Twist of Faye
‘Lola’s girl’ reaches multiple career goals in a single bound
All of what I did was really fulfilling. I am given the opportunity, and I’m very fortunate in being able to do all the things I want. I’m not tied to one company alone. I get to help many starting brands to expand and be able to reach their goal financially, brandwise.”
A self-confessed Lola’s girl, Travertine Longevity and Wellness Executive Vice President Faye Ramirez, whose maternal grandmother passed away in 2021, is proud of what she has achieved in the corporate ladder.
“If only my lola can see me now,” Ramirez told The Manila Times. “There can never be anyone prouder.”
Ramirez initially joined Avignon Clinic as content strategist and marketing consultant in 2021.
Christopher Cachuela, founder and chairman of Avignon, arranged a meeting with her to meet with President Benedict Sy.
“They wanted to meet with me even online, so in November 2021, the meeting happened,” Ramirez shared. “Our meeting was very casual. Then in December, I attended the Christmas party of Avignon. I helped set it up, and I was on one of the committees.
“I think that was the first year that Christmas parties were allowed. It was a small party. We were wearing face masks. That was the only interaction we had then.”
Around February 2022, an online meeting happened. “I didn’t know it was a meeting,” Ramirez shared.
“I didn’t know Sir Benedict was trying to interview me. I didn’t really prepare for it. I just showed up for an online call. I was not part of the strategy yet of Avignon.”
Ramirez left her corporate, full-time job before the pandemic even started.
“I resigned,” she said. “I didn’t want to do a full-time job anymore. I didn’t want to do everyday work. I wanted to do a lot of things. I get bored easily. That’s why I want to do multiple projects.”
That she’s not tied down to just one job, in a way, helps Ramirez.
“The talent managers of the brand ambassadors from competing clinics didn’t know that I work full time.
“I was being introduced as a consultant. They were trying to put together the team that will help me out. They were introducing me as marketing manager. So we’re still hiring a full-time marketing manager for the post. The demands are really for a full-time position.”
Early last year, Ramirez had a conversation with her bosses about putting together a brand. “It had no name yet,” she offered. “We were conceptualizing on creating a brand that focuses on wellness. So that was how the initial idea started.
“Not a lot of people focus on aesthetics alone. Some people really want wellness treatments and a healthy way of looking after themselves. That was where the idea of creating a wellness hub started. Along the way where we’re doing some research, the longevity part came into the picture.”
At about the same time early last year, the grand launch of Avignon’s Baguio clinic was about to take place. “The clinic was ready in 2022, and we were planning for the grand launch in early February 2023 for the Panagbenga, but we didn’t make it.
“We didn’t want to actually join the noise of the city’s flower festival. But we were still very occupied in February planning for the
March opening. The planning for Travertine happened also around February [last year].”
Without getting to be insensitive, the pandemic was admittedly a “good time” for Ramirez. “I spent it with my family,” she said. “Before the pandemic, I was working for a magazine, Mondays to Fridays. It was a really busy time.
“I was already starting my production business on the side. I was really busy for the week. The pandemic made me realize I could do more with my time.”
However, Ramirez was apparently burned out. “I maintained a really good relationship with the owners of the magazine,” she said. “I worked with the late Sari Yap. I became part of her team for two-and-a-half years. But I wanted to do more with my time.”
Ramirez also ventured into relationship and life coaching. She is certified with a US company with her license.
“My clients are from the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom,” she said. “I used to do it every day online, but when other opportunities opened up, I would do life coaching thrice a week.
“I’m trying to practice [the Japanese concept of] Ikigai, where a part of you does things out of mission, or you do things that you’re really good at, and you’re earning a lot. So it’s really balancing.
“Travertine coming into the whole being mindful and doing what you really want has something to do with the whole balance of health. I love Avignon, but Travertine is really closer to my heart because I had a hand in putting it up.”
“As a life coach and a mental health advocate, there are certain things where you heal from within. Of course, there’s the spa where you are allowed to relax. That’s why in my speech during the opening, I said that ‘Time for Travertine is time for you.’
“Inside the sanctuary of Travertine, it’s just quiet. It’s just you and your thoughts. It’s being present with yourself.”
Ramirez is a psychology graduate. However, because of opportunities that came her way, she was pulled into business development and marketing. “Which I really, really love,” Ramirez attested. “The Avignon clinic and the other brands I’m handling, they are more of expanding the business and growing the services that a brand can offer.”
Ramirez’s mom and grandmother earlier egged her on to take up medicine. “I think my personality is more on mass marketing,” she explained. “I’m chatty and talkative. I like exploring ideas.”
Ever since she was young — high school at St. Rita College in Quezon City and college at Centro Escolar University (CEU) in Manila — Ramirez had been a student leader. She was very active in co-curricular activities and had been awarded with leadership recognitions.
“So, while medicine was really a very good track to explore, I realized that I could practice more the ability to lead and manage a team in an office setting,” Ramirez maintained.
“My college course helped so much in the career I eventually took because a lot of the marketing strategies that I’ve learned and try to understand — Psychology allows you to understand people’s behavior — the way people think and strategize more accurately, marketing-wise.”
She took up a special, six-month course of the mini-MBA (Master in Business Administration) program or the Leadership and Development Management Program at the Ateneo de Manila University.
“Before you take that, you have to have accounting subjects, so I had to do accounting for non-accountants,” Ramirez offered. “I love that. It made me realize that I really love numbers, business and math. The whole idea of putting up business excites me.”
The first time Ramirez became a department head was at 24. “A huge part of that promotion was I was really part of the strategic business planning. I was analyzing numbers with the Executive Committee. That collectively helped me realize that I was going to be part of big businesses and big brands in my early 30s.”
Going professional after graduation, Ramirez realized there’s no easy job out there. “All of it is hard,” she said. “It’s more of finding something fulfilling and finding your purpose in it.
“All of what I did was really fulfilling. I am given the opportunity, and I’m very fortunate in being able to do all the things I want. I’m not tied to one company alone. I get to help many starting brands to expand and be able to reach their goal financially, brand-wise.”
In her coaching job, she was able to help people find their purpose in life and not to commit suicide. “I do that in the morning,” Ramirez said.
“In the afternoon, I will be able to help young teams of professionals who are very new, just in their early 20s, guide them and impart to them some of the lessons I learned when I was young. You could see they were able to do things on their own.
“Most of my team in Avignon were awarded. Last year, they received their recognition. To me, that’s when you become an effective leader, when your team shines on their own.”
Ramirez also has her boutique agency, a production hub which mounts big projects. “If you are able to see that even with your limited time in the world, you are able to help people become the best versions of themselves, that is what’s fulfilling firsthand, to be able to have that impact and purpose.”
There was one person who proudly revealed he was able to build a house because of Ramirez’s help or there was another person who shared he was able to travel after consulting with her. Another got to send a sibling to finish school.
“In their interactions with me, those clients were able to become the best versions of themselves,” she said. “For me, those are the most wonderful things and most fulfilling. Secondary is to be able to deliver the best services.
“At Avignon and Travertine, we never short-changed any client. We always make sure that we deliver. If the treatment needs 100-plus shots, we will fulfill that. We don’t save or scrimp. We give the right amount and right level, right number of shots to be given to the client, that will be exact.
“For Travertine, it’s providing a sanctuary. If you think about it, right now, the services range from P3,000 to P5,000. But when you enter the sanctuary, it is not even just like only P3,000.
“It’s providing them that experience. For whatever value of money that they give to us, it’s something that they do for themselves. Whether it’s aesthetics or giving themselves the time to rest or just having something done to your body, not just for rejuvenation but some parts of it are for healing.