What do you want to be when you grow up?

A common mise-en-scene in the Philippines, when building a life for ourselves, is one in which we’re expected to be ambitious with our careers. Dreaming is free, they say, but underlying this statement is an expectation that our dreams better have a job title to show for it. Doctor, lawyer, engineer, accountant—or if you’re lucky, a treat of a liberal arts degree—some professions we hear echoed back to us at such tender ages, long before we understood the weight they carried.

Attend a prestigious university, get a job, choose a career that can pay the bills; ideally, pay back everything our families invested in our education, too. How tough is it, anyway, to choose between these lucrative careers? 

There’s nothing wrong with wanting economic stability or with taking pride in working within such demanding fields. But still, it feels like particular ambitions are more acceptable than others, and choosing something as frivolous as beauty as a career can feel like a shot in the dark. 

When asked about leaving her 9-5 for full-time content creation, Bianca Ferro explains, “Having to leave something so traditional and safe was a huge risk for me. It was something different. And even until now, I don’t think people necessarily understand what [this is], because it’s such a new job.” 

At present, Ferro is one of the leading faces of beauty on TikTok. Her career is one example of a larger pattern among the people shaping Filipino beauty today. For these people, their paths weren’t built around a lucky break or a perfectly timed opportunity, but through smaller choices that, over time, revealed that beauty—with its own nuts and bolts—can be an ambition of its own. 

Here are some of the biggest names in Filipino beauty who started far from the industry, pursuing careers and interests that eventually led them here.

Mae Layug-Madriñan, founder of GRWM Cosmetics

It’s obvious Mae Layug isn’t your typical beauty founder. For one, she has pushed against the conventions that have long shaped F-beauty—from the limited base range, lack of morena-friendly undertones, and about who gets to wear makeup.

But before she built GRWM from scratch, Layug was a nurse.

She graduated from Manila Doctors College of Nursing in 2014, passed the nursing licensure exam that same year, and began working at a tertiary hospital the following year as a cardiovascular nurse. Through a vlog she started while working, she did makeup reviews and tutorials on the side.

She later passed the National Council Licensure Examination and moved to Illinois, initially planning to continue her nursing career in the US. But in 2018, she resigned from her hospital job and returned her focus to beauty. From there, she began building the F-beauty staple we know today.

Joel Andrade, co-founder and creative director of Issy Cosmetics

Joel Andrade’s route into beauty wasn’t exactly a straight line, either. Before becoming the creative mind behind the bold and provocative ideas Issy is known for today, Chief Creative Director Joel Andrade first worked as a fashion associate—and, before that, as a call center agent.

In an interview podcast with the Philippine Retailers Association, Andrade recalled how draining the call center job was, saying the experience “lit a fire” in him to find work he actually wanted to do. That eventually led him from corporate work into fashion and later, beauty, where his creative direction has helped shape Issy’s bold approach to beauty since.

Bianca Ferro, content creator

Bianca Ferro’s path to full-time content creation and modeling also came after years in the corporate world. As she shared in her Allure Philippines Slambook feature, she previously worked a conventional 9-to-5 alongside other roles in social media, including a stint as a social media manager for Vogue Philippines. 

One of Bianca’s first videos to take off was a warm-toned makeup look set to Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso.” “I did a coffee-brown look and it blew up,” she said in a previous interview with Allure Philippines. So she did another. It blew up again, until it became a cycle. It never stopped.

And as her audience grew, so did the possibility of content creation as a full-time job, which she now does. “I realized that I would much rather be filming than be at the office. I couldn’t wait to go home and do my thing.”

Alex Javier, founder of Dala

Dala founder Alex Javier also followed the practical route first. She finished nursing on a scholarship—a decision she has described as partly motivated by wanting to help her parents financially.

