PART 2
Go lang nang go ang mantra ni Loi Villarama, ang other other half ni Ogie Diaz. Kahit hindi niya alam ang trabaho, papasukin niya at saka nalang aaralin. And once he does, he makes sure he excels in it. Kahit ano pa man yon.
He is fondly called Mama Loi in showbiz now. Pero alam n’yo ba na ang kauna-unahan niyang trabaho ay sa bangko, sa dating Capitol bank (na naging UCPB), bilang Commerce—major in business administration—ang natapos niya sa UST.
From there, kung anu-ano na ang naging trabaho. Naging web programmer, marketing creative, make-up artist, fashion stylist, costume designer, event host hanggang sa nagkaroon ng sariling event management company, ang Mama Loi’s Events, which made a made in the wedding and events industry.
Somewhere in between those jobs, nag-krus ang landas nila ni Ogie Diaz. That’s when he gave up a high-paying job para mag-stand-up comic sa isang comedy bar sa Pasig. Isa raw kasi yon sa mga pangarap niya kaya when the opportunity presented itself, he grabbed it.
Hindi naman niya akalaing maipa-partner agad siya sa beteranong si Ogie Diaz, who was moonlighting then after losing a show in ABS-CBN.
“That was 22 years ago and hindi na kami naghiwalay ni Mama Ogie after that. Hanggang ngayon magkasama kami.”
He went back to his geeky jobs after his comedy-bar stints pero by then, solid na solid na ang samahan nila ni Ogie.
For him, he would also wear many hats—event stylist/manager for his personal events, interior decorator for his houses, and as co-hosts in his provincial gigs.
When pandemic hits, Ogie encouraged him to try vlogging as he was also delving into it himself. Pareho9ng hindi pa showbiz ang contents nila noong una sa separate vlogs nila. Hanggang sa nagsimula na siyang yayain ni Ogie na bumuo ng mga showbiz contents, ranging from commentary to interviews and collabs with other celebrity vlogger.
“Tapos naisip niya [Ogie], gumagawa nalang kami ng separate Channel na showbiz para hindi nakahalo sa personal vlog niya.”
And that’s the birth of the Ogie Diaz Showbiz Update channel, which now has 713K subscribers.
(Ogie’s own Channel now has 3M subscribers, while Loi’s own now has 191K).
By virtue of their thrice-weekly showbiz vlog and his association with Ogie, Loi has become a household name at nahasa na niya ang kanyang hosting skills lalo na nang maging main hosts sila ni Ogie sa national campaign sorties ni VP Leni Robredo last presidential campaign season.
And hosting, he says, is something he wants to level up some more dahil kasali sa pangarap niya na kahit isang beses lang ay maging host siya ng isang TV show.
And then eventually...
“Actress naman! Chos!”
Knowing what we know about him now, na wala siyang inatrasang challenge, that he excelled sa lahat ng pinasok niya, and that hindi siya tumitigil til he achieves what he sets his mind into, hindi na kami magugulat kung magka-totoo man ang dalawang goals niya ito.
And when that happens, hindi an rin kami magugulat kung may ise-set siyang bagong goals for himself, para achieve-in.
Isa lang ang kanyang career and showbiz journey sa aming napag-usapin sa aming masayang sit-down interview with Mama Loi.
Of course, napag-usapan namin si Ogie Diaz and how much he admires and respects him; as well as about his family, and his lovelife....his lovelife?
Naki-Marites lang kami ng slight. =)
Panoorin ang aming masayang tsikahan by clicking the video links above.
Happy viewing!
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