[Good Business] The path of most resistance

(This article is an excerpt from Edward P. Martinez’s speech at the recent RVR College of Business Recognition Rites of De La Salle University.)

I speak to you from the future.

Thirteen years ago, I was right where you are: newly graduated from the College of Business, sitting in a room like this one. I took up Applied Corporate Management, designed, as the name suggests, to prepare you for corporate life.

But I have a confession: I did not pursue a corporate career.

Instead, I spent the past decade building a business. And today, I’d like to share three of the the most important lessons I learned from taking the path of most resistance.

Finding where you belong

The Applied Corporate Management program of De La Salle University gave me something valuable: three real work experiences before I even graduated, and a chance to know what working life could really look like.

My first was at a multinational bank.

My second was with a non-profit organization.

And my third was an energy company.

A bank. A non-profit. An energy company. Holistic experiences that any student would be lucky to have.

And my key takeaway?

Great places. Great people. Not my place.

I realized that with all the opportunities available, there was still something else that felt possible. And a question kept coming back to me:

What if? What if I take a path of my own?

So on April 1, 2016, April Fool’s Day, that’s exactly what I did.

I vividly remember opening the door to a 16-square-meter rental office for the first time. It was pitch dark. The electricity hadn’t even been connected yet. My business partner and I had no capital. No trust fund. Just enough savings to cover a few months of rent… and a cup of 7-Eleven coffee every morning, because that’s what I could afford.

Every day, I’d commute at four in the morning to beat the traffic and sit in that tiny office to strategize how to grow the business, holding on to the belief that one day, all of this would pay off.

My business partner and I would walk into meetings we had no business being in. After all, we didn’t have a client list or case studies to show.

What we had, however, was the energy of two people who genuinely, maybe even irrationally, believed in what they were building.

And little by little, people responded.

With every win and every signed account, clients put their trust in our potential. And through that trust, I was able to build an environment where I could thrive.

So when things feel uncertain, I challenge you: follow your intuition and bet on yourself.

Because most of the time, trusting your gut goes a long way.

The relationships that build your future

But taking your own path isn’t easy. More often than not, someone will have to take a chance on you first.

Early on, my business partner and I went to every event we could find. If there was a room full of people, we were there.

One evening, there was this person wearing white pants, surrounded by people listening. Confident. Sharp. The kind of person who clearly had influence in that room.

And I remember standing across the room thinking:

*Who am I to walk up to this person?*

But we did it anyway.

We joined the conversation. We shared what we were building. We asked for help. And that person became our mentor.

He, along with many others who took a chance on us, opened more doors than we could imagine.

Some started as clients and became close friends.

Some were mentors who shaped how we think.

Some were friends who later on became business partners.

And it all started with one decision: to walk across the room.

I tell you this because the people around you right now: your classmates, your batch mates, your professors, and even acquaintances. They will show up again.

Five years from now.

Ten years from now.

You’ll be in very different places, on very different paths. But they will be your allies. The ones who can propel you forward.

Nowadays, we spend so much of our lives staring at screens. But the real connections, the ones that actually shape your future, happen when you log off.

Talent opens doors. But relationships decide which ones stay open.

Do not hesitate to walk across the room.

And that brings me back to the future. Because the world you’re about to walk into is changing at an unprecedented speed.

What changes and what doesn’t

In the early days of my business, I read something that stayed with me: your twenties are your defining decade. The choices you make in those ten years shape everything that follows.

But I’ll be honest with you:

The world didn’t just speed up. It hit fast-forward.

What used to be a defining decade is now closer to a defining year.

A defining quarter.

And sometimes even a defining week.

You see it in the news. You feel it. The technologies reshaping how we work: artificial intelligence, automation, tools that didn’t exist a year ago. We do not wait for them.

They are already here.

And even for me, someone who works in this space every day, the pace is relentless.

So what do you do with that?

You adapt. You have to.

The business I run today looks nothing like the one I started. We went from a career platform for millennials, to a website development firm, to a digital marketing agency, to an AI-focused consulting practice. Because the world moved, and we chose to move with it.

If you’re not willing to reinvent yourself in a time of immense change, when the rules of work are being rewritten, you fall behind. That part is non-negotiable.

But you also have to know what shouldn’t change.

Your character.

Whether you listen before you act.

Whether you do what you said you would do.

Whether you take accountability when things go wrong.

Skills get outdated. Character compounds.

Those things don’t have software updates. They don’t get disrupted. And in a world moving this fast, they’re what people hold on to when deciding who to trust.

One more thing, especially for those of you who hear “AI” and think it’s not for you:

It is for you.

Plain language is becoming a powerful interface. If you can think clearly and communicate clearly, you can build. We live in an exciting time when you can just talk to your computer and it can build things for you.

And for business graduates, that’s an enormous advantage.

You were trained to understand customers, to think strategically, to ask the right questions. And that’s exactly what this era needs: people who embrace change, who move forward, and who improve every single day.

Challenge

Thirteen years ago, I sat where you are. I had no idea what was coming. I didn’t know I’d end up building a business. And I definitely didn’t expect to be standing here today.

But looking back, every good thing that happened came from the same place:

I built spaces where I could belong — when no one handed me one.

I stayed close to the people who believed in me when I had very little to show.

And when the ground shifted, I kept moving.

Everything above you and around you will keep changing.

So here’s my challenge:

Treat your life like something you are allowed to design. Not something you are assigned.

Build spaces where you belong. Keep the people who believe in you close. And when the world shifts, as it always will, shift with it, without losing who you are.

Congratulations, graduates.

Go build something the future you will be proud of. – Rappler.com

Edward P. Martinez is the co-founder and managing partner of Dreamlist, a digital consulting firm specializing in AI adoption and digital strategy for corporate clients. He is an alumnus of the Applied Corporate Management (APC) and MBA programs of De La Salle University.