TV host and celebrity manager Boy Abunda’s life is an open book.
He has always been proud of the fact that he came from humble beginnings in a small town at Borongan, Samar. Borongan was a simple, rural community. A little backward maybe. In fact, compared to Borongan at the time, Boy would always say, “everything else was Paris.”
His father wanted him to be a lawyer. His mom wanted him to become a bank manager. Boy had other dreams. To help realize this, he sold encyclopedias, kitchenware, even shampoos. “I even tried to sell my body but there were no takers,” Boy would say in jest. He even worked as an assistant cook, and shampoo demo person. Indeed, he did everything just to help keep the family afloat.
To say that Boy was tenacious in chasing his dream would be an understatement.
Now, Boy Abunda is one of the most formidable names in the entertainment industry. Besides his celebrity status as host of The Buzz and The Bottomline on ABS-CBN, and Inside the Cinema on Cinema One, Boy is the CEO of Backroom Inc., one of the country’s most successful companies in artist booking and career management, public relations, promotions, multimedia publicity and concert production.
Backroom recently celebrated its 25th anniversary with a big bang at the Astoria Chardonnay in Pasig City that also marked the launch of its social media portal, www.backroom.ph. The site connects netizens to their favorite Backroom artists and their different social media platforms, all of which sync with Backroom’s social-media portal. Backroom artists will have their own domain name.
Among Backroom’s stable of talents are Gretchen Barretto, Dawn Zulueta, Bianca Gonzalez, Julius Babao, Karen Davila, Amy Perez, Sitti Navarro, Gelli de Belen, Drew Arellano, Mariel Rodriguez, Tintin Bersola-Babao, K Brosas, Aiko Melendez, Ariel Rivera, Pooh, Ima Castro, Dominic Ochoa, GB Sampedro, Arnold Reyes, Duncan Ramos, Mauro Lumba, Benj Bolivar, Carlo Sawit, PJ Go, Kaye Chua, Avery Paraiso, Jennica Ollero, Junnel Manansala, and Ai Ai delas Alas.
The new social-media portal is interactive and fans can chat with their favorite artists, get live updates, and find out what they do off-cam.
More exciting stuff await at the new Backroom web site, such as the Video Archive section for exclusive video clips and concert snippets; the Photo Gallery section for the artists’ new pictorials and the latest in fashion; and the Marketplace scetion where stars and fans can share/exchange/buy old and new goodies.
Despite all of his and Backroom’s achievements, Boy still dreams big. He has a lot of plans and, in fact, went back to school to learn more about politics and international relations. He admits that while he still doesn’t know where these interests would bring him, learning and dreaming more give him a certain high knowing that he can expand his life even more.
Let’s take it from Boy Abunda. We should never stop dreaming. No matter what is happening, even if you think the world is against you, just hold on to your dreams. One day, in one form or another, it will come true. That’s why I am still clinging to my dream to become a Victoria’s Secret model. #WalangBasaganNgTrip.