Moms and Dads

Paul Reyes and Jam Aquino: On the Importance of a Holistic Approach

by Alexa Villano
September 2, 2022

Husband and wife and entrepreneurs Paul Reyes and Jam Aquino talk about raising their kids, helping would-be beauty queens, and building ideas.

Being a parent in these challenging times can be both joyful and challenging. Most especially for those who run their own businesses. Entrepreneurs Paul Reyes and Jam Aquino are just one of many couples who are fortunate enough to balance family time and work. They have various businesses including a food business, a management company, and selling skincare products.

In the past months, they have been in the spotlight for fielding several candidates in the country’s top pageants. Their candidate Gwen Fourniol won the Miss World Philippines. Meanwhile, two of their ladies in Binibining Pilipinas — Chelsea Fernandez and Roberta Tamondong — won 2 of the 4 crowns.

But their most important accomplishment is being parents to their two daughters Skye and Zara. This is something the couple will never exchange for the accomplishments they’ve gotten in the past years.

Paul Reyes and Jam Aquino on the health of their kids

Just like everyone, Paul and Jam also went through challenges in the midst of the pandemic. So they made sure that health was a top priority for their family. “As advocates of health and fitness, the pandemic was difficult but we treated it like [a] strong flu,” Paul said.

“As long as you’re holistically healthy, we never feared it. Of course, we did all the protocols and what the government was asking of us. But we never let the fear mess with our heads and make us anxious because that just builds upon itself.”

The couple was lucky enough to take their kids out of town and get to enjoy the open space. As things slowly normalized, Paul and Jam made sure it was normal for their two children. “It just became a norm to wear a mask,” Paul said.

As for their kids, they make sure they stay healthy as they resume their daily activities outside the house. “We just make sure that they’re healthy emotionally and physically. We’ve never feared for the health of our kids. I think maybe one of the adjustments was for a short while, the kids were shyer. Because they had no interaction. But the good thing is they have cousins.”

Paul Reyes and Jam Aquino with family — *Photo from Paul Izon Reyes*

Keeping their kids active and having a no gadget policy

Just like other parents, Paul and Jam make sure that their kids get to interact with other children. “They get to play with kids of their age, some younger, some older,” Paul shared.

“We’ve been bringing them to Kumon,” Jam mentioned, referring to the Singaporean method of Math. “We’ve been looking for classes that they can join in. The good thing about Skye and Zara is that sisters sila. They can play with each other, na enjoy na rin nila.”

But when it comes to using gadgets, the couple has a lot of rules for their daughters. “With us kasi, there’s no gadget, TV lang,” Jam revealed. “They have IPads but they’re not really allowed to use them unless we’re going to travel. We maintain a no gadget [policy].”

Paul added, “The problem with devices is that there’s this instantaneous results versus you watching, you’re kind of a passive [observer].”

But it’s not only other people and the activities that keep their children busy. They make sure to be their playmates as well. “Being entrepreneurs who hold our own time, we are at home often. So we would play games like board games,” Paul said.

Paul Reyes and Jam Aquino on getting creative

As entrepreneurs, Jam and Paul were tested as businesses closed down during the pandemic. But it also got them to be creative with the birth of Miss Fit Philippines under Promedia, the management company they run.

“As entrepreneurs, you’re trained to adapt. And you’re trained to be creative and think of ways to make money, to build something,” Paul shared. “Businessmen can buy and sell and like other brands, you can do trading. You can import whatever and sell. There are so many ways to make money as a businessman. But we’re entrepreneurs. And the difference between businessmen and entrepreneurs is that entrepreneurs create. We build things and then create value from what we built.”

Recalling the time he had to close some food cart business and halted a beauty product launch, Paul said he and Jam along with their partners had to rethink their ideas. “We kind of pivoted and made them the sponsors of our pageant. And even our pageants became virtual pageants in 2020.”

“So doon na conceptualize si Miss Fit,” Jam chimed in. “Because of the pandemic, we want to help other people.”

“Miss Fit Philippines was conceptualized at the age of the pandemic. Because it was where you had to stay fit. You had to make sure you were holistically fit — intellectually, emotionally, mentally, and physically fit,” Paul said.

The Miss Fit Philippines would become their testing ground for their other projects including the Miss Bikini Philippines which they have been doing since 2008. Miss Fit Philippines would also be a training ground for some of the candidates they have been supporting in their pageant careers.

Fielding candidates with a holistic approach

Aside from resuming running the existing businesses they have, Jam and Paul found themselves sending representatives to various national pageants. So far, they produced a Miss World Philippines winner, two Binibini queens, a Miss Elite runner-up, and a Century Tuna 1st runner-up winner.

“By accident. We ended up running beauty pageants. And when we were running beauty pageants, we were saying that they’re smaller compared to the level of bigger ones,” Paul said.

“We were seeing that it became a good way of screening talent. So they join the pageant and we’re like, she’s good. She just needs support,” Paul added.

Many of the ladies then asked if they could be trained under them. Combining their skills as entrepreneurs and their patriotism, they have since been helping not only in the physical aspect but also in other preparations — including seeking financial help and help from some of the country’s notable pageant camps to train their girls. They provide housing to the girls from the provinces as well.

Like their own daughters

As the second parents of the girls who compete in the national pageants, Jam and Paul have taken the responsibility to ensure their protection and safety.

“There’s a good connection to how we treat them as daughters,” Paul said. “Because there are bad people out there who can offer you money. And so one of the advocacies of Promedia is you have an option. There’s a company here who will fund you, so you don’t have to go the other way, the wrong way.”

“There are people who have the money and they’ll take advantage of you and you need it because you really have a dream. And these are young ladies,” he added.

As two of their ladies gear up for their respective competitions this October, the couple has already been meeting with their teams to ensure the preparations. “We’ve been doing a lot of planning. We’ve met with the girls. We are meeting with the teams that they want to work with,” Paul said.

“We also work closely with their camps. Because again, Promedia is not a camp. Many people think we’re going to be a camp or we are a camp. We work with all camps because we don’t train for pageants. We manage them,” he clarified.

Despite the rivalries and intrigues in the world of pageantry, Paul and Jam said it’s all about working together to send a good representative to the international stage.

“In the end, we want to represent the Philippines. So nothing good comes from internal competition. I always say that if it were a human body and there’s internal competition, that’s like cancer. Your body’s fighting with each other, it’s an immune disorder,” Paul said.

“If we’re holistic, then we want the best of everything. And working together means creating the Filipino queen that we want.”