Call center, marketing, content creation, modeling, acting, and more, EJ Nacion has lived it all in ways that have helped her be the diva that she is today.
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EJ Nacion isn’t 30 years old yet (she’s turning 29 this year, but her face card is giving 24 and below), yet she has been through enough chapters of her life to be the basis of a memoir. Getting her start in the corporate world after college, EJ lived the corporate girlie fantasy with jobs as a call center agent and marketing executive before eventually transitioning to content creation and modeling (a career move she credits designer Ushi Sato for after a chance encounter at the 2019 Opulence Ball).
If that wasn’t enough, EJ has also dabbled in acting and is lowkey making history with her next project as she stars in Saving Sarah, the first vertical series in the Philippines. She even plays the mean girl in the show, which is an interesting move considering EJ IRL is a role model and an advocate for LGBTQIA+ rights that actively raises awareness about HIV/AIDS prevention.
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Regardless of what EJ puts her mind to these days (and it’s a lot, which also includes a YouTube comeback later this year), she makes sure to do so while speaking and living her truth. It’s a state of mind EJ admits took years to develop, but as she’s grown older, she’s learned to do what’s best for her while staying grateful and humble. It’s no wonder how we’re only two months into 2025 and EJ has already bagged a nationwide campaign with BYS, which marks her first in-store beauty campaign.
The path EJ finds herself on is one that even mean girl energy can’t deny. No one’s stopping this queer baddie with a story to tell, some of which she recently shared with NYLON Manila. Read our full interview with the multi-hyphenate below as she opens up about her recent projects, life as a corporate girlie, and more.
First of all, congratulations on your new BYS campaign. Could you share more about the experience and how you got on the campaign?
Honestly, when my publicist told me about the campaign, I honestly was kind of like hesitant at first, but I immediately said yes. I was kind of like questioning myself if I am worthy of being part of a beauty campaign again knowing that I’m not really the beauty standard here in the Philippines, and we all know naman here in the Philippines, di ba, we’re mostly leaning towards Eurocentric features, but right now, I’m so happy that a lot of Filipinos are starting to appreciate our own beauty, and that’s why when this was brought up to me, I literally said yes.
This is your first in-store beauty campaign. So whenever you see yourself or the images you took in the store, how does it feel? Is it like a dream come true moment?
It honestly feels like a dream come true moment, not going to lie. Growing up, I used to get bullied. As a young queer kid who grew up in Paranaque, who always tries to find a way to prove himself or themselves, I find myself in a space where I always have to prove myself to everyone around me before growing up.
But then I told myself, I kind of just reminded myself na parang, you know what dedma talaga, I was able to practice the art of deadma along the way. When I was in high school I always thought, na, I have to prove myself 10 times more because I’m queer, and seeing myself in beauty campaigns, or seeing myself working with brands, it’s such a dream come true for me.
I’ve experienced so many hurdles in my life, challenges, and I never thought I’d be able to get to where I am now. I mean, obviously I still have a long way to go. I still have a lot of things to prove and work on, but, I mean, I’m glad that I’m on the right path.
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One of your newest projects is the series Saving Sarah. Could you tell us more about the show?
It’s actually the first vertical serye here in the Philippines. It originated in China, and they’re actually bringing it here in the Philippines. It’s in this new app called BeetzeePLAY. My character there is called Micah, mean girl siya, so I’m one of the bullies of Sarah (the main character), which is kind of weird, because when I was in high school, I always got bullied. But seeing myself now like doing it, I mean, it was kind of hard at first, going back to acting again.
You play a mean girl in the show, which you aren’t in real life. So how did you internalize the role and at the same time make sure people don’t perceive you like that in real life?
Honestly, at first it was very hard. It was very hard internalizing, especially my character. She’s actually like the head mean girl of the group, kind of like the Regina George of the group. And it was hard for me at first to internalize because, again, I haven’t gone through any workshops, parang practice lang talaga at home and when I first read the script, I was like, “Oh, this is so mean.”
I mean, I was really mean to Sarah kasi there’s going to be a part there where things will heat up. It kind of tested my morals not gonna lie. It’s something that was kinda hard for me to play at first, but then again, I kept on reminding myself that this is not you. This is just your character.
When I was internalizing my character, I also studied, I watched different films that have the mean girl type, obviously, Regina George. I also watched High School Musical, Sharpay Evans. I wanted to watch different mean girls just so that I know how I’m going to portray Micah as a character. So parang at first, okay naman siya pero may mga times where I kind of struggled. It’s something very far from my character. But at the same time, I’m glad that I was able to pull it off and parang inembrace ko and inner Regina George ko and other mean girl characters I took inspiration from.
