Publishing mogul Lisa Gokongwei-Cheng’s dream: To own a tiny bookstore
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| Lisa Gokongwei-Cheng’s first job was as a management trainee in Robinsons Galleria where her funniest memory was when people would go to her and say, “Miss, pwede mo akong samahan kasi takot ako sa ahas.” |
Publishing mogul Lisa Gokongwei-Cheng is the third among the
six children of one of the wealthiest patriarchs in the country. How different
is it growing up in an influential family with the pressure of making a
business succeed, and how do you make yourself the boss of your own life? Here
are 10 things you should know about Lisa Gokongwei-Cheng:
1. She was a part of
Ateneo de Manila University’s college paper Guidon for just one year because
she got booted out for never passing in an article.
“My cousin was the editor in chief, Frederick Go, who is now
the head of Robinsons Land. He kicked me out because I was assigned an article
and never passed it in! I was so bad,” she says laughing.
“I came from an all-girls’ Catholic Chinese school, very
conservative, and going to Ateneo, it was co-ed, for me was an eye opener
already. Especially in Comm, because you saw a lot of deviant and creative
people there,” she recalls.
On competitiveness in class: “The most diligent students
were the girls. But I have to say it was the gay men who we knew would really
succeed. Then we had the macho men. We had a bunch of very successful graduates
in our batch. We were only 40 students, one block. We were very close,” she
says of Communication Arts batch 1990. Lisa, along with award-winning editor
Manet Dayrit, film and TV director Ruel Bayani, and FHM editor in chief Allan
Madrilejos, all came from the same block in college at the Ateneo.
On crushes and courtship: “I remember there was always a Top
Ten Cutest Guys list. I remember pa who was number 1, Martin Lichauco, because
everyone had a crush on him,” she recalls. “I don’t wanna embarrass anyone but
there was this one guy who sat beside me and goes, ‘You know why I like you?
You’re so much more reachable than these other two girls who were like crush ng
bayan.’ Is that even a compliment? How did I reject nicely? I don’t think I was
nice, I didn’t na lang mind them. I definitely wasn’t the campus heartthrob! I
was nerdy.”
2. Lisa’s first job
was as a management trainee in Robinsons Galleria where her funniest memory was
when people would go to her and say, “Miss, pwede mo akong samahan kasi takot
ako sa ahas.”
“I was trained together with the first batch of salesgirls,
literally we had to clean the stockrooms, then maybe after three months I
became the head of the Girls’ Department. I had to be on the floor every day in
a red suit and heels, and I had this little table. I really didn’t enjoy
myself, I did it out of duty,” she says of her one-year retail career. Did she
feel she got special treatment? “I think I had a very good boss because she was
not dyahe to order me around, in fact she gave me an average performance
rating! She was not afraid to tell me I could do better.
“Then I worked with the Manila Times very briefly, but I
have to say it was one of the most enjoyable times of my life. I got to work
with journalists like Malou Mangahas, Glenda Gloria and Chay Hofilena.” On what
she learned with the closure and eventual sale of the paper: “We learned we
were not the right publishers for a serious newspaper. That’s why right now I
would never do a serious newspaper, we would always get caught in-between.
“Then I went to Columbia
University to pursue my
master’s degree in journalism. And in New
York, I developed an interest in magazines kasi these
were on every corner, and I subscribed to a lot. When I came back, I said, ‘You
know, there is a market.’ So I started one.” That was the birth of Preview in
1995.
3. Of the Gokongwei
siblings who ventured into business, Lisa’s required the least capital: P1
million.
“Yes, I believe it was about one million. But I was lucky,
we survived on supplier’s credit. I think I was able to stretch the suppliers’
credit, I didn’t have to pay a long time, because of the company that backed
me. My suppliers trusted that even if it took me a long time to pay, I would
eventually pay.” Summit Media now has over 22 magazine titles, and they produce
books, bookazines, online content, and events.
Lisa’s siblings in two adjectives:
Robina: “Funny and responsible.”
Lance: “Exceptional and... brotherly.”
Faith: “Kind and generous.”
Hope: “Independent-minded and funny.”
Marcia: “The funniest of them all. And driven.”
“Being in the middle, I am quite close to all of them,” she
says.
4. On the future of
glossy magazines: “I think the magazine experience is irreplaceable. But I do
believe that magazines will need to change in order for them to continue to
grow.”
“It is a total package you are enjoying. Having said that,
for me, magazines can no longer remain as just a print product. They have to be
on Zinio, Apple Newsstand, or an app to survive. And online. That’s where we
are investing because that’s where it’s going.”
On if she ever had a moral dilemma when she acquired the FHM
license: “You know what? No. At that time I think I was just very naive. I was
looking for something that was commercially viable. It did hit my conscience
around 10 years ago, when the editor at that time I felt was taking it too far,
and when he put a girl that was not yet 18 years old on the cover. Even if we didn’t
part ways well, I respect him because he had his own beliefs — that an artist
has to push the envelope and society did not have a right to step on freedom of
expression — and I totally believe that. But when we got into that I felt it
was time to separate. So yes, I did feel guilty at a certain point,” she
reveals. “Even with Cosmopolitan we got a lot of flak. I was getting petitions
this thick (she holds her thumb and pointer finger up two inches apart) and
letters to my mom telling us to close it down because we were doing the work of
the devil.”
5. She attributes her
getting pregnant to “the prick of a nun.”
