Member Spotlight | Marlon Uniada

Meeyeon (00:00)
Hi everyone, and welcome back to CFI’s Member Spotlight Series, where we share the real-life stories of our CFI members from around the world. I’m your host, Meeyeon. You’re probably familiar with me here. I’m a VP of Content and Training here at CFI and part of my role is I host this series. And in each episode, we sit down with a member of our global CFI community to explore and share their journeys, perspectives and lessons that they’ve learned along the way in their career journey.

And today I am so honored to be joined by Marlon, a finance professional from the Philippines whose path has taken him from accounting to broader financial leadership roles. And in today’s conversation, we’re going to dig into his journey, the moments that has helped him shape him, the insights that he’s gained throughout his career. And I’m really excited for you to hear this one. So let’s dive right in. So welcome, Marlon.

Marlon Uniada (00:54)
Hello, Meeyeon and thank you very much for having me today. And yeah.

Meeyeon (01:00)
So the first question that I always ask everyone is the conversation opener and really the opener of how you got started. How did you get your interest in finance? Did you have an interest through family members? Did someone work in the industry? Did you get inspired by something that you saw in popular media? What first sparked your interest in finance?

Marlon Uniada (01:24)
You know what, that’s, it’s really, well, I find it funny, but it’s a funny story because I initially didn’t plan on getting an accounting or a finance degree in college. When I was applying, I actually, my first option was to get a communication degree. The second option is to get a teaching or an education degree.

And then the third option was finance or accounting. But when I was applying in college, also got a scholarship. But it only allowed all the courses that you will be taking should be a course that will eventually have a board exam. So the only choice that I have was,

well, the education is also an option, but my scholarship actually advised me to get into accounting. That’s why I took accounting in college, but that’s not really the plan.

Meeyeon (02:42)
And so you started your career at a place called Advanced Food Concepts Manufacturing. Now, what was your how did you get your very first job? Because I find that that is probably the toughest time because you don’t have professional experience, have internships, you have education. But the first job people find to be a bit of a challenge because you end up feeling like, OK, this is my first job. I want to,

Marlon Uniada (02:49)
Yes.

Meeyeon (03:12)
I want to get something really good. want to get something in the field that I’m interested in, but it’s tough, and it’s challenging because there are only so many entry-level roles, and it’s always difficult to make that first move.

Marlon Uniada (03:20)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, well, I agree. It’s really tough to get your first job. I applied to so many companies here in the Philippines and I graduated in April of 2017 and I got hired in August of 2017. So that’s a few months after my graduation. So I had to wait or to apply for a few months before I got into that job. But I got there because a classmate in college is actually working there, so he referred me. That’s why I got my application in.

Meeyeon (04:05)
And what was the job as a junior cost analyst like? What was the experience? What did you learn? And did you find that it was really relevant to your university degree?

Marlon Uniada (04:19)
Yeah, initially when I started with the role, it’s really a new world because costing is just a little part, a small part of what I studied in college. But when I got the job, that’s my day-to-day role. That’s my day-to-day task. So it’s really an adjustment because some things I had to unlearn.

so that I could focus on costing. But it’s really an eye-opener because when I started doing, or when I started with costing, I had to learn new things because I didn’t learn everything in college. And specifically with manufacturing, and I had to study their operations because costing and operation is,

Marlon Uniada (05:15)
You…

Marlon Uniada (05:17)
are usually hand in hand. Yeah, it’s really tough at first, but I actually enjoyed it. And right now, if I will have the opportunity again to get a cost analyst or an analyst role, I will do it again.

Meeyeon (05:35)
And were there any mentors or early experiences during the first year or two of your new role where you found that someone really helped you either build your confidence or direction? Because generally, at least for me, in my personal experience, I graduated a number of years before you did not to give away my age. back in the day, I would say training programs

Marlon Uniada (05:47)
Mm-hmm.

Ha-ha-ha!

