CinemaBravo

In the competitive grooming industry, one man is proving that purpose and vision can cut through the noise.

“Sabi nga ni Anne Curtis, ‘I know the market because I AM the market,’” says Michael Baello Padayao, founder and owner of Pablings Barbershop, quoting the Kapamilya actress in the film ‘No Other Woman’. And true enough, with over 90 branches nationwide in just six years, Padayao has not only built a thriving business—he’s reshaping the industry, just as he once envisioned.

Back in 2019, Pablings opened its first branch. Padayao already had a clear goal: “Babaguhin ko yung barbering industry.” (I’m going to change the barbering industry.)

Fast forward to 2025, that dream is becoming a reality. Through sheer resilience, strategic franchising, and a people-first mindset, Pablings weathered even the toughest blows of the pandemic and came out stronger.

“December 2019, sobrang lakas namin agad. Pero sabi ko, honeymoon stage pa lang, huwag muna mag-franchise. Then February 2020, biglang pandemic,” he recollected during an intimate interview Monday, July 21 in an events place in Quezon City. (December 2019, we were already doing very well. But I said, it’s still the honeymoon stage, so let’s not franchise yet. Then come February 2020, the pandemic hit.)

“Ang ginawa namin ng wife ko, ‘hindi natin pwedeng isara ‘to, na isha-shutdown natin’. So what we did is sinagot lang namin yung kabuhayan ng mga barber namin, kasi sabi ko once na mag-open ulit ‘to, makaka-bounce back tayo. Kasi, we truly believe na quality yung ino-offer namin namin na services e!”

(I told my wife, ‘we can’t shut this down.’ We supported our barbers through it. And when we reopened, we bounced back because we believed in the quality of our service.)

The key? Padayao designed a plug-and-play business model tailored for first-time entrepreneurs—particularly OFWs and working-class Filipinos—offering everything from construction, employment, to location assistance.

“Naiintindihan ko yung pain point nila. Kaya sabi ko, ‘I-provide ko na lahat, para mas mataas yung probability na maging successful sila.’” (I understood their pain points. That’s why I said, ‘I’ll provide everything so the chances of them being successful are higher.’)

No competition

His background in e-commerce and Facebook marketing became a major advantage. Instead of competing on price, Pablings focused on brand power and quality—training their barbers to meet Pablings’ high standards before ever handling a client.

“We don’t consider others as competitors. Hindi ko naman kayang gupitan buong Pilipinas. May kanya-kanya tayong market. Marketing is one of our greatest strengths. Kahit gaano kaganda ang serbisyo mo, kung walang nakakaalam, wala rin. (I can’t cut all of the Philippines’ hair myself. Each one of us has our own market. Marketing is one of our greatest strengths. No matter how good your service is, if no one knows about it, it’s useless.) That’s why we invest in both marketing and skills training.

“From first branch until now, yung strategy namin na before kami magpasalang ng barbero, magpa-deploy para bago siya gumupit ng client, dapat well trained na siya. Pumasa na siya sa Pablings standard yung gupit niya.” (From the first branch until now, our strategy has been to make sure that before a barber is deployed to cut a client’s hair, they should already be well trained. Their haircut must pass the Pablings standard.)

“So right now we have our sets of educators na pinapadala pa namin abroad to train. So we are internationally exposed. In fact marami na kaming kaibigan na mga barbero sa ibang bansa. So nag-attend kami ng mga convention. I really invest in my people—yung skills nila, yung knowledge nila.”

(Right now we have our own educators, and we even send them abroad for training. So we are internationally exposed. In fact, we already have a lot of barber friends overseas. We attend conventions. I really invest in my people—their skills and their knowledge.)

A celebration of skill and unity

In celebration of its sixth anniversary, Pablings held its biggest event yet—Pablings’ Barber Battle 2025, where we held our interview. With the theme “Cutting the gap. Barbers unite,” the event wasn’t just a competition—it was a call for camaraderie and elevation in the barbering industry.

“This event aims to unite the whole industry, bridging the gap—not just the barbers but also the brands. No more egos, no more competition. We are all in this together,” he shared.

With no registration fee, the competition was open to all. Cash prizes and professional barber tools were given to the winners.

“Sinabi ko kanina sa kanila, sa mga judge namin: si Pablings has nothing to gain from this. Libre ito, walang registration. Pero premyo sa amin galing. Wala kaming sponsor—sponsors namin giveaways lang. Pero monetary prize, sa amin lahat ‘yan.”

(I told the judges earlier: Pablings has nothing to gain from this. It’s free, no registration fee. But the prizes come from us. We don’t have sponsors—our sponsors only gave giveaways. The cash prizes are fully from us.)

One of the special guests at the event was content creator and internet sensation Whamos Cruz, who took part as one of the models for the barber contestants. (Photo with Padayao in this article’s cover.)

Here is the complete list of winners:

PABLINGS DIVISION

Classic Cut Category

• Champion: Harold Lingo
• 1st Place: Joseph Garde
• 2nd Place: Jonnel Dalayap

Creative French Crop (Tag Team) Category

• Champion: Algen Mungcal & Wezy Alolor
• 1st Place: Welmie Calumba & Emmanuel Frayles
• 2nd Place: Jonnel Dalayap

Creative Mod Cut Category

• Champion: Jose Fano
• 1st Place: Jonnel Dalayap
• 2nd Place: Herson Quintero & Ken Bongat

NON-PABLINGS DIVISION

Classic Cut Category

• Champion: Romel Reyes
• 1st Place: Ronel Race
• 2nd Place: Dominic Gonzaga

Creative French Crop Category

• Champion: Johnny Belga
• 1st Place: John Winsan
• 2nd Place: Ric Niegel Insular

Creative Mod Cut Category

• Champion: Rolly Sto. Domingo
• 1st Place: Mhac Caadan
• 2nd Place: Jomar Cortes

Inspiration and future endeavors

The inspiration for the Pablings’ Barber Battle 2025 stemmed from Padayao’s international exposure at the Barber Expo in Malaysia in 2023.

“I fell in love with the unity I saw there—barbers from different countries in one place, helping each other. They weren’t competing; they were building each other up. Sabi ko, sana madala ko dito ‘yan.” (I said, I hope I can bring that here in the Philippines.)

That vision is slowly becoming a movement. The dream is for barbering to be seen not just as a job, but as a noble profession. One that young children can proudly name when asked what their father does: “Barbero po. Pablings Barbero.” (My father is a barber. A Pablings barber.)

“Hindi na ‘barbero lang po.’ (No longer ‘just a barber’.) So that is our really sincere intention—to uplift the industry.”

And the vision doesn’t stop there. Padayao hints at bigger plans: “Next year, we’re planning to 10x this event.”

From a humble barbershop born out of frustration over inconsistent haircuts, Pablings has grown into a nationwide brand and now, a unifying force in the Filipino grooming industry.