Dr.

Victoria “Vicki” Belo shared her formula for success with participants of the 23rd Visayas Area
Business Conference in Mandaue City last week.

Belo, who was born in Cebu City and grew up in Manila, emphasized the importance of building a brand
so that one can compete and grow one’s business.

Belo said that when she was a young girl, she was often teased as being ugly and fat.

“I’m adopted. At the age of six, I already weighed 100 pounds, and children my age would often tease
me about it. They would say I was given away because I was ugly,” she said.

The ridicule, however, challenged her, and at a young age, she set a goal of making herself beautiful.
She finished a medical degree and trained in dermatology abroad.

“That’s the early foundation of the Belo brand,” she said.

In 1990, she opened her first clinic in a 40-square- meter space at the Medical Towers in Makati City.

She said she wanted a small space that could only accommodate a single patient at a time to make it
look full rather than have a large clinic right away that’s often empty.

Two years later, she rented the whole floor. She also made sure that she would be the first to introduce
new technologies for skin care in the Philippines.

Her efforts bore fruit as many clients went to her clinic for liposuction, facials, and cosmetic procedures
to enhance their physical assets .
Her name has become a brand in itself and become a popular expression.

“People now say ‘oi tumaba ka, magpa-Belo ka na’(Hey, you’re getting fat.) and words like ‘Belo-fied’
already means ‘beautiful.”

She said she didn’t get to where she is today by simply riding on trends. She said she made it a point to
make people know about her services and embrace her brand.

She recounted the steps that made her business grow.

First is brand awareness. We used and maximized the power of PR (press relations) and advertising.
That’s when we used ‘Thank You, Dr. Belo’ for our advertising campaigns. We also did a lot of digital
marketing which has been a very good platform for exposure,” she said

Belo said her company also used brand ambassadors to promote her clinic’s services and products.

“It was Belo who first introduced artistas (actors) to endorse our services, and we get those who really
embody our brand which speaks of reliability,” she said.

The third step is to develop brand loyalty among clients by ensuring they were satisfied of the service so
that they always come back.

Finally, it’s good to build an army of “brand evangelists” who embody the values that the company
stands for.
Dr. Victoria Belo is currently the President and Medical Director of Belo Medical Group. She obtained
her Bachelor of Science from the University of the Philippines, Diliman campus, and completed her
Degree of Medicine and Surgery at the University of Sto. Tomas. She later got her Diploma in
Dermatology from the Institute of Dermatology in Bangkok, Thailand. Dr. Belo furthers her studies in
Dermatologic and Laser Surgery in California, Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts, and at
St. Francis Memorial Hospital in the University of California at San Francisco. She has 3 children, Quark
Henares and Cristalle Henares from her former husband, Atom Henares; and Scarlet Snow Belo, with
partner Hayden Kho. In 1990, Dr. Belo opened her first clinic at the Medical Towers in Makati.
Pioneering Liposuction and Lasers in the country, Dr. Belo managed to expand her business by putting
up Belo Medical Group, now with 11 clinics in Metro Manila (including the newest clinic in S Maison
Conrad Manila Hotel), 1 in Cebu and 1 in Davao. In 2014, Dr. Belo launched one of the fruits of her hard
work, the Belo Building, in Greenhills, San Juan City. She has the charisma which stems from her deep
understanding of people’s aspiration to look and feel beautiful. She believes that beauty should not be
limited to a chosen few who were gifted with good genes. From the onset of the business and up to
today Dr. Belo has tirelessly conducted lectures to both small and large groups because she firmly
believed that if people are educated about their skin and body, and the benefits of dermatological and
cosmetic procedures, the more likely they will be interested to try them. She decided to use a more
casual approach in these talks and use simple words and analogies to explain each procedure. She was
able to bring “dermatology” out of the hospital and into casual conversations among friends. Her efforts
successfully changed the perception of cosmetic surgery and dermatology, to not only be acceptable to
a regular Filipino but aspirational.

It wasn’t easy for Victoria Belo, more commonly known in the Philippines as Dra. Vicki Belo, to begin her
journey of beauty. Before she became an acclaimed dermatologist and even before starting her empire
that is the Belo Medical Group, she had her own struggles to fight which paved the way to where she is
now.

