JULIE Tatarczuk
Her husband Rob is an entrepreneur, daughter Chloe is six feet tall and works in a fragrance company in New York, youngest boy Piers is 15 and studies in a boarding school in the United Kingdom. She also has a Yorkshire terrier named Hugo.
That’s the family of Julie Tatarczuk, the new president and general manager of Avon Philippines who has a long track record in the beauty industry.
AN easy-to-get-along-with lady.
Since coming to Manila in September this year, she has already seen a lot, from the Zamboanga “war” to the Bohol-Cebu earthquakes and the destruction left behind by Supertyphoon Yolanda.
She says people always ask her if she’s OK, and she reassures them, saying that there has not been a day when she did not want to be here despite recent tragic events in the Philippines. And she and her company are doing their share in helping the affected communities get back on their feet.
Avon has already responded to the call of Education Secretary Armin Luistro to encourage teachers to wear lipstick when they go back to teaching in makeshift schools in Tacloban, which was devastated by Supertyphoon Yolanda (international name Haiyan).
Luistro pointed out that the children feel a semblance of normalcy when they go to school and see their teachers wearing lipstick.
Avon thus immediately put together kits containing lipstick, pressed powder, lotion (Skin so Soft) and a “Kiss Goodbye to Breast Cancer” shirt and gave these to 150 teachers.
Julie also says that Tacloban is home to 20,000 Avon ladies and they were all affected by Yolanda. The company responded to their needs by establishing a center for distribution of relief goods as well as provision of emotional support.
PIERS and Chloe
In a recent meeting with a small group of media represen tatives, Julie also talked about Benny, a male Avon agent whose daughter was one of the thousands hurt by Yolanda’s fury. Benny, together with his wife and daughter, rode one of the C-130 humanitarian flights to Villamor Air Base.
They did not have relatives in Metro Manila, but upon arriving they simply told the cab driver to bring them to Avon. The driver brought him and his family to an Avon office in Makati and the people there immediately took care of the family. They brought his daughter to the hospital and the family was brought to a hotel. The hotel has since hired his wife so that they can stay in Metro Manila.
Benny lost everything because of Yolanda but managed to save the Avon pin that he earned after 30 years of service. Such dedication did not go unrewarded.
“We take care of everybody we can take care of. The wife of Benny was offered a job in the hotel. This is a revalidation of why I am here,” Julie says.
The new Avon president began her career in the beauty business in 1985 in Boots, a health and beauty pharmacy and prescription shop in the United Kingdom.
She also spent years as managing director and vice president of Europe for John Frieda Hair Care Worlwide in the UK and Kao Corp., Japanese manufacturer of personal care cleaning products and specialty chemicals. She then worked in Brand Stew, an innovative brand company focused on creating, developing and launching brands to market.
Providing her constant support is husband Rob. Her father-in-law is from Ukraine and was just 15 when he fought a war in Europe. He was not allowed to go back to his home country and so he stayed in the UK where he got married and had kids.
How Julie met Rob is a story in itself (see sidebar).
Julie relates that she has been in the Philippines about 15 to 20 times before she was assigned here by Avon, but her husband was never with her. But this time, they are happily house-hunting in Makati, in preparation for a hopefully long and fruitful stint in their new home away from home.