"I wanted women to feel that taking care of their health was something to look forward to — not something to dread.”
MORNINGS for Dr. Carol Joanna Violago-Olivarez — Dr. Jaycy for short — always start with her children and, more recently, with the sound of a newborn, as she recently gave birth to her third child.
“Weekdays are a rhythm of clinical work, operational decisions, team meetings and investor conversations,” Violago-Olivarez told The Manila Times. “Weekends are sacred family time as much as possible. I try to protect them. Though I will admit — the CEO brain does not always cooperate.”
She started Eluvo Health, a clinic that has been a vision more than a decade in the making, although the formal launch came in 2024.
“The dream of building a space dedicated to women’s health had been growing in me for years — long before it had a name,” Violago-Olivarez said.
Surprisingly, Eluvo Health started not in a hospital but in a high-end clinic at a mall. “I wanted women to feel that taking care of their health was something to look forward to — not something to dread,” she said. “Hospitals, as essential as they are, can feel intimidating and transactional. I wanted Eluvo to feel like a sanctuary — accessible, beautiful and welcoming. Placing it in a lifestyle destination was a deliberate choice. Health should fit seamlessly into a woman’s life, not feel like an interruption to it.”
Starting Eluvo Health came with many challenges.
“Building a brand from scratch, assembling the right team, navigating the operational and regulatory demands of running a health care business, all while continuing to practice clinically,” Violago-Olivarez said. “There were moments of doubt and exhaustion. But I came back to the why every single time. I also learned — perhaps later than I should have — that asking for help is not weakness. Surrounding yourself with the right people makes all the difference. Every obstacle became a lesson that shaped how we operate today.”
Eluvo Health at Parqal mall in Parañaque City is her first branch. “We are looking to open other branches very soon,” Violago-Olivarez said. “Something for the community to look forward to as well.”
Violago-Olivarez plans to expand the clinic, making it grow and remain profitable through the years. “My vision is to open more Eluvo Women’s Centers of Experience across the country — and eventually beyond,” she said. “I want to build a network of exceptional physicians who share this mission, deepen our ecosystem of care and grow Eluvo into a brand that is both financially sustainable and genuinely impactful. Growth and purpose are not mutually exclusive — in fact, for us, one fuels the other.”
Eluvo Health started small, as most meaningful things do.
“What we lacked in size, we made up for in clarity of vision and quality of care,” Violago-Olivarez said. “Today, Eluvo is growing — in team, in reach and in the number of women we are privileged to serve. My goal is for every Filipino woman, regardless of where she is in the country, to have access to the kind of care that Eluvo represents. Premium, compassionate and comprehensive — that standard should not be a privilege reserved for a few.”
Through the years, Violago-Olivarez dedicated time to relationship building and prioritized personalized customer engagement, aware they are important in running a business to ensure each interaction is meaningful and memorable.
“They are everything,” Violago-Olivarez said. “This is the art of medicine. And medicine, at its core, is a relationship. When a woman walks into Eluvo, she is trusting us with something deeply personal — her body, her fears, her hopes. That trust is not given lightly, and we do not take it lightly. Every interaction is an opportunity to make her feel seen, heard and cared for. That is not just good health care — it is good humanity. And honestly, it is what keeps our patients coming back and sending their mothers, sisters and friends.”
Eluvo Health makes the space more like a sanctuary than a clinic, where women are welcomed not just as patients, but as partners in their own care.
“From the very beginning, I worked with a thoughtful and visionary design team led by JJ Acuna to ensure that every element of the space — the light, the materials, the flow — felt intentional and calming. I wanted women to walk in and immediately feel that this place was made for them. Because it was. A woman who feels safe and comfortable is a woman who will open up about what she is really going through. That honesty is what allows us to give her the best care possible.”
Eluvo Health supports women through the moments that shape their lives — from reproductive health and family planning to pregnancy, postpartum recovery, and the transitions of perimenopause and menopause.
“These are not just medical milestones — they are the chapters of a woman’s life,” Violago-Olivarez said. “Each one deserves to be met with expertise, compassion and continuity of care. As a woman who has personally walked through the fertility and IVF (in vitro fertilization) journey, I know how isolating and overwhelming these moments can feel. Eluvo exists so that no woman has to navigate them alone. We are with her through every stage — not just treating the condition, but caring for the whole person.”
By combining in-clinic care with telehealth support, Eluvo Health makes it easier for women to get the guidance they need, when they need it. “It came from listening,” Violago-Olivarez said. “Women today are busy, stretched thin and often put themselves last. I wanted to remove every possible barrier between a woman and her health care provider. Telehealth was a natural extension of that — it means that whether she is at home with a newborn, traveling for work or simply cannot make it to the clinic, she still has access to the care and guidance she needs. The ‘talk-test-treat’ model was designed with her real life in mind, not just her appointment slot.”
