ROWEL VIJANDRE
MANAGING DIRECTOR, L’OREAL
Instinct is a powerful force in business. The ability to gauge the slightest shift in the winds has borne many a man and woman to success. In the case of Rowel Vijandre, instinct served a much higher purpose: as a homing device, summoning him back to Manila in 2012 to serve as president and managing director of L’Oréal Philippines.
The past few years have seen a swell of successful Filipinos repatriating by choice, drawn by a flourishing economy and a desire to reconnect with one’s roots. Before joining L’Oréal, Vijandre turned down a lucrative position in the US, one that would have taken his family even further from the Philippines than their nine years in Vietnam and Malaysia did. “We were at a crossroad where we go abroad and basically stay there forever, or go back at a time where [my kids] can still connect with their roots,” he says. “I thought after so many years, it’s time to go back.”
It is telling that the heart of his return lies not in self-centered gain. Vijandre’s propensity to value human experience extends to his professional world as well. Awards and major launches might be signs of a good year, but the burnish dulls over time. Relationships, on the other hand, deepen, and so Vijandre prefers to measure success another way: “What stays with you over time are the experiences of the people you touch along the way. In any major city of the world, there will be at least one person who would buy me beer because at one point in time I’ve given them an opportunity.”
As a global Pinoy, Rowel Vijandre is more than a returning countryman: he’s a messenger between worlds. He brings a global perspective to the Filipino workplace with team-building activities that promote a healthy work-life balance. Employees enjoy events such as Freedom Fridays and Wine Wednesdays. And yet, he also hopes to bring a Filipino perspective to global beauty through L’Oréal. “Our mission is providing beauty for all, especially here,” he affirms. “Seeing beauty through a Filipino lens influences me. Wherever you are, whatever you do, beauty has the power to change lives.”—BP