuwi ako ngayon, gusto ko.” Hindi pwede e. Mahirap kasi i-quarantine ka muna nila ganun or wala kang pambili agad ng ticket. Kung meron man sobrang mahal. Grabeng kamahal ng ticket kasi talagang konti lang yung pasahero kaya ang mahal ng ticket. Hindi katulad dati, yung ticket ko dati may P10,000 balikan na yun kaya madalas ako nakakauwi. Minsan nga may ticket pa ng less than P10,000 balikan na. Kasi mura lang e kaya nakakauwi ako nun madalas. Pinakamahal na yung P15,000. Kung titingnan mo dati mas mahal pa yung ticket sa Manila to Siargao or Palawan. Mas mahal pa yung price nung ticket dun kesa yung dito ko papunta dito.