Dermcare doyenne

Our mission then was to help the bigger portion of the market to be able to buy the products for their skin problems.

Palisoc started out in life with a dream.

Like many entrepreneurs who have made it big through hard work and determination to succeed, Zenaida Palisoc, president and CEO of Dermcare and Dermcare Luxe, started out in life with a dream. She wanted a better lot and she wanted to help her siblings.

Opportunity came by way of an exposure to the skincare business. After five years serving as a human resources head, she and some work associates bonded together and struck on their own.

Thirty years after its founding by Zeny and her associates, Dermcare is at the top as a total health, beauty and wellness center, with 115 branches all over the country. While it remains to be the go-to establishment when it comes to skin whitening, acne cure and prevention and anti-aging solution, it has expanded its services to include world-class facials, body treatments including scrubs, waxing and spa services, as well as hair rebonding and treatments.

Zeny recently visited Daily Trbune to invite us to the 30th anniversary celebration of Dermcare this 9 December at the Manila Hotel. She also shared with us the story of the growth of Dermcare, as well as of her rise to success from humble beginnings.

Daily Tribune (DT): How did you become interested in skincare?

Zenaida Palisoc (ZP): As a woman, we’re always in search of something to improve our appearance, especially our skin. Like any other adolescent, I had so many pimples and I wished that I would be able to find the right medicine [for it].

As a kid, I was not fair-skinned, but I had a nice skin… makinis. I remember my mother would always buy the right colored dresses that fit my skin tone because my sister had fairer skin. So that was the thing that really stuck in my mind. And then later on, my pimples began to grow. So in my high school years, I told myself I would really look for store products. That’s how my passion started, how to make my skin white and how to cure my pimples.

DT: What was your initial background in dermatological care?

ZP: I worked with a well-known dermatologist in our country. Working with the dermatologist for five years gave me an idea of the skincare business. So, there, that’s where I met my future business partners.

DT: But you were not involved in skincare? I suppose you were working on the administrative side of the business?

ZP: I started as a Human Resources (HR) manager. I finished my AB Psychology course from one of the state universities as a scholar. Then I went to the University of the Philippines for my master’s degree. I took my Master in Entrepreneurship at the Ateneo when I was already an entrepreneur.

But just to go back. When I saw this advertisement of a dermatology clinic looking for an HR manager, I applied right away and luckily I was accepted. And there I learned beauty products that really cured pimples and made the skin whiter. I think that was 30 years ago, when a certain kind of product came into the market in the country and it’s a very innovative product that really whitens the skin. That company is still existing but it’s more of a clinic.

ZP: Dermcare started as a pharmacy and skin clinic. We began as a store of skincare specialties such as pimple control products and whitening products. Then, we introduced anti-aging products.

I think that 30 years ago, when we started, there were not much over-the-counter pimple control products that worked. I think only one product did.

And for people who had pimples, like teenagers, there was only one option. You either lived with your pimples or you spent a lot on a dermatologist. So my business partners and I saw the potential and the mission. Our mission then was to help the bigger portion of the market to be able to buy the products for their skin problems.

DT: Did you operate from a space, like a store?

ZP: We started with a 20-sq.m. store in Buendia. There were no malls yet 30 years ago the way we have malls now. We really positioned ourselves across that one store which was really the pioneer; which was already selling all these whitening products. We called them medicated astringents at that time. We were benchmarking and we were starting the business from zero. So this store would be an appropriate one. We would able to get clients who already had these skin problems, so we started that.

We also had a pharmacy, and then at the back of that, we had a small room that became our office; and a clinic for a dermatologist.

ZENY is a self-made woman who made it big by addressing the skin care and therapy needs of the Filipino. On the left is the state-of-the-art facial area of a Dermcare branch in Pasig.

DT: How did you eventually become an aesthetics center?

