The RJ Ledesma Podcast

What happens when an entrepreneur takes the same drive he used to build businesses—and applies it to art?

For David Kaufman, becoming an artist wasn’t about leaving entrepreneurship behind.

In many ways, it was another entrepreneurial journey.

You still have to take risks. You still have to develop your own point of view. You still have to put something out into the world without knowing exactly how people will respond. And ultimately, you still have to figure out how to turn something you believe in into something that can sustain a career.

That’s what fascinated me about David’s story.

He has managed to blur the lines between entrepreneur and artist, bringing the discipline, ambition, and entrepreneurial instinct from one world into the other.

In this episode, we talk about what pushed him to pursue art seriously, the risks that came with that decision, how his business background shaped the way he approaches his creative career, and what entrepreneurs can learn from artists—and vice versa.

Because maybe entrepreneurship isn’t only about building companies.

Sometimes, it’s about having the courage to bet on your own creativity.

🎙️ Catch my conversation with David Kaufman on The RJ Ledesma Podcast.

#TheRJLedesmaPodcast #RJLedesma #DavidKaufman #Entrepreneurship #Art #Creativity #Entrepreneur #Artist #Business #CreativeEntrepreneur

For any collaboration, brand partnership, and campaign run inquiries, e-mail us at [email protected].

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What if your business could shift to renewable energy, lower its power costs, and work toward its sustainability goals—without having to spend heavily upfront to install solar?

Enter Berde Renewables.

Through its Solar Power Purchase Agreement or PPA model, Berde can design, install, operate, and maintain a solar energy system for a business, while the company pays for the electricity the system generates.

In other words, solar doesn't have to be just another major capital expense. It can become part of your business strategy.

Backed by global infrastructure investment manager I Squared Capital, Berde Renewables is helping commercial and industrial companies across the Philippines make the transition toward cleaner and more sustainable energy.

🎙️ On this episode of The RJ Ledesma Podcast, we talk about the real business case for renewable energy: the pain points companies face with power costs, how the PPA model works, where the savings can come from, and why sustainability and profitability don't necessarily have to be competing goals.

Because going green isn't just good for the planet.

Done right, it can also make good business sense.

Learn more about Berde Renewables:

🌐 https://berderenewables.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/berderenewables/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/berderenewables/

🎧 Catch the full conversation on The RJ Ledesma Podcast.

And if you're an entrepreneur, business leader, or company with an interesting story, innovation, or insight worth sharing with the business community, I'd love to hear from you. Send us a message about guesting on the podcast.

#TheRJLedesmaPodcast #BerdeRenewables #RenewableEnergy #SolarEnergy #Sustainability #CleanEnergy #BusinessStrategy #Entrepreneurship #Philippines

For any collaboration, brand partnership, and campaign run inquiries, e-mail us at [email protected].

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Eric Manalo once worked as a waiter at the Westin Philippine Plaza, watching real estate salespeople receive their awards—and dreaming that one day, he’d be on that stage.

Today, he has closed 800+ properties, trained 5,000+ salespeople worldwide, and helped sales teams generate over ₱80 BILLION in property sales.

So what transformed a hotel waiter into one of the country’s sought-after real estate sales trainers?

It wasn’t just learning how to close.

Eric mastered the psychology of selling—understanding buyers, building trust, handling rejection, negotiating big-ticket deals, and developing the mindset that separates average salespeople from top performers.

🎙️ How do you learn to sell at that level?

Find out in my conversation with Eric Manalo on The RJ Ledesma Podcast.

#TheRJLedesmaPodcast #EricManalo #RealEstateSales #SalesTraining #RealEstate #Entrepreneurship

For any collaboration, brand partnership, and campaign run inquiries, e-mail us at [email protected].

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Don’t you hate it when you’re working harder and harder on your business… but somehow, the business still isn’t growing the way you want it to?

Sales are unpredictable. Your team still depends on you for everything. You’re putting in longer hours, but profits aren’t necessarily following. And sometimes, you—the business owner—end up becoming the biggest bottleneck in your own company.

But what if there were a system to help you figure out where your business is getting stuck—and what you need to fix next?

Enter ActionCOACH.

ActionCOACH’s methodology looks at a business step by step—from getting greater control over your time, money and operations, to improving marketing and sales, building a stronger team, putting systems in place, and ultimately creating a business that can grow without everything depending on the owner.

And that’s where Coach Lito Samson comes in.

A Senior Business Coach at ActionCOACH Philippines, Lito brings more than 15 years of operations experience from brands such as McDonald’s, Carl’s Jr., Jollibee and Burger Machine, and has since consulted more than 1,000 business owners.

