Rustan’s The Beauty Source kicked off International Women’s Month with an empowering campaign dubbed as #GRLPWR Make It Happen – an online event that showcased women’s stories rising up despite challenges and setbacks. The month-long celebration will include virtual live events featuring local female leaders, special promos, and raffle prizes for grabs.
Following the success of its 2020 run, #GRLPWR: Make It Happen presented Leaders in Heels, a beauty conversation that highlighted the achievements of different women from all walks of life who aim to inspire, influence, and give hope to the voiceless. The online event featured writer and student Nikki Huang, director, entrepreneur, and content creator Janina Manipol, multimedia host, PAWS advocate, and holistic meditative enthusiast Joey Mead-King and journalist, CNN Philippines senior anchor and correspondent Pinky Webb.
Hosted by broadcast journalist Marie Lozano, the program covered topics where the panelists discussed and shared their insights and advised viewers. The first, entitled “Trust the Process,” is about tips and ideas on coping with the current situation by trying new things, opening up about personal struggles, and dealing with challenges. The second is “Make it Happen,” a discussion about how to stand out in society and make a change by influencing people’s lives through advocacies. Lastly, “Beauty and Business” defines personal style and adjusting to one’s beauty routine.
As a snippet from some of the topics, each special guest shared what posed as their most challenging issue during the pandemic, how they overcame it, their achievement, and self-discoveries during the quarantine to inspire others, women, through our current situation.
Nikki Huang on her advocacy about mental health issues and how she aims to inspire women to be an influence of change or positivity to those around them:
“I think one of the key ways I want to inspire other women is to promote that we take our education seriously. It has been shown that having as many women in higher education as possible is key to a society’s economic growth and socioeconomic wellbeing. On a more personal note, through education, women can learn enough about the world that we get to determine our values, dream our dreams, and chart our journeys. Society is constructed such that women are always told who they should be and how to measure themselves…and I am all for the radical idea that women should be the ones who decide who they are, what they want to do, and who they want to be, rather than let society dictate it to them. Education is one of the key ways to achieve that.”
Janina Manipol on coping with our current situation and how others can curb their worries to something positive:
“I usually keep myself busy. I like learning new things, so I invest a lot of time in my self-growth. Exercising and meditation helped me as well. Every day, I try to do something that makes me feel good – just constantly finding glimmers of hope, positive thinking, and a lot of prayers.”
Joey Mead-King on the most challenging issue she had to deal with during the pandemic and how she overcame it
“My most challenging issue during the pandemic was learning to find space and openness to uncertainty.” In response to the second question, she shared, “no overcoming but [I’m] still practicing mental maintenance in daily living.”
Pinky Webb on her achievements and self-discoveries during the quarantine, and advice for women who want to excel in their field or with a new passion they’ve discovered:
“I’m unsure if I should describe this as an achievement, but I recall during the start of the lockdown, I got a call and was told that I had to anchor from home. If I’m not mistaken, we were the first news channel that had to broadcast from home. So, I worked from home, every day, for the past nine months—I was the anchor, cameraman, light man, teleprompter operator, MUA, and sometimes guest coordinator. While it was challenging in the beginning, I got the hang of it pretty soon. I survived broadcasting both my shows from home with hardly any hitches. We got the news, delivered the news, and kept the public informed at a very crucial time.
So many self-discoveries: that you can do things despite the limited resources; that there’s always a way; and if in case you think otherwise, you must carry on and continue to find ways. Do your best at work every day because nothing is permanent regardless of who you are in the company. We all play a crucial role in society, in our circle of friends and family. Life is so precious and sometimes short. So try and love every single day.
My advice for women is to try and do your best every day because the last thing you want to feel is to regret that you didn’t give it your 100%. Always take pride in everything you do, honor your profession and evolve! Oh, and don’t forget to show appreciation to the people around you, whether they are family, friends, colleagues, or your helpers at home. Remember, some are working harder than you. So say thank you, it’s the easiest thing to do.”
