Everybody wishes a grand wedding. It's a celebration of love, and couples really spend a lot for it in the Philippines because it's a union. It's when both your families, your closest friends and loved ones and well wishers come celebrate with you. It's also expected to be a feast as lunch/dinners are time for bonding for both families, it's a huge expense by any standard as it includes a lot of people. Still, it's something worth every cent because nothing beats a memorable wedding day.
The pandemic has all caught us unaware and nobody predicted the casualties to the economy. Business were hit hard, some fell on bent knees, closed, and thousands lost their livelihood. Health and beauty brand Aqua Skin's CEO Jeff Geronimo almost became a part of that statistic. He was supposed to get married to Trish on March 18, 2020 when the worldwide health crisis hit the Philippines. Both decided to postpone their wedding at a later date as it became a struggle to do so at that time. Needless to say, they also found themselves in the midst of slump. Their sales was at an all time low, they couldn't source materials for their products as ports and businesses (their suppliers) closed. It was a sure test of his leadership, as funds from the business became scarce, and later depleted. With negative figures in his account, Jeff thought more about his employees and their families. He knew they needed to still provide for their household, put food on the table while the world was healing.
Jeff says "I know nobody wanted this pandemic to happen, I need to make sure that they're all well and safe. I used my own savings (money he had to finance their wedding and dream home) to help them first, then create more SKU's for Aqua Skin products to get the business running. I wouldn't want to see them become unemployed/retrenched at the most difficult time. We had to start from scratch, I couldn't give up because I felt responsible, they and their families were counting on me."
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| From a small office for 5 people, they now have a big one and more employees! |
True enough, they were able to survive that stage and started growing even more. His employees showcased hard work, dedication and trust with the brand, him and the company. He felt it was all well worth the sacrifices they made in the past few years. He says "The pandemic taught us a lot, I owe it all to our employees. This has also made us focus more on solutions and become pro active in addressing business problems."
Today, they have been able to start building their new home, a new office and fulfill the dream wedding they've wanted all these years. His awe inspiring story is just one of many success stories in his company today, and in our books, well deserved. Someone should pat him in the back right now, cheers to more successful years!
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