Gordon McKissock was born in Montreal. At age12, his family moved to Ottawa where his father built a successful industrial roofing company. Gord worked in the business during school holidays so at 20, when his father retired, he had a fundamental knowledge of how the business worked.
Looking back on it now, Gord wondered if he was ready at so young an age to successfully run the company. Regardless, the company continued to do well in the booming 1980s Canadian economy.
Gord expanded his business interests to owning and developing real estate. By the time he was 25, he’d purchased several properties that carried heavy mortgages. At 27, he learned a painful but valuable business lesson when the bank confirmed his real estate holdings were dangerously over-leveraged.
This led him to learn a lesson in humility, as well as invaluable business insights. It also taught him how to survive under difficult circumstances.
He learned how to deal with the frustrations of business, how to handle the inevitable challenges that are an integral part of the process.
Gord ruefully observes, “Those experiences provided me with an education no university degree could ever have taught me.”
In his late 30s, Gord sold his business, and went back to college to study biochemistry. He wanted to become a doctor and work with Doctors without Borders.
Although he did well academically, financial considerations eventually required him to return to work. He began as a construction worker, but always advanced in whichever company he worked with.
In his early 40s, he became CEO of a major construction company specializing in building envelopes. But the lure of owning his own company eventually drew him back to becoming a business consultant, primarily with start ups or under-performing companies. He used to be paid a 10 percent ownership interest, plus a consulting fee. He continued to successfully do that for the next 10 years.
While successful in business, and by now in his late 40s, Gord felt his life lacked true meaning. The inhospitable climate in Canada was a contributing factor to his discomfort.
Also, he was discouraged by the transitory nature of relationships in the Western world. He wanted something genuine and long-lasting. He was ready for significant change. But specifically what and where?
The journey that would eventfully take him to the Philippines began in the Caribbean, then continued in Venezuela and Chile.
Despite good experiences and positive exposure to many cultures, Gord intuitively knew his search needed to continue. Now in his early 50s, he decided to focus on Asia. The first country he considered was Thailand, but he felt the language issue and a significantly different culture would be problematic. Those considerations led him to select the Philippines.
His first visit here was in 2010 for three weeks. He visited Boracay and neighboring Caribou island. It was an experience that would transform his life.
Wandering on quiet, white sanded beaches, and swimming in pools filled by powerful waterfalls, Gord felt exhilarated by the never-ending spectacle of nature. He found himself falling in love with the islands, the warm-hearted people, and the Philippine culture.
But to move here, more time was needed to enable such a major transition. He returned several times to the Philippines over the next two years, seeking a solution to the missing elements in his life.
In 2012, the final piece of the puzzle was solved when he met Shirley Patron in Manila. Within two weeks, brave man that he is, he asked Shirley to marry him, and fortunately, she agreed. Gord briefly returned to Canada to settle his affairs, then returned to the Philippines where he’s lived ever since.
His first business ventures were buying a resort in Caribou Island, and becoming a partner in the Boracay Sun newspaper. Unprepared for the challenges of doing business in the Philippines, the outcome was not good. Bruised, but significantly wiser, he and Shirley then moved to her hometown here in Dumaguete where they began a tourist sightseeing business. That went well, but Gord realized it’s long term profitability was not sufficient to achieve his long term financial goals.
That’s when Shirley’s contribution to the future of the group became significant. She worked in a call center during the week then went to Cebu on weekends to study for her real estate broker license.
In 2014, Shirley’s first commission was sufficient to encourage them to focus on their now-promising real estate business. They sold the tourist sightseeing business, and focused on marketing real estate services.
Back then, there were only a few real estate marketing companies in Dumaguete. Gord saw they were weak in marketing, and also provided inadequate customer service. Focusing on both, their real estate marketing business soon became highly-profitable.
Gord developed SEO (Search Engine Optimization), and used the newly-emerging social media to drive traffic to their website, and develop their business.
Another significant advantage was their knowledge of the complex Philippine real estate laws. Before referring her clients over to an attorney specializing in real estate law, Shirley, while not practicing law, knew enough to protect her clients from negative aspects about which other real estate companies were completely unaware.
The combination of Shirley’s overall professionalism, and new marketing ideas introduced by Gord helped them to eventually become one of the highest-performing companies in the region.
As their real estate business, headed by Shirley, became established, one important issue was apparent. Many people who purchased land through Shirley were also looking for a reputable building contractor.
Gordon decided that with his life-long experience in construction, it made sense to turn that problem into an opportunity. Thus, began what was to evolve into the most successful construction group of companies headed by a foreigner in Negros Oriental and, arguably, in the Central Visayas.
“Part of the reason we have been so successful is we always honor our commitments. The only truth in any construction project is the quality of the home when built. And yes, we occasionally make mistakes. What separates us from our competition is when we make a mistake, we admit it, tell the client, then do whatever is necessary to rectify the problem.”
The next stage of development came with the realization there were not sufficient properties available, or the type of property many foreign clients wanted wasn’t available.
Being in the real estate business, they were in a good position to find prime properties at attractive prices. With an in-house construction company, they also had the capability to build high quality homes that were in demand and competitively-priced.
During our interview, Gord expressed his belief that foreigners need to have a special attitude to survive and prosper when doing business in the Philippines. “There can be many frustrations.”
He said, “Most foreigners fail to understand the dynamics at work here. I was fortunate to have Shirley and other good Filipinos to guide me through the initial confusion. The biggest challenge is learning how to adapt to a different reality. Coming from a business life in the Western world that was rigid in expectations, the more- relaxed approach here confuses the foreign businessman, and they become frustrated. That leads to anger, then bad relationships with locals, and inevitably, negative consequences. For me, it became a learning opportunity. It also taught me humility. But what was interesting is that I realized humility had become an important factor I wanted in my life rather than needed. The emotional freedom, the decrease in stress that humility provides, is wonderful. When my ego was silenced, all my preconceived ideas about how to do business here became invalid. Foreigners doing business here must quickly realize they cannot operate alone. They must develop respectful, mutually-beneficial relationships with Filipinos.”
Gord went on to comment that foreigners must always remember we are guests here in the Philippines. Arrogance must have no part in our interactions with local people. “We must always respect their culture, their way of life because that’s the way it always has been, presently is, and will continue to be. What right do I, or any other foreigner, have to become upset, and disrespect their norms, their way of life? The answer is emphatically none.”
“Other foreign-owned companies have tried to replicate our business model with varying degrees of success and failure. It’s been said that imitation is the greatest form of flattery. If so, I’m flattered. Besides, competition is healthy because it keeps us on our toes. We always focus on being a few steps ahead. Some of our employees have left to begin their own construction firms. I wish them well. While always being conscious of competition, I never allow it to distract us from our main goal which is to continue to build, and sell high-quality homes and in the process, expand our positive impact in Dumaguete and surrounding areas. Here at our main company, we also provide architectural design. And we’ve set up companies that provide solar energy and also kitchen cabinets. We’re always looking for ways to expand on the services that will cater to the needs of our existing and future clients.”
Business success does not happen by chance. It requires solid leadership, and a carefully-thought out plan capable of adapting to consistent business challenges.
The Gord McKissock & Shirley Patron marriage is a perfect example of a successful outcome that happened when two special people from different cultures got together, had integrity, determination, vision, and ambition. The reasons for their success requires no further explanation.
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Author’s email: irishauthormichaelcassidy@gmail.com
