Finding meaningful purpose in responsible homebuilding
Hers is a leadership driven by a purpose, honed by the crisis, and grounded on gratitude.
Such a powerhouse approach has not only allowed Fatima “Pammy” Olivares-Vital, the young leader behind the fast-rising property developer Ovialand Inc., to stand out and carve a niche, but also enabled her to steer the company toward more ambitious horizons, all while inspiring change and innovation in the Philippine real estate industry.
‘Sharpened at the get go’
Although she assumed leadership of Ovialand at the beginning of the pandemic, Olivares-Vital’s work experience over the last 16 years has helped shape the way she runs the company today. Valuable lessons were learned, allowing her to see the importance of finding your purpose, empowering your people, and opening your doors to collaboration.
“Over time, I realized that the purpose must be very clear. Otherwise, it’s easy to surrender and waive the white flag,” she shared in an interview with Inquirer Property.
“For me, I have learned that that purpose is family—my own family, the family of our employees and everyone who contributes to our organization, and the families of the homebuyers we serve. When that purpose is clear, it becomes easy to distinguish which challenges take on and which items are noise and distractions,” she explained.
With a clear purpose, Olivares-Vital and the entire Ovialand team have been able to map out ambitious growth plans that will steer the company to greater heights.
“We have created our bold 10-year plans that started in 2021, so it is my duty to ensure that the organization will be able to deliver our commitments to our stakeholders—balancing opportunity and growth,” she said.
This 2023, Ovialand has expanded from four ongoing developments to six, and will continue to work towards becoming the brand of choice for homebuyers.
“We stay the course with our regional growth expansion plans. We are constantly improving our design, finishing, quality and our new developments will be more collaboration with architects experienced in high end and luxury developments so that we can create communities with more impressive yet practical features,” Olivares-Vital disclosed.
“The beauty of our plans is that it carries with it wisdom and experience—bold, ambitious plans, written with battle scars, and a purpose beyond financial gains,” she added.
Culture of growth
While envisioning the company’s future, Olivares-Vital continues to place the well-being of Ovialand’s people at the forefront. She focuses on cultivating a culture of growth, not just professionally but as individuals in order to make this journey a rewarding one for employees.
She explained that they strive to design organizational systems that promote work-life balance, emphasizing the importance of rest and family time.
“I don’t meddle in our people’s personal lives but we do our best to design the organization’s systems and processes, knowing that people are executing it. We do our best to be mindful of rest and family time. I make it a point to make sure that managers are not power-trippers, that there is a zero politics culture in our organization and we give them opportunity for growth,” she noted.
“This is also a strategy for sustainability: to make sure that our organization runs smoothly, and that decision making and important moves are decided on as a body and not nestled on one’s power. It involves constantly reminding the organization of our purpose and objectives, reiterating that there is no space for ego, laziness and personal agenda in what we do,” she added.
Sense of gratitude
Olivares-Vital indeed has a lot on her plate, between moving forward with their growth plans and managing her people and the company in a highly cutthroat landscape.
But she continues to soldier on, inspired primarily by a profound sense of gratitude for her life, family, and the opportunities that come her way. Her love for learning from historical figures and the desire to contribute to nation-building continue to motivate her as well.
Essentially, Olivares-Vital sees her leadership as an expression of gratitude and a responsibility to make positive contributions to society.
Quality homes, quality lives
And clearly, she has long been making such an impact.
After all, Ovialand has already enabled thousands of Filipinos to live in quality homes and safe communities that have helped enhance the quality of their lives. Beyond that, Olivares-Vital is also pulling out all the stops to help more Filipinos achieve their lifelong dream of having a home they can proudly call their own through various innovations.
Ovialand has made a bold promise to deliver quality homes in as short as three to six months—a trailblazing feat reshaping industry standards. Its developments offer “Premier Family Living” experience to its homebuyers meaning—premier homes (quality homes built by skilled workers), premier service (dedicated account officer to assist you) and premier communities (safe and peaceful neighborhoods with amenities and reliable utilities).
“We want to make buying a home as easy as buying a brand new car. You can count on the quality and the precision in which it was made and it’s something you can use as soon as you pay for it,” she said.
“A house is more than just a roof over your head. It is the setting for the life you create. In it, you will create memories – big and small, mundane and life changing. And even then, it is in the mundane where life’s quality is defined. We want to give our homebuyers quality homes where they can rest after a long day, in a community where their children can thrive and with value that appreciates over time,” Olivares-Vital concluded.
This 2023, Ovialand has expanded from four ongoing developments to six, and will continue to work towards becoming the brand of choice for homebuyers.
