I met Rocky Batallones Esguerra a lifetime ago. She was a junior, I was a freshman, and we both worked in the Student Council. I always looked up to her because she carried herself with grace and strength. She would go on to become an executive at P&G, spending most of her years in the global company. When she became Regional Vice President of Asia Pacific HR at Pfizer, Inc., a lot of our friends and colleagues were surprised.  How could she leave a company that she has spent most of her professional life in?!

I wasn’t surprised in the least. Rocky is one woman who knows what she wants, and would do everything in her power to get it.

Here, Rocky and I play Q&A on how she left one awesome position for another at 51 years old.

How many years were you with P&G? How would you characterize your stay in P&G?

I had been with P&G for 29 years and seven months when I left last March 2017! Many people continue to ask me why I didn’t just retire, or coast along until retirement. I know myself; I’m a very active person, and I want to continue learning and improving myself. I couldn’t see myself slowing down. Perhaps I will be like my parents who are in their 70s, and who still enjoy working in New York City! Working, interacting with people, and creating things with your mind or hands keep one youthful.

This desire to keep learning and improving is also precisely why I chose to leave P&G. It’s one of the best employers and I still believe that today. I learned everything that I know as a professional from P&G, and it made me a better person. I am forever grateful for that. P&G sent me on fantastic assignments and cultural experiences. I met my husband at P&G in Manila. Together, we pursued our careers and built our family as we worked as expats in Jakarta, Bangkok, Taipei, and Singapore.

In the past few years, I realized I was not learning and developing as much and I had also reached the limits of my career growth in P&G. I knew no matter what I did or contributed, I was no longer going to grow and learn. I was so NOT okay with that.

Thus, I decided to find my growth and promotion somewhere else. I am so happy and blessed to be at Pfizer, another very established, successful global company founded in the US, just like P&G.

What were the high and low points of your career in P&G?

I had many high points in my P&G career, too numerous to count. One was when I was a young 22-year-old manager in Manila. I established the very first campus recruitment teams to recruit the finest people. I also launched the very first summer internship program and designed the first marketing materials (posters, brochures, videos – in Betamax format, LOL) to promote P&G at universities. P&G is a Promote from Within company and the campus is its primary source of candidates. I always feel very proud that the systems I established back in 1988 in Manila are still being used today. Of course, they have been improved and modified, but the foundation of all that you see in P&G recruiting in the Philippines today is based on what I started in the late ’80s.

A more recent one was leading the HR Shared Services/Outsourcing function for Asia and turning around that business from the worst in P&G world to the best, in just two years and sustaining that. That was a tough assignment and my longest one, but I still feel proud about that.

As with any career, there are low points. One that made an impact on me as a person happened while I was HR Leader of P&G Indonesia. Back in 1998, President Suharto was deposed and there were riots all over the city. My GM was on a business trip. I was in charge of making critical decisions to safeguard employees and company assets, including evacuating all our expats and their families to Singapore. That was so scary for 32-year-old me; I had never made such life and death decisions affecting hundreds of people before. I pulled through, with the support of my peers and HR team, even if the big boss was away.

I grew and matured overnight. After that incident, I realized that anything could be thrown my way and I would not only survive, but I could stare it straight in the eyes and handle it. True enough, I had more challenges at work and even in my personal life. I have always had the strength and confidence to breathe deeply and tell myself: “You have encountered something like this before. You can handle this, just like you did before. This too will pass and you will make it.” And I always have.

What were the greatest lessons you learned at P&G? 

Be clear about what success means and how exactly you will be measured.

Develop deep mastery in your role. Having said that, that advice is only enough in the early years of your career when you’re young and new.

Later on, it’s all about doing things effectively through others. It’s about leading in an inspiring way by painting a vision of the future, engaging, energizing, and enabling others toward the direction you set for them. If there’s one thing about P&G, we are all taught how to be very strong leaders and to make our personal imprint.

Leave a legacy, whether it’s developing systems, making an impact on the business or organization, or spotting talent and growing the best people. Some of the people I hired or who worked for me eventually got promoted to my same job level when I left P&G. That last one particularly gives me a lot of pride. It touches me when people say, “I couldn’t have gotten this far (or I couldn’t be the person I am today) without your coaching.” I’ve also heard: “You are the toughest boss I’ve ever had, but also the best one.”