Meeyeon (06:02)
for new analysts, like I went into a big giant like investment banking analyst training program, but that was not until six months after I started my job because I started kind of off-cycle similar to you. So that first six months was really challenging because I didn’t necessarily have all this, all the skills that I needed to succeed in my job on day one. Did you have any training program that you started off with that was really meaningful to you

Marlon Uniada (06:26)
You…

Meeyeon (06:31)
and helped you or did you meet any mentors in your team that were really supportive of your growth? Because I know that the transition is hard. In university, you probably weren’t doing a bunch of Excel spreadsheets and doing presentations and communicating with your peers in a meaningful, significant way.

Marlon Uniada (06:35)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah. Exactly.

Yeah, I didn’t have any formal training before I got into this role but I was very fortunate to have this mentor who is actually the supervisor when I was in that role. She taught me everything from Excel spreadsheet, the formulas, the functions.

because as you mentioned, we don’t really learn those in university. But she taught me the operations, I had to learn those as well. the things that I really appreciate and I’m still using right now is that she gave me enough or great Excel skills that I’m still using now.

Meeyeon (07:44)
And just reflecting back on your very first job in the working world, if you could give yourself one piece of advice, you today could give Marlon that has just graduated university and going to the workforce one piece of advice, what would it be?

Marlon Uniada (08:00)
First thing is it’s okay to be to get overwhelmed because things are changing you are adapting so that’s normal you don’t have to be sad about getting overwhelmed. Next is that skills compound so you build your skills as you progress through your career so you don’t have to rush or to compare your step one to

others step six or five, you know, you just have to wait and learn as much as you could because one day you will be on your step five and looking back to your step one you will be proud.

Meeyeon (08:45)
And then I know that you did your MBA as well, right?

Marlon Uniada (08:50)
I’m still doing it.

Meeyeon (08:52)
you’re still doing it. So maybe before we’ll step back. So after your very first role, you moved through a couple of different ones. You started off in cost and then you went into accounting and then you went into benefits, but it’s all kind of start. It’s all still generally in the corporate finance space. Maybe you can take us through what your next role was like and what motivated you to move from advanced food concepts to your next role.

Marlon Uniada (09:06)
Mm-hmm.

Yes.

Really, I just want to explore new things. When I was a cost analyst, I felt like I’m too limited on what I can learn on that role. So that’s why when a new role opened in the same company, in the advanced food, I tried to apply

and I got the new role which is more on the accounting or the cash management. Yeah, but moving forward or looking forward to a new goal, I think I want to pursue financial planning and analysis roles because

Meeyeon (10:14)
Thank

Marlon Uniada (10:19)
I think that’s where my experiences are leading me, but I’m also open or I’m still, I’m also looking towards investment banking, but that’s a big thing. I think that’s a big role. But yeah, right now I’m…

I want to pursue a role in financial planning and analysis. That’s why I took Financial Modeling and Valuation and I am also planning on getting the Financial Planning and Analysis Professional certification at CFI.

Meeyeon (11:05)
I’m curious, how did you find CFI?

Marlon Uniada (11:09)
This is also funny because when while doing my MBA, I still felt like I still need to learn more. So I asked ChatGPT on what training platforms or certification I could get to enhance my accounting or finance skills.

He suggested many platforms or many institutions and I chose CFI because it’s modular so I can take the courses at my own time, at my own pace.

Meeyeon (11:53)
And you’ve taken the FMVA so far, which I think is amazing towards building your skills if you’re interested in investment banking. But generally, find that program creates such a high-level skill set that it really sets you up for success in every other path of finance that you want to learn. Each of your roles, you seem to add like a different layer of finance skills. So you do the payroll, there’s like reconciliations, financial reporting.

Marlon Uniada (12:09)
Mm-hmm.

Meeyeon (12:19)
Which skill do you think at this point in your career has become your biggest professional strength?

Marlon Uniada (12:26)
I think it’s financial modeling because this is something new, but I am really enjoying in building models. I just created a financial model for our cash projection for 2026, which helped us in budgeting and forecasting. actually I got some good feedback on that model.

Yeah, and also I would also like to… I’m also enjoying reconciliation because I find it like when something is off or you have a variance in your financial reports, I find it like it’s your doing a puzzle. Yeah, so I find it not entertaining but it’s satisfying once you find what you’re looking for.

