WEARING a white top, a pair of pants and a heartwarming smile, Gladys Gaccion Opitz welcomed SunStar Cagayan de Oro in her spacious home. With her lean physique and classic taste in fashion and living, one could not imagine that this woman has went far from having none to fulfilling her dreams.
In one corner of her living area, Gladys sat on a red couch set where she began her inspiring story.
Gladys said that all she ever really wanted in life was for her family to live happily and comfortably. She wanted to be able to provide what they want and for them to enjoy life like they deserve to.
After a while, Gladys gave us a mini tour on the different areas of the couple’s residence.
Beside the indoor pool, Gladys sat happily like a child on a wooden pony chair while telling her story.
After so many years of hard work, Gladys looks back at who she was more than 40 years ago. She said she can only thank her stars that she not only achieved her goals but was given so much more.
Albeit being one of the most renowned personalities in Cagayan de Oro's business world today for being the owner of Cagayan de Oro's 'Pulse Bar', little does everyone know about the hardships she went through just to be where she is today.
Her road to riches started when her family decided to move to Cagayan de Oro from Damulog, Bukidnon. After her parent's failed marriage, she and her brother only had their mother back then.
Together, they lived in a small house that had no toilet with a roof that leaked when it rained. With a memory of struggles and hardships, Gladys would still start tearing up thinking about how they survived their life before.
One of Gladys’ most defining characteristics is her belief in the power of education.
After graduating from Lourdes College with a degree in Engineering, Gladys left the country to go to Germany and acquire her Master's degree. Even though the opportunity seemed exciting, she had nothing for herself since she was only there through the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst or DAAD student exchange program of Germany.
Her stay in a foreign land was not at all glamorous in contrast to what most people would believe. Apparently before she can enter the university, she had to learn German in a language center there. However, to be able to sustain herself and to keep something for her educational needs, she had to work two jobs.
"I had a job in cleaning pots that were too big, I actually had to go inside it to scrub it clean. Aside from that, I also had another job at a restaurant. By the time I finished by shifts, I only have two hours to sleep. But then again, I still need to study if I ever hope to pass into the university," Gladys said.
Gladys however, did very well in the university which allowed her to work in a specialist for a custom-build applications company. There, she started out as an autocad employee but was able to impress her fellow workers with her Filipino skills.
"There were times when I had to apply simple Filipino knowledge in the things that they made us do there then they would get really impressed. They would then ask whose idea is this? Then everyone would point at me and say 'It's hers, the Filipina's'," Gladys said.
In only three years' time, Gladys was able to land on a higher position in the company's administration. By this time, she was slowly earning enough to support her family back in the Philippines.
She also intended in supporting her brother to study in law school. She said that at that time, as she was slowly earning more than enough for her needs and her family, she also wanted to prove to everyone around them that she, her brother, and her mother could rise up from their situation and support themselves.
Today, Gladys made use of her hard-earned money in the German company to build her family a good home back in Cagayan de Oro and to provide whatever her family needs.
"The thing is, I don't want to be rich. I don't want to be like others who really flaunt everything. I just want to have enough just so I can make my family happy and make them experience life," she said.
Now, together with her husband Haiku, Gladys manages the popular Pulse Live music bar along Tiano Brothers Street.
The couple has been managing this bar for about 10 years now after buying it from the previous owner.
"I think that everything that I am now is a sum of the challenges and pain that I have had before," Gladys said.