Pia Trinidad is the co-founder and COO of BeautyBuddy. They're a SaaS platform and social marketplace that's here to help salons digitize, get discovered and grow.

👋🏼 How would you explain your job to someone outside tech?

I remove all the back and forth you have with salons whenever you make your appointments and reduce the chances of you getting a bad haircut by making it easier to discover beauty/grooming services!

🧐 What's something about you or your job that would surprise us?

‍To really understand our customers, my co-founder and I have spent days working right beside salon receptionists, even managing bookings and customers ourselves.

Long days usually end with trying out the salon services to go through the whole customer experience — so those long days are not bad at all! 😉

🏆 What has been the biggest highlight of your career so far?

Partnering with some of the biggest salon chains in the Philippines, some of which have over 200 branches nationwide! It was amazing to hear that businesses at that scale are still using pen and paper, and getting their agreement to work with us just showed that the industry is ready and hungry for our solution.

🔍 What's a startup trend or space you're watching this year?‍

Vertical solutions getting big in SEA. Always exciting to see tools that address very specialized problems.

💼 What advice would you give someone starting out in your industry?

In building a beauty tech startup, we've found it crucial to build really close relationships with all the business owners we work with and follow them throughout their entire business process. Their insights are what drive us.

🗣 What's one thing you can keep talking about for hours?

Beauty. I go to the salon/aesthetic center weekly and can share thoughts about every possible service and where to get them done. If you're the same, join us at BeautyBuddy.

🎥 What's your favorite movie/TV show?

Succession!

🍨 What's your go-to ice cream flavor?‍

Coffee