Empowered and empowering The Manila Times – The Manila Times

MARICHELLE TORRES-ACKERMANCo-founder, Triumphus Fuel Experts Inc.Chief Executive Officer, Triumphus Estates Inc.

Entrepreneur wears several hats, including one as life coachMarichelle Mache Torres-Ackerman is many things: a businesswoman, international author, life coach and philanthropist. While some would find juggling such diverse roles a formidable challenge, for Torres-Ackerman, it was the natural path.

Born into a family of entrepreneurs, educators, real estate specialists and public servants, she is the second of five children and the eldest among three girls. Her late father, Jaime Torres, was a businessman and co-owner of the educational institution St. James College System, along with wife Myrna Montealegre Torres. According to Torres-Ackerman, her mother was a passionate educator and a politician, having been three-term mayor of Tigbauan municipality, Iloilo province. Their school, which had branches in Quezon City, Paraaque City, and Calamba City in Laguna province, would have turned 50 this year had the family not liquidated it shortly before the Covid-19 pandemic hit.

Eternal educatorTorres-Ackermans entrepreneurial spirit was nurtured at an early age. My father would always ask me to join him in business meetings, while my mother would also invite me to her philanthropic and political events, she recalls.

Besides owning a school, Torres bought unused land primarily for investment purposes. It helped him establish Torres Lands Inc., which his daughter serves as a board director. He bought hundreds of hectares of properties, which were so cheap decades ago, and now, they are considered prime property and are in demand in the real estate industry, his daughter relates. From them [my parents], I learned effective decision-making, spirituality, love for service and giving back to society.

To continue keeping the educator in her alive, Torres-Ackerman is set to offer online short-term degree professional courses middle of this year. [Courses] will be taught by current experts of various fields, she says. I believe that students are more inspired to learn from people who are visionaries in action. Especially now that we are in turbulent times, new insights are more acceptable since we are geared to adjust to the new normal.

Torres-Ackerman also co-founded Triumphus Fuel Experts Inc., a petroleum wholesale and retail business, with her second husband David.

Petroleum, she observes, is in high demand especially under the current administrations flagship Build, Build, Build program. Our retail operations are currently on hold due to the pandemic, she reports. But we are aiming to reestablish branches this year after careful recalculation of new market opportunities.

With her five daughters during an outreach program for the Aeta community in Pampanga province last Christmas.

Triumphus Estates Inc., the Ackermans real estate arm, is presently focused on expansion; particularly, in farm operations in which her four older daughters are involved. The pandemic [showed] the need to enhance agricultural businesses and the Department of Agriculture is offering more incentives to landowners and farmers, she remarks. This can help greatly with our expansion. Aside from farm operations, the company is dealing with housing development and will focus more on remote communities.

During the lockdown period, the executive kept herself busy with endeavors involving income generation. In April last year, she launched an online talk show called Walk the Talk with Mache!

I interview visionaries from different sectors, who continue to excel during the pandemic, she explains. They are examples of true entrepreneurs and leaders, who know how to unlearn and relearn during crisis. The show featured the likes of Silvana Ancelloti-Diaz and her husband, the artist Ramon Diaz, owners of Manilas oldest art gallery, Galleria Duemila, and Harley Dave Beltran of Handcrafted by Harls, a leather crafts manufacturer, which provides employment to persons with disabilities.

One of Torres-Ackermans books on self-leadership

Torres-Ackerman has also written books on self-empowerment and self-leadership. Her latest, The Change series (nos. 8 and 10 co-authored with international authors and power speakers Jim Britt and Jim Lutes), was released in the US. I inspire [and teach] people to unload self-limiting beliefs, she declares. My teachings mostly come from my own experiences, especially after going through several rough journeys in my personal life.

In 2002, Torres-Ackerman, a mother of four daughters, was struggling with a failed marriage, I got through it thanks to my supportive family, she admits. On a trip to the US to heal myself, I consulted [noted] hypnotherapist Cal Banyan.

Right trackThe encounter transformed her, and inspired her to empower women facing similar challenges. She then pursued courses in life coaching, specializing in medical hypnotherapy in California. She is now a certified life coach and a US-certified clinical hypnotherapist, focusing on adults and children with traumatic childhood issues, emotional instability, lack of self-confidence among other similar issues. Currently, she delivers mental health talks for groups and couples and offers one-on-one therapy.

Been there, done that, she declares. These experiences have molded me to become a better wife, mother, civic leader and entrepreneur.

As charter president of the Rotary Club Makati Business District, she facilitates outreach programs revolving around her climate change awareness advocacy: Our club was chartered the night of Yolanda in 2013. Since then, we have concentrated on several environmental projects such as Light It Forward with The Liter of Light, wherein we teach remote communities how to make solar lamps instead of those using kerosene, which are bad for the environment.

We launched it at the [University of the Philippines] Diliman stadium during the pandemic when we lit up the Rotary Wheel logo with the first 1,000 solar lamps as pledges to be distributed to remote communities nationwide, she narrates.

With Torres-Ackermans days brimming with activity, one wonders how she manages to give each undertaking the appropriate attention and energy. Knowing my top priorities helps me handle my tasks well, she says. As long as they are set well and my heart knows its in the best [interests] of my family and others, I am sure Im on the right track.

I wear many hats because I believe that a person can maximize ones potential. I believe in having a balanced life, so I like taking part in organizations that can help me fulfill my purpose in life and business opportunities.

This mother of five is hard not to admire. My four daughters witnessed what I went through as a single mom, and they have been very supportive, she reveals. Our experiences as a family while I was a single mom made them more mature and inspired as well.

I can see now how they handle their personal relationships by being self-empowered as well. I feel so honored when they acknowledge my strengths and accomplishments, and are proud of me.

Her eldest daughter, Mica holds a fashion and business marketing degree from Coventry University Singapore; second daughter, Bea, has a hotel and resort business management degree from Les Roches University in Spain; third daughter, Cielo, is currently completing a culinary course at Enderun Colleges and soon, at the Culinary Institute of America in New York; and fourth daughter, Daniela, is pursuing marketing management at the University of Toronto in Canada. Emilia, her youngest and only child with husband David, is turning six years old this year.

Torres-Ackerman has learned that self-awareness is vital to achieving inner peace and strength, paving the way to discovering ones purpose in life. For this remarkable woman, enriching lives through her work and advocacies, she fervently hopes, will likewise help others become their better selves.

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Empowered and empowering The Manila Times - The Manila Times