Genevieve and Geneve Yalung: Transforming Clutter Into Confidence

My Closet Manager’s mother-daughter duo, Genevieve and Geneve Yalung, share their insights on how to make a family business work

It’s no surprise that mothers are the biggest influence on their daughters’ growth. They often start with simple lessons at home—both modeled, clashed over, and possibly, sermoned. Yet, for the case of mompreneur Genevieve Yalung and her daughter, Geneve Yalung, those moments eventually built My Closet Manager into the popular fashion management and wardrobe solutions company many know it as.

While some of their decisions inevitably clash, Genevieve and Geneve see the benefits of each other’s perspectives.

“I always have with me a very structured, calculated take on things,” Genevieve admits. “Geneve has a perspective that freshens up every execution. It strengthens the way we approach things at work because we can get to enjoy the best of both worlds”—she then laughs—”that is, a youthful and just a more youthful way of doing things!”

Geneve, even with her knowledge of the currently trending needs and wants of today’s women, respects her mother’s wisdom as a seasoned corporate leader for the past 27 years. “The depth of her experience—especially in leadership, decision-making, and managing employees—is something I simply can’t replicate at this stage in my career, since I only had a few years of corporate experience before starting the business.”

When Family and Work Overlap

Their insights, however, are not something they unearthed one day under a buried pile of out-of-season clothes. They built on it through patience and crystal-clear boundaries.

Running a business together inevitably means navigating two relationships at once. For Genevive, it meant ensuring that the transition between the mom hat and the boss hat was seamless during their day-to-day activities. She admits to being a tough boss at work, which conflicted with Geneve’s image of her at first. It’s why establishing boundaries and understanding relationship dynamics are very crucial for Genevieve.

“When I started, I took my mom’s advice personally—which posed a great challenge to both of us—but over time, I learned to take it constructively,” admits Geneve.

Despite the challenges, what allowed them to navigate was trust, mutual respect, and a shared goal to grow My Closet Manager into a successful venture.

“We learned that mutual respect, just like in any other relationship, is the most important thing that we have to exercise for us to see things positively, even in the middle of a conflict,” explains Genevieve.

How They Prevent Family and Business From Mixing

Most of the time, many prefer not working with family members. The line between work and home becomes blurred. Issues at work become the homework nobody wants to do. It’s why Genevieve firmly believed in keeping My Closet Manager and her home life apart.

“My orientation has always been in the corporate setting, wherein a professional relationship is never mixed up with something that’s personal,” Genevieve intimates.

That was one of the reasons why she hesitated to let her daughter, Geneve, join the company. Although the younger Yalung was working in another company at the time, she developed a fondness for the business through her passion for fashion and branding. Eventually, Genevieve did welcome her—but with very clear boundaries.

Setting the Boundaries

Family businesses are often seen as a fast track to securing a stable career and an instant high-paying position. But Geneve had to earn her way like everyone else. It wasn’t a smooth road during the early months. Definitions of roles had to be constantly updated. Credibility had to be earned.

Genevieve’s conditions for Geneve upon her joining My Closet Manager were quite simple:

• She will be treated like everybody else in the office—definitely no special entitlements.
• She will not be the daughter of the owner but rather an employee who is equally bound by the deliverables we’ve set alongside everyone.
• She would not be allowed to state her relations (most of the time) so she can build her own credibility.

Despite the grind, Geneve saw it as a first-hand learning opportunity. “It felt like an extension of something I had always admired about her.”

And as a witness to the growth, Genevieve had nothing but praise for her daughter’s journey. “In the course of the process, it turned out to be a good thing, witnessing how she is growing as a professional and how she is learning the ropes of the business, the way I envision her to be. As a mom, it is very fulfilling to see her advance that way.”

Taking the Leap Together

But the challenges didn’t end there. Entrepreneurship had its own obstacles. Yet, for Genevieve, building My Closet Manager was the most challenging and most rewarding chapter of her career.

“Definitely entrepreneurship is an advocacy in itself because it entails not just the skills and know-how about the business, but also full heart and soul to start and consistently keep breathing life into it,” she explains. “But I was truly blessed that during our early phase, Geneve left her corporate job to be with me in that journey.”

For Geneve, her leap of faith involved leaving behind stability for the sake of passion and potential. Corporate life offered her the financial stability that every young professional craves. Originally, she would be helping out part-time by uploading products onto the website. But interest eventually nudged her to jump into entrepreneurship.

