What was once a solely self-indulgent fascination has transformed Jean Bonilla, a 22-year-old into a CEO of a very promising business G21. “As a kid, I have always indulged in making myself look good. I have always loved wearing makeup to the point that my teachers have scolded me for wearing it in school.”
G21 was born out of Jean’s realization that if she was able to sell and make other products trend online as an influencer, it’s definitely possible for her to create her own brand and promote it. So from being a reseller and influencer of ‘divi products,’ she took the opportunity and built G21.
Jean believes that her fascination with looking good (and make-up) is a common interest among most women. “While accepting who we really are is the first step to being confident, there are means by which we can become even more confident. If wearing make-up or using beauty products is our way to feel beautiful and confident, we always have that freedom.”
She added that if there’s one thing a person will never regret spending on, it is self-care. But she emphasized that self-care through caring for our looks shouldn’t always be expensive. For instance, when it comes to beauty products of choice, there are alternatives that are of the same quality like the leading brands. “With G21, we are able to provide beauty products that are at par with the global ones. They are tested safe and effective.”
With an initial capital of P10,000 in 2018, G21 has grown to having around 30,000 distributors nationwide and in other parts of the world. It offers both skincare and cosmetic products that are locally-produced -- and making full advantage of the power of social media. Celebrating its fifth year this July, G21 offers a wide-array of products for skincare and cosmetics all made to enhance its customers self-care routine.
Among the skincare products are soaps for skin lightening, brightening, micro peeling, and anti aging, serum for moisturizing, lotion for skin hydration, clay mask for skin tightening, pimple patch for fast-acting pimple curing/drying. For cosmetics, it offers blush, BB cream, lip ink, eyebrow liner, and lip gloss. All these products are not only carefully and scientifically made, they come in cute, youthful, eye-candy packaging. All products under G21 are FDA-approved so you’re not only assured of effectiveness, it’s guaranteed safe to use.
From inspiring young people to prioritize self-care through beauty products, G21 has transcended to a local company that provides business opportunities to Filipinos. It has become a source of income for many Pinoys advocating for self-care, and even help many earn through the now popular work-from-home setup.
“We haven’t only provided confidence to our users/supporters but we’ve also provided them with opportunities to learn and earn while at home, and eventually financial freedom. We have a number of distributors-- who work both physically and through online -- who have built their houses and bought their first cars. We’re also proud that we have members who have finished their studies through selling G21 products.”
Jean looks forward to growing the company with more affordable and quality beauty products while providing a stable income to more Filipinos. “I will really work harder to keep this business growing. Many are dependent on our products to make them feel confident and more importantly, a lot rely on our business for their livelihood. We’re actually lucky that it’s gaining international awareness as well.”