Candy Drilon-Dalman on The Importance of Health and Wellness and Making Things Grow
Candy Drilon-Dalman, a Functional Medicine practitioner and mother of two talks about juggling motherhood, her professional life, and survival in the pandemic
Motherhood is a balancing act especially when your profession is in the medical and health industry. Candy Drilon-Dalman knows this well being a functional medicine practitioner and co-owner of Centro Holistico, a medical wellness center. The mother of two recently talked to Modern Parenting wherein she got candid about life pre-pandemic, investing in different businesses, and spending more time with her kids.
Pre-Pandemic life
Before the pandemic, Candy said she and her husband Ryan who is also a medical practitioner and co-owner of Centro were always busy. Their schedule she said was working six days a week in the two clinics they have back then. The clinic now has three branches.
“We would leave the house at 9 am and be back around 7, 7:30 pm, sometimes 8 o’clock if the clinic was full. It was really hectic,” Candy said in a mix of English and Filipino.
Thus Sundays are very sacred to her family. ” We really cherish our time on Sundays together.”
Luckily Candy can bring her kids, a 5-year-old and 3-year-old to work when she can. Sometimes when she is in the Pasig clinic, she would leave her kids in a Kindermusic school where they get a chance to play.
Discovering personal strengths
Things however changed when the pandemic hit and she and Ryan had to adjust along with the children. Aside from adjusting their children to online classes, Candy said she and Ryan discovered more things about each other and would clash on business ideas.
“Sa amin kasi we work together. Even with other businesses we work together but even if we work together hindi kami everyday nagwowork na magkasama. Yon yung difference. This pandemic literally araw-araw magkasama kami,” she said.
(We work together. Even with other businesses, we work together but even if we work together we’re not together every day. That’s the difference. This pandemic, we were literally together.)
“May point na nag-caclash kaming dalawa and [we] begin to see that we have different ideas, different styles when it comes to managing businesses. But eventually, we realized that we had different strengths and we started giving each other the job that is good at.”
(There was a point the two of us would clash and begin to see that we have different ideas, different styles when it comes to managing businesses. But eventually, we realized that we had different strengths and we started giving each other the job that is good at.)
She cited an example wherein Ryan is in charge of their budget and finance while she saw that she was good in creatives and marketing. Those strengths would lead them to venture into another business – a salon in BGC.
Making things grow
In 2021, Candy and Ryan invested in Culture Salon. Candy shared that the venture into the salon business was actually Ryan’s idea when they found out some of the partners of the salon wanted to close it.
“My husband was the one who said ‘let’s sit down with Jim [Ryan Ros, the creative director and co-owner of Culture Salon] and tignan natin what we can do’. Pagtingin ng husband ko ng numbers sabi niya ‘oh bakit sila mag-oout eh, ang ganda naman ng numbers,” she said.
(My husband was the one who said let’s sit down with Jim and see what we can do. When my husband saw the numbers, he said why would they want out? The numbers are good)
After a back and forth discussion, they were finally able to buy out the previous partners and help Jim run the salon, which has been getting good feedback from clients, including beauty queens and several personalities.
In terms of their involvement, Candy said that she and Ryan are what she calls the “backend” which involves logistics, marketing, finance, and hiring people. Jim on the other hand is in charge of creatives.
“Is a service industry like our clinic so what we’ve learned through the years with the clinic, we apply it in the salon,” she said.
Like Centro, Candy wants to see Culture Salon grow. It also helps that the products of the salon are aligned with the nature of their business.
“[We’re] just putting a system in the salon. Our goal with this one is to really see it grow. Centro is my baby. I’ve seen it grow since 2014 and that is what I want for Culture as well. Aside from hiring and giving jobs, it’s just seeing it grow.”
Parenting style
Aside from Culture Salon, one silver lining Candy saw with the pandemic is the fact that she gets to spend more time with the kids. When asked how she and Ryan would discipline them, they immediately explain what’s wrong.
“Kami mag-asawa pinagusapan naming iyan like how do we discipline our kids? Pareho naming disciplinarian pero hindi naming pinagsasabay,” she said. “With us we point out right away [the mistake]. Lalo pag kasama kaming dalawa we point it out right away [at] hindi naming pinalalagpas yung situation. Because the memory of the kids medyo short term pa. Pagpinalagpas mo kasi uulitin nila. So ang style namin is pagkasama kami sabihan agad.“
(My husband and I talked about that and we’re like how do we discipline our kids? We’re actually both disciplinarians but we don’t do it together. With us, we point out right away. Especially when we’re together we point it and we don’t just shrug off the situation. Because the kids have short-term memories and they don’t know yet. If you let it pass, chances are they’ll repeat it. So our style really is when we’re with them and they did something wrong, we will immediately set them aside and talk to them it’s wrong)
While she is not the type to spank her children, Candy said that when her voice is already high, the kids already know something is wrong. She is just grateful that the two are sweet and haven’t really given her and Ryan a lot of headaches.
She also tries to educate their children in taking care of animals. So far, they have a pet fish, dogs, and a guinea pig. Aside from the travels she and Ryan do, she collects plants and paintings.
Health and business survival
As businesses slowly open, Candy said she is optimistic that people will slowly come back to the clinic. She is also happy that people are now taking their health seriously.
“It’s nice to know that people are becoming more aware of what they can do for their health, what are the other things that can help, and hopefully once there’s no more surge people will start coming in,” she said.
“I think our goal is still survival. If the pandemic didn’t happen we won’t be able to purchase Culture Salon but a twist of faith that this happened. If the pandemic didn’t happen we would have a fourth, fifth branch now [of Centro Holistico] but right now our goal is just to survive and to serve the people that want and needs our services.”
Aside from the clinic and salon, Candy said she is also excited about what has yet to come for the year in terms of the health and wellness industry.
“If everything goes we want to expand. We believe that the services we provide are not just good to have but are essential. Kahit sabihin pa na buhok lang, it does so much for a person’s well being and confidence. There is something about going to the salon that makes you beautiful, makes you handsome. It makes you confident and lessens your stress. We are really after overall wellness so hopefully, this year will be better,” she said.
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