“I’ve been married since I was 34. I’m now 45. We were
trying to get pregnant for a long time. I was miscarrying, we tried to do IVF,
four times, but I didn’t get pregnant. Jo Ann Maglipon (Yes! magazine editor in
chief) told me, ‘Hey, you should try acupuncture.’ At that time I was 39 years
old na. I was like, acupuncture? That’s kinda quack medicine? But never mind, I
was so desperate,” she laughs. “A year later, after taking herbs and doing
acupuncture, I got pregnant. I was almost 40. She is Sister Regina, in Panay Ave., and now
her reputation has spread. I’ve sent so many friends there and half of them
have gotten pregnant.” Lisa and husband Berck Cheng have two angels, Noah and
Luke.
6. Lisa and Berck got
married in a small, casual garden wedding in Hawaii, by a female pastor.
“Why casual? I think we were old na, and we didn’t believe
in a big wedding. It was too embarrassing! Diba? Walk the aisle at 34,” Lisa
says laughing. “Honestly we really just didn’t want all that attention. It was
just very intimate, very nice.”
It was Lisa’s brother Lance who found a way to introduce the
couple, but it was during a blunder that they first saw each other. “He
belonged to a group called Anvil and they were holding a concert to raise funds
for charity. So they invited guests for a press conference with Jose Mari Chan.
We were all waiting, but then he’s the one who comes out and says, ‘I’m sorry
but Jose Mari Chan is not coming.’ And I said, ‘Hey! This guy is not bad
looking.’”
On the relationship lesson she learned from her dad John and
mom Elizabeth’s 53-year marriage: “I think they get along really well because
there’s that respect for each other. My mom has always been very patient with
my father, and in return my father has also been very good to my mom. It’s not
perfect, they still squabble and have these arguments. I think it’s such a good
marriage.”
7. Lisa Gokongwei in
numbers:
500-plus: Number of employees at Summit Media.
1,000: Average number of books in her personal library. “The
only physical books that I buy now are children’s books and coffee table books.
Most are e-books.” She reads one book a week on average.
6.5: Average number of hours of sleep she gets daily. “I
sleep at 11 p.m. and I always wake up at 2 a.m. Always. I read a bit, sleep
again after an hour or two, wake up at 7 or 7:30.”
400: Grade of her glasses for both eyes.
50: Number of e-mails she receives a day.
8. She admits that if
you open her closet, all you will see are white button-downs, T-shirts, and
jeans.
“Unfortunately, yes,” she says of her dressed-down office
attire. “You know what, I do want to dress more sophisticated; I just don’t
know how!
“My family, we’re just not fashionable. You get it from your
mom, right? And my mom dresses very simply. I would never say that I am simple,
but I just dress simply because I don’t know how to dress in any other way. As
much as I would like to dress like Pauline Juan (Preview editor in chief), I
don’t have her style or her body or her taste,” she says laughing.
9. Lisa has one
indulgence: “I love art and furniture.”
“I like Scandinavian-type furniture, I like Charles and Ray
Eames. It’s a piece of furniture that just makes you smile,” she gushes. She
does not collect works of any artist in particular but she does name Geraldine
Javier, Ronald Ventura, Vermont Coronel and Elaine Navas as some of her
favorites.
On what will make her choose a piece: “Sometimes I like them
because they’re so pretty. Other times I like them because they are so strange.
One of my favorite pieces now is a Geraldine Javier. It’s a goat’s head with
crocheted antlers, and it’s very scary. My children hate it so I put it in this
corner in my house. But it appeals to me because it’s so strange. She describes
her home interiors as “loft meets modern meets eclectic,” and she actually does
not follow feng shui. “I believe it helps you arrange space in a way that’s
comfortable for you, but I’m not sure it actually brings you luck.”
10. She does fly Cebu
Pacific and pays for her tickets in full, no discounts.
On what money means to her: “I think money is a way for us
to be creative, it allows you to build things. Although you can build things
without money, it is a means to creativity.”
On her biggest guilty pleasure: “Business class!
Unfortunately I still cannot fly first class. That’s too nakaka-guilty na for
me! I have to take business na now kasi I’m old na, especially if it’s a long
trip. If it’s a short trip I still take Cebu Pacific.” Does she still have to
pay? “Yes, of course!” No family discount as a perk? “None eh,” she says
smiling.
On her favorite cheap thrill: “Spam and egg from Pancake
House. Me and my son love that, we go every Saturday for that.”
On her one unfulfilled dream: “I’ve always wanted to own a
bookstore. I would’ve wanted to own a very tiny bookstore, it would just be my
choice of books. But I’m just too busy.”
* * *
On the topic of her kids, I asked Lisa what her biggest worry is when it
comes to them growing up in this generation. “I think the greatest worry… kasi
they’re comfortable. I think it’s so difficult for families who are affluent to
raise kids who are not screwed up,” she says frankly. “I think that is the big
balancing act. How do you not spoil them? It’s just so difficult. Kasi you see
it makes them so happy. We do try to tell them, and show them, that there is
another kind of world.” If you have ever met Lisa or any of her siblings, it is
likely you will be disarmed by how down to earth and approachable they are, as
if they were not members of one of the most powerful families in the country.
And with that kind of guidance, I am quite sure Noah and Luke, despite the
circumstances and eventual pressure, will grow up fine, well, and grounded with
them as examples.
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