In this episode, we get into some questions many entrepreneurs eventually have to confront:

Is your business actually working for you—or are you working for your business?

How do you know what part of your business needs fixing first? How do you turn what you’re doing into repeatable systems? And how do you eventually build a company that can grow even when you’re not personally involved in everything?

🎙️ Listen to my conversation with Coach Lito Samson of ActionCOACH Philippines on The RJ Ledesma Podcast and discover how business coaching can help turn entrepreneurial hustle into a more systematic, scalable business.

#TheRJLedesmaPodcast #LitoSamson #ActionCOACH #BusinessCoaching #Entrepreneurship #MSME #BusinessGrowth #ScalingUp

For any collaboration, brand partnership, and campaign run inquiries, e-mail us at [email protected].

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What do you build next when you’ve already helped reshape how Filipinos buy and rent real estate?

Anthony Leuterio first built Filipino Homes into a nationwide real estate network marketing projects from many of the country’s biggest developers—including Cebu Landmasters, AboitizLand, Megaworld, Avida Land, Federal Land, Filinvest Land, SMDC, Robinsons Land and Vista Land—and earning top sales recognition from developers along the way.

Then he tackled another huge opportunity: rentals.

Through Rent.ph, Anthony helped professionalize rental management by building a nationwide network that today counts more than 5,000 Certified Rent Managers across nearly 200 cities and towns—helping property owners market their properties, find and screen tenants, manage occupancy and turn their real estate investments into income.

Rent.ph was also recognized with the 2024 Asia Pacific Enterprise Awards Inspirational Brand Award.

So after property sales and property rentals...

WHAT’S NEXT?

The answer has actually been 10 YEARS IN THE MAKING: Homes.ph.

On his third appearance on The RJ Ledesma Podcast, Anthony talks about perhaps his most ambitious idea yet: bringing together the Philippines’ highly fragmented community of brokers and real estate entrepreneurs into a more connected nationwide ecosystem.

Why would an established broker who already has a successful business want to join—or even franchise—Homes.ph?

What new business opportunities could that nationwide network unlock?

And after Filipino Homes and Rent.ph, could Homes.ph become Anthony Leuterio’s biggest real estate play yet?

🎙️ From Filipino Homes to Rent.ph to Homes.ph—discover what Anthony Leuterio is building next.

#TheRJLedesmaPodcast #AnthonyLeuterio #HomesPH #FilipinoHomes #RentPH #RealEstatePhilippines #RealEstateEntrepreneur #Entrepreneurship

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Before becoming one of the biggest names in Philippine dentistry, Dr. Steve Mark Gan had already explored a very different world—from DJing and producing concerts to trying his hand at different businesses.

But eventually, he found the business that would define his career: dentistry.

And he didn't just want to open another dental clinic.

He wanted to raise the standard of dentistry in the Philippines.

That vision became GAOC, which Dr. Gan grew from a single clinic into a dental healthcare group built around advanced technology, continuous education, world-class patient care, and innovation.

In this episode of The RJ Ledesma Podcast, we talk about Dr. Gan's journey as a “dentalpreneur”—the risks he took, the struggles behind the success, how he built and differentiated GAOC, and why he believes excellence and ethics matter even more as an industry becomes increasingly competitive.

We also look at what's next: new dental technologies, dental tourism, and his bigger ambition of helping Filipino dentistry compete with the best in the world.

Because sometimes entrepreneurship isn't just about disrupting an industry. It's about raising the standard for everyone in it.

🎙 Listen to the full conversation with Dr. Steve Mark Gan on The RJ Ledesma Podcast.

For any collaboration, brand partnership, and campaign run inquiries, e-mail us at [email protected].

#TheRJLedesmaPodcast #SteveMarkGan #GAOC #Dentalpreneur #Entrepreneurship #FilipinoEntrepreneurs #Innovation

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Sometimes, that difference is exactly what determines whether your business stays stuck—or starts to scale.

Julian Cañita started his career as a hotelier before becoming an entrepreneur, executive coach, and consultant helping business owners make one of the most important shifts in entrepreneurship:

From running the business themselves to thinking and leading like a CEO.

In this episode of The RJ Ledesma Podcast, Julian explains why many entrepreneurs unknowingly become the biggest bottleneck in their own companies—and why simply working harder eventually stops working.

We talk about delegation, accountability, developing leaders, and building the structures that allow a business to grow beyond the personal capacity of its founder.

Because sometimes, before you can scale your business, you first have to scale the way you think and lead.

If you're an MSME owner wondering why your business has hit a ceiling, this conversation could help you figure out what needs to change next.