Meeyeon (13:27)
Yeah, it’s always like the investigative process and then like the obsession with like, need to find that final puzzle piece. Like, I just need it for closure type of thing.

Marlon Uniada (13:32)
Mm-hmm.

Yep. Yeah.

Plus the management wouldn’t be seeing that one dollar.

Meeyeon (13:48)
And the something that I want to talk about because MBAs are a professional degree that so many people decide to get and they usually have some very specific motivations for going and getting the MBA because it takes time, it takes money, it takes a lot of effort for a working professional to go and pursue that. Can you walk us through what made you decide to pursue your MBA and kind of where you are at your current stage in completing that degree?

Marlon Uniada (14:04)
My motivation was really for career advancement because I want to pursue a more analytical role someday but also what really pushed me on getting or starting my MBA is that my work right now is not really stressful. We don’t do overtime so I have plenty of time for myself

and I realized that I’m actually wasting some time playing games, you know. So I decided to, and I’ve always wanted to enroll or to get my MBA ever since I just graduated. It’s always on my goals. But when I got this job, and as mentioned, I have plenty of time for me. That’s when I decided that I should get my MBA while I have this time resource right now.

Meeyeon (15:25)
You’ve been at your latest company right now for almost four years, a closer look. Tell us about your journey within the company, how you got that role and how your role at the company has evolved over the time that you’ve been there.

Marlon Uniada (15:30)
Yeah.

I started as an admin, admin support. So basically I support the operations of the company. This is a mystery shopping company and data analytics. So we post shops for our mystery shoppers and setting up new clients, stuff like that. But there’s also a bit of accounting because we do

we do invoices or we send out invoices to our clients as admins. When I started with the company, the accounting and the admin is really of the same group. But after some time, the company decided that the accounting and the admin be separated. That’s when I got into the accounting team.

Meeyeon (16:31)
And this role, I have to ask you because personally I find remote work to be, I find it convenient, I find it new. I’m used to working in like in person at an office environment. That’s been largely my whole career until we had that first global pandemic, coronavirus.

Marlon Uniada (16:47)
Thank you.

Yeah.

Meeyeon (16:52)
But I’ve been working for a long time. I graduated much earlier. And so I’m very used to it, very comfortable and really enjoy having a physical office environment where I can go and connect with peers. Closer look is a remote role for you and it’s remote to a very, very distant time zone. So you’re working some pretty crazy hours. How has that been like for you? Because I think that a lot of our listeners sometimes are really curious about what is a fully remote role look like.

Marlon Uniada (17:10)
Yes.

Meeyeon (17:21)
How do you find the role in it, like the way that it’s set up?

Marlon Uniada (17:26)
Yeah, when I started, it’s really an adjustment. Tried the first, my first fully remote work was not in with a closer look with my current company. It was with a different company, but my time, my working hours is on the day. eight to five. It is an adjustment because

Like you mentioned, I am also used to working with people around me. If I have a question, I can easily ask someone and get the answer. But when I started in a remote setup, it’s really hard. I had to adjust and build my communication skills because I had to learn or to be patient with getting answers, not instantly.

And also, you also have to learn or adjust with cultural differences because sometimes when you are typing an email and it’s coming from a different nationality or a basically a different person without the tone, because messages or emails don’t have tone, you tend to misinterpret the message. So you also have to learn

how to be professional and how to manage those. But after the adjustment with a closer look, basically my adjustment is really the time zone. So I never had a role working at night and I actually promised myself when I was studying that I will never get a night shift job. But here I am going four years.

Yeah, it’s an adjustment but after four years you miss the interaction with people. I think I’m pretty confident with my communication skills and I think I can communicate remotely. But right now, after four years, I think I am looking for that connection, that physical connection with people.

Meeyeon (19:51)
Yeah, and I’m curious, do you have any aspirations to be global and then try and work in person at these companies one day? Like, Philippines is a beautiful, beautiful place. do you have, for me, I’ve always wanted to be a bit of a, especially when I was younger, a global citizen, so to speak. Do you have any aspirations? I always ask this type of question because I think it’s fun if you do this podcast and then

Marlon Uniada (20:09)
Mm-hmm.

