A journey towards a dream
A businesswoman, educator, and mother travels different roads to reach one destination
by Lolita Villa

Rossana Llenado, 36, is at the forefront of what has come to be the nation’s leading review and tutorial center.  In less than two years after she established her auxiliary education business in 1995, she has become a multi-awarded businesswoman who is at the helm of a headstrong company, led by the award-winning Ahead Tutorial & Review Center.

When asked how this all first came about, she recalls a poignant memory straight out of childhood:  “I used to sell polvoron and stickers to my friends when I was a little girl.”  More than two decades later, what began as a play activity carried out by a precocious child led to a series of sensible ventures that culminated into a veritable industry leader—thanks to Llenado’s sensitivity to the needs of the market and promotional smarts.  To date, Llenado has also managed to head Ahead Books and Things, a publishing venture that produces and markets review books and student guides.  Right now she’s excited about Ahead Professional Network, which has recently started offering various training programs for graduating college students and professionals.  Not bad for a woman who began a career by selling odds and ends to her young friends.

Achieving recognition

These past few years accolades have been pouring in: among other things, Ahead became the recipient of the Gold Quill Award in 2003, thus placing the brave small enterprise in the company of corporate giants like Avon Cosmetics, Coca-Cola Bottlers, and Caltex Philippines.  That same year, Entrepreneur Magazine also handpicked Llenado for the Entrepreneur 10 hall of fame—an elite list of businessmen and women who were recognized for pulling their small ventures into the big league.

Just last October, Llenado received the prestigious Aurelio Periquet Business Leadership Award alongside Chowking founder and St. Luke’s chairman of the board Robert Kuan.  It was in recognition of Llenado’s successful pioneering efforts in the tutorial and review industry.  Previous recipients of the distinction include Lance Gokongwei and Alexandra Prieto-Romualdez.

When it rains, so it pours: amid all the flurry of excitement and recognition, Llenado hardly has the time to reflect how she has managed to get this far.  Admittedly, quite a feat, most especially when one points out that she is, on top of being a CEO and an entrepreneur, a devoted wife, a doting mother of four young children, an M.A. student at the Ateneo, and an active member and officer of several prestigious organizations.  How did this happen?

Despite her busy schedule, she points out that her children—twin boys Paolo and Nicolo and daughters Darla and Megan—are not “neglected kids.”  One summer her sons asked for a chance to work around her office—cleaning windows and wiping table for P5 an hour, which Llenado considers as an opportunity to train her kids early.  She also enrolls them in various activities, from piano lessons to art lessons, so that they will be used to the kind of active lifestyle and versatility to which she was exposed.

Traveling different roads

The female CEO’s career and successful family life is a testament to what she has always believed in—to fulfill a passion that starts at her own home by taking personal charge over her children’s development, and next, to have this passion eventually benefit others on a nationwide scale.  This is nothing less than her passion for education.

But it was one that took time to discover.  From childhood onwards, Llenado had always shown a talent for entrepreneurship and a strong sense of leadership.  From selling paper fans and fruits to her classmates when she was eight years old, to engaging in businesses that spanned catering, T-shirt printing, mushroom growing, and sub-leasing units, Llenado managed to make the most out of a tight situation, because her family did not have much when she was growing up.  Thus, it was natural for her to desire multiple careers in such diverse fields as law, engineering, or accounting.  But a speech that she made for then senator Alberto Romulo made her discover the grave role that education had in uplifting the nation.

She also had a high respect for teachers, whom she sees as heroes, near-perfect individuals who had the noble task of shaping the future citizens of the country.  “In my day, I didn’t like the fact that people looked down on the teaching profession.  This shouldn’t be because these are the very people who are responsible for shaping the character of young people,” she adds.

Combined with her newfound insight, her compassion for students and her respect for teachers, Llenado vowed that one day she would put up a foundation that would subsidize the education and needs of bright young individuals who would be groomed for the teaching profession.  She is determined to make this dream into a reality when she hits the big 4-0.

A journey towards a dream

The journey towards that dream has gone through a roundabout path.  Ironically, Llenado’s keen business sense is the force that propels her auxiliary education company forward.  Llenado has used this to her advantage, and effectively because of her sincere desire to help the state of education achieve greater heights.  By focusing on innovation, running the organization, determining what works, and what the learning public needs, she can make Ahead an effective organization while leaving the teaching concerns to the experts.