In an interview by Cosmopolitan Philippines with Dra. Belo, the doctor said that she was a victim of
bullying in her childhood years. She was teased for being ugly and fat, which made her all the more
interested in the field of beauty. She dreamt of becoming someone who could make people feel
beautiful and loved, which led her to be in the medical profession, particularly in the field of
dermatology.

Earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from the University of the Philippines Diliman in
1978, she then enrolled at the University of Santo Tomas for her degree in Doctor of Medicine in 1985.
She also obtained a Diploma in Dermatology in Bangkok, Thailand in 1990.

Also read: Belo Medical Group: Pioneer of Beauty Breakthroughs

It was in 1990 when Dra. Belo founded her first clinic at the Medical Towers in Makati. As the first to
introduce liposuction and lasers in the Philippines, Dra. Belo’s Belo Medical Group was also the first
accredited “ambulatory cosmetic surgi-centre in the Philippines.” One clinic then multiplied to over ten
branches in Metro Manila, and one each for Cebu and Davao.

Apart from being the brains behind the success of the Belo Medical Group, Dra. Belo is active in being a
lecturer/speaker in several organizations related to cosmetic surgery not only in the Philippines, but also
abroad. To date, Belo is a member of the American Society of Dermatologic Surgery (ASDS),
International Society of Cosmetic Laser Surgeons (ISCLS), and more.

To know more about Dra. Vicki Belo and her group, see the details provided below.

Ask anyone from the Philippines what’s the famous go-to place for cosmetics and surgery and they’d
answer you with one word—Belo. Belo, or The Belo Medical Group is undoubtedly the most popular
clinic as it is the top choice for A-listers and celebrities in the Philippines. Founded by doctor-to-the-stars
Dra. Vicki Belo, the clinic has gone a long way to where they are now.

Dra. Vicki Belo, MD, President and Medical Director of Belo Medical Group
It was in 1990 when Dra. Belo founded the first clinic at the Medical Towers in Makati. Belo pioneered
liposuction and lasers in the country which they specialize. Fast forward to present, they now have 10
clinics in Metro Manila, 1 in Cebu, and 1 in Davao. For the past 26 years, Belo Medical Group was the
number 1 medical aesthetic ambulatory (non-emergency, outpatient) clinic which started most of the
advanced procedures such as liposuction, surgical and non-surgical beauty procedures, lasers and also
brought Picosure, Thermilift, and Nightlase laser machine to the country.

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August 08, 2016

Belo Medical Group: Pioneer of Beauty Breakthroughs

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Belo Clinic at the Ayala Center, Cebu

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Dra. Vicki Belo, MD, President and Medical Director of Belo Medical Group

It was in 1990 when Dra. Belo founded the first clinic at the Medical Towers in Makati. Belo pioneered
liposuction and lasers in the country which they specialize. Fast forward to present, they now have 10
clinics in Metro Manila, 1 in Cebu, and 1 in Davao. For the past 26 years, Belo Medical Group was the
number 1 medical aesthetic ambulatory (non-emergency, outpatient) clinic which started most of the
advanced procedures such as liposuction, surgical and non-surgical beauty procedures, lasers and also
brought Picosure, Thermilift, and Nightlase laser machine to the country.

Picture1

Filipino celebrities Alden Richards and Nadine Lustre undergoing non-surgical Belo procedures
The Belo Medical Group is also accredited by the National Accreditation Board of Hospitals and
Healthcare Providers in 2013 and re-accredited in 2016, which is also the first ambulatory clinic in the
country to be recognized with such.

The Belo Medical Group offers services such as in Cosmetic Surgery, Acne Management, Weight
Management and Non-surgical Slimming, Facials and Peels, Skin Rejuvenation and Anti-Aging, Hair
Removal, Botox and Fillers, Skin Lightening and Smoothening, Skin Pigmentation and Melasma, Skin
Lesion, Birthmark and Tattoo Removal, Stretchmarks, Cellulite, Scars and Keloids, Varicose Veins and
Vascular Lesions, and Eyebrow Enhancement.