Jhon-Jhon Ventura, CEO, Owner, and Head Instructor of The Jhon-Jhon Institute, has had quite the complicated path to success. Like most entrepreneurs, the final results that you see did not come without obstacles and hardship. The Jhon-Jhon Institute, a training institute and medspa specializing in permanent and paramedical cosmetics, is certainly no different, as Jhon-Jhon battles through life adversity.
Born to an unideal situation in Los Angeles, California, Jhon-Jhon spent the early years of his life living with his grandmother in the Philippines. Having moved in with her at roughly eight months old, his grandmother began calling him Jhon-Jhon as an infant. She then raised him until he moved back home to his mother in California at the age of four.
Enduring a challenging childhood, Jhon-Jhon went through a roller coaster of early life family struggles before moving to New Jersey. Upon graduating high school in New Jersey, Jhon-Jhon enrolled at a local community college.
It was there that he fell in love with his soon to be ex wife, who had been attending Rutgers University at the time. Coming from an elite and well off family, Jhon Jhon was ridiculed that his appearance, education and financial status would not be good enough for her, to which Jhon-Jhon defied the odds and worked his way towards enrolling at Rutgers University himself.
“When I met my now ex wife, I started changing my appearance and wearing ties and studying really hard. She helped me focus on education and made me want to do better. I wanted that big house on the hill, and so I applied for Rutgers after my first year of community college and I had gotten accepted. All of my family members were shocked that I had worked my way towards transferring to the University of Rutgers.”
To pay for school and rent, Jhon-Jhon found himself waitering and bartending. Working long hours around his grueling class schedules, Jhon-Jhon was able to pay the majority of his college tuition on his own with very little help from other resources. Graduating with two degrees, Jhon-Jhon found himself a great position as a medication rep, followed by a position vending medical tools.
Earning what would be considered a substantial paycheck, Jhon-Jhon had achieved financial success. This was it, this was the American Dream! However, though the field was very rewarding it was also incredibly inconsistent. As patents would expire, Jhon-Jhon would often go weeks and sometimes months without work, in which he would bartend between jobs.
“After about nine months of being unemployed the pressure started hitting. I wouldn’t even want to wake up in the morning because I was so tired fighting it. I was going through depression and I couldn’t find a job because nobody was hiring. The field was in a recession. It was one of the most depressing times of my life.”
To make ends meet, Jhon-Jhon took on a very low income position for a small company. Now making roughly a sixth of his former salary, Jhon-Jhon began working very long days cleaning bathrooms and taking out garbage.
“I would always ask myself why don’t I start my own business? I was just too scared to try.”
If things couldn’t be worse, it was around this time that Jhon-Jhon’s grandmother had been diagnosed with cancer.
“More depression. I couldn’t even take care of her because i didn’t have a job at the time. It hit me that things happen for a reason, so I started becoming spiritual and asking God for a sign. I want to open up my own business, but i don’t get it.”
It was then that Jhon-Jhon realized that the entrepreneurs he had been working for had somehow achieved their success from starting with nearly nothing. Many even came to the country as immigrants that spoke very little English. Inspired by their successes, Jhon-Jhon sought to learn as much as he could from them.
“I’d talk to the business owners and they’d tell me how they became successful. That opened up my eyes, if they can do it why can’t I do it?
While taking his grandmother to her chemotherapy radiation treatments, the hospital was hosting a charity event called “Make Up for a Day” in which they would provide makeup and cosmetic applications to patients. This was when inspiration collided with true passion.
“I thought to myself, why just for a day? Why not every day? I did my research and it was amazing what I found. People were getting permanent eyeliner, lips, brows and areolas tattooed. There weren’t many people around doing these types of services at the time, and I decided to open up a clinic for individuals to receive these services without them having to feel like they are going to another doctors office. I wanted them to feel pretty and beautiful while going through their chemotherapy and radiation treatments, and to walk through my facility and feel welcome, feel loved.”
Driven to make this dream a reality, Jhon-Jhon began learning the skills needed to embark on his new journey. He achieved the status of Certified Permanent Cosmetic Professional (CPCP) and became Trainer Member with The Society of Permanent Cosmetic Professionals (SPCP), and began working out out of a hospital. Though it worked for a short while, Jhon Jhon wanted to separate his services from the hospital so clients did not have to be around sick patients or the environment of a hospital, so he took the leap to open his own space.
“I just jumped right into it and did it, and it just grew. I said ‘wow this is working!’ I just started hustling and hiring little by little. I learned a lot about business and who you can trust and who you can’t trust, it was very difficult.”
Having trained under a sub par teacher, Jhon-Jhon saw this as an opportunity to help others achieve their dreams. Knowing that he could teach better than he was taught, Jhon-Jhon transformed his permanent cosmetics business into a school, where his now husband who is one of the institutes lead instructors.
The Jhon-Jhon Institute had evolved from a an establishment that not only provides the life changing procedures to his patients, but also provides life changing opportunities to his students, becoming one of the largest schools in the industry.
Through what seemed like an onslaught of obstacles, Jhon-Jhon persevered through it all. Divorce, depression and a humbling career change, one thing led to another until it all fell into place. You just never know life has in store for you, however one thing is most definitely certain.
With unmatched passion and service, the Jhon-Jhon Institute will not disappoint.
For more information on Jhon-Jhon and The Jhon-Jhon Institute, visit http://jhonjhon.com and follow Jhon-Jhon on social media at @jhonjhonventura and @thejhonjhoninstitute.