Boys can keep their toys. But when it’s time to hold the big shows with the big toys, those in the know would run to Sophie delos Santos to get things done the right way.
Sophie delos Santos has been the authoritative figure behind Tradeshow International since 1992, earning the trust and admiration of her numerous show participants for all these years.
Delos Santos’ passion for all things with wheels began when she was just seven years old with her fondness for Lesney Matchbox cars. “I had this knack for memorizing the makes and models through these miniature cars. I was especially attached to sports cars, because sports cars of my 1960s era were exceptionally beautiful, hence my first toy car was a Jaguar XKE,” recalled Sophie.
Sophie completed her kinder to high school at Stella Maris College, and earned her BS Tourism degree from the University of the Philippines-Diliman in 1984.
Delos Santos’ childhood passion, however, stuck with her into adulthood. “They say that in order for you to succeed in whatever you do, you must like it and know it by heart and must enjoy doing it with passion, and that is exactly why I ended up organizing car shows for more than three decades already.”
And she has also grown to love the industry itself, as well, despite what she calls the occasional “politicking” and the “sudden and frequent changes in ownership of car brands.”
Holding some of the longest-running auto shows has provided Delos Santos a lifetime of experiences, skills and wisdom. “The biggest challenge has always been the impact of the country’s economy on the industry. In my over 30 years of staging car shows, I have gone through several economic ‘roller coaster’ rides and several Presidents, hence several political upheavals impacting the industry. These trained me to devise and revise project plans to ensure that I break even in my car shows, at the very least.”
When asked about the disadvantages of being a woman in a male-dominated industry, Delos Santos admitted she hadn’t really given it that much thought. “Surprisingly, I actually have not encountered any obstacle at all. I can probably attribute this to the approach I have always made whenever I have meetings. The key is to prepare well: Your outfit, body language, your presentation, knowledge of current issues and global updates, and most especially do a mental exercise of possible misogynistic questions. Be strong, and assume that there will be at least one misogynist present in your meeting.
“It has never been difficult for me to prepare, because I probably have more knowledge with cars than most of them. Plus, I grew up with four brothers and spent my college years with a male best friend and dozens of male buddies. I was tagged as ‘one of the boys’ during my college years which helped me think and react the way boys do.”
And as for the next generation of women leaders, Delos Santos opined, “I agree with Melinda Gates, who said that ‘when a culture of dominance is broken, it activates power in all of us.’ We have reached that stage where women have levelled the playing field, so I definitely see women continuing to be more confident and bolder, taking initiatives without being too aggressive, and most importantly less defensive while gaining more self-confidence. Because of the inherent nature of women to be nurturing, I would want to see more women leaders in the auto industry to be efficient team leaders and not micro-managers.”
Sophie Delos Santos is CEO and owner of Tradeshow International, organizer of the TransSportShow (31 years), SportTruckShow (27 years), and ManilaAutoSalon (26 years)