ZP: The market developed. So after the pharmacy began selling all the products, the concept of having a complete range of products from hair to body to skin came up. And so we’re doing that up to now. Ours is a one-stop center. The pharmacy and skin clinic became Dermcare’s skin and body shop. That went on for a lot of years until the concept of spas came into the market. From the pharmacy and skin clinic, the company grew to about 120 outlets all over the country.

ZP: Actually, it’s a long story and this is the first time that I’m going to share the whole story in public. Because what people see now is the success and the chain of stores, but not the story behind.

So we started as a skin clinic, a small store in Buendia. And among all of us, major owners of the company, we franchised among ourselves. And that’s how we grew, offering franchise to other people outside of the five owners and by asking like P25,000 franchise fee. That time, during the early 90s, we grew to 200 outlets already. The majority was owned by us including those in the major cities. Others were given the outskirts.

ZP: Unfortunately, the Asian Economic Crisis happened in the 1990s so most of the branches really had to close down. Only 11 stores were left with me. I started with double that, about 30 stores, but the others did not persist.

So when the spa concept came in, we thought of adding services. I had to study the skincare facials myself under a dermatologist and then I had to ask the help of my sisters and my sister-in-law. We started as a family. It’s a family business because these are the people who can be hired easily because they’re just there. You can expect them to have a personal concern for the business. And I treat them as partners in the business. They have a share in whatever the company makes. That’s how we did it.

ZP: One really had to look for something that would augment the business. You had to offer new services. Before it was just a dermatology clinic but with the passing of time we had to go with the trend of the spa concept offering facial services, massage, waxing and so on.

DT: Did it cost a lot to add to your services?

ZP: We didn’t put in a lot of capital, we just let the business grow by itself.

From stand-alone stores, the malls came in. So we tried our luck with the malls and came up with a very innovative concept. You will see how Dermcare looks. It’s like a very big yet cozy place. I really revolutionized the concept of a clinic or a store. It’s really like a palace fit for royalty because I want to make my customers happy. I want to pamper them with everything.

DT: So, what are the products and services of Dermcare today?

ZP: We started with dermatological specialties. These are products that really work. They are also reasonably priced. Working people can afford them. Then, we came up with services that really complement the products. So the products that our clients use, we use them when they have their facials, so they can taste how the products work on their skin. And when they go home, we give them products that they can use continuously at home.

We have solutions for the three most common skincare issues — acne, whitening and anti-aging. These are our bread and butter. The products that they have been using 30 years ago are still there, still working because they have therapeutic effects. They’re not just cosmetics. That’s why we are selling them in our Dermcare stores. They’re not available in other outlets or in drugstores.

DT: Let’s go back to your beginnings. How was it like growing up?

ZP: I come from a very simple family. I was born in a very remote town in Laguna. I spent my elementary days there, but unfortunately in the fifth grade I lost my mom and then my father was working here in Manila so because it was school time I was left there to take care of my two other siblings and stay with my grandmother.

And then after that, our father brought us to Manila where I took up my secondary education in a public school. I’m proud to be a product of public school education from elementary to college. I graduated from the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila. Although I came from a very humble beginning, probably we were fed right. Modesty aside, although my parents are not highly educated people, I grew up to be driven. I’ve been an honor student from elementary to high school, and then a scholar in college and then I finished my course in the University of the Philippines and then I took up my Masters in Entrepreneurship at the Ateneo Graduate School of Business. I graduated as a top student, a gold medalist. You know, looking back, I wonder where I got all those genes.

DT: Where did you get that drive to do business?

ZP: Because of my humble beginnings, I wanted to better my life. I wanted to help my siblings have better lives. I thought that it’s really business that would help me. So even in high school I was already selling stuff. I would buy candies in a small market in Paco and I would sell them to my classmates. So I think that drive is really to make my life better and help all my siblings and to give them better lives. It’s one of the driving forces. Plus I had this passion to really look beautiful. Combining all these together helped me in this kind of business. And it’s true, being deprived early in life will drive you to be passionate about making good in whatever you do, whether in your career or in your business. We were really taught how to be hardworking, to be persistent and to burn the midnight oil.