Daddy Good Vibes
Consul Bobby Joseph and daughter Rea Joseph Gonzales
Rea Joseph Gonzales has only been at her new job for a few months. It’s one that comes with some perks: She gets to bring her son to work, for one. Being part of a family business gives you that leeway.
She had moved her entire family to Manila to learn the business and be closer to family.
Her son, age five, has a fairly good idea of what is at stake. “Wowo has a lot of money,” he observed, “because he has a lot of stores and a restaurant that serves good food.”
It is an astute remark. His grandfather, after all, is Richard “Bobby” Joseph, a man of many achievements and undertakings. Among his many titles are Consul General of Latvia in the Philippines, chairman for the Philippine Wine Merchants, and owner of Ralph’s Wines and Sprits. He is involved in tourism via numerous endeavors and his advocacy for open skies. The family-owned business, Wine Museum, comprises a hotel, a colonial and Spanish restaurant, and the Wine Education Center.
Rea, one of Bobby’s five children and the only one who goes to the office with him, is taking advantage of her new work situation. “We get to eat lunch,” she says, while he reveals, “We’re always laughing and having fun.”
The Joseph family is particularly close and very affectionate. Rea shares, “The reason I still feel close to my dad even if, growing up, he wasn’t' always there is he always gave us hugs and always asked for hugs — the long kind of hugs. So we are a hugging and loving family. My dad is very malambing, so it’s the same thing I do with my son.”
When Bobby Joseph entered the room for the shoot, everyone thought they saw an imposing, serious man. But when he sat and started to speak, it was like encountering a reservoir of positivity and inspiration. Every story had a learning component, each pointing to a value that he fiercely believes in: hard work, resourcefulness, perseverance, good etiquette, and having a positive attitude.
As a motivational speaker, Bobby Joseph can move a crowd of 1,000 with his wise insights and call to action. Rea, though, gets to experience this positive, proactive attitude on a day-to-day basis. Working together, she gets to learn about the business up close, but she also gets to shadow a mentor from a privileged position.
“My dad is very good at communication and dealing with people— he’s a people person. The way he makes contact, the way he talks to people, the way he entertains them; he’s amazing. He can go from one meeting to the next to the next to the next. He has so much energy; he has so much to talk about.”
Following in Bobby Joseph’s footsteps can be intimidating — or it can be inspiring. Rea admits she has learned so much already in a short time: to be more efficient, to be action-driven, and to never say “I don’t know.”
“There’s technology right now at our fingertips that we can access to find the answer we need,” she says. “When we’re talking, when something comes up and I say, ‘I don’t know,” he says ‘Then, Google it!’ He’s tech-savvy.”
“So there is no excuse for stupidity,” he adds. “Now, the people who are stupid are the people who cannot embrace technology, they cannot embrace change. And the thing that I drive at is: What if you are change itself? You are the change. You make the change. You create the change. And you lead the change. Others would try to manage change, but you created that change. So there are business opportunities in small little ways that you can be the solution. An that would put you somewhere up there.”
“He’s always talking about being the solution and finding solutions,” points out Rea.
And where there is no solution, there is hope and there is faith. Bobby Joseph has been battling stage four cancer for eight years, and unless he told you (or you Googled it), there is no way to know.
As Rea says, “He makes it easy for us because he doesn’t show us too much.”
In fact, the two talk about an amplified life. There is no slowing down — only the chance to do and be better. “The first thing I did was surrender to God,” he explains. “Complete surrender. I did not question. And then I asked the Lord whatever possible time to improve and become better. That was in 2007. It is now 2015 and I am talking to you.”
There's so much to learn and absorb from a man like Bobby Joseph. But his children only need to know one thing: “If they’re in trouble, they can always come to me, because I love them. They should always think that Daddy loves them, no matter what happens.”
