Born in a remote farming village in the northern Philippines, I spent my youth climbing trees and swimming in rivers with my siblings and cousins. My father died when I was young and soon after, my mother left for the UK to support her three young children working as a waitress. I was then raised by my grandparents and extended family.

At 17, I joined my mother in the UK and almost immediately started working for British Telecom full time and studied part time. After completing a degree in Financial Economics, I joined Barings as an investment banker in London and Manila before motherhood. When my children were at school, I returned to do a masters and re-entered the workforce as a hotel investment and management consultant.