Meeyeon (20:16)
You listen to it a couple years down the road, and if you say things that you hope to achieve or places that you hope to see yourself in three years, it’s fun if you’re able to kind of put it out into the world, universe, and manifest it.

Marlon Uniada (20:19)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Yeah, I’m glad you asked that because really one of the main goals, I started my MBA and I’m taking all these courses, all these trainings and certifications just because I want to build my resume because I want to get an international role and eventually I am looking to hopefully to migrate to a European country. I’m eyeing

Meeyeon (20:48)
Thank you.

Marlon Uniada (21:01)
Sweden and Denmark. But yeah, the market is tough. I know that and I’ve sent a lot of applications but yeah, that’s actually one of the main reasons why I’m taking all of these courses.

Meeyeon (21:03)
I don’t know.

And for, and going just back to the FMBA, because I find that everyone has one kind of, I think, key skill that they take away from that program that they find has really helped themselves, like helped them very practically in their job. Is there a, is there a single skill or topic or like really memorable moment for you from the FMVA

Marlon Uniada (21:38)
Mm-hmm.

Meeyeon (21:48)
that has helped you your day-to-day work?

Marlon Uniada (21:51)
Well, I think that the topic that is very useful for me is the budgeting and forecasting. Aside from all the Excel functions that I learned, think the budgeting and forecasting helped me get a better understanding on how a budget is prepared because in my previous roles, I didn’t get the chance to

prepare a budget or help in preparation of the budget. So that’s really an eye-opener. yeah, FMBA has a lot of great topics actually. The tree statement modeling and even just the financial modeling topics. It’s really something new. And I really enjoyed my…

taking all those courses, if you’ll ask me, my would be the Budget and Forecasting

Meeyeon (22:52)
I find that when this is for me, I’ll say from a personal perspective, when I was graduating university, when I was in my fourth year, I had this very, very specific vision of what career success looked like for me. And then after working, you know, three or four, three, four, five years, that vision of what career success meant for me has changed so much. And it continues to evolve as I continue to evolve and get older and have life experiences.

I’d love to know how that has been for you. What was your idea of career success when you were just graduating university versus what is it today?

Marlon Uniada (23:31)
I didn’t plan on really getting an accounting degree. when I was in college, I really have no goal on what a financial career is. I didn’t see myself taking a higher role in finance. So I am contented with that,

doing like the day-to-day or the entry-level tasks. So, but when I started working and enjoying finance more and understanding what my role is doing or helping the company, I am now into…

My perspective changed. I actually want to grow, I actually want to get a higher role and more on the analytical roles in finance. And eventually if it will be given by the universe, I would like to get a finance role internationally as mentioned in Sweden or Denmark.

Meeyeon (24:54)
And now this is taking both a personal and professional perspective. What do you hope to accomplish in the next couple of years in your life, whether it’s personally or professionally? I think a blend of those two, you definitely want to end up in Sweden or Denmark, somewhere in that region.

Marlon Uniada (25:11)
Yeah. Well, yes, I really do want to migrate in a European country, but I want to finish first my MBA. I still have like one and half year, so I want to finish that. And also, I am looking on getting this is intelligence and data analytics certification at CFI because I think Power BI is really an in-demand skill in Europe. So I want to enhance my presentation skills. Also, I am planning on starting or on getting the diploma on IFRS, so the IFR.

Meeyeon (26:15)
And for those that might be listening from the Philippines locally and saying like, oh, I would love to have a career like the one that Marlon’s having today. Is there any piece of like inspiring advice that you might give to those listeners out there?

Marlon Uniada (26:32)
One advice that I could give is that invest in skill development. I think that if you are like me planning to go global and get an international job, investing in your skill development is very crucial because we don’t learn everything

at the university and also we don’t learn everything in our work experiences because our roles are really limited on certain tasks. if you want to learn or to go global or grow in your career, you have to invest in skill development.

