By Michael Siervo
The road was bad as the frozen Calgary temperature essentially put the busy rush hour traffic to a standstill. I was already running a few minutes late as I felt compelled to pick up a fancy new dress shirt for this much anticipated meeting. What does one wear when you get a dinner invite to the home of one of the most stylish business women in Calgary? The excitement was counting down as I fought through the parkade of cars we call Deerfoot Trail. Thankfully my wife, who agreed to be my date this evening kept me calm as my frustration was at its tipping point. My GPS said I would be 15 minutes late but every passing minute felt like wasted time I could be learning from this lady. “No worries take it easy… we have all the time. See you soon” was her text message to my wife when we told her we were running late. What a patient and nice lady I thought to myself.
GPS says 3 minutes away as we make our way into a secluded neighbourhood outside of the city. I probably added 2 more minutes of tardiness as I couldn’t help but drive slowly while observing the beautiful mansions settled on estate lots. I thought to myself “What kind of important people live in these homes? CEO’s, Politicians, Influencers?”. The female voice on my GPS says “You will reach your destination in 200 metres. Your destination is on your right.” We would soon find out as we see address number 60.
We pull up and park the Tesla beside two luxury German cars. The doors open and there stands this slender elegant lady, dressed in a classic black outfit. Her warm smile and welcoming eyes made her even more stunning as I lean in and give her a hug. My wife hands her a bouquet of red roses as I say “This is my lovely wife Vivienne. Vivienne, this is Judith Barran.”
For Filipinos in Canada or in the Philippines, the name Judy Barran means several things. I had some preconceived notions from previous encounters prior to this evening’s dinner engagement. To me she was a successful entrepreneur, founder and owner of Essence of Cleopatra, a style icon, a woman of influence and rare gem in this community. However as we walked through her home, I knew we would get to know more behind her mystique.
Looking around her home you get this sense of elegance, classic style with just the right touch of modernism. Beautiful chandeliers hang from her 20 foot high vaulted ceilings as they guide your eyes up and down the dining room. The house is decorated with quality imported furniture that only those with impeccable taste and confidence would choose. Judy offers us a drink and her equally welcoming husband Lloyd cracks open a bottle of Ripasso Zenato. This evening is off to a great start as we wait for one more guest to arrive.
Walking through her nearly 4000 square foot home you can’t help but think that every inch of this place is utilized to the best of its ability. From the walk out basement that overlooks the lake, to her closet that is deserving of a character from “Sex and the City”, everything is immaculate. My wife is in heaven as Judy’s closet is one that every fashionista would die for. Brands like Chanel, Gucci, Burberry, Louis Vuitton and Manolo Blahnik, lined the closet and are organized in the most meticulous manner. Downstairs she shows us the most elegant couture dresses from some of the most sought after Filipino designers in the world. Not only does high fashion fit her but she pays homage to her Filipino heritage with her display of the Filipiniana Terno and the modern version called the Traje de Mestiza.
We walk upstairs as Jazz music fills the house and Lloyd pours us another glass of wine. Judy tells us that prior to moving from Davao Philippines to Calgary, she used her interior decorating background to decorate some of the most prestigious homes in the Philippines. This explains a lot as Lloyd explains how they constantly receive compliments on their home even from Interior Designers of the Builders themselves. This is well justified as Judy’s talents are on display in her beautiful home. While in the Philippines, Judy explains how her interior decorating background eventually led into the fashion and beauty industry. The Philippines was on the cusp of blowing up in terms of the demand for beauty products. Judy was at the forefront of this explosion and the name Judith Barran was on the lips of the who’s who in the Philippines.
The doorbell rings and another up and coming community leader enters the room. It’s model and social media influencer Dee Reyes. As I continue to probe and ask questions, we learn that Judy has rubbed shoulders with dignitaries as they stay at her home while visiting Calgary. She has even dealt with a very successful Filipino boxer turned politician and his wife. You know who I’m talking about. The one that throws punches, passes legislation and is a national hero. She mentions that despite their success, that couple remained humble. This doesn’t shock me as these qualities remind me of Judy and her husband. Throughout the evening, names like Dermatologist to the stars and TV personality Vicky Belo, or big name fashion designers such as Khens Ladaga, Jun Escario and Arcy Gayatin pop up in conversation. At one time we learn that the current president of the Philippines was the sponsor at her wedding! I am slowly feeling inadequate for a moment as I ask myself, why am I here? It’s obvious now that she is someone of substance and significance. However despite her deep rolodex of contacts she never once made us feel any less of ourselves. In fact numerous times, she referred to herself as a “NOBODY” that is committed and sincere to people she cares about. I beg to differ as in my eyes, she is someone meant for great things. It’s easy to feel intimidated by anyone who has achieved so much as she has, yet I got a sense that humility and being grounded is at the core of her being. I can’t say that she is a simple lady. However her humility makes her simply endearing. Perhaps this is because the journey of how she got to where she is, is riddled with life lessons, failures, adversity and of course well deserved success.
