The Manila Times

From employee to college owner

ROSELLE REIG Owner, CEO and President GK College of Business, Arts and Technology Roselle Reig also shows us what patience, perseverance and balance are all about.

BY MOISES CRUZ

AFTER having worked 15 years in the training indusM try, Roselle Reig mustered the courage to establish her own educational institutionN She is now chief executive officer and president of GK College of Business, Arts and Technology, with GK standing for GlobalKnowledge.

“I believe I had accomplished enough to initiate the formation of a training center,” said Reig, a graduate of the University of Santo Tomas with a Bachelor of Science in Commerce degree.

GK College, located in the heart of Mandaluyong City, is the first company to offer information techM nology (IT) security and cybersecurity training and certification in the country. It began operating in 2003. Numerous companies, government organizaM tions, institutions, and thousands of individuals have received training and certification from GlobalKnowlM edge over the yearsN

The school’s official Facebook page states that it is “the first and only in the Philippines to offer BSIS (Bachelor of Science in Information Science) with Specialization in Cybersecurity” while also offering Fine Arts and Multimedia Arts degrees.

Reig told The Manila Times that she had no savings when GlobalKnowledge first started and that she used part of the cash flow from her employment to pay the bills of the learning institution. Fortunately, her sister was also there to help her establish the foundation of GlobalKnowledge.

“This business was founded on the principles of hard work, perseverance and experience, and here we are now, two decades later,” she addedN

Setting up an IT training center 18 years ago reM quired around P15 million in initial funding for the facilities, rentals and trainer investmentsN “You’ll have to spend a lot of money on their certification,” she notedN

From training center to college

Reig and her associates were initially satisfied in runM ning a training centerN But in 2P15, they thought of offering a twoMyear degree in Fine Arts and Film as well as an IT security practitioner training program for working professionals. There were also people urging her to make GK a full-fledged college.

“I had a lot of reservations about the decision to establish a college or a bachelor’s degreeN You must embody Henry Sy’s or Lucio Tan’s qualities,” Reig saidN

In 2017, she decided to make GK a small college and got support from students, friends and colleagues in the industryN Whatever savings Reig had, she inM vested into making GK a college. The GK College of Business, Arts and Technology was born the following year, set on training Filipino cybersecurity experts who are in high demand worldwideN

The second course GK started offering was a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, which added an artistic component to college’s training range.

Subsequently, the college offered a Bachelor’s Degree in Multimedia Arts, combining the latest in digital technology with the artsN

Facing the challenges

Reig’s journey to establishing GK and turning it into a college, however, was no joyrideN

“You could occasionally observe that no sales were occurring and no money was coming inN There are times when you are unsure if you will have additional trainees for the following week,” Reig recalledN In response, GK continued to offer short-term two-year courses as these could support the college’s finances.

When the Covid-19 pandemic hit in 2020, GK shifted to offering online programs without little trouble as it was offering IT training and had its own IT experts. While both revenue and the expenses deM creased, “we managed to survive the pandemic and lockdown in this way,” Reig saidN

Reig’s vision is to expand GK to include additional colleges in three to five years and increase its student population. She is also considering adding a new course on entrepreneurship which will give her the chance to share what she learned from her journey in establishing GK.

Her advice for people looking to start their own business is to get rid of the fear of the unknown and the fear of failingN “You must be ready for any setback because it will make you stronger,” she saidN

Down-to-earth

This business was founded on the principles of hard work, perseverance and experience, and here we are now, two decades later.”

Despite the challenges of running GK, and the difM ficulties in initially establishing it and turning it into a college, Reig remains congenialN She also wears other hats like author, gallerist, public speaker and chairperson of a Trade department-established comM mittee tasked to standardize IT in the Philippines.

“Very understanding si Ma’am Roselle and iisipin taM laga niya kapakanan ng mga students niya (Ma’am Roselle is very understanding, and she really puts to mind the welfare of her students),” said Ericka Villaluna, a film student at GK.

For Prof. Gino Razon, “Ms. Roselle radiates a youthM ful and positive energy in the workspace all the time. She always appears collected and firm.”

Reig is also a devoted mother and wife, and currentM ly lives in a modest house in Dasmariñas, Cavite with her husband and five children. “These roles taught me so much about life: patience, perseverance, balance, people skills, gratitude and a lot more,” she said.

Boardroom Watch

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2022-08-05T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-08-05T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://digitaledition.manilatimes.net/article/281844352398081

The Manila Times