Beauty entrepreneur Joby Linsangan-Moreno: still fabulous and ambitious at 43

People say that life begins at 40. As she celebrates her 43rd birthday, Joby Linsangan-Moreno, a beauty entrepreneur, TV host, book author, and image of a successful modern woman, continues to pursue her dreams of making every Filipina from all walks of life feel beautiful and confident.

“I think a modern woman should know her mission in life and embrace it. In that way, she can bring out the best in herself and others—doing what she loves, and loving what she does—making her light shine for the world to see,” she said in an exclusive interview with Orange Magazine.

She celebrates her birthday this April 8, on Black Saturday. She’ll celebrate another momentous year at home with the people who matter most—her family.

“I feel that the Lord has blessed me with everything I could ever hope for and much more. So, this time, I want to give back to the Lord. For Him to show Me His Ways and use my talents for His Glory, reflect His Light so that others may see my good works and glorify Him in Heaven (Matthew 5:16),” the successful businesswoman said.

Being in the beauty industry, Joby is no stranger to demands and services meant to enhance her clients’ natural looks. Yet she doesn’t judge a book by its cover because she believes that genuine beauty comes from within. Although it sounds cliché, which Joby acknowledged before, she perceives that a person’s outer appearance reflects the joy and gratitude from their hearts.

Joby is the Orange Blush Salon, Lemon Rebond, and Peach Hair Essentials proprietress. Each business venture is a testament to Joby’s dedication to her passion for becoming an entrepreneur in an already saturated industry. Nonetheless, Joby still finds new ways to entice customers and earn their trust.

She started Orange Blush Salon on a measly P30,000 capital when she was 23. She faced the initial challenge of turning around a beauty parlor on the brink of shutdown. It became the first step of her vibrant startup, born from labor and love. Around two decades and 20 branches later, people fondly know Joby as “the Orange Lady,” who always satisfies customers and inspires aspiring entrepreneurs to start their respective journeys.

Despite the pandemic, Joby and her team behind Orange Blush Salon honed their skills to stay at par with the ever-evolving demands of the beauty industry. They also took advantage of the situation when Joby exercised her entrepreneurial mind to promote the salon’s home services. Joby also revamped Orange Blush Salon to accommodate customers who want to look and feel beautiful.

Besides Orange Blush Salon, Joby also runs Lemon Rebond, another hair salon that offers affordable yet quality services.

This year, Joby’s plans for growth go beyond her welfare. She’s also eyeing the development of her businesses. She shared that Orange Blush Salon and Lemon Rebond will begin expanding.

Her businesses will also start franchising again with their new system for a P80,000 fee. It comes with the freedom to design a personalized version of Orange Salon or a new brand.

Orange Blush Salon also offers hands-on training and face-to-face classes to aspiring individuals who want to be part of the lucrative industry or pursue their passion for aesthetics.

Joby’s other business venture is Peach Hair Essentials, which offers the first-ever hair rejuvenating set in the Philippines. She hopes the brand will start dominating the (at-home) hair treatment marketing with its products especially formulated for salon-treated hair to prevent ngarag hair days. It’s a must-have for women who are always on the go.

“We strive to be relevant, may it be offline or online, by continuously relating with our clients directly, adding value and love to our products and services. We try to discover challenges and pain points of customers and find solutions for them,” she said.

For instance, she developed Orange Blush Salon and Lemon Rebond’s sakto or fixed pricing. It makes clients feel confident and secure in getting hair treatments because they know exactly how much they would for regardless of hair length (with every hair treatment, including hair color, highlights, hair detox, rebond, and Brazilian keratin at P800).

“We gained customers’ trust by being transparent and having a standard pricelist, regardless of hair type or hair length. And with Peach Hair Essentials, giving alternative and truly effective and easy to use, at-home-salon-hair-treatments for salon treated hair,” Joby said.

Last year, Joby also launched her beauty line, beauTITA Cosmetics. As the name implies, it caters to the prominent “Tita” crowd with specific beauty needs. Although most people consider themselves a “tita” because of their age, it sometimes includes those who live a similar lifestyle of being confident and unapologetic.

She noticed how the Philippine beauty market has a wide array of products that meet the demands of younger generations. It includes different items that could sometimes complicate the make-up process.

Filipino titas, on the other hand, prefer make-up products with easy application, pigmented, vibrant, and long-lasting. They often search for these characteristics as it best serves them as they seize the day. Still, they deserve to experience the innovations found in contemporary beauty items. They have Joby to thank for creating such a niche brand.

Developing her business ventures is only one of Joby’s astounding plans for her birthday and 2023. She also hopes to share her blessings and opportunities by giving back to the community through the Parlorista at Barbero Kami (PAK) Foundation, which she launched early in 2021 to help families in need, especially those dependent on the beauty industry.

It was no secret that the beauty industry was among the most affected during the pandemic. Before the global health crisis, stakeholders from the sector enjoyed a steady stream of customers who would flock to their salons to avail of services that enhanced their natural beauty.

When the government announced the lockdown in March 2020, it disrupted their operations and threw the beauty industry into unfamiliar territory. The once-booming sector faced a crisis as their loyal clientele could no longer visit their salons for touch-ups or glow-ups.

Through the PAK Foundation, Joby, with her employees, reached out to communities in Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija, where they distributed rice, orange face masks, and Orange Blush Salon hair products, such as leave-on conditioners and hair serum sprays. Beneficiaries of their outreach program include families of barbers and hairdressers and frontliners, like health workers, military and police personnel, and essential workers, to name a few.

Under Joby’s leadership, PAK also promotes inclusivity by initiating various promos in her salons to encourage clients, regardless of age, gender, or other factors, to invest in themselves.

Although people are slowly shifting to a new normal, where they’re returning to the streets without too much fear of the virus, the PAK Foundation remains unwavering in its mission of spreading love, one haircut at a time. PAK will resume partnering with local government units (LGUs) and private institutions to aid communities in need.

“Together with Orange Salons and Lemon rebond, we now offer free haircuts to senior citizens at our salons every Friday, also known as Hope Day at our salons,” Joby said.

Now 43 Joby is in a place where people can consider her ventures successful. However, she doesn’t measure her success by the numbers that have defined her journey as an entrepreneur. Instead, she knows that it comes from a feeling of joy and serenity.

“Success for me is being content in whatever circumstance you are in—being grateful and joyful for what you have-—for both small and big blessings. Success is being at peace, knowing and acknowledging that God is always in control,” she said.

To know more about Orange Blush Salon and its ongoing promos, please visit their official page.