Michelle Fontelera: The sweet smell of success

Michelle Fontelera’s youthful looks belie the fact that she is in fact head of one of the country’s most successful fragrance companies. Michelle is founder and CEO of Zen Zest Asia Inc., the mother company of Zen Zest, a popular brand that purveys locally made body care, fragrance and aromatherapy products. Zen Zest is a familiar sight among perfume and cologne lovers who often swarm to the company’s ubiquitous kiosks and carts located in several popular malls and department stores.

For Michelle, the love of fragrances came early. At about six years old, she was always trying out scents and body care products. Her uncle Rod Dula had hundreds of fragrances, which he kept in an antique cabinet and Michelle’s great joy was to try them out.

She recalls, “My early favorites that time were Hermès (the big bottle and not the spray one), Hierbas de Ibiza, Annick Goutal and other European fragrances. When my uncle was not around, I would usually open his cabinet and mix and match his scents in a small bowl and concoct my own fragrance. I also loved his body care and facial products, which I would also use for myself. Clarins and Aveda were two of my favorite brands then. I was very kikay.

“I also loved the scent of the soaps that my uncle would bring home whenever he would travel to Europe, and also the scent of fresh vetiver he had in his room. I was also fond of the scent of fresh pine trees, which my uncle had in his house during Christmas season. I was really a big fan of different kinds of fragrances.

“When I was a young girl, my uncle would bring home fragrances for me as well. My early favorites that were actually mine were simple Spanish smelling fragrances like Chizpaz, tartin et chocolat or the powdery poupon.”

Michelle started Zen Zest when she was 23 years old, the time when she was active in joining the bazaar circuit. At that time, she was up to selling anything she thought was marketable. It was during one of these events in Valle Verde in Pasig that she chanced upon a fellow vendor who was selling scented soaps. The soaps had the delightful aroma of chocolate, cinnamon and orange. The young Michelle spent the rest of the day smelling and holding the products; eventually prevailing upon the vendor to allow her to be a reseller of the soaps. The idea was a good one. On her first day as a purveyor of soaps, Michelle was able to sell all her products in a jiffy.

Encouraged by the experience, Michelle shared her story with her mother. “My mom totally supported the idea of starting a fragrance business even without a feasibility study — I did not know how to make one! I just told my mom that there were 80 million (at that time) people in the Philippines and if one million would buy from us and if we would earn P10 per product then we would make a lot of profit. My mom, thankfully, believed in the idea and until now, we still run the company as a team. My mom on the operations side, which is something she excels in, and I on the creative side, which I think is my talent. My mom and I came up with a concept for the business, we presented it to the people in SM Megamall and they immediately gave us a location for our cart. In six months, we were able to open six outlets of Zen Zest. Our first outlet opened on May 1, 2001.”

  Now, after more than a decade, the company has more than a hundred outlets nationwide. From one employee, it now has almost 400 employees.

“We really are blessed. My mom and I never expected that Zen Zest would come this far,” says Michelle.

In just over 12 years, Zen Zest has captured the fancy of both men and women alike. While women are drawn towards sweet fragrances such as melon, raspberry and apple (with teenagers, the current favorite is vanilla!), men look for scents with oak, moss, musk and woodsy notes. Michelle’s essences are imported from Grasse, France. She encourages her customers to spray the fragrance more on their clothes rather than on their skin as this makes the scent lasts longer. In recent years, Michelle has expanded her product line to include massage oils, cabinet deodorizers, linen scents, home fragrance oils and room fragrances. A bestseller is Zen Zest’s chocolate-coffee kitchen spray that masks cooking odors.

With the list of responsibilities to be undertaken, Michelle somehow manages to be present for her family. “I make it a point that I prioritize my family before everything else,” she shares. “They mean the world to me. What would my success mean if I did not have my family to share it with?  I am also a very devoted daughter and sister. I do not know how I can succeed without the help of my mom, who is also the one person I look up to because of her strength, and the encouragement and emotional support of my sister.”

In 2009, Michelle got married to Sunday, whom she said is a God-fearing, family-oriented and generous man. They have a three-year-old son Juan who is very smart and loving. 

“Before I got married, I already had a son, Xavi, who is now nine years old. He is a special child who has spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy, which means he can’t walk or talk or do things on his own. He needs 24/7 care. We are lucky to have efficient, loving and patient caregivers. Although my eldest son has limitations because of his condition, I think he is one of the best things that happened to me because he taught me to believe more in the power of prayer and to just lift up to God all my challenges. I am not an intensely hands-on mom though because I need to work every day. But I do my best.”

Michelle says that even if she is a full-time entrepreneur, she insists on being the one to teach Juan to count, draw and memorize songs and poems. She also personally goes to all the PTA meetings in his school.

“I also am able to bring Xavi to all his doctors’ appointments. That is quite a lot because Xavi has around nine doctors for each of his needs and we go to each doctor at least twice a year. When Xavi gets hospitalized, I am also with him 24/7 in the hospital and I just work from there.  I never leave their side whenever they need me. I think for someone who works full time, I can say I am doing a pretty good job at balancing my life,” she says.

Michelle goes to work at 8 a.m. and leave the office between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. She makes it a point though to be home before 8 p.m. so that she can spend time with her children and play with them and put them to sleep at 8:30 p.m.

“I also bring Juan to school in the morning,” she adds. “My weekends are fully devoted to my family. I rarely go out, that’s why when I get the chance to go out, I post so many pictures on Instagram because it is a very rare instance.

“My husband and I also watch movies on weekends or weekdays after we put the kids to sleep. I really love my family and I will do anything for them,” she says.

Michelle sees Zen Zest becoming a global brand in the future. She looks forward to creating new products and coming out with even more attractive packaging. In the works are plans to open more provincial outlets next year and aggressively promote franchising opportunities.

Asked about what advice she would give to budding entrepreneurs, Michelle has this to say, “If they are passionate about something, I can assure them that they will excel in it. It is so easy to do your best on something when you are passionate about it. They should love what they do and do what they love. They should also be ready to put in a lot of hard work because things that are worth it, are things that they have to work hard for. They should never be discouraged even if they fail because every successful person has failed at one point in his life — including me. Also, they should always pray for help and guidance to God to put them on the right path and to help them every step of the way.”