They say it’s a good sign when actors get challenged by their roles. Would you say playing Micah was really a challenge?
It’s a test of how you’re going to portray your character. And siyempre, this is where my craft comes in. Like, as an artist, if people get mad at you and because of your character, that means that you’re doing a great job. Like you’re, you’re playing a good character. You really have to play that role.
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You’re only turning 29 this year, but you’ve already lived quite a life with experiences beyond being a creative such as working in corporate. How do you think that past life of yours has helped you become the person that you are today?
Well, it honestly helped and taught me how to have the grit and also the tenacity to work hard and to pursue what you really want to do in life. When I was in corporate, my first job was a call center agent, and then after that, I took a break for like two years to pursue content and also in the entertainment industry. And I went back to being a corporate girlie, which is how I was a marketing executive for an E-commerce company. So I handled beauty brands at that time, and also lifestyle brands such as Nike and many more. And it taught me a lot of things about life.
When I was working in corporate, I was juggling a lot of things. I wanted to do content creation. I was also doing acting when I had the spare time. Whatever happens in the reason, I’ll just follow wherever my life takes me. I know for a fact that this is not going to be forever. I’m not going to be forever young, you know, like at this point in life. I’m just going to take whatever is there, and I’m just going to grab every opportunity that comes at me or what life throws at me.
It taught me how to balance a lot of things at the same time. But most importantly, if you really want to achieve something, or if may gusto, may paraan. For me, I’m just so grateful for everything that I have experienced, especially with my former job. It taught me how to be humble. It taught me how to be grateful and things that I have now and also to pursue the things that I want to pursue in life.
Because again, just because I’m 29 or just because I’m at this age, doesn’t mean that I can’t pursue whatever you want to pursue in life. Everything happens for a reason. And you know, I guess life has its own ways of explaining or showing you that the reason why that didn’t happen is because you’re meant for bigger things, or you’re meant for the things that you’re meant to be for.
If your younger self, your teenage self, could see you, what do you think they would tell you?
Baka maiyak siya. Hindi ko talaga na expect na I would be here. Last year really taught me to just focus on my own lane and if ever my younger self would see it parang, he or she would be happy with where that person is now. I prayed for this for so long. I manifest this not just for me, but for my mom, for the people who believed in me, and I’m so grateful for the people who have helped me along the way. I’m not just doing this for myself. If ever my younger self could see this, they would be so proud of where I am now.
And I want to give that person a tap in the back and say, “I’m glad na you didn’t give up. I’m glad na you didn’t listen to those voices that were in your head. I’m glad na you didn’t have to dim your shine or you didn’t have to stop just because of the failures that you have faced along the way.” And it honestly made me stronger.
That’s what I always tell the young creatives now, especially the young models. I always tell them, na parang, just don’t give up on what you feel like you want to do just because people are criticizing you, or people find you weird, or if ever you don’t see any progress. You really have to be kind to yourself in order for the universe to reward you in the things that you want to have, or in the things that you’re going to have in the future. If you’re very kind to yourself, if you really give that love to yourself, all good things will come a long way. Everything will fall into places at the right time.
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It’s safe to say that you’re an open book, but in a way that is very open to sharing their experiences that a lot of young people can learn from. Gen Z can also relate to that feeling of not knowing what they want and going through twists and turns. But you’re showing that it is possible to find what’s meant for you. Do you have any last words you want to share with Gen Z?
I mean, honestly, that’s something that I really wanted to share, especially to Gen Zs. Growing up, I didn’t have someone who would help me out, or guide me on how to do certain things. I just took the leap. And I think that’s something that I really, really want to share to the youth now, especially to young queer kids.
Don’t pressure yourself. Enjoy. Really enjoy every single moment that they’re doing, especially if they’re doing it for the first time. Kasi, sometimes people or kids now, they sometimes beat themselves up. And I guess that’s also, I mean, I know it sounds bad and I don’t want to say it’s normal, but we’re humans, and we’re valid to feel that way because, again, we wanted to attain, or we want to achieve certain things in life, and we put a quota to ourselves sometimes. Hindi mo kailangan maging perfect all the time. One of the things I’ve learned along the way is that you are human.
Nobody’s perfect. It’s okay to make mistakes. Don’t beat yourself up and just keep going. I never thought I’d be able to live in my own place. I’m just so grateful for myself, I wanna give credit to myself because I never gave up. Don’t give up on your dreams just because you experienced a couple of hurdles along the way and that shouldn’t discourage you just because you haven’t seen progress yet.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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