“I’m a believer in building one’s sense of self, because life puts us in numerous situations where a strong sense of self-worth becomes our best defense against feeling lost, insecure, or stuck.”
When I asked Rissa Mananquil Trillo to recall three situations that defined her path in business, I certainly did not expect that this United Nations (UN) Women advocate, author, and entrepreneur, who is regarded as a pioneer for homegrown beauty businesses in the Philippines, would consider herself as being at one of those life- and career-changing crossroads right now. “These days, it is about navigating where I am now, as I discern my next move as an entrepreneur,” Trillo tells me. “This time is teaching me that even with today’s hustle culture, it’s okay to take your time for the things that matter most to you.”
Trillo’s agenda is not entirely free though, and February will see her attending the 2023 Emirates Airline Festival of Literature in her role as the author of the book, Read My Lips: What It Takes to Build a World-Class Homegrown Brand, which was released just before the COVID-19 pandemic struck in 2020. “In the Philippines, the pandemic triggered a new wave of home businesses and micro enterprises, and there were people who reached out to me through social media to share how my book helped them get started,” Trillo says. “There were even some who followed it like a step-by-step guide! Even though the past three years turned our worlds upside down, I’m thankful that the principles in the book stayed evergreen.”
In Dubai, Trillo will surely be welcomed by the Filipino community in the UAE, and since we have had the honor of sharing stories of many Filipino entrepreneurs in Entrepreneur Middle East (for example, here, here and here), I’m interested to learn how Trillo herself would describe her people’s strengths in the business domain. “Filipino entrepreneurs are extremely dedicated- dedicated to their business, their craft, and their families,” she replies. “We try everything to make things work, because we have a keen sense that our enterprises aren’t only for ourselves, but also for the community we serve.” Filipinos entrepreneurs are also extremely resourceful and creative, Trillo adds, saying, “Because we grow up in a country where things aren’t always easy to come by, life trains us to constantly think out of the box. Finally, Filipino entrepreneurs are some of the most resolute I’ve ever seen. We have an unwavering spirit that absolutely comes in handy when bouncing back from very challenging times.”
Trillo has demonstrated nothing but this resolute mindset since co-founding skin-care and makeup brand Happy Skin in 2013, which has led to her be recognized as Woman Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young and SGV Philippines in 2017, and as one of Asia’s Most Influential in 2021 by Tatler, a Condé Nast publication. But Trillo also notes that along her entrepreneurial journey, she has experienced all the growing pains of a new business, starting with getting a “no” when she least expected it. “This was a decade ago, and it was going to be the first time the Philippines was going to see something like Happy Skin, an accessible local beauty brand with quality that could compete with foreign favorites,” Trillo recalls. “To make our mark in a market that favored imported products, I felt very strongly about Happy Skin being distributed in the Philippines’ local version of Sephora, where it could stand squarely with known brands. On our first meeting with this beauty hub, they immediately said no. Admittedly, it was a discouraging moment, but what sets entrepreneurs apart is the voracity and the can-do attitude to get those crucial ‘yes’-es that will make your business a success.”
As it so happened, Trillo eventually was able to secure this partnership for her business, and thereby facilitate the entry of Happy Skin into the market. But then, finding staff with the same, or at least similar, results-oriented attitude as her was Trillo’s next hurdle. “The hardest part is finding talent that measures up in skill and in competence, and whose values align with yours,” Trillo explains. “I love hearing and using diverse solutions from my team on how things should be accomplished, but my non-negotiables are that we must be customer-centric in our approach, and there should always be integrity in how we run things.”
Trillo’s goal with Happy Skin as a local cosmetic brand was to educate Filipino women to appreciate and accept their own distinctive beauty, instead of following international standards and brands. “The most challenging part of building a homegrown brand was not just the process of creating it from scratch, but also preparing the market for a brand they had not yet experienced,” Trillo explains. “Happy Skin was designed to fill a gap in a market where only high-end and drugstore products existed, without anything available in-between. As a ‘masstige’ brand, Happy Skin was meant to deliver the same experience as an expensive, innovative product, while still being accessible in terms of pricing.” This approach, Trillo adds, was intended at building credibility for upper-market consumers, as well as simultaneously educating price-sensitive customers on why Happy Skin was worth its price tag. “As a pioneer homegrown beauty brand, it was on us to pave the way for Filipinos to love and trust local,” she adds.
Since Happy Skin solved a personal pain point of countless Filipino women, i.e. finding a skin and beauty brand that could care for their specific skin tone, few expected that Trillo and her Happy Skin co-founder Jacqe Yuengtian Gutierrez would ever exit the business. Yet, in October 2021, Trillo announced her withdrawal from the company. “I invested in Happy Skin with my life savings, and gave it the same commitment and time as a wife and mother would to her family,” she says. “However, there came a point when the business no longer became aligned to its original vision, and this situation taught me that just like how we value being brave to kickstart our dreams, there’s also wisdom in knowing when to walk away, and finding the courage to do that.”
Trillo goes on to describe this move and “one of the hardest things” she’s had to do. “It wasn’t an overnight decision, and part of the process was really reinforcing my sense of self,” she explains. “I’m a believer in building one’s sense of self, because life puts us in numerous situations where a strong sense of self-worth becomes our best defense against feeling lost, insecure, or stuck.” While she admits that being the Chief Brand Officer of Happy Skin meant a lot to her, knowing who she was “even without that position” is a point that Trillo considers to be extremely important for any entrepreneur. “I think what makes an exit a ‘success’ is being able to walk away with your sense of self and peace intact. When an entrepreneur is able to do this, walking away will still be to their advantage, because leaving won’t keep them from starting something new, nor will it keep them from continuing to solve the big problems of the world,” she concludes.
