Built From Both Sides of the Table

Jesuena didn't study the freelance industry from the outside. She built a career inside it.

In 2022, she launched on Upwork as a solo freelancer — and within months, demand outgrew what one person could deliver. She needed to build a team. That meant hiring other Filipino freelancers.

That's when she hit the wall that would eventually become JobTayo.

Jesuena is Filipino by blood and heart — fluent in Bisaya and Tagalog, two distinct languages that reflect just how diverse Filipino culture is within its own borders. But she built her entire professional career in Europe, embedded in German and international work culture, fluent in German and English.

Four languages aren't a party trick. They're four entry points into how different people think, communicate, and build trust.

She knows what international clients are actually looking for when they hire — the standards they hold, often unspoken. And she knows the Filipino freelancer: the talent, the adaptability, the drive. She is that freelancer. She just also speaks the language of the clients on the other side of the screen — professionally, culturally, and literally.

Most people building platforms for Filipino talent understand one side. Jesuena has lived both.