Challenges are not new to Gabriel Christian Cunan, consultant, CC&B Technical Designer/Developer, at CriticalRiver Philippines. When he was in his final year of college, he dealt with the loss of an immediate family member at a time when he was under intense pressure to finish his academic course. “Balancing grief and responsibility were extremely difficult, but I learned how to stay grounded and keep moving forward. That incident taught me resilience; a lesson I still carry with me in my professional journey,” Gabriel said.

When Gabriel was alone handling his first project with two junior colleagues, he knew he had to figure things on his own. It was overwhelming, but it pushed him to become resourceful and to sharpen his technical and soft skills. “Looking back, that experience shaped the way I approach challenges today,” he said.

In June 2023, Gabriel took a big leap. He left the project he was working on and started searching for a new role. Then he received a call from CriticalRiver. “I knew talented people were already working there and I decided to give it a try,” he said.

At CriticalRiver, Gabriel learnt that challenges were learning opportunities. “It is where change and uncertainty, the very things that often scare people, motivated me to grow and think differently,” he says.