“It [to go full-time] felt right because we both believed in our advocacy and what My Closet Manager could become.”

More Than a Closet: Empowering Women Through Style and Collaboration

For many women, a closet becomes their timeline. Every piece carries a memory: a promotion, a first date, a reinvention after motherhood, or the quiet confidence that comes with finally knowing your style. But maintaining them all can sometimes leave a chaotic clutter at home—a problem Genevieve knows women would rather live without.

“My Closet Manager is founded on the principle of empowering women to be in control of their fashion investments,” shares Genevieve Yalung. “Do they want to liquidate a portion of their closet?  Do they want to repurpose and turn it into a source of passive income? Do they want to store it smart for future use? Or do they simply want to expand their wardrobe without ownership hassle?  There is definitely at least one service that applies to every woman.”

In a city like Manila, where style moves fast, Genevieve hopes to shift the culture toward something more thoughtful—and more sustainable. But for Geneve Yalung, My Closet Manager empowers women to rediscover their identity as they dig through the impulse buys, forgotten pieces, and maybe a few allegedly out-of-season clothes buried deep in the closet.

“Through wardrobe organization and styling, we help women see their closets—and themselves—in a new way,” she explains. “When we help someone find the perfect look for an occasion and you see how much they love the way they look, it really transforms how they carry themselves.”

As My Closet Manager continues to help women manage their wardrobes, Genevieve and Geneve hope that it leaves a greater legacy: a company created by a woman, run by women, and built to support women—giving them the confidence, community, and agency to express themselves on their own terms.

Lessons Learned As a Mother-Daughter Duo

Working together taught the mother-daughter duo that empowerment doesn’t always come from competition—it often grows through collaboration, mentorship, and trust across generations. Genevieve saw this firsthand as Geneve stepped into her role as marketing and business development manager, gaining confidence and finding her voice within the company.

“This journey has shown me how powerful collaboration among women can be,” Geneve reflects. “Women tend to bring creativity, intuition, and a lot of heart into the work they do.”

But that can be different for mothers. Because when they pass down a business, the values they embody are part of the package. For Genevieve Yalung, that meant teaching her daughter to pursue the best version of herself: excellence with humility and purpose.

“It doesn’t really matter if she is delivering the biggest role or the smallest task,” she says. “She just needs to always be ahead of her game and always giving her best shot in everything. Working well with people is always a non-negotiable value in an organization.”

But Genevieve is also clear about one thing: independence matters. Parents can open doors, she says—but their children must still walk through them. “At the end of the day, she has to build her credibility and grow her own wings.”

For Geneve Yalung, those lessons shaped how she approaches both leadership and life. “My mom has always advised me to pursue purpose and fulfillment above everything else,” she shares. “It taught me that it’s not enough to just complete the task. The output has to be thoughtful, intentional, and excellent.”

Of course, working across generations brings different perspectives. Geneve approaches business with the flexibility and experimentation typical of Gen Z, while her mother relies on structure and decades of corporate experience. But the gap can turn into an advantage.

“The key is really listening to one another and finding a way to combine both ideas,” Geneve says—balancing experience and structure with creativity and fresh thinking.

“Like Gold, Shinier When Exposed to Fire”

Besides transforming their advocacy into something more concrete, even their bond as mother and daughter has gotten stronger. My Closet Manager has become the “fire” that shined up Genevieve and Geneve’s relationship as mother and daughter.

Genevieve reflects, “Being in the company together is truly a test of love and a relationship that endures, I should say.  The good thing is that we have a very good communication line that we can talk about almost everything–we discuss arguments in a healthy way, and we always uplift each other when matters are turning out of control.”

Geneve adds, “Building My Closet Manager together has definitely deepened our relationship. Through the process, I’ve come to admire my mom even more, especially in the way she sees details that I might overlook and her ability to think ahead when it comes to planning our next moves for the business.”

Though the days are long, filled with hours of planning, problem-solving, and dreaming bigger for the company, they discovered that they could rely on each other—not just as business partners, but as mother and daughter building something meaningful side by side.

So, for those who want to bring their kids into the family business, always remember to have clear-cut expectations and communicate.

More mother-daughter duo companies?

Stella and Carol Soriano: A Pair of Pearls
Rhiza Pascua and Bey: Perfectly In Sync
5 IG Food Shops Run by Mother-Daughter Duos