And one last thing, for God’s sake, dress the part! Dress up for the level you aspire. I guess I am old fashioned that way, but I have always dressed well, at work or outside of work. It’s about respecting yourself, looking the part, having presence and expressing your personality. If you are competent at what you do and deserving of the position you hold, why would you let the way you look give others a negative opinion of you or negate all the great work that you do?

When did you feel that it was time to look for greener pastures?

The inflection came around three years ago when I realized that I was no longer learning and I had also reached the limits of my career growth in P&G. I tried to work it out but I wasn’t satisfied with the options given to me: I have NEVER settled for anything less in my life, whether it’s work or my personal life. Thus, I felt that it was not right nor fair to me to stay, so I made a choice to actively look outside of P&G.

I received a couple of offers over the past few years but they were not quite right. Sometimes it was the financial aspects of the offer, the role itself, the location, the lack of career growth, or the new boss was simply not someone I could see myself working for. In one case, the product was something I could not identify with, e.g., airplane engines!

But I was very patient. I was intentional about going for the right company and offer, and doing something I was really passionate about. If it took a couple of years to get that, then so be it.

Did you have any fears about the job application process? Were there any factors which held you back?

Not really, but I did anticipate questions I knew they would ask me, like “Why are you leaving P&G after so many years? What’s pushing you to leave?” And of course, there was that silent, unasked question of “Don’t you want to retire? How many more years of employment are you going to give us and will it be worth it to hire you?” And I knew EXACTLY the answers to all those questions as I had reflected many times on all that.

If anything, the harder question was “How do you know you’ll be successful somewhere else when you’ve never worked anywhere before?” to which I can never really know unless I actually try.

Having said that, I do know three things about me: First, I will be successful in a company if I can personally align with their values. So the company culture and what the company is trying to achieve and how they do it is truly important to me. Second, I know how to do HR well. I just need to lead and deliver all that within the context of a new company and new colleagues. I need to read the situation, the culture, and the people correctly as I’m in an alien environment. Being very self aware and sensitive to others is important. It also pays to develop trusted colleagues and mentors who are invested in your success to guide you. And third, grit, a calm, positive attitude, and learning to adapt to different situations and cultures have all saved me in the past.

How did you come to the very difficult decision of leaving P&G?

I interviewed with Pfizer and got a really positive vibe. After the offer, they connected me with so many business leaders, including three regional presidents, a future peer, and future direct report, to give me all the information I needed to understand what the company and the job were really like. They genuinely wanted to help me make the right decision for myself because they knew it was a tough one to make. They really cared. After I went through all that, it finally hit me: “Wow! Can I really leave P&G after almost 30 years? Can I actually do this?”

So to help myself with that decision, I talked to three friends who had recently left after more than 20 years of service in P&G and had gone on to be top executives at Danone, Glaxo Smith Kline, and Firmenich. I asked them how they made the leap, what it was like to be a new hire at that age, what things they considered in their offers, and how they had made the transition from being a Big Somebody in P&G to an Unknown in another firm. Basically, all of them said, “Go for it! It feels great to be appreciated and recognized for all the experience, knowledge, and expertise acquired in P&G. There is life after P&G and it can be a great life, if you choose well.”

I also consulted two ex-P&G HR friends who worked in Compensation & Benefits. I asked, “This offer really looks good. I want to take it. Am I missing anything?” And they both “blessed” it from a C&B point of view. I am very lucky to have such good, supportive friends whom I could freely consult about such a difficult, personal decision.

Finally, I talked with my family. My family is my number one priority, more important than my career. My husband was very supportive right from the beginning. I talked to my children: one is a teenager and the other is in her 20s. They knew I was no longer happy at P&G.

So last Christmas, a few days after I got the offer, we were at lunch, and we had this discussion. “I have this Pfizer offer. It looks great. I want to take it but I’m feeling guilty because 2017 will be the one year when we will all be located in one city as a family but I know that I will be out a lot. I will be traveling and spending a lot of time on my job. This means I can’t spend as much time with both of you.”

And my kids looked at each other, then at me and they both exclaimed, “Mom. Do what makes you happy. You deserve so much more. JUST GO FOR IT! IT sounds great! And we’re not 12 anymore. You don’t need to spend so much time with us.” Obviously, my children don’t need me as much anymore, hahaha… but the moment I got their blessing, it felt so easy to accept Pfizer’s offer.

