Danielle del Rosario on family, purpose, success, and greener building

Danielle del Rosario and her precious ones, Bea 18, Belle 19, and Miel 16, all dressed up for a loved one’s birthday celebrationABS-CBN Lifestyle caught up with working mom Danielle del Rosario for an exclusive interview, and what an enlightening conversation it was on motherhood, leadership, success, and having enough.

Before she steps into her home, Danielle takes a deep breath, exhales, and smiles. She makes a conscious effort to leave work outside the door, then announces her arrival to her daughters in a sweet voice. She still reminds them to stand up and kiss her. Over dinner, they make kwento (tell stories) about their day.

“The one thing I cannot delegate is being a mother to my daughters.”

Danielle is President and Chief Executive Officer of Union Insulated Panel Corporation and PHINMA Solar Energy Corporation. She enjoys her work so much that she describes it as “feeling like a hobby,” one that gives her room to be creative and leaves her energized. At home, she wants to be present for her family.

She speaks openly about the work, people, and choices that have helped her make room for both.

Joining PHINMA in 2011 was the biggest turning point in Danielle’s career. Coming from banking, she applied through a formal email after her marriage had ended. She was a young mother with three daughters, aged four, two, and nearly one.

Her first role was Program Director of the PHINMA National Scholarship Program of the Phinma Foundation. The program selected and nurtured college scholars based on financial need, academic excellence, and leadership potential.

She met young people who had graduated as high school valedictorians and salutatorians despite difficult circumstances, sometimes without knowing when their next meal would come. During her own period of pain, working with them gave her purpose and something she could do for others.

Part of her work involved recruiting 100 mentors from within the group to become the scholars’ Big Brothers and Big Sisters. The intention was to give students a sense of family away from home. Through this, she formed lifelong connections with employees, managers, and leaders, and learned to identify talent across the group.

The scholarship program also brought her into contact with PHINMA’s business heads: half of one percent of member companies’ net income funded the programs. Business leaders later invited her to join their units.

Danielle shares, “Pouring myself into something other than myself is what ‘saved’ me and ultimately taught me to be a better person, a better mom, and a better leader later in life.”

Danielle had her first daughter within a year of getting married, while working as a young banker. She considered becoming a full-time mother, but her then spouse encouraged her to keep working.

Leaving her baby each morning was heartbreaking. She brought a milk pump to the office so she could continue nursing, and decided to develop herself as a working mother who could be an example to her daughters.

Her children arrived close together. She learned she was expecting her second when her eldest was 10 months old, and her third when her second was also 10 months old.

An MBA abroad had been a dream before marriage. In 2012, as a working mother of three, she pursued her MBA at AGSB. She finished in 2016 with a gold medal for highest academic distinction and was chosen as her MBA class graduation speaker that August.

Danielle declares, “Motherhood changed me and propelled me to be better!”

Some downtime with her lovely daughters in Boracay

The beginning of single motherhood was her hardest season. At 34, she was raising three young children, thankful that she was working and capable of being independent.

She devoted herself to the foundation, surrounded herself with her team, PHINMA mentors, and family, and returned to school. She made a conscious decision not to let bitterness take over because she did not want her daughters to grow up with hate and anger.

A book called “Happiness,” by by Mathiew Ricard found in her mother’s library, taught her to transform her lowest moments into love, kindness, and inner peace. She prayed for guidance. Her daughters’ innocence, and her love for them, helped her through.

For women experiencing something similar, she advises remembering that it is never all their fault, believing they can get through it, and finding people who will listen without judgment and let them cry as they heal. She also urges them to care for their physical, emotional, mental, and psychological health.

Danielle does not try to do everything herself. She credits the teams she has worked with and developed, listens to her intuition, and says no when something does not feel right. When several things need her attention, she considers what requires her presence and what can be delegated or postponed.

Motherhood cannot be delegated, she emphasizes. Neither, at this point, can all of her strategic leadership responsibilities, although she is working to develop that capability in others.

At a work event for Union Insulated Panels with daughter Belle and sister Nikki

There have been conflicts: a daughter’s birthday falling on an important board meeting, planning session, or work trip. Early on, she taught her girls that moving a birthday celebration did not make it less special. She also tries to schedule work milestones around family commitments. When conflicts remain, she draws on her support community.

Her “butter half” as she fondly calls Dr. Aji Sia

She encourages women not to feel guilty about a fulfilling career that brings joy and financial independence. Although she wishes for more downtime with her daughters, she also values letting them see what she does and why. From an early age, she taught them that having more brings a responsibility to contribute and help make other people’s lives better.

At work and at home, Danielle describes having lean teams and being deliberate about creating a healthy environment.

She has cultivated kindness alongside capability. When someone falls short of expectations, she wants to understand why and work toward a solution.

At home, she taught her daughters to do what they could for themselves, recognizing that each needs different kinds of help. In both settings, she explains the thinking behind her ideas and encourages disagreement.

