Jaja Chiongbian Rama - The Best of Both Worlds

CEBU, Philippines - Georgia Felice Chiongbian-Rama, or simply Jaja, describes herself now as a mother, wife, career-driven, workaholic, perfectionist, fiercely loyal to friends and family, pet parent, adventurous and someone with a constant itch for travel. She is very passionate with her work, but when not doing work-related activities, she is just the typical mom and wife next door.

When she was in her elementary years, Jaja loved to collect stamps and coins. This hobby was inspired by her fascination of how big the world was and how many places there were to explore. She was an explorer.

When she grew older, she got interested in sports, and played soccer, baseball, volleyball, and softball. She became the sporty type. Then she decided she wanted to try a few more things and listed jumping off a plane as the first item on her bucket list. She became an adventurer.

But life has its own twists and turns. If dreams were winds, it's like Jaja's have shifted directions. Today, spending time with her three-year-old son is her favorite hobby. She has become a mother.

"Manu, my son, is the ultimate stress reliever. Just seeing the wonder in the child's eyes as he discovers the world around him always gives me a fresher and better perspective of things," the young mother happily shares. "He never fails to make me laugh. The things he says and does are just absolutely heart melting and hilarious, especially now that he already interacts more and is developing a personality - a mischievous one at that!"

Motherhood is not the whole of her present life, though. Being the managing director of B!GSEED Public Relations and Events, which she established in March 2009, plus being the Vice President for Finance of George & Peter Lines, Inc. and as Cebu City Tourism Commissioner, Jaja really has to juggle her time. It is a wonder how she still has time and energy to do other stuff, like bonding with family and friends.

When not working - which is very rare - Jaja makes sure to catch up with friends from different groups: high school, college, and couples groups. Of course, she makes it a point to have time with her son and husband.

"My husband and I like watching movies, doing series marathons - Game of Thrones, The Originals, Blacklist, House of Cards, True Blood, Breaking Bad and Fringe for him, and Grey's Anatomy for me. We're very alike when it comes to things we love to watch and do and eat - no vegetables and fruits, please. We used to scuba dive together and got our open-water license together almost eight years back," she relates.

In balancing work and family life, a lot of perseverance is required. It is not easy, she admits. It is a big challenge and a constant work-in-progress, especially for someone as workaholic as she is.

Time management, compartmentalization, and setting priorities are important, most especially in running one's own business. But Jaja has found that this dogma is always easier said than done. Yet, at the same time, this one self-empowered woman has absolutely no problem with that.

What is an empowered woman? "An empowered woman is someone who accepts, embraces, and celebrates who she is both as a person and an evolving individual at every changing point in her life, makes the most of it, and acts on the belief that there is no limit to one's potential," she says.

This versatile woman is doing a lot of all other things aside from coping simultaneously with career and family life, which is already such a formidable task in itself. Amazingly, Jaja is not only able to do it - she's having the best of both worlds. (FREEMAN)