SA ginanap na 25th year anniversary celebration ng Bioessence na ginanap sa Cities Events Place ay naikuwento ng founding Chairman at Presidente na si Dra. Emma Guerrero kung paano siya nagsimula at ibinahagi niya ito sa kanyang mga bisita at empleyado na abot sa mahigit 500 na para maging inspiring story ito sa kanila.

Aniya, “I started as a dermatologist with one or two beds (clinic), nu’ng nagpila na ang mga kliyente ko for treatment sa acne, wala pang mga facial (services), no massage, no spa whatever. So they were waiting for an hour. Then they asked, ‘what can we do here kasi were bored waiting for 2 hours waiting for you.’

“So hindi ko alam humahaba na ang pila, kaya sabi ko, ‘ano baa ng gusto ninyo, sabi nila what about facial?’ So, I went abroad studied farther dermatology and aesthetic derma, basically pampa-beauty lang talaga. Then after 5 years, I told myself nab aka puwede (magtayo ng wellness center and skin care). Tapos nabanggit ko ‘yung Bioessence na hindi ko alam na brand ‘yun.

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“I learned 3 things, to be successful in business, you have to have IQ (intelligence quotient), dapat mabilis ang pick-up and the most importance is when you’re in service company like ours Bioessence, you have to have your emotional quotient (EQ), what did I add is the adversity quotient (AQ), I had failed several times in 25 years, I had failed more than my success, pero anong ginagawa ko, sige lang, sige lang, basta continuous lang kasi gusto kong maging successful.

“‘Yung drive ko na maging successful even if I don’t know how bakit kasi history ko, hospital for 4 years nasa hospital ako, duktor ako nag residency pa ako, and since nasa hospital ako, I don’t know how to market, I don’t know sysmtems, I don’t know anything about business kaya I did a lot of failures. And the last one adversity quotient, when you failed, you go up.”

Nabanggit din ni dra. Emma na noong lumuwas siya ng Maynila dahil tubong Davao siya at doon niya unang itinayo ang Bioessence ay nahirapan siya rito. Kaya hindi rin niya makalimutan si Mr. Henry Sy Sr dahil siya ang unang nagsabing magbukas ng Bioessence sa Megamall pagkalipas nang dalawang taon niya simula ng lumuwas siya.

“It was Bioessence the first one who opened in the mall. Hindi lang ganu’n ka-popular kasi may mission is to make Bioessence popular thru our clients. And para mas makilala, we hired celebrity endorsers but after several branches na, I said, we wanted our clients to talk about Bioessence more than the celebrity and most effective pa.

So, it’s a really word of mouth

“Pero bago pa ‘yun, one year kaming hindi kumita sa mall kasi walang tao, puwede kang mag-skating. Hindi ko in-expect na 20 palang kami (stores) sa Megamall A and B, dalawa lang kaming skin clinic, there is Dermclinic and us.

“Then after 1 year, we started to recover kasi dumami na ‘yung tenant, so naging masaya na ‘yung 5th floor and the rest was history so, from SM, we were invited by the Ayala group, by the Robinsons, even Walter Mart kasi we have another brand na medyo affordable than Bioessence, but of course, theres’ no such thing as quality na mura even in the ingredients that we chose for Bioessence, walang ganu’n eh.

“Pag sinabi mong oxygen ang dapat para sa ‘yo, cause we’re giving you a service not only a service for beauty but a treatment, so oxygen is more of a treatment,”mahabang kuwento pa.

Hanggang sa nakilala na ng husto at dumami na ang clients nilang celebrities na talagang nagbabayad at hindi libre na ayaw lang banggitin kung sinu-sino.

Pero sa nakaraang 25th year celebration ay dumalo sina John Nite na nagsilbing host, Mark Neumann, stage actress Via Antonio at lagi ring binabalikan ang Bioessence ng Miss Earth Candidates dahil sa kanilang advocacy at ang 2019 title holder na si Janelle Tee ay nagpapatunay na de kalidad ang kanilang serbisyo na tubong Davao rin kaya kilala niya ang pamilya.

At dahil medyo nagkaka-edad na rin si dra. Emma ay parati na siyang nasa main branch nila sa Davao at ang anak niyang si Joseph Feliciano ang ginawang finance officer at namamahala sa Manila brances nila at ang anak na babaeng si Joanna Feliciano naman ang Chief Operating Officer.

Say ni dra. Emma,”It’s a big blessings na nakarating kami ng 25 years. It’s also a blessings na my kids are into the business and I’m looking forward na mukhang matagal-tagal pa ang business namin dahil my kids will take over the business so, medyo my future tayo. Hindi ko naman ini-impose sa kanila na sila ang magpatakbo, mahilig lang talaga sila sa negosyo. Kahit ano nga eh.”

Nabanggit naman ni Joseph na bata pa sila ay hilig na nila ang pagne-negosyo kasi siguro ito ang nakagisnan nilang ginagawa ng mama nila.

“Me and my sister naman handle our own businesses as well pero we always go back to Bio and we always make sure to improve Bio because it’s her (Dr. Emma) legacy that we want to protect. As we build our own (business). We want to cement her legacy as well para hindi masayang ang pinaghirapan niya.

“I saw how she took care of all the people, kung ano ang naibalik niyon sa kanya because all our staff, we have our staff na with us for so many years na marami, nga more than 25 years na. I feel they’re love for us and for the company kaya they stayed with us for so long. And that’s something I also want to have with the businesses I have.”

At ang services na binabalikan daw ng lahat sa Bioessence.

“Napansin ko na nag-eenjoy sila na nasa clinic o spa sila. Loyal sila. Hindi nga nila ako nakikita eh. Kasi when I went to Davao hindi ako humaharap sa client kasi iniisip ko na dapat maayos ang lahat ng pangangailangan nila para mas maganda pa kaya hanggang ngayon maayos pa rin. Lahat ng needs ng mga nagpupunta sa clinic namin andoon na.

“We’re the pioneer in putting a clinic in the mall and also the billboard. Actually, Dina Bonnevie is one of the first endorsers of us. Naisip ko paano papansinin ang billboard kung hindi celebrity ang nakalagay doon. But then after 15 years I decided to stop all the celebrity and try to work on with them.”

Sa ngayon ay parami nang parami pa ang planong itayong branches ng magkapatid na Feliciano with the guidance of their mom, Dra. Emma Guerrero sa iba’t ibang parte ng Pilipinas.