From Dunkin' Days to Daddy Gabby: A Marketer's Journey and Gratitude

 

With Daddy Gabby during the last celebrated anniversary he hosted for me with CDOTC.

I passed by a Dunkin Donuts' outlet today and while I was getting my orders taken at the counter, I felt a little pinch in my heart as I remembered my precious time with my marketing mentor, the late Gabby Bacarro (who was NorthMin's Marketing Manager of Golden Era Food Chain Inc.'s Dunkin Donuts at that time) which later was fondly called by everyone as, "Daddy Gabby".

It was 2003, I was a freshman at Cagayan de Oro College, when I met him and he looked at me dead in the eye and told me that he wanted me to join Sentrong COCean Theatre and Performing Arts (which would later become Cagayan de Oro Talent Center) and train under him for the guild's branding & communications. I remember that I was totally against it as I was studying a totally unrelated course but Daddy Gabby was relentless.  

He'd be zoning countless hours to lecture and quiz me and my friends RJ, Baron, Sunny, Rosilyn and later, Jhauvz (who has since passed months before Daddy Gabby back in 2021) on the ins and outs of marketing all the while munching on donuts and sandwiches. Soon after that, he paid for my training and seminars at the Philippine Marketing Association and tagged me along in marketing activities every chance he got. Needless to say, I was swayed. 

Daddy Gabby then proceeded to challenge me to be a Marketing Specialist for Dunkin Donuts that handled the city-wide radio tours (FM radio was pretty big those days and which not long after was essential in landing a short stint as an Air DJ/Radio DJ for Regional GMA's Campus Radio now Barangay FM).  

By December of the same year, Daddy Gabby saw my corporate hosting potential and launched me at SM City (Cagayan de Oro) during one of Dunkin Donuts' events which then catapulted my professional events host|emcee and voice over gigs via Pro Voice (John D Pro Voice).

My journey would have taken a vastly different course if I hadn't had the privilege of being mentored by the seasoned marketer, Daddy Gabby.

If he were still here, he would've for sure made a big fuss on celebrating my 20th year. And for sure, just like the last time he celebrated my anniversary, I would've asked Benjie S. Manuel for my gown but I lost him this year too.

Lastly, as I quietly commemorate my anniversary, even though it's a far cry from how it was observed back in the heyday of my home management, Cagayan de Oro Talent Center, I remain grateful for those who left an indelible mark on my life, and one of them is Daddy Gabby.

Say your "I love yous," "thank yous," or "sorrys". Make every moment count and live your every day as if it's your last. If there is anything that I learned in the last two years, it is the appreciation of God's word in the Book of Proverbs 27:1 NWT, "Do not boast about tomorrow, For you do not know what a day will bring."