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Philippine Showbiz Today
Discovering Routes : Snapchat Tycoon
Tech millionaire / adventure journalist Garrett Gee inspires students to follow their passion
Sharing tales of his road to success and the scoop on his new TV show , ‘ Discovering Routes ’.
Daly City , California - What would one do with a million dollars ? Or in this case , $ 54 million ? Tech millionaire and travel journalist Garrett Gee was faced with this very question after he sold his app to Snapchat in 2014 . The story behind his mindblowing success , and what he is now doing with his life were the subject of his chat with students of Jefferson High School in Daly
Luis Manzano
City , California , as part of a joint outreach by ABS-CBN International and Discovering Routes .
According to their website , “ Jefferson has a reputation for high academic and athletic standards , despite its designation as an underperforming school . The Jefferson Staff encourages students to achieve at their highest potential , developing skills necessary to become life-long learners and productive citizens .”
This minimalist , vagabondstyle of exploring the world paved the way for the two of his landmark projects :
( 1 ) The Bucket List Family – a social media documentation on Garrett ’ s family and their travels ; and ( 2 ) Discovering Routes – an original series from ABS-CBN Global Studios , that follows him and his sister , Miristi , as they return to their ancestral land .
Passion and Hard Work
Garrett ’ s talk highlighted that through all the positive and fun things happening in his life , “ it all goes back to the high school days and the college days when I just made up my mind to figure out what ’ s right for me ; that I need to follow my own passion . As long as I work hard at it , develop the skills , and don ’ t get lazy , I think I can make it happen .”
The Intro to Robotics class is the brainchild of Principal Mark Beshirs and teacher Joel Bruxvoort . Ryan Adion , a senior at Jefferson High , was impressed by
people who remind me of myself back in high school , and I saw a lot of potential in them .”
The talk was made possible by Daly City Arts and Culture Commissioner Dorie Paniza , with Jefferson High School Principal Mark Beshirs , and ABS-CBN International ’ s Global Head of Corporate Affairs and Public Relations Nerissa Fernandez .
A Beacon of the Filipino American Community
Consul General Henry Bensurto , Jr . of the Philippine Consulate in San Francisco made a surprise visit to the class . He presented Garrett with a certificate of appreciation for his philanthropy and goodwill . Bensurto expressed his gratitude to Garrett for having “ contributed to raising the profile of the Filipino people , not only in his country but the entire world ; and for inspiring the young generation of Filipino-Americans to discover their Filipino heritage and connect with the country of origin of their parents .
October 8 - 21 , 2017 Jan . 22-Feb . 7 , 2015
roots .
Keep up with this adventurer and follow his journey . New webisodes on Garrett ’ s exploits in the beautiful islands of the Philippines go live Mondays and Thursdays on www . DiscoveringRoutes . com . The Discovering Routes TV series can be seen around the globe on Myx TV and Lifestyle Network , and in the Philippines via Lifestyle TV . ●
- TFC-USA / ABS-CBN
PHOTO : Garrett interacts with the officers and staff during his recent visit to the TFC headquarters . Clockwise from top left :
PHOTO : Garrett Gee ( 2nd from left ) with Jefferson High School students ( L-R ): Lawrence Angelo , Joshua Natividad , Ryan Adion , Terry Sustal , Saul Molina , and Princess Sembrano . ( Photo courtesy of Pia Lopezbanos-Carrion )
A Story of Success
As a sophomore at Brigham Young University , Garrett developed the app , Scan , with two other co-designers . Shortly after , legions of downloads followed its launch . This led to a TV feature on Shark Tank where he did not get the funding he sought . But as all great stories have their glorious endings , Scan was later acquired by Snapchat .
“ I feel like it ’ s one of those classic questions : ‘ What would you do with a million dollars ?’ It was a really cool and humbling experience to be faced with that question ,” Garrett admits to the class . And this was his plan , “ Let ’ s sell everything we own , go super minimalistic , and just travel for some time . Let ’ s learn about different cultures , about different countries , and try to see what brings other people happiness all around the world .” how the class was captivated by their guest speaker . “ People who talk here , they come in suits , he ’ s just dressed casually so I feel I can relate to him .” Junior student Saul Molina chimed in , “ It was pretty cool how he split the money equally ,” referring to how Garrett nontraditionally decided on dividing the profit from Snapchat evenly with his co-designers .
Beshirs and Bruxvoort are proponents for unconventional teaching methods . “ I just see the smiles on their faces and their intent , and the really nice questions they asked . They start to see humanity , to see themselves ,” shared Bruxvoort .
On his end , the tech rockstar confided that this was one of his all-time favorite talks . “ I spoke at a lot of corporations and universities , but this is cool because when I entered into their classroom , I just saw a lot of
A Quick Trek to TFC HQ
Prior to Garrett ’ s talk at Jefferson High , he visited the Daly City headquarters of ABS- CBN International to film fun digital content for Discovering Routes . Extending his Philippine experience , Garrett ’ s learning a bit of the language , still eating the food , and connecting with his
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Garrett greets officers in conference ( L-R ) Solutions Delivery Head Gilbert Talavera , Digital IT Officer Ria Vizcarra , Accounts Receivable & Remedial Officer Noel Duma , Digital Partnership & Integration Head Connie Lopez , and Global Business Development Head Enrique Olives ; with Global Head of Theatricals JohnD Lazatin ; talking with Global HR & Organization Development Head Vic Nuguid ; with BA Executive Producer Troy Espera .