“I actually finished nursing, which is nowhere related to what I’m doing,” Javier told Allure Philippines in a previous interview. She passed the boards but ultimately did not practice. Instead, she moved into corporate work before eventually finding her way into beauty in 2013, when she started reselling imported makeup purchased from international brands. The business lasted for five years until she had to close it down. She refused to give up, however, as she channeled her passion into Kind Beauty—and that second attempt became the foundation for Dala Global, Javier’s most successful venture in the F-beauty industry today.

Changing careers was still part of the promise she had made to her family—and, as Javier describes it, a practical choice at a time when practicality mattered.

Dookie Ducay, photographer

Before photography became Dookie Ducay‘s career, he worked in the banking industry—until a photography class in 2010 changed the direction of his life. 

He enrolled at the Fashion Institute of the Philippines and took workshops. Soon enough, what began as a class became a reason to reconsider the corporate path he was on. Ducay eventually left corporate behind and began working towards his passion for creative work. Today, he is the founder of PioneerX Studios, as he continues to work across the industry as a fashion photographer.

Teree Daisuke, founder of Tillo MNL

Teree Daisuke’s TikTok is filled with makeup tips for everyday Filipino life: student-friendly looks, commute-proof routines, and blush recommendations depending on your needs. 

Interestingly, Daisuke’s content creation career began while he was still working a traditional corporate job. He spent years working in media and marketing before eventually leaving to pursue content creation full-time. Initially a side project, it grew into a career, and eventually moved beyond content and into entrepreneurship with Tillo Mnl—a word-of-mouth brand you’ve probably come across in TikTok comments whenever someone asks where to find soft-bristled brushes locally.

Raiza Contawi, founder of Enigma Beauty

Raiza Contawi is one of Filipino beauty’s OG YouTubers, now the founder behind makeup brand Enigma and its highly coveted foundation. But makeup wasn’t always her day job. 

After earning her commerce degree at Far Eastern University, Contawi started her career in corporate finance before pivoting to professional makeup artistry. That move eventually led her to beauty content creation full-time, with a YouTube channel that would eventually pave the way for one of F-beauty’s go-to base products for that long-lasting, demi-matte finish.

Rachel Ang, founder of The Sun People

As one of the co-founders of The Sun People, Rachel Ang drew from her experience as a frequent traveler—and her own struggles with eczema and dermatitis—to formulate sun care that would work for sensitive skin in a tropical climate like the Philippines. 

But when off-duty from redefining sun care, she leads Taguig-based agency Dot Digital PH as managing director, with a client list spanning brands such as Teviant and Beauty Bar.

For Filipinos raised to treat practicality as a form of responsibility, leaving a stable career for something as uncertain as content creation or entrepreneurship can be a complicated choice.

However, detours can lead somewhere unexpected: a nursing degree can precede a makeup brand. A finance job can coexist with a YouTube channel. A corporate 9-to-5 can eventually become the thing you leave behind.

And perhaps that is the more interesting part of these Filipinos’ beauty stories: not everyone arrived here by taking the obvious route.

Frequently Asked Questions

Mae Layug worked as a cardiovascular nurse after graduating from Manila Doctors College of Nursing in 2014. She passed the US nursing licensure exam before leaving healthcare in 2018 to build GRWM Cosmetics.

Mae Layug of GRWM Cosmetics and Alex Javier of Dala both trained and passed the nursing boards before switching careers. Layug practiced as a cardiovascular nurse, while Javier moved into corporate work instead.

Raiza Contawi started in corporate finance after earning her commerce degree at Far Eastern University. She later pivoted to professional makeup artistry, then beauty content creation, before founding Enigma Beauty.

Yes. Bianca Ferro and Teree Daisuke both held traditional corporate jobs before pivoting—Ferro in social media, including a stint at Vogue Philippines, and Daisuke in media and marketing—before moving into full-time content creation.

Dookie Ducay worked in banking before a 2010 photography class redirected his career. He enrolled at the Fashion Institute of the Philippines, left corporate work behind, and later founded PioneerX Studios.