FAITH, GRIT AND MAKING FACE
Jessa Macaraig, the owner of The Pretty You chain of aesthetic clinics, could have easily been among those least likely to succeed in life. as a first-grader, this product of a broken family stayed with her mother and then with her father the year after. she also lived with an aunt.
That’s how she honed her survival skills, the talent for bouncing back no matter what. Men get easily attracted to the pretty, flawless Jessa, who worked as a sales representative for five years.
“i had a colorful love life,” she admits. The now 31-yearold entrepreneur and mother shifted to working as a medical secretary for an orthopedic surgeon in a big Quezon city hospital until she resigned to start her own beauty business.
The business is spot-on for someone like Jessa, who loves looking good. Little by little, she bought machines—to remove skin pigmentation, whiten skin, remove unwanted hair, etc.—for the first branch of The Pretty You in Mandaluyong. she asked casino dealer friends to undergo procedures in her clinic and posted the results online. They emerged with glowing skin, spurring Jessa to promote her clinic. it was a win-win situation.
Jessa invested in dermatologists who acted as consultants for sensitive procedures like liposuction. soon, her loyal group of clients asked if they could get products to maintain their glowing skin after an aesthetic procedure.
The timing was perfect. government lockdowns forced Jessa and her husband Marvin to stay home. They had time to look for a chemist, buy skin-care formula, and produce products out of it.
Marvin mixed the ingredients in the morning, went to the hospital as a medical representative right after, and poured the ingredients into a molded container when he got home. With the aesthetic eye, Jessa packaged the products in boxes decorated with ribbons from Divisoria and displayed them prominently in the clinic.
The lockdowns in 2020 were a difficult time for the Macaraigs. The beauty business was down. They resorted to selling samgyupsal meals and plastic ware (dippers, basins, etc.) in the hallway of their Taguig condo to survive.
The couple offered to cook the customers’ meals themselves to attract customers. it worked. They earned P10,000 a day. as the lockdowns eased, the couple closed their food and plastic ware venture and focused on The Pretty You. They received orders from canada, Dubai, Malaysia, and Hong Kong. Their Malaysian client was so bent on ordering products from Jessa, even if strict customs regulations in his country made things hard for him. He registered the business in Malaysia and shouldered shipping fees from the Philippines to his country.
The Pretty You today has 12 branches nationwide, including antipolo, cavite, and Fairview. One of its latest franchisees in Kamuning, Quezon city, recently opened to the public. self-effacing Jessa attributes everything to god’s grace. every morning, upon waking up, she spends an hour meditating. she asks god what He wants her to do for the day. The answer arms her with the wisdom to meet the day’s challenges. she insists this is better than scrolling for messages on the cellphone in the morning. Positive thinking also works wonders. she makes it a point not to talk ill of anybody. she stays away from group chats that promote intrigue and distractions.
Jessa isn’t afraid to take risks like a true warrior because it proves how emotionally intense she can be.
“Most successful people survive failure,” she declares. Her inspiring story proves how spot-on she is.