By GRACE C. DIEZ
It may not have been love at first sight, but multi-hyphenate couple RJ Ledesma and Vanessa Pastor-Ledesma somehow found the way, not just into an epic romance, but to a happy and productive married life — and they have three children and four startups to show for it!
RJ, the incredibly engaging host, motivational speaker and serial entrepreneur, truly found an equal in his amazing wife Vanessa, honorary consul of Montenegro, who not only shares the same values with him but also possesses a similar knack for business.
Aside from celebrating their 16th year as husband and wife in 2024, RJ and Vanessa are also the proud co-founders of businesses such as Mercato Centrale, Enter PH, Easy Franchise and Filipino Homes. They are also blessed with three children — Fortune, Rene III and Renzo.
But first, the love story.
Unexpected pairing
While RJ and Vanessa knew of each other at De La Salle University, they, too, were in completely different social circles. He was in the debate team and student council. She was a cheerleader who worked on the side as a commercial model.
Years later, they would formally meet each other as members of the Single Young Adults Community at Santuario de San Antonio in Makati City. When RJ finally mustered the courage to ask Vanessa out via text message, he did not get a reply. Ouch!
“I would never date this guy!” Vanessa says laughing. “But it’s not for reasons you may think of.”
As far as she was concerned back then, she wouldn’t go out with someone who had a raunchy and naughty late-night show on TV. RJ, after all, was a host and producer of Studio 23’s The Men’s Room. She was embarrassed at the thought of being seen with him and being perceived as one of “RJ’s girls.”
However, God’s sense of humor played a role in Vanessa’s change of heart.
— RJ
While both were serving in church, as RJ took to the podium for commentating duties, Vanessa saw him in a different light. She took notice of how sincere RJ seemed in praying and was in awe of his modulated voice. It was as if there was a spotlight on him that enabled her to finally see a different side to the man she vowed never go out with.
Vanessa whispered to her best friend that RJ seemed to be “pretty okay.” Her friend agreed and told her how he went to MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), how he was very close to his family and how he was just an overall a good guy. She was surprised to learn there was a serious side to this funny guy.
Thanks to a mix of curiosity and newfound attraction, Vanessa scrolled through her phone messages to reply to RJ’s months-old text. RJ was amused with her belated reply to his message. They finally went out on a date and got to know each other better.
To this day, Vanessa recognizes divine intervention and St. Anthony’s role in bringing them together.
RJ, on the other hand, had always carried a torch for Vanessa, even when they were still in college. Back then, he knew she was not the type who would have gone out with him when they were students. According to him, he saw her at a party again years later and made several attempts to get in touch with her, but she never replied to him until they met each other again at the church group.
“Before Vanessa, I wasn’t really looking. [In my mind], I’ll be a bachelor until my early forties or even fifties until I met her again,” he says.
“She’s the one who’s worth it. In my wedding vows, I said that my love for Vanessa grew like a mustard seed, and it got bigger over time. I think it was the best way to describe it,” the host-entrepreneur adds.
Perfect match with a purpose
Being together for over a decade helped the couple discover and learn more about each other. Over time, RJ and Vanessa found even more reasons to stay in love as they went through the rollercoaster ride of life, love, marriage and, now, even being in business together.
“There are so many things to love about my wife. From a physical standpoint, of course, Vanessa is very attractive. Aside from that one, she’s a good partner, good mom, good wife and a good provider. Then it evolved and you learn to love more things about your spouse. It’s not just one thing. You’re choosing every day to love her. In a marriage, everything is not going to be a bed of roses and where you always get to wear rose-colored glasses. There are days that Vanessa wakes up and she’s happy to see me. Some days she wants to go back to sleep because she’s seeing me (laughs). Choose to love your wife and you’ll see her in a different light every day,” RJ shares.
For her part, says Vanessa, “The most important thing that love about him is how prayerful he is. What a lot of people don’t know and see is how he loves the Lord and he has a really strong relationship [with God]. Every night, he prays the rosary and reads devotional books. Come what may, he goes back to that. Secondly, the fact that he’s very enterprising. He turns a small thing into a big thing overnight. We put up pretty much four startups to date. Out of the four, two have moved to become medium enterprises. It’s not an easy feat, but by the grace of God, it’s become that and we’re venturing into our fifth one this 2024 and we’re both very excited. I believe he’s built to do it.”
Working partners
While being business partners wasn’t exactly part of the plan, their enterprising mindsets soon caught up with their hearts.
The two first ventured into the food business with Mercato Centrale. Vanessa describes it as “a food business incubator,” which enabled them to discover new businesses and a way to help people into becoming food entrepreneurs. The other one is Enter PH, a consultancy company that helps foreign companies set up their businesses in the Philippines. They also have Easy Franchise, which helps businesses develop franchising as a growth strategy. The Ledesmas are also busy growing the Luzon arm of real estate company Filipino Homes. They are set to launch another real estate-related business this year.
Their work, according to the couple, also helps in nation-building and empowers entrepreneurs all over the country. While others perceive marriage as a career-ending chapter, RJ and Vanessa think otherwise. In fact, working together only validates further their secrets to a happy life.
“It’s finding each other’s strengths for me. My strength is I’m more detail-oriented whereas RJ sees the broad picture. He’s more on business development, marketing and directions, I’m more on operations and finance,” says Vanessa.
“First is knowing your strengths and honoring those. We’re different. He’s an early bird and I’m a late sleeper. I work until 3 or 4 a.m., but I still need my eight hours of sleep. He respects that that’s when I find my zone. It’s about finding what works for you and respecting each other’s differences, working together, and bringing out the best of those strengths together,” she continues. She also stresses the importance of knowing you’re on the same team and not in competition with each other despite the differences.
Still, RJ agrees that working with a spouse is not for everyone.
“It’s not easy to be in business with your wife. It’s like you’re working on your marriage, but
you’re also working on your business. More often than not, it’s not an easy balance. You already have your own concerns in the marriage, dadagdagan mo pa ng (you’d add) concerns of the business. It can lead to a lot of conflict. What’s fortunate was we both grew up in entrepreneurial families with both parents working together,” he says.
Still “kilig”
Though they have been together for a long time, Vanessa shares the “kilig” is still there but on a different level and for a different reason now.
“There’s a better kilig now. Mas maganda iyong bonding as you age because you’re finally getting and knowing the person and who he really is. The fire is stronger kasi you really know the person. Of course, dating at the start is a different kilig and it’s nice with the first kiss and all. But knowing the person on a deeper level, the fire for me is stronger. Especially now — he looks better than he did before (laughs) kasi he’s working out and he got buff,” she teases.
“I hope so,” RJ laughs.
The power couple then goes to share pieces of advice for young couples who are planning to tie the knot.
“Being Christ-centered for me is key because that’s what drew us together from the start. Every time there’s a challenge and a concern, it’s what grounds us. It’s our north. It’s what brings us together stronger and forward. It keeps us moving. I know it’s religious but that’s number one for me,” Vanessa remarks.
“You must figure out the love language of the person you’re with. The second one is that it’s easy to say ‘to communicate with your spouse’ but it’s always very difficult. When you’re married for some time, you realize that men and women communicate differently. Sometimes, there’s assumption that you know what they’re talking about, but you don’t. Constant communication is key,” RJ concludes on a serious note.
On a not so serious note, he adds: “Women were built to be like mysteries. But the idea is that you have to keep seeing that beauty behind the mystery because sometimes that mystery can drive you crazy.” The cool couple laughs.
Photography by Dix Perez
Hair, makeup, and grooming by Floe Tapayan
