Jonah Sison debuted the beauty phenomenon Dear Face during the COVID-19 pandemic, with just a ready-to-drink collagen milk line. Now, the brand is one of the fast-growing start-ups in the skin care market.

When doors were shut and faces were covered in March of 2020, people only had social media and technology to keep them company, resulting in a 10-minute longer average time spent on social media than the years before. Collectively not knowing how to deal with this kind of distance, youngsters took a grip on a new application called TikTok. The short-form video platform offered a diverse array of content to its users in isolation, in need of social interaction and entertainment—that is, through dance choreographies, karaoke duets, satire and comedy, and so on. TikTok was the new playground, only virtual. During this time, the application accumulated more than 315 million installs in just a quarter.

In 2024, while TikTok is still a space for short-form creativity and storytelling, it is no longer a platform used solely for self-expression and entertainment. Rather, it is now also an avenue where brands can reach their respective audiences. In the Philippines alone, TikTok has become the leading social media platforms for e-commerce as stated by 67 percent of Filipinos aged 16 to 24 years in February 2023.

Many business owners have already caught on to the importance of the platform in advertising, using TikTok to drive awareness and encourage purchases. One of which is registered nurse and multi-faceted entrepreneur Jonah Sison of Dear Face, alongside Skin Potions and Beauty Drunk.

Dear Face CEO Jonah Sison previously shared in an exclusive interview with The Business Manual that joining TikTok was the last thing on her mind back then “because at that time during the pandemic, lahat sila sumasayaw (everyone was dancing).”

To her, TikTok was simply a platform for teenagers dancing, singing, and doing random things on camera, not until she learned the platform’s business management tools or the extent to which it can reach viewers through TikTok LIVE and introduce them to Dear Face products. After some experimenting and re-strategizing, Sison has made a 16-million-peso daily revenue possible for Dear Face and her authorized distributors combined—all in just one session of live selling.

With her brand as one of the event partners of the first The Business Manual CEO Awards held at Shangri-La, The Fort last January 28, Sison was determined to enhance her understanding of the business landscape beyond the confines of TikTok LIVE selling.

She shares, “When I stepped out of the room, I was really inspired, especially with Ms. Alice Eduardo, a woman entrepreneur spearheading her own company in a male-dominated construction industry,” adding that the “Woman of Steel” reminds her that regardless of gender, it is the ability to spot the pain points of the economy and address them that will eventually lead one’s business where they want it to be.

“I gotta say I’m not as successful yet… I’m still on my journey,” the CEO admits, “but at the end of the day, I was able to transform challenges into opportunities just like her, and I was willing to put in the work to get to where I currently am.” True enough, Jonah Sison reaped what she sowed, taking advantage of the fast-growing platform TikTok and the lack of awareness in holistic skin care, in order to strengthen her spot in the beauty and personal care industry amidst the harrowing pandemic.

Jonah Sison’s Dear Face is the home of ready-to-drink collagen drinks such as the Beauty Milk and Beauty Bean. To discover Dear Face’s wide array of products, follow Dear Face on Facebook and Instagram.