Telling O-some stories
Michelle Orosa-Ople’s shift from the newsroom to the boardroom is a natural evolution from storytelling to helping her clients tell their stories.
We help employees cope and keep them inspired. We booked a long weekend for them to mark Mental Health Day. While we don’t see each other physically, we show them we care. We hold open dialogues. We have Freedom Fridays.”
INSPIRING stories of Filipinos who overcame adversities drove former journalist Michelle Orosa-Ople to jump from the newsroom to the boardroom in 2017.
Before joining Ripple8 DDB Group Philippines where she’s managing partner and media and activations director, Michelle anchored a talk show on radio where she analyzed business issues, featured people who empower the Filipino’s entrepreneurial spirit, and advanced consumer rights.
She also covered and produced television specials on Pope Francis’ visit, of a jeepney driver affected by high oil prices, power and water, and telecommunications issues. She did speed desk analysis for Bloomberg TV and anchored television news and personal finance and economic topics.
A two-year Berlin scholarship introduced her to financial journalism. She learned about globalization at New York’s Columbia University in 2007. She learned to tell stories behind the numbers, and understand industrial economics and personal finance.
She graduated in 2004 with a Bachelor of Arts, Mass Communication/Media Studies degree from Ateneo de Manila University.
Michelle O comes from a family with a rich heritage.
“The Orosas are quiet, but their services run deep. I take inspiration from them. They have deep respect for their roots.” Visiting Bauan, Batangas, she was shown Orosa street where her forebears lived.
During Orosa family reunions, she would be seated at the table of greatgrandaunt Rosalinda “Baby” L. Orosa, 99, a prominent journalist and advocate for culture and the arts.
Her father, Michael C. Orosa, a martial arts instructor, founded MPower SelfDefence, an advocacy for helping women defend themselves.
Michelle O. has been married for 22 years to Carlo Ople, digital entrepreneur, creator, investor, marketer, and founder and editor in chief of Unbox.ph., the Philippines’ second-highest visited tech blog.
”I didn’t really leave media,” says Michelle — who prefers to be called Michelle O.
She sat with The Manila Times at UnboxGH, a hive in Greenhills, San Juan City for over 200 people who belong to a community of collectors and sellers, which she set up during the pandemic to help MSMEs get back on their feet post-Covid-19.
It’s a natural evolution from storytelling to helping the client know how to tell his or her story, says Michelle O.
Health reasons made Michello O “look for a place to tell stories without taxing, physical requirements.”
Educated in the US and Germany to be a financial journalist, Michelle O has nearly two decades of experience as a field reporter, and radio and television anchor.
Michelle O merges listening with strategies. She invests in tools and relations to be predictive and proactive. Her work with clients creates campaigns that tell powerful stories.
She said the stories they craft at Ripple8 inspire positive change.
As a visual storyteller, Michelle O and her team communicate with impact.
One such story is that of Meralco engineers and linemen who went to Cebu and Bohol to help restore power in the region that was devastated by Super Typhoon “Odette” days before Christmas in 2021.
The Meralco crew spent their Christmas and New Year away from their families and amid the destruction and despair.
After a month of erecting hundreds of poles and reconnecting lines to help restore power in Cebu and Bohol, 43 Meralco linemen and engineers and 23 trucks and vehicles returned to Manila to a heroes’ welcome in January.
“We don’t know the faces of these people with families, who risked their lives to help restore power to people who are nonMeralco subscribers. We hear their excitement to go home to family after what they did. Their story landed on the front pages
without pushing because they inspire people,” Michelle O narrates.
Her team was also behind the campaign to bring back the magic of Christmas post-Covid for a fastfood giant client.
Ripple8 also capitalized on the Filipinos’ obsession with Korean pop culture and tapped K-drama stars for a telco client.
“Korean drama stars like Hyun Bin entertained people and made them forget about the Delta strain,” she says.
Big challenge
Keeping high-performing employees happy is a big challenge, especially in extra-normal times.
The pandemic caused a shifting in priorities and made everybody realize that family is important. Work is also important, and Michelle O wanted them to know that the company is with them through trying times.
“We help employees cope and keep them inspired. We booked a long weekend for them to mark Mental Health Day.
“While we don’t see each other physically, we show them we care. We hold open dialogues. We have Freedom Fridays. For capacitybuilding, Anything Goes Friday where we hold workshops, presentations. We hang out together. We hold virtual movie nights. Eventually, everything balances out. Clients find their footing and move on forward.”