Jesi Mendez: Make-Over Master

There’s something almost magical about watching veteran hairstylist and makeup artist Jesi Mendez at work. He sizes up a client’s features, then quickly and with a noticeable intensity snips here, daubs a little color there and voila! before you is a lovely vision.

It is a measure of Jesi’s artistry and wizardry when he reveals, "I feel more challenged when I have to work on a plain-looking rather than a beautiful face. Because then you get to appreciate the transformation even more." This same challenge, he adds, makes him "glad that the glamorous look is back. Minimalism is so boring!"

Jesi owes his success in large part to an uncanny ability to discern a woman’s best features and to an inherent knack for choosing just the right hairstyle or make-up to complement a face. But as he will be the first to tell you, talent alone will not suffice. As he tries to exemplify and to constantly urge his staff of 200, "Treat the customers as kings or queens. They are always right."

Jesi also believes that discipline is a requisite for success. "There are many talented hairstylists and make-up artists now but they do not succeed because they lack the proper attitude," he says. "For me there is no such thing as ‘I am not in the mood to work today’."

This dedication to work–especially to hard work–served Jesi well as he made his mark creating shaggy hairdos in the ’70s, big, glamorous hairstyles in the ’80s and minimalist cuts in the ’90s. And in the new millennnium, Jesi’s work ethic hasn’t changed.

This ethic extends to keeping the confidences of clients. "I try to be–and I also remind my staff to be–professional about the things our clients share with us or reveal to us," he elaborates. "One should not spread them around."

Small wonder that Jesi has won not just the admiration but the trust of clients like Kuh Ledesma, Imee Marcos, Pops Fernandez and Sharon Cuneta, all of whom have remained close friends through the years. Jesi recalls, "Sharon was just a 16-year-old when she went to our shop by herself. She used to be conscious about her full lips but I assured her they were an asset. For the past 15 years, she always sends me a gift every Christmas."

Jesi appreciates his clients’ thoughtfulness. "They know that I love food, that I’m a food tripper," he says with a laugh, "so they send me food as gifts or pasalubong." Imee Marcos once treated Jesi and his wife Gina to a trip to the US.

Who would think back then that Jesi would come this far? Born the only son (he has five sisters) of businessman Jesus Mendez Sr. and Rosario Ayo-Mendez, Jesi admits, "My father was very disappointed when I chose to take up Fine Arts in UST. Because at that time there was this belief na ang mga pintor ay patay-gutom. He wanted me to take up commerce. My mom, though, was very supportive. I only regret that my father isn’t around anymore to see (what I have achieved)."

After finishing Fine Arts, Jesi illustrated comics and then did fashion designing part-time for a dress shop in Zurbaran.

"There was a hair salon below the shop," Jesi relates. "When I saw the hairdressers at work I was energized." This motivated him to take courses in hairstyling and make-up at Realistic, which he did not finish, though. Instead, Jesi worked in a small parlor in Malate for six months. A memorable three-year stint in Angeles City ("It was the place to go to during those days") followed in the early ’70s. Jesi candidly relates, "I went there with other Manila hairstylists and make-up artists. To be honest, my clients were the ‘angels’ of Angeles. Low-flying ones. They didn’t know who they were; they had so many problems. It was a very good learning experience for me. After learning to adjust to those ladies, I feel that I can just about adjust to anyone."

After Angeles, Jesi mortgaged a property of a US-based sister and with P50,000 capital, opened the first Jesi Mendez parlor in Buendia. "I had a silent partner then but I bought her out in three years," Jesi reminisces. "We had no parking, no water–nag-iigib lang kami. It was a hole in the wall. I worked like a horse from eight in the morning to eight at night; I could do 50 heads in one day!"

For someone who "worked like a horse", it seemed only natural that his career would be off to a galloping start. As Jesi puts it, "What you focus on will expand." Today, Jesi has six eponymous beauty salons, with three more to open very soon. Wife Gina helps Jesi run three parlors while three of Jesi’s sisters–Carmen Mendez, Bing Pascua and Beth Baroña–help him run the other three.

"I rely on gut feel when opening parlors," Jesi says. "And so far–knock on wood!–I haven’t chosen the wrong location."

Besides running his salons, Jesi, a US-licensed cosmetologist, still practices his skills for special events like weddings both here and abroad. And, he admits with great pride, that he is also primping up the daughters of his loyal clients.

Because he is now servicing another generation, and because there are so many new trends in the beauty business, Jesi says, "I go abroad twice a year to update myself on trends and techniques. It may be in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Hong Kong or London. The beauty business is big business now. Where before, people would (dismiss it as) ‘Parlor lang yan!’, nowadays even big-time businessmen are getting into it."

Still, even with his professional success, Jesi maintains, "I don’t think that anything can make up for failure in the family." So it is his family, above all, who Jesi makes sure is most blessed with the fruits of his labors.

"I do not squander money but I know how to enjoy life," Jesi says, "mostly on travels abroad with my family. My daughters (Assumption College high school students Viana, 17, and Veronica, 16) are my jewels. We go out and eat on weekends. E ano kung tumaba? That’s the essence of success–to enjoy."

Jesi’s success on the home front becomes even more remarkable when one learns that he married Gina just a month after first meeting her. But as Jesi points out, "When I decide on something, I make it a point to act on it quickly."

He continues, "It was1982 and I was in Tito Rey with my pals when I was introduced to Gina. Even then we had rapport; there was something in it. In the beginning she was scared because it came very fast. I knew that marrying would be one hell of a responsibility, but I was mentally and financially ready to marry.

"We met on August 24 and married on my birthday on September 25. We got married in civil rites in the house of Mayor Pablo Cuneta. Elaine Cuneta and the Mayor were the only godparents. Sharon prepared the food. I shocked myself, I shocked the whole world, I shocked even my mom!"

Back then, Jesi knew that his sudden marriage made him and his wife the subjects of nasty rumors. "The rumors didn’t bother me," he says, "and they didn’t bother Gina. I only got married for one reason–love. Having a good relationship is all that matters. It starts with knowing yourself and feeling good about yourself. And then you can maintain good relationships."

For a home and a career that have become his crowning glories, Jesi offers a very simple explanation. "If you believe in God," he reflects, "there is no such thing as luck."