Meeyeon (27:15)
And I’m curious, you, so you spend a lot of time, I think, developing your professional skills and investing in education, but you also work a remote role. So between all of those things, I feel like that takes like a lot of your time. Do you have like peers or friends that are also interested in pursuing similar things? Cause I find that generally, if you look at your close group of friends or colleagues that you interact with most, you can kind of get a good idea of where you spend your,

so, for example, if you are an aspiring entrepreneur, like I would think that you would probably have a close group of friends that you interact with regularly and you talk about new business ideas. You clearly love education and professional skills development. Do you have a close group of friends that are kind of like keeping each other posted on what certifications you’re taking lately or like what type of educational programs that have been really beneficial to you? Because I find that very helpful.

Marlon Uniada (27:57)
Yeah.

Yeah, well, actually, I don’t have a circle that is really into skill development, but I am sharing my experiences with some of my circles because I value education very much. And I think one way of exploring the world is through education.

I don’t have specific circle friends that we talk about skill development or education but I have most of my friends are into choral music because I sing in a choir and I play the flute, so yeah.

Meeyeon (29:02)
Well, have fun.

And then I just have a couple of fun, rapid-fire questions so that we can get to know you on a more personal level. Let’s see here. What is the… What’s your favourite place that you’ve travelled so far to date?

Marlon Uniada (29:11)
Okay.

I’m not really a traveler, that’s one thing. I’ve only traveled to a couple of countries but I enjoyed Hong Kong very much because of Disneyland. It’s funny because I visited Disneyland at 29 years old, and I really enjoyed it at 29.

Meeyeon (29:48)
It’s so odd at any age.

Marlon Uniada (29:50)
Yeah, but yeah and also aside from from Disneyland, I love cityscape so I love seeing high-rise buildings you know so I enjoyed the city part of Hong Kong.

Meeyeon (30:06)
And I know you’re not much of a traveler, but if there is a place on your bucket list, like one place that you have to go in your lifetime, do you have that top destination?

Marlon Uniada (30:20)
Sweden or Denmark is given because I really want to migrate there and get a job there. But I also want to visit Rome, specifically the Vatican.

Meeyeon (30:35)
I’ve been there. It’s beautiful. It’s gorgeous. It’s so amazing.

Marlon Uniada (30:38)
Yeah, I want to see it.

Meeyeon (30:42)
I hope you go there one day because I think that was probably, I think that’s probably my favorite place that I traveled so far. Like it is, it was so crazy when you see it in person. But generally I would always recommend going during off season. I went, I’ve been more than once, but I think I went for the first time in like February or March and it was very low traveler season. It was like empty and it so nice to be able to see it, like just basically on my own.

Marlon Uniada (31:03)
Thank you.

Yeah.

Meeyeon (31:13)
And you said that you like music, you’re a singer, play the flute. What is your favorite musician? Musician or band?

Marlon Uniada (31:20)
A musician is I really, I usually listen to Handel. Yeah, he’s my go-to…

Meeyeon (31:26)
You’re a classical person. I love it. That makes sense.

Marlon Uniada (31:31)
Yeah, he’s my go-to when I am working or when I am studying. I usually listen to his conversation, especially the Messiah.

Meeyeon (31:41)
For me, I’m a big Chopin person because I played piano from when I was probably four until I was like 20. And so it’s my favorite go-to. And then I’m curious if you come across a show on Netflix or on television, what is one show or series that you’ll always stop to watch if it’s on?

Marlon Uniada (31:50)
If Harry Potter is available on Netflix, that’s first. But I love period series, so it’s Downton Abbey or Bridgerton.

Meeyeon (32:23)
My gosh, that’s like, Harry Potter is my favorite one too. Every Christmas, for some reason. For me, it’s like a Christmas movie.

Marlon Uniada (32:27)
Mm-hmm, yeah. Traditionally.

Meeyeon (32:30)
And I can’t think of a better note to end off our podcast on as we’ve gotten to know Marlon. Thank you so much for taking the time to sit down with me and share your story from your early years out of university to where you are today. Thank you to our listeners for tuning in to CFI Member Spotlight.

If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to follow us wherever you get your podcasts. And until next time, I will see you in the next episode.