Eluvo Health is poised to become a prominent Filipino brand on the global stage, and Violago-Olivarez wants to make that happen soon.
“By staying deeply rooted in what makes us distinctly Eluvo — clinical excellence, genuine compassion and a commitment to the Filipino woman,” Violago-Olivarez said. “I believe that the strongest global brands are those that are unapologetically local first. We are building something that reflects the strength, resilience and complexity of the women we serve. When that is done well, it resonates everywhere. My dream is for Eluvo to be the gold standard in women’s health care — not just in the Philippines, but across Southeast Asia and beyond.”
Being a business owner has its advantages and disadvantages for Violago-Olivarez.
“The hardest part is that the responsibility never fully switches off,” she said. “You carry the weight of your team, your patients, your investors and your vision — all at once. There are days that are genuinely exhausting. But the fulfillment is equally profound. There is nothing quite like building something from the ground up and watching it take on a life of its own. Every woman who leaves Eluvo feeling better — physically, emotionally or simply because she was truly heard — reminds me exactly why I do this.”
Violago-Olivarez studied psychology at De La Salle University as her pre-medicine foundation. “Looking back, it was the perfect preparation for the kind of doctor I was meant to become,” she said. “Understanding the human mind and behavior before the human body gave me a depth of empathy that I carry into every patient interaction to this day.”
She then attended the Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health, where she graduated as class president with a dual degree in medicine and an MBA. “That gave me both the clinical grounding and the business acumen to eventually build Eluvo,” Violago-Olivarez said.
After her residency training, she pursued further studies at Harvard Medical School, which sharpened her thinking on leadership, innovation and the future of health care. “I am a firm believer that learning never truly stops — and every chapter of my education has found its purpose in what I am building now.”
Eluvo Health is her first venture as a founder.
“This clinic was built from scratch, from vision, from personal experience as a patient and from a deep belief that women in the Philippines deserve better health care options,” Violago-Olivarez said. “I started on this journey as a practicing OB-GYN, which I think gives Eluvo a foundation that is different from businesses built purely for commercial purposes.”
She always wanted to become a doctor from as far back as she can remember.
“I used to play doctor as a child, fascinated by the idea that you could help someone simply by caring for them,” she said. “I was never truly sidetracked — if anything, every experience, every detour, every challenge brought me closer to the version of that dream I am living now. Eluvo is what happens when that childhood ambition grows up.”
Violago-Olivarez recently gave birth to her third child. “So traveling was not easy for the past few months,” she said. The last destination she visited was Paris. “I was about 20 weeks in my pregnancy then,” she said.
She admits that “balance” is something she works at every single day and does not always get right. “What I have learned is that it is less about equal time and more about full presence,” Violago-Olivarez said. “When I am with my children, I try to be truly with them. When I am working, I give it everything. I have also learned — the hard way — that asking for help is not a sign of weakness. Building the right support system, both at home and at work, has been one of the most important things I have done.”
Her children are her greatest joy. “And my greatest reset,” she said. “There is something about the chaos and the laughter of family life that puts everything else in perspective. I love exploring different activities for my children to do and learn. I enroll them in classes where parents are allowed to join. As a family, we spend quality time together by eating good meals together, exploring new places of adventure, and even just enjoying restful Sundays at home and just allowing ourselves to be fully present with one another.”
Her husband has been her steadiest anchor through everything. “Building a company while raising a family — including going through IVF and pregnancy — is not something you do alone,” Violago-Olivarez said. “His support has made Eluvo possible in ways that will never make it into a press release, but that I carry with me every day. My children, without even knowing it, are my greatest motivation. I built Eluvo Health for them.
“They say it takes a village to raise a child — and I believe it takes the same to build something meaningful. Eluvo would not be what it is without the community that has rallied around it — my parents, my family, my team, my mentors, my investors, my partners and every patient who has trusted us with her care. I am deeply, genuinely grateful for every single one of them. Their belief in this vision on the days I needed it most has been one of the greatest gifts of this journey.”
QUICK QUESTIONS
What is your biggest fear?
To lose a child.
What really makes you angry?
Disrespect
What motivates you to work hard?
Passion
What makes you laugh the most?
Funny memories of my younger self being carefree.
What would you do if you won the lotto?
Spend some, invest some and put the rest in a trust fund.
If you could share a meal with any individual, living or dead, who would they be?
Jesus
What was the last book you read?
“The Art of War” by Sun Tzu.
Which celebrity would you like to meet for a cup of coffee?
Irish actor Cillian Murphy.
What is the most daring thing you have ever done?
Build Eluvo.
What is the one thing you will never do again?
Put aside the importance of my own health.