She is confident in her beliefs and intuition, but knows she does not have every answer or understand someone else’s experience better than they do. Listening helps her understand people, recognize future leaders, and identify those she can count on.

With Mom, Marivic del Rosario, daughter Belle del Pilar, sisters, Mo Viray and Nikki Serafica, and Dad Ramon del Rosario

Her own entry into energy required deliberate learning. She adopted a more serious approach to communicating with stakeholders and looked for gaps where her perspective could help. Asked to lead corporate social responsibility initiatives, she sought a wider scope encompassing corporate communication. This became corporate affairs, which later took on business resilience and risk management across the portfolio.

In construction materials, she studied manufacturing and product applications, seeking out thought leaders who could explain technical details.

She has felt undermined and offended at times. She says being a woman brings perspectives that have helped her approach problems differently. Her response has been to listen, learn, trust her judgment, and earn respect through her leadership.

“I am not afraid to say that I need a lot of alone time to hear my own thoughts and also to rejuvenate my energy.”

Danielle treats her health, mind, and downtime with the same care she gives company resources. Family time is non-negotiable. She tries to finish work within working hours so she can immerse herself in family life or time alone afterward.

She eats healthily, incorporates movement and exercise into her days, and has found a wellness center focused on Ayurvedic and healthy living practices. Time at the beach and in the sea with her family is her ultimate luxury and happiness.

Immersing in some leisure time: At a friend’s catamaran docked in Anvaya Cove; an escape to Antonio’s; celebrating her birthday barefoot and blissful in Aman Pulo; off to a wedding in Anya Resort Tagaytay

Planning work milestones ahead helps her team act proactively. She also encourages rest breaks, vacations, and medical treatments, and asks others to listen to their bodies and minds as she does.

PHINMA’s purpose of Making Lives Better extends, she says, across businesses and advocacies intended to help people regardless of gender, age, or demographic background.

Personally, she wants to do more for women. Raised among her mother, grandmothers, and three sisters, and now part of a clan with seven granddaughters, she is frustrated by what she describes as insufficient research and resources for women’s health and life stages. She is learning about her own health with the hope that this knowledge can also benefit the women around her. That remains a dream in progress.

She describes her leadership as maternal: developmental, sometimes strict, and attentive to people. She acknowledges difficult experiences with other women officers and emphasizes supporting one another, speaking honestly about differences, and treating everyone with respect regardless of rank. Her aim is to bring out the best in people through kindness, challenge, and guidance.

In her businesses, Danielle is excited about combining insulated panels with solar and battery systems.

She says consumers depend heavily on builders and contractors and wants them to have more choices and knowledge about energy efficiency. The approach combines passive energy savings through insulation with active savings through renewable energy generation.

With UIPC Directors and Leaders: Francisco Caburnay, Jhoe Adriano, Ariel Austria, Chairman of UIPC Victor del Rosario, CEO Danielle, PHINMA Chairman and CEO Ramon del Rosario, Director Manny Tordesillas, PHINMA Vice Chairman Magdaleno Albarracin Jr., PHINMA Education CEO Chito Salazar

According to Danielle, the insulated panels reduce heat transfer and can offer savings of as much as 30 percent because cooling equipment does not have to work as hard and cooler temperatures are preserved.

Rooftop solar systems generate electricity during daylight hours, while batteries store excess solar energy for possible use during shade and nighttime.

She describes a turnkey service covering the process from beginning to end. The group’s combined roofing and energy expertise, she says, also allows its teams to handle roofing and solar installation alongside warranty and service requirements.

On a side note, the photo above was taken during the grand launch of the company’s Porac Manufacturing Plant for insulated panels—fully automated high speed line from Italian equipment TECNIP, which, according to Danielle, “will be able to produce one million square meters of panels per year up to 1.8 million square meters of energy efficient building materials with highly effective thermal insulation , thereby reducing energy costs by easily 30 percent, reducing construction time by up to percent.” 

Danielle elaborates, “This plant signifies PHINMA’s serious entry into the energy efficiency space—towards green infrastructure.”

Family has always been central to Danielle’s definition of success. She still has ambitions for PHINMA, the value it can leave for future generations, and the people its businesses hope to help.

Personally, achievements would not feel like success if she could not enjoy life. She values undistracted time with loved ones, time alone, nature, and good food, alongside knowing that the businesses are sound, growing, and profitable.

A light and fun moment with the PR team from Brand Republic

Developing successors is part of that vision. She hopes to keep contributing strategically until health or age eventually sends her to the beach for good.

“Success to me is having just enough—enough to not worry, enough to always be generous, enough to give without worrying about myself, and enough to take risks toward growth without the fear of lack or regret.”

She describes a freedom of mind that allows her to try, fail, learn, and grow. It gives her peace and inner calm.

“Success would be being able to pass this on to my daughters and those around me.”