Before Anina Rubio became a muralist and sustainability advocate, she was an engineer. Then she was a marketing professional. Now, she creates large-scale artworks and engages communities through painting.
Her career has been anything but conventional, but to her, every step made sense. “I was career-hopping, and life was uncertain,” she said. “But if I died today, I can say I lived a full life.”
For Rubio, success is not about instant impact but about the small steps that lead to lasting change. “We have to remove the limiting belief that we always need to create something big for it to have a big impact,” she said. “If you influence even one person, that’s already good enough.”
She believes meaningful change starts close to home. Simple choices, such as reducing plastic waste, can set an example for others. “Start within your circle, within your environment,” she said. “Eventually, that influence will grow.”
Rubio’s background in engineering still shapes her approach to problem-solving, even in the world of art. “My team is sometimes surprised when I can complete an area on the spot,” she said. “I still bring my scientific calculator everywhere — if you hand me a phone calculator, I wouldn’t know how to use it.”
Her time in marketing also helped her understand how to build a personal brand. “A lot of artists are shy about sharing their work, but the only way people will discover you is if you show it,” she said.
Perfection, she added, is an illusion. “When I started in the mural painting industry, I thought my work was my best at the time. But now, I look back and think, ‘I want to repaint that wall,’” she said.
Still, she trusts in progress. “You just need to believe in yourself and your growth,” she said. “Every experience, every step, is part of a bigger picture.”
Rubio said she has never been one to ask for advice. “I was always shy or embarrassed to ask for help, especially when I was failing,” she said. “And I failed a lot.”
Determined to be financially independent, she once told her mother, “Whatever happens, I won’t ask for money. I’m just going to figure it out.”
Instead of relying on mentors, she leaned on her personal mantra: tiwala lang. “Trust yourself and trust the people around you,” she said.
She learned the importance of having a strong support system. “Community is important — not just strangers or external networks, but also your immediate family and friends,” she said. “Sometimes, you just need one person to say, ‘Hey, you’re doing great!’ or ‘You can do it!’ And in that moment of self-doubt, you’ll start believing again.”
At first, her mother struggled to understand her choices. “She’d say, ‘You’re an engineer! What a waste! You already have a salary!’” Rubio said.
When she transitioned to farming, her mother was even more confused. “We didn’t even have a farm,” she said, laughing.
Still, the experience gave her a new perspective. “It taught me patience,” she said. “Farming is about nurturing. You don’t dig up the soil every day to check if the roots are growing. You just keep planting, watering, and trusting the process.”
She still remembers the feeling of her first harvest. “I’d have a basket of tomatoes, okra, and eggplant,” she said. “It was bahay kubo vibes.”
Rubio sees mural painting as more than just a visual art form. To her, it is a tool for community engagement. “When you empower someone to create, their whole mindset shifts,” she said.
She has seen hesitant participants transform during community painting projects. “At first, they say, ‘I’m not an artist. I don’t want to paint.’ But once they start, they get lost in it,” she said. “By the end, I’ll say, ‘Guys, we’re done! You can put the brushes down now.’ And they’ll respond, ‘No, no! We’re still painting!’”
That, she said, is what makes it all worth it. “You can’t measure that impact, but you know it’s real,” she said.
Her leadership philosophy reflects the same values. “I don’t want my team to be robots,” she said. “I ask for their input — ‘What do you think? How can we improve this?’ When they grow, when they learn, I win too.”
One of Rubio’s biggest challenges was learning to step back and trust others. “I had a clear vision of how I wanted my artwork to look,” she said. “At first, I micromanaged everything.”
Over time, she realized that true leadership meant empowering her team. “I had to teach them so I wouldn’t have to be the ‘monster’ constantly checking their work,” she said.
She also learned to be more selective about collaborations. “At first, I took on every project just to get experience,” she said. “But now, I’m careful about the brands I work with. I want to align with sustainability and my values.”
That alignment, she said, makes all the difference. “When your work aligns with your beliefs, your energy is better,” she said. “Everything falls into place.”
For those considering a creative path, Rubio’s advice is simple: just try. “You’ll never know if something is for you unless you give it a shot,” she said.
She recalled her first mural project as a lesson in trial and error. “I wasted so much paint. I didn’t know how to calculate the quantity. I didn’t know how to manage a team of eight people,” she said. “It was inefficient! But that’s how I learned.”
Growth, she said, comes from experience. “Now, I know how to manage my materials, time, and team,” she said. “But I had to take that first step, make mistakes, and learn along the way.”
In the end, Rubio believes success is about staying true to oneself. “If you are authentic to your voice, your values, and your core, everything else will follow,” she said.
She never created for validation. “I created because I loved it,” she said. “And the people who truly connect with your work will support you because they align with your values.”
Art, she said, is more than just paint on a wall. “It’s a tool for storytelling — for sharing experiences, the places you’ve seen, the people you’ve met, and the causes you believe in,” she said.
When asked to summarize her journey in one sentence, “Take a risk,” she said.