🎙️ Listen to my conversation with Julian Cañita on The RJ Ledesma Podcast.

#TheRJLedesmaPodcast #JulianCanita #ScaleLikeACEO #Entrepreneurship #MSME #BusinessGrowth #Leadership

For any collaboration, brand partnership, and campaign run inquiries, e-mail us at [email protected].

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Who looks at something as ordinary as a bag of ice and thinks: “I can build a business empire out of this.”

Gerry Santos did.

Through Mr. Freeze, Gerry took a product most of us barely think about and built it into a nationwide business—earning what I like to call him, the Ice King.

But what did Gerry see in this seemingly ordinary business that others didn't?

In this episode of The RJ Ledesma Podcast, we talk about how he discovered the opportunity, the struggles that nearly stopped him, the turning point that changed everything, and how he built a recognizable brand in what is essentially a commodity business.

We also talk about how Mr. Freeze continues to grow—and whether there are still opportunities for entrepreneurs to partner with them today.

Because sometimes, you don't need to invent the next big thing.

You just need to see the big opportunity everyone else overlooked.

🎙️ Listen to the full conversation on The RJ Ledesma Podcast.

For any collaboration, brand partnership, and campaign run inquiries, e-mail us at [email protected].

#TheRJLedesmaPodcast #MrFreeze #GerrySantos #Entrepreneurship #FilipinoEntrepreneurs #BusinessSuccess

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Some entrepreneurs create products.

The best entrepreneurs create brands.

When Denise Caranto co-founded KONU during the pandemic, her vision wasn't simply to launch another snack.

She wanted to make snacking exciting again.

Using everything she learned from her years in corporate brand management, Denise built KONU into a fun, playful snack brand that people genuinely wanted to experience, share, and talk about.

That branding mindset—combined with creative storytelling and the power of TikTok—helped transform KONU from a pandemic startup into a fast-growing Filipino brand that's now found in more than 400 stores across the Philippines and has expanded to major supermarkets in Canada, with its reach continuing to grow internationally.

The lesson?

People may buy your product because they're curious.

They become loyal because they believe in your brand.

🎙 In this episode of The RJ Ledesma Podcast, Denise shares how she applied the branding principles she learned in the corporate world to build KONU, why creating an experience matters as much as creating a product, and how social media transformed a startup into an internationally growing Filipino brand.

Whether you're launching a startup, growing a family business, or building your personal brand, this conversation is packed with practical lessons on branding, marketing, and entrepreneurship.

💡 If you're an entrepreneur, founder, or business leader with a story that can educate and inspire others, we'd love to hear from you. Reach out to my team—you might just be our next guest on The RJ Ledesma Podcast.

For any collaboration, brand partnership, and campaign run inquiries, e-mail us at [email protected].

#TheRJLedesmaPodcast #TheRJLedesmaExperience #Entrepreneurship #Branding #Marketing #KONU #BusinessGrowth #Startup

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MOST FILIPINOS THINK THEY NEED MORE MONEY TO INVEST IN REAL ESTATE.

WHAT IF THEY JUST NEED BETTER KNOWLEDGE?

That's one of the biggest lessons from my conversation with Maves Angeles, CEO of Centro Maven, on The RJ Ledesma Podcast.

For years, Maves has been helping aspiring and seasoned investors make smarter real estate decisions. As the head of Centro Maven, she has empowered countless Filipinos to move beyond simply buying property and instead build a strategy for creating long-term wealth through real estate.

In this episode, we discuss the mindset, financial habits, and investment principles that separate successful real estate investors from everyone else. We also talk about the common mistakes first-time buyers make, how to identify opportunities, and why knowledge—not just capital—is often the biggest advantage.

Maves is also one of the featured speakers at the upcoming Think Rich Pinoy – Real Estate Abundance Seminar on August 8. She'll be sharing practical strategies on building wealth through real estate, alongside Larry Gamboa, author of the bestselling Think Rich, Pinoy!, and other experienced investors and industry experts who have helped thousands of Filipinos on their wealth-building journey.

🎙 Watch the full episode of The RJ Ledesma Podcast for a preview of the insights she'll be sharing.

And if you're serious about building wealth through real estate, I encourage you to join the Think Rich Pinoy – Real Estate Abundance Seminar this August 8.

Register and learn more at www.thinkrichpinoy.com.

#TheRJLedesmaPodcast #TheRJLedesmaExperience #ThinkRichPinoy #CentroMaven #RealEstateInvesting #FinancialFreedom #WealthBuilding #entrepreneurship

For any collaboration, brand partnership, and campaign run inquiries, e-mail us at [email protected].

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