Meet Firebelly: The Gerome Anivado Interview

As Firebelly Marketing continues to grow, from dull embers to a towering inferno, we’re introducing you to the people that spark our ideas.

We are always adding the best and the very brightest, expanding our agency in order to provide unique creative strategies for our clients. Since social media is social in nature, we want to communicate on what exactly makes our people here at Firebelly tick and we’re continuing the series with Gerome Anivado!

Meet Gerome. Gerome is our Email/Mobile - Klaviyo Specialist! If you know Del Monte (yes, the pineapple brand), Gerome grew up in their pineapple plantations in the Philippines. He studied there until he got into University where he studied Metallurgical Engineering but things got in the way and the universe brought him to the Call Center world. After more than 15 years, he ventured into doing other things like email marketing. He loves doing emails because he gets to see how it helps a business's revenue. It's challenging, but he finds it fun.

How Do You Start Your Day?

Just like everybody, I reach for my phone when I open my eyes. The first thing I do is check: Facebook Messenger, Gmail, Slack, Facebook, LinkedIn, and text messages. That would usually be around 5:30 PM which falls within my "domesticated hours" - meaning, my time to do domestic stuff - cook food for dinner, walk the dogs (we have 4 dogs), wash dishes (dishwashers are not a common phenomenon in the Philippines).

I also watch the evening news until 8:00 PM.

What Is Your Daily Media Diet?

I am more of a YouTube person...and I spend a lot of time on it when I have nothing else to do.

Probably the 2nd most used social for me is Facebook because I am part of different [freelancer] communities. Most of the time I read posts from fellow email marketers, read and answer some questions from community members - or I am just lurking and seeing what's going on with some people.

How Do You Get Past Creative Blocks?

I rest (nap/sleep), play mobile games, watch YouTube or Korean Dramas, and check online shopping platforms.

What's The Most Interesting Social Media News Story You’ve Seen Lately?

I am answering this question while the Olympics are going on and the most interesting news I've seen is the Olympic boxing controversy where someone is said to be a "trans-woman" defeating women boxers. I find it interesting because people are divided over the issue, and I really wonder how leaders can put the right balance between being inclusive and unoffensive to other sectors of society. It's also interesting how people believe in social media without checking the facts - and well, I was one of them.

What Pet Peeves Do You Have?

People asking simple questions yet the answer can be easily found on Google. Some of these people spend a lot of time to be all over social media yet they can't do 30 seconds of research to answer their very simple question.

What’s One Piece Of Advice You’d Give To Anyone?

Keep an Open Mind. You will always find people who have different beliefs, different values, different opinions from yours, different ways of doing things - but if you keep an open mind and understand where they are coming from, you'll always have peace of mind.

What’s The Strangest Talent You have?

I can take a nap even if it is around 86ºF

What’s One Thing You Would Change About Social Media?

I'd probably not allow accounts with faceless profile pictures. We call them "keyboard warriors" because they're so toxic and they fight with everyone - simply because nobody will know them.