Though we often celebrate the moms of our community, we sometimes forget that behind all these amazing mothers are equally amazing mothers. Moms of Moms is a series that is Mommy Mundo’s tribute to these wonderwomen who are moms, grandmothers, and changemakers.
Above: Linda Zamora Francisco, founder and owner of Piandre.
In 1987 Rosalinda Zamora Francisco, “Linda,” started Piandre, six years after her first salon: a village salon called Eve’s Salon. “Eve’s was the goose that laid the golden funds for me to branch into a high-end salon just like those in Peninsula and Mandarin hotels in Makati. Piandre bore the names of my daughters Pi for Peachy, AN for Aina, and DRE for Andrea.”
Through the decades and through the trials of the multiple quarantine lockdowns, Linda believes that what has sustained Piandre is love. “The staff are assured our love,” she said. This feeling, she believes, becomes translated into the service her staff provide the clients. It was this love, alongside faith and a strong sense of family that has kept them together in 2020 and 2021.
As Linda tells it, “Immediately after the announcement of the lockdown in March 2020, my children and I met and agreed to have an information center to disseminate the certified safety guidelines from the authorized arm of the government. Communicating the right information to the family and to our employees became our focus and goal in the din of chaos and confusing news. Within a day we set up a Piandreflix FB daily live session with the staff, with all my four kids pitching in to inform, instruct, and inspire the staff in the battle to survive the virus. From March 17 onwards I had a daily show until June 15, with my kids pitching in their share in other time slots.
“Andrea had her ears close to the ground with the government agencies like IATF, DOH, DOLE, all the letters in the alphabet that spelled safety and survival. My task was to orchestrate each day the staff’s emotions and spirit to crescendo in gratitude to the Lord despite the fear and the forecast of suffering and loss. There was no more talk of business or sales because it had disappeared. We had each other’s stories to chew on and miracles to feast on.”
Linda further describes the time as one in which she played the role of mother to her own children as well as many others, something she notes as a privilege unlike any other she can describe or duplicate.
Above: Linda and her team at the latest Piandre branch in Ayala North Exchange.
Parenting Style
As a mother, Linda attributes her style to that of her own mother, although a tempered down version. She never spoiled her children: only buying them clothes from Divisoria, only buying them toys at Christmas and their birthdays, only taking them to Max’s and Aristocrat (no other places, and definitely no fancy places), and always reminding them of how lucky they were to have what they have.
“They say it takes little time to adjust to luxury, but a lifetime to adjust to the opposite,” Linda shared. She wants her children to have a significant and meaningful life, and so they were raised without the distractions that luxuries often bring.
Above: In a family trip to Japan in December 2019.
Her Life’s Mission
Undoubtedly an interesting perspective on mothering when her own business caters to giving women little luxuries, but for Linda, whose favourite services are the hairdye, hair treatments, foot spas, and manicure pedicures (she really, actually likes them all), Piandre is not just a salon, but a part of her life’s mission for Christ. What might be most unique about their brand is the attention they give to their staff’s spirituality.
From annual retreats (started in 1990) to the daily 3 o’clock prayer, from mass weddings to recollections and monthly rosary brigades, Linda believes that by paying attention to their spirituality and honouring her love for God in her everyday work has been most fruitful for her and her family, and for this she is forever grateful.
Today, Piandre has 14 branches, numerous employees and a reputation built over thirty years of hard work and dedication. All in a life’s work for this phenomenal mom.
Below: A complete family photo in December of 2020.
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