What were your non-negotiables?

I wanted a meaty regional role of at least equal or bigger scope than what I was doing in P&G. I wanted career growth and the opportunity to learn and grow. On a practical standpoint, I also wanted to be compensated fairly. It does not make sense for me to leave a company after almost 30 years for just the same package, given the value I could bring, the effort of learning a new business, fitting into a new company and culture, and of course, my age! Lastly, I wanted to be based in Singapore for at least the next two years because of a family need. Pfizer was able to exceed all of that and that’s why I’m now here!

So how long have you been in your new company? How has it been?

I have been with Pfizer for five months now and it’s been a blast! I am learning a lot of new things! It’s a very different and exciting business, and I am so blessed to have a very supportive boss and the Chief HR Officer who invest in my development and believe in me, and a great team of people who are passionate about their jobs.

On my third day at work, I went to Mumbai and Chennai where I met my HR Team and business leaders. As someone who never worked in the pharmaceutical industry before and who is not a science or medical graduate (I’m an Ateneo Management Engineering major), there were a lot of new things to understand. My India HR Senior Director was patient enough to take me through the very basics of how pharmaceutical products are conceptualized, tested, and developed from beginning to end, in layman’s terms.

I met high level executives who made presentations about their businesses. I went around Mumbai with medical representatives to visit small pharmacies, family clinics and hospitals to see how we were promoting our products, engaging GPs and specialists and helping patients.

I visited our sterile injectibles and biologics plants and our R&D Center in Chennai. Then I also visited Tokyo, Nagoya, and Hong Kong, and I’m set to visit Australia, China, Philippines, and other markets over the next few months. Each market is unique and I’m always learning something new and meeting a lot of amazing people. I have also been to the New York headquarters twice.

I read that we folks in our 50s need to open up more neurological pathways in our brains to keep our brains active and to prevent Alzheimer’s disease. And that is only possible by doing or learning entirely new things. Doing crossword puzzles or Sudoku will not give you that. I am definitely learning a lot there.

Was there an adjustment period? How did you deal with it?

Yes, but it was relatively a breeze because I prepared well for it. When I turned in my resignation at P&G, I gave myself a break to achieve closure and to start fresh with Pfizer. On my last month with P&G, I used my vacation days and did a number of activities which gave me a physical break and forced me to reflect even deeper.

“What are all the things I learned in P&G and how am I going to use that in my new job? What am I grateful for in P&G? What do I want to be as a person and as a professional when I join Pfizer? What do I want my image to be? What do I want to be known for? What impression do I want to give people there? What would I change in myself?”

I realized that hey, no one knows me at Pfizer. This is the perfect opportunity to be whomever I want to be. I can reinvent myself in any way I want to! There will be no old tapes. That thought was very liberating.

So I spent a weekday at the Singapore Botanic Gardens to reflect on all that. I had a nice solo lunch at the restaurant, then sat on a bench in front of a gazebo, amidst beautiful flowers and trees and reflected.

Then I went on a very practical Buddhist weekend retreat to contemplate on kindness, how all beings are related to each other in this universe, and what it meant to live life as a good person. It was interesting to reflect on this from another religion’s perspective.

I went to two separate vacations in Bali and had my private villa, did unlimited yoga, spa and ayurvedic treatments and cuisine, and lots of reflection.

To sum it up, I was mentally, physically, and emotionally prepared and refreshed when I started with Pfizer on Day 1. I had my closure, was grateful for everything I learned and experienced in P&G and the great career I had built across five countries and almost 30 years. I kissed all of that goodbye with peace in my heart and mind. I was looking forward to the great prospects ahead of me in Pfizer where I am excited to learn and make a difference.

Did you experience separation anxiety?

I have had to separation anxiety at all. I keep abreast of what’s happening in P&G via the news, social media, or my friends. I am still proud and excited about the good things that are happening there. You just can’t forget a family you’ve known for nearly 30 years, after all. I still meet some of my closest P&G friends and that is really nice. I have this tremendous sense of happiness, peace, and positivity at this juncture of my life at Pfizer. I have no regrets at all. I’m looking back but looking forward. I feel really good about the choice I made.