Beauty entrepreneur Glenda Dela Cruz completes 6-day Harvard Business School program
Glenda Dela Cruz, CEO of Filipino-owned Brilliant Skin Essentials, expressed enthusiasm for putting what she learned from a six-day intensive program at Harvard Business School into practice.
Dela Cruz recently finished her Strategic Marketing for Driving Growth program, where she worked on 19 business cases with entrepreneurs and leaders from various countries, industries, and backgrounds.
“Hindi lang ako uuuwi na may certificate, umuwi ako with a deeper perspective on business, leadership, and growth. Finally, no more sleepless nights,” Dela Cruz wrote on Facebook.
“Tapos na ang cases, tapos na ang puyat. Time to rest, recharge, and get ready to bring home everything I’ve learned at Harvard Business School. Grateful to have learned alongside entrepreneurs and leaders from different countries, industries, and backgrounds,” she added.
Excited to apply what she has learned to the Filipino-owned company she founded, she continued, “Excited na ’ko para kay Brilliant Skin Essentials. Sa totoo lang, sa dami kong notes, excited na akong i-execute ang mga natutunan ko.”
She described finishing the program as a significant personal milestone, especially since she did not complete college and had long aspired to attend Harvard Business School.
“Harvard Business School, you’ve been a dream come true. And I hope, this will serve as an inspiration sa mga katulad ko na hindi nakatapos ng pag-aaral. Na may pag-asa at pwede pang matuto through this kind of program,” she stated.
The celebrity entrepreneur tackled real-world business cases throughout the program, including strategic marketing, customer behavior, growth, pricing, competition, leadership, decision-making, and artificial intelligence.
“What I loved most was that we weren’t just listening to lectures. We were given real business situations and asked to think, analyze, challenge assumptions, and make decisions,” she shared.
The experience also reinforced her belief in the value of continuous learning, especially as AI rapidly changes the way businesses operate.
“And with AI evolving so quickly, one thing became even clearer to me: business owners can’t afford to stop learning. AI is changing how we create, market, understand customers, make decisions, and scale businesses. But technology is only one part of the equation. How we think, how we lead, and how we use these tools will matter just as much,” she expressed.
Her company is known for promoting inclusivity by hiring people with disabilities (PWDs) to join its over 1,000-strong workforce. The Municipality of Morong in Rizal named it the Top Employer of the Year for 2025.
The company was also recognized as one of the municipality’s top business taxpayers, finishing third in Outstanding Business Taxpayers of the Year and fourth in Highest Real Property Taxpayers of the Year.