There’s one dermatologist who is determined to empower marginalized women and that’s Dr. Angeli San Pedro-Garcia, the CEO of Derma Circles.

Dr. Angeli San Pedro-Garcia, the chief executive officer of Derma Circles, is one healthcare practitioner who has also included empowering women in her community to uplift their own lives in her own little way. 

According to San Pedro-Garcia, Derma Circles’ mission is to provide inexpensive aesthetic and dermatology services backed by scientifically based treatment procedures and therapies. The clinic also aims to employ marginalized women and giving them decent and respectable jobs so they can improve their lives.

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“I hired marginalized women from the very start. I witnessed the struggles of my mother as a single parent and it compelled me to help disadvantaged women, especially single mothers. I would personally train them for about a month not just on dermatological care but also on dealing with people and on cross selling our services,” she said.

“I would observe if they’ve acquired the necessary skills before I make them permanent employees. I’m very frank but I’m also careful not to offend people. If I have to let go of people, I explain to them that I have a standard to maintain,” she added.

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San Pedro-Garcia has a burning desire to offer inexpensive professional dermatological services to classes B, C and D to reduce the practice of people turning to pseudo-dermatologists. Her clinic’s unique selling proposition has always been effective dermatological treatment and care or skin improvement because of expertise and well-researched medicines.

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For her, clients are not hard to come by because they know Derma Circles provides excellent results, including healing from the damage caused by pseudo-dermatologists.

“My staff are well-trained and are aware that it is safe to dispense any of our skincare products or combinations of these,” she said.

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Her original plan 

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San Pedro-Garcia did not initially plan to be a dermatologist. The turning point came when a dermatologist friend of hers suggested that she specialize in dermatology so that she would not be pressured by her studies. This would also enable her to personally take care of her son.

Moreover, she started to develop an admiration for dermatologists because of their ability to boost the confidence of the people. On a personal level, her mother’s visit to the dermatological clinic to treat her severe acne gave her a closer view of how a dermatologist can make a difference in an individual’s life.

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The early stages

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San Pedro-Garcia started her entrepreneurial journey at the young age of nine doing menial work in their family business of gasoline refilling stations. She then ventured into buying and selling candies which were popular with her classmates.

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Later on San Pedro-Garcia helped in another family business, a 24-hour drugstore in Surigao City. She and her siblings were expected to man the store during the weekends and after school. Being the eldest of four children, she was tasked to purchase supplies and monitoring sales. This was the start of her vision of having a business of her own.

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After graduating from Far Eastern University-Nicanor Reyes Medical Foundation (FEU-NRMF) medical school in 1991, she later earned her specialization at the Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center. She became a board-certified dermatologist in 1996.

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In 1998, she joined the first Healthway multi-specialty clinic in SM North EDSA. She worked for six years for Healthway, initially as a general practitioner and later as a full-fledged dermatologist.

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Healthway opened San Pedro-Garcia’s eyes to the possibility of having her own clinic that offers reliable, convenient and affordable dermatological treatment and care to people beyond the usual affluent patients.

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The realization of a dream

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In 2004, she opened her own clinic in a building on J.C. Aquino Avenue in Butuan City. With two facialists and five beds, San Pedro-Garcia would provide dermatological services to people from all walks of life. From the onset, she would hire marginalized women.

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“I was confident to have my own clinic because I’m a board-certified dermatologist. Aside from that I know that I’m a people person. When I worked for Healthway, patients would prefer me over other dermatologists so I thought I was doing an effective job. I also built contacts with suppliers of medical equipment and supplies,” San Pedro-Garcia said.

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“All these plus the experience I had in managing our family drugstore contributed to a fast-learning experience in running my own business,” she added.

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“I established my first clinic with P1.5 million. I spent it mostly on purchasing medical equipment from reputable companies because I wanted only the best for my customers. Thankfully, the rent for my first clinic wasn’t expensive,” she pointed out.

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Now, she has Re-Enhance Dermatology and Cosmetic Surgery Clinic in Robinsons Place Butuan and Papa’s Building in San Francisco, Agusan del Norte; and Derma Circles in SM City Butuan. San Pedro’s Derma Circles has started seeking franchisees to expand its footprint.

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In the recently held Franchise Asia Philippines 2023, a one-stop exhibit for homegrown and international brands in the food, retail and service sectors held last month in SMX Mall of Asia, Derma Circles was the lone franchise from Butuan City.

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Scaling up

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San Pedro-Garcia’s goal has always been to professionalize the practice of dermatology. Her mission is to provide a safe way to provide skincare. “To promote my vision and spread my mission, I decided to franchise Derma Circles,” she pointed out.

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 To start the ball rolling, she consulted Francorp, a leading franchise consulting company, and encouraged her to pursue her lofty goal.

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“I had the right training and education: four years in medical school, passing the physician licensure board exam, another three years for specialization training on dermatology and its subspecialty cosmetic dermatology, and passing the diplomate board exam under the Philippine Dermatological Society. I keep abreast of trends by attending annual conferences on dermatology here and abroad,” she pointed out.

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The driving forces

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There are two things that motivate San Pedro-Garcia to grow Derma Circles: the ability to make people feel good about themselves as well as the ability to empower the disadvantaged by giving them employment and hope.

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“I plan to start with a franchisee or two, preferably in Mindanao, to focus on ensuring their business success. Once we’ve proven that our franchising model leads to profitable business, it will be easy to scale and expand to different parts of the country,” she said.

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Although profit is the growth driver of any business, Derma Circles is focused on its mission of making people look and feel good by providing quality and personalized services and customer experience with excellent results. San Pedro-Garcia said the staff or technicians are encouraged to cross-sell their products and services but never compromise the welfare of the client for the sake of sales. “We make sure that we apply integrity in the workplace for our clients to trust us,” she said.

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“It is my goal to democratize dermatological treatment and care so that people are not forced to resort to cheap services and products that entail high risks to their skin’s health. An equally important part of our mission is providing jobs to women who are not given many opportunities for a job,” she added.

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