The life of an OFW is anything but easy. Between the demands of work, adapting to a new culture, staying connected with loved ones, and carving out time for personal passions, it’s no wonder many feel burnt out—or even give up. But my guest today is built differently.

Meet Mary Joy Cruz, better known as Host Mayumi—a woman whose presence lights up every room and every event she hosts. She’s not just a bright personality; she’s a Wildlight in the truest sense.

In this episode, we talk about the parts of her work that fuel her soul, the challenges she faces as an OFW, and how she continues to serve, inspire, and bring joy to others despite it all. This is a conversation about resilience, the power of family, the dignity of hard work, and the beauty of living in service.

Welcome to Wildlights.

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Artificial Intelligence is no longer a distant future — it’s here, and it’s reshaping almost every aspect of our lives.

In this episode of Wildlights, we dive deep into how AI is transforming the way we search for jobs, redefining learning in the academe, and even influencing how we build and sustain personal relationships. But beyond the technology itself, we ask the bigger questions: How is AI impacting our humanity? Our choices, creativity, and emotions? What do we gain — and what might we lose — as machines become part of our everyday decision-making and interactions?

We are now at the start of 2025, and are probably curious to know what this year has in store for us. And while we can never be sure, perhaps, the stars can?

In this episode I speak with one of my good friends,

Welcome to Wildlights.  

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For 2024, my hashtag was #FaithFrequency2024. It was the year I chose to have faith in myself, and in my ability to achieve any goal I put my mind and heart into. I came into 2024 with at least this mindset, but I came out of it with so much more. In this episode, I talk about my craziest airport experience and what #FaithFrequency2024 made me realize even more.

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For one to be able to practice architecture in the Philippines, one would have to take a licensure examination. In Dubai, this exam is held once every year, and this year I, together with my other aspirants, took it and thankfully passed this exam, making us now registered and licensed architects. However, one of my closest friends and my guest for today, Ar. Nono Guiao, not only passed this exam, but also clinched the top spot. In this conversation, we talked about manifesting success, his experiences as a student and a working professional, and his inspiring story of hardwork and perseverance.

The good part about any conversation with my friend Cedie Duller, is that it is often the perfect balance between chill and insightful. As a screenwriter and director, Cedie has experience and insight especially when it comes to mental health that I know can be of value especially to young adults. In this episode of Burning Questions, he and I sat for a quick drink and talked about life as an OFW, balancing career and passion, navigating situationships, choosing between love or career, and even our favorite movies.

So every year instead of coming up with new years resolutions I come up with a hashtag I use as a guide for the year. I do this because it’s easier to make decisions this way.

This year my hashtag was #Thrive2023. I wanted this year to be the year of rewarding myself after a really taxing 2022. Of course this year had its set of challenges, and #Thrive2023 really had to test my emotional and mental endurance. I wanted to share with all of you 4 lessons that #Thrive2023 has taught me.

I have wanted Shaila Rebortera to be on Wildlights ever since I concepted this podcast in my mind. We have been friends for over a decade and witnessing her journey from when we were young until the beauty queen she is now always leaves me inspired and I’m sure you will find it the same as well. With the challenges she has faced this year on top of her recent announcement of her daughter Amelia, her courage to have come on and talk about these experiences has been invaluable. Our conversation takes us way back to our high school years, her past relationships, her recent posts on abuse, the story of her daughter’s birth, and how motherhood has ultimately changed her worldview.

My conversation with Jam Buynay was surprisingly insightful. You see she grew up in the Philippines and Thailand and so I had so much fun asking her about growing up as a third culture kid, her family background, her work both in communications and as a social media content creator, and even her being an introvert. However perhaps what struck me most about our conversation is how values of family and respect for others collide in her experience as a Filipina in Thailand.

Snow Halud has been my friend since 2013 and one thing I love about her is that she is and has always been unafraid of taking risks and adventures. One of the most freespirited people I know, she has been working for Qatar Airways and has traveled parts of the world and has met tons of people but what strikes me most about Snow is that she is not afraid, but EAGER to experience and embrace the thing most of us fear the most: change.