From modeling and writing a beauty column, Happy Skin co-founder Rissa Mananquil-Trillo created a homegrown makeup brand that she swears by. Read on to find out more about how she got into the beauty business and discover what it’s like building a brand from the ground up.
How did you get your start in business? Was it something you’ve always dreamed of or something that you discovered you wanted to get into later on in life?
My first attempt at business was co-founding Happy Skin back in 2013, but even as a child, you could say that I’ve always had an entrepreneurial streak. I sold anything I could create—from my own stories, poems, comics, and newspapers, to woven bracelets and even food—and found customers in my neighbors, family members, and friends.
As I grew older, and the more time I clocked in the beauty industry as a model and a beauty columnist, it became a dream of mine to create my own makeup line. Not just the kind that attaches my name on the packaging, but the kind that allows me to be hands-on with creating, formulating, and testing everything from the start. Through Happy Skin, I was able to create products I can swear my life on.
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What was your background before getting into business? Why did you choose to get into the beauty industry?
I graduated from the Ateneo de Manila University with a Management degree and took up post-graduate courses on Strategic Brand Management and Marketing Distribution Management at the Asian Institute of Management. I also served the Professional Models Association of the Philippines for five years as president. With so much exposure and experience in the beauty industry, it was natural for me to start a business where my roots were. Happy Skin stemmed from a very personal pain point. Even with 15 years as a model and beauty columnist, I hadn’t come across a single makeup brand that would care for my skin and also celebrate Filipina beauty. So I thought, why not create one?
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What were challenges or setbacks in the beginning? How did you overcome them?
When Happy Skin was created in 2013, it was also a challenge to share a beauty brand in an environment where the word “local” was yet to be embraced by consumers. Six years ago, foreign brands comprised 90% of the Philippine makeup industry. This was a figure we wanted to change by competing with the best in terms of quality and innovation—and we did. From day one, we aspired to be a global Pinoy brand: proudly homegrown with Filipino minds behind it and committed to offering world-class quality.
I am proud to see that there is so much love for homegrown Filipino brands today. More people have pride in local talent, and I would like to think Happy Skin contributed to this change in culture from prizing what’s imported to genuinely loving what’s local.
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The biggest barrier for Filipinas when it comes to using makeup is the worry that it will cause them to break out. This was a fear we wanted to allay, and in order to break this barrier to entry, Happy Skin was designed to be makeup that cares for the skin. At the time of our launch, no brand had actively positioned itself as a dual citizen of skincare and makeup, and this is what differentiates Happy Skin from other makeup brands.
Was it difficult to come up with a homegrown brand that could compete with all the other brands already in the market—local or global? What do you think sets your brand apart?
In addition to our unique and inimitable product proposition and our passion for innovation, Happy Skin also has consumer-first mindset. Our consumers are our core, our heartbeat, and part of our DNA. They keep our perspective fresh and ever-evolving, and motivate us to always offer the best.
What made you obtain an Executive MBA from AIM? What do you think are the advantages of taking up further studies if you’re looking into starting a business?
Graduating with an Executive MBA degree from AIM last December opened up my world in immeasurable ways, even beyond business. After 20 months through the rigorous program, I can say that pursuing post-graduate studies has been one of the most rewarding moments of my life. I didn’t just learn from the most brilliant minds who share the same values—I also gained lifelong friends in the process.
For anyone looking to start their own business, it’s essential to have a student mentality. It’s both empowering and humbling to believe that you always have room to grow and learn, and that there is always something new to know. You don’t necessarily need to pursue an MBA, although I would recommend it from personal experience, but you always need to be educating yourself. Education, whether you receive it inside the four walls of a classroom or through life’s many lessons, is the most powerful tool you can use to change the world.
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How do you manage your time between business and personal life? Do you ever find yourself having to sacrifice one for the other? What are your non-negotiables?
Yes, of course. They say that when you’re a mother who works, you are always thinking about your family while you’re working, but when you’re with your family, you also can’t help but think about work. This is true and it causes a lot of moms, me included, to feel a little guilty. I think it’s important for moms to accept that we cannot be in two places at once and to be two people at once, and when we’ve embraced that, to be fully committed to spending as much time to what matters most to us. For me, that’s my family. If a business engagement gets in the way of one of my children’s milestones or an occasion that’s important to my husband, it’s the former that I will try to adjust. I’m also very lucky to have Paolo, my husband, be very understanding of my role as an entrepreneur. Because of him, I am also able to fulfill my roles as a wife and a mother.
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What’s the best thing about owning your own business? On the other hand, what’s the not-so good thing about it?
You have the luxury of managing your time. But since the business is yours, even when you’re not physically working, the business is on your mind 24/7. Entrepreneurs find it difficult to shut their minds off. The reality is, entrepreneurship is an exhausting journey that can eat up your time and energy, both mentally and physically. That’s why if you’re always working on and thinking about your business, you can—and should—delegate.
If you could give 3 tips to someone who wants to start their own business, what would those be?
Pursue your passions in whatever you decide to do. The result will always be different, but you’ll never look back with regret. Starting your own business will never be easy and passion is like the raft that keeps you from sinking and giving up when you don’t have much else left to go on. Above all, remember that profit is no longer the measure of success, but if you are solving the big problems of the world. Never compromise your values and know how to give back.
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Can you share more about how your book with Summit Books, Read My Lips, came about? What do you want readers to take away from it?
I’ve always had a passion for reading and writing, and I never imagined I would one day get to write my own book. When Xandra Ramos-Padilla, the managing director of National Book Store and the granddaughter of its founder, Socorro Ramos, suggested to Summit Books that they publish their first female business book with me, and I just knew it was an opportunity I couldn’t say no to. I wrote Read My Lips for the Filipina—the Pinay who dreams of creating something world-class for her industry, the wife and mom who never runs out of innovative ideas as she tries to find the balance between her work and home, the budding entrepreneur who needs an extra push to pursue her own business. I wanted to candidly speak to them about my own learnings and sacrifices, and if what they read can help them forge a path that’s more fruitful and maybe even less painful than mine, then I would consider it an honor to have been able to be part of their journey.
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Who do you look up to when it comes to business?
There are many, from National Book Store’s Nanay Coring Ramos to SM’s Tessie Sy-Coson and Rustan’s Nedy Tantoco. I will never run out of female entrepreneurs to look up to, and I’m glad that I got to interview almost all the women who have impacted my life and my business in my book.
You can follow Rissa on Instagram @rissamananquiltrillo and her brand Happy Skin on @happyskin_ph. Her book Read My Lips is available at nationalbookstore.com.