At 57 years old, her age doesn’t match her energy and passion. I tell her that she has more drive and ambition than most people half her age. Graduating from Immaculate Conception College, she excelled and worked hard at this private all girl school to build up her beauty brand. It seems like this ageless lady embodies the timelessness that her beauty products provide. I am of the belief that she has somehow magically bottled up her “hustle” into a Youth Serum. As we stand around her kitchen I notice a display of the “Essence of Cleopatra” product line. What was once an 80 product offering, she has hand selected 40 that are worthy of hitting the market. It’s no surprise that the “Youth Serum” is among her top sellers. As I ask her why she got into aromatherapy and beauty products, she tells us that her passion for helping others led her to become a student of her industry. In doing, so it gave her the expertise to offer some of the top essential oil products in North America. In 1999, Judy and her husband, a practicing pharmacist for over 3 decades followed their passion and became certified in Aromatherapy. Lloyd’s technical and chemist background matched perfectly with Judy’s ability to open relationships. Together this perfect pair, created the highly successful “Essence of Cleopatra” brand seen in countless pharmacies across the country today. Rather than spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on marketing, Judy packed up her car and knocked on the doors of any business she felt could sell her product line. She admits that she isn’t tech savvy so she did it the old-fashioned way. Her belief was to create a meaningful relationship with one business owner at a time rather than mass market. As years passed, she dominated northern Alberta and opened relationships spanning 3 provinces, with 7 distributors in close to 400 pharmacies. I grab my glass of vino and move into the living room as I carefully sit on a beautiful pink and white chair. Spilling red wine on this chair would ruin my night instantly as this chair must have cost a fortune. You would think that all this material wealth would get to her head. The opposite is the case as she is consistently talking about helping others, providing opportunities for people to make a good living and having products that help make people feel confident.
By this time the rest of the group has joined me as the conversation fills the living room. We laugh and hear stories of the early days prior to having these luxuries. Judy gets up and serves us some tea and dessert before sitting down across from her husband on this long beautiful couch. They look at each other as if there is something more to say. Dee, Vivienne, and I hang patiently on every word.
As a business person myself, I know that people tend to see the success but don’t see the hours of struggle behind the scenes. Lloyd and Judy know this all too well as they bring us back to humble beginnings. The couple met in 1992 in a very untraditional manner. Their love blossomed over writing letters to each other from abroad. Keep in mind that the advent of the internet wasn’t around so you could image how patience and distance made the heart grow fonder. Lloyd proposed over the phone and pursued her to the Philippines. They laugh as Judy tells us that she didn’t invite many people to her wedding as she didn’t know if Lloyd would show up. As we know Lloyd did show up and over 25 years later he hasn’t left her side. Six months after their marriage, they moved to Canada. Lloyd continued to practice pharmacy while creating combinations of essential oils and other beauty products. Even today, these products provide all natural solutions for muscle and joint pain, scar reduction, sleep improvement and skin brightening to name a few benefits. The demand continues to be high as even Miss Universe Riza Santos became one of her top supporters. In 2008, the opportunities in the Philippines were calling. She spent several years in distributions for a very high end make up company and continued to hone her skills and broaden her network. Life was really good as Judy was in every sought after social circle in the Philippines. At these social functions, she quickly learned that people would ask her what she was wearing. Fashion soon became an integral part of her life as her brand became not only a beauty expert but a full blown fashionista. This would translate into hosting high end fashion shows that became the talk of the town in Calgary. Success was plentiful as they deservedly reaped the fruits of all their hard work. But in 2013, the fairytale ended as Lloyd tells us that they lost millions. This wasn’t due to poor business decisions but because his health began to fail him. Faced with adversity and a dwindling bank account they decided to move back to Canada to help Lloyd recover. Contrary to what many people said, the Barran’s were not bankrupt but Lloyd says that it wasn’t far off.
Judy leans back on the coach, tucks her legs underneath her on and looks up for a moment. It seemed like such a picturesque moment directly out of a 1940’s romance movie as she pauses ever so perfectly before she gathers her thoughts. She proceeds with the story while we eagerly wait. Having experienced success and wealth, it was humbling for them to come back to Canada with essentially nothing. Some of her friends who once surrounded her at high end social functions were nowhere to be found. From once living in the lap of luxury, she tells us that a humbling wakeup call is when they ended up renting whatever they could afford at the time. As they sat in a home with no furniture, they contemplate the next move while eating KFC with plastic utensils on paper plates. She thought about working in retail selling make up at the mall however she knew she was more than that. Under the ever encouraging words of her supportive husband, he says “You are bright, hardworking and have so much more to give.” Now in her early 50’s and with an ailing husband she had to make a life changing decision. She would pick herself up and start all over. While ignoring the pain she felt when hearing others claim that she was bankrupt, she packed up her car and did what she does best. She didn’t close deals, she opened relationships.
With her back against the wall and faced with unfavorable odds, Judy slowly built up her essential oil business. Essence of Cleopatra became a household name. Lloyd chimes in and says “I don’t know how she does it. I can talk for a long time. All Judy does is walk and show her product. With zero pushiness she walks out 15 minutes later will thousands of dollars in orders!” Judy smiles in an almost bashful manner but her confidence and honesty is unmistaken. Despite wealth and success, she tells us that she is a simple person who enjoys the simple things. She has experienced the fame and limelight but at this stage in her life she rather enjoys genuine bonds of friendship in her home. I do my best to absorb everything I can as I feel like we have been embraced by someone special. She has looked failure in the face, has been the subject of sabotage and betrayal, had father time against her and endured several personal issues and survived. I stared carefully throughout the evening as she opened up her world to us. There were moments of pride, sadness, vulnerability and triumph. All of which I can see a tear forming in her eye before it refuses to fall. She is herself with us. The same woman I met hours ago who opened the door with a warm smile and welcoming eyes.
As the evening winds down, I ask her a simple question “If you could meet your 20 year old self, what advice would you give her.” She pauses for a moment. Judy with her words of wisdom leave us with these lessons. Just go out there and do it. Do what it takes regardless of what people are saying about you. Have faith in God as he is looking out for you. Regardless of everything stay humble and grounded.
After hugs and kind pleasantries, we all get in our cars. I look up as I wait for the car to warm up and see her peak her head out the door to make sure we are okay. As we drive away, I look back and see a silhouette of Lloyd and Judith in the window. We can’t help but think, Lloyd was right. She is bright. She is hardworking. And she still has so much to give.
Photo Credit: Armand Flores of Profolio Photography
Leave a Reply