Influencer Gilbert Martina

Interview January 2019

Gilbert, we have come to know you as a very dynamic, ethical person and Influencer in our society. Could you share something about your family?
I was born in Curaçao and I have one sister and one brother. I am a father of two sons and my parents are still alive, my partner has two daughters and one son, so I have a family of 5 children.

I have lived, worked and made my career in Holland becoming a program manager of an insurance company Delta Lloyd in Holland for 3 years for large change management programs, but I decided to come to live back in Curaçao where I started as Managing Director for Ennia Health Insurances (Amerfoortse: 2003 – 2006), Chief Operations Officer at Ennia Insurance (2006 – 2013) and Senior Managing Director Ennia Insurance (2013 – June 2017) for 14 years.

As of February 2018, I became director of HNO (Hospital Nobo Otrobanda) and we are now going through the most decisive phase of transition these first months in 2019.

I am also the President of the Supervisory Board of Refineria di Curaçao in one of the most deciding phases of the history of the refinery in Curaçao.

As such, my responsibilities are huge, but I believe I’m very capable and prepared to deal with these challenges, because all of my past experiences have prepared me for this moment in time.

You are of the opinion, that you can master your own destiny and should not wait for things to fall in your lap. By deciding to be like this, it also means working long hours at times. Where did that come from?
My mother and grandmother always told us that work will not kill you and that if you love what you do, you will not work for one day in your life. So do everything with passion and love.”

You like reading books, watching motivational on YouTube and you love meeting different kinds of people, you are very active meditator and this gives you a lot of mental peace. Would you like to expand on this, why are you so opinionated about this?
We all are human beings and a human being has two parts, a human part (mind) and a being part (soul). The human part is relative, it has a beginning and an end (birth and dead), but the being part (soul) is absolute, it is eternal. As the human part is fed by tangible / material things, the soul needs only 3 things which are not tangible being: FAITH, LOVE AND COMPASSION.

Meditation helps to foster and grow our soul which will increase our consciousness and decrease the influence of the mind, that becomes isolated (EGO). The ego never has enough, but if what you have today doesn’t satisfy you, what you will have tomorrow will not satisfy you neither, happiness isn’t an experience (external driven), but an internal state. The main hope of a nation lies in the proper education of its youth, that’s why it is essential to educate and develop not only the objective intelligence (math, reading, etc) of our youth and all human beings, but more importantly also the subjective intelligence being the consciousness. Intelligence without consciousness is a menace to every society.”

Do you have other hobbies or interests that you are passionate about?
“Yes, family and friends, cooking, soccer, traveling and get in touch with different cultures, nature, the ocean and spiritualism. I am also trying to keep up with my skills and I enable others to grow. In that sense, I am also a people’s manager and a servant leader.”

You are an able communicator, you can connect with people and you can connect dots and align as part of a deliberate effort, right?
“Yes, I can, I see myself as an “builder of bridges” connecting people to make a difference for the good of all. That is always my objective, the general interest, thus the good of all.”

If you as Gilbert would meet a stranger in the bus (let say in Holland or the US) and they would ask you to introduce yourself, what would you answer?
“Hello, I’m Gilbert Martina, I would like to know what their purpose is a human being and afterward I will tell them about my purpose, which is to help and serve and how we can help each other.”

How would you describe Gilberto in one word or one sentence?
“A humble, reliable, ethical and warm person.”

Your leadership capacities are obvious, but where did this come from?
“I would say a gift from our dear Lord.”

Whom are the persons that have inspired you the most in your career?
“My mother, Nelson Mandela, Ghandi, Barak Obama, Denzel Washington, Mother Teressa. Yes, Denzel Washington also inspires me.”

Where they always positive role models or where their also negative role models that you didn’t want to identify with?
“I did not have negative rol models, I don’t identify with people with unethical behavior.”

What are some challenges, lessons learned, that you have encountered in your life when you ultimately discovered your talents and strengths?
“The biggest lesson in life is always following your own compass, and that wrong is wrong even if everyone is doing it and right is right, even if no one is doing it.” We always have to do the right things in our life.”

What was a defining moment in your life, a setback that later turned out to be a great blessing?
“I do not categorize events in my life as good or bad, my life is a journey loaded with experiences so every experience, that manifests itself, I have to deal with it and do the right thing.”

We have always experienced you as a very dynamic and opinionated person? What are your other strengths?
“Humbleness.”

What is your BIG WHY or driving motivation to be whom you are right now? Is it spiritual or something else?
“It is definitely spiritual: to touch and light the life of as many human beings as possible.”

Where do you want to be 5 to 10 years from now?
“Where ever I’m needed to make an difference for the good of all.”

Can you share with us what are your personal and/or business goals for short and long term?
“My focus is primary to help and serve and to be passionate about what I do.”

What would you want your Loved Ones, family, friends and others to say about you let’s say 15 to 20 years from now?
“That I have been an example for them and the community.”

Do you want to share anything else that might be relevant for those reading this blog?
“Find out what your purpose is in this lifetime and dedicate yourself 100% to that purpose, all your needs will be granted to you.”

One of the 250 Influencers
As the core group of Share2Uplift we love and deeply respect Gilbert Martina, who is influencing our health sector as Transition Manager and director of CMC, is deeply involved in the future of our refinery and is enabling meditation of our youth at schools. We definitely consider him one of the 250 ethical leaders of our Island, that continuously works at influencing people’s mindsets in our society. We will definitely continue to hear from him in the future.