This January, it’s all about welcoming everything new with a bang. Preen is looking at the changing tides and how they sweep over us to reveal better stories and bigger adventures.

Before the commercials, TV shows, movies, magazine covers, and even concerts, life was pretty simple for our country’s biggest celebrities. They were just like you and I, working towards a quiet career path completely divergent from showbiz. Though some worked their way up slowly from the bottom of the entertainment industry, there was still a chance they would remain behind the scenes if not for that one experience that got them to where they are now.

We take a look at the back stories of five celebrities and how they turned their fates upside-down with their accidental discoveries and breakout projects.

Maine Mendoza

It’s hard to believe that one-half of the hottest on-screen love team today didn’t really have plans to be in showbiz to begin with.

Maine is a graduate of Hotel, Restaurant and Institution Management from DLSU- College of Saint Benilde. She then took up an internship at The Sagamore Hotel in New York and seemed set on pursuing the opportunities her course offered her.

In the meantime, she discovered Dubsmash as a way to pass the time. Her impersonations went viral in early 2015 and she was eventually offered the role of YayaDub on Eat Bulaga opposite Alden Richards, where they eventually formed the phenomenal AlDub tandem. Now, she’s the face of major advertising campaigns for Coca-Cola and McDonald’s and still making driving everyone crazy together with Alden. Together, they are also set to star in their own concert this year and have broken records with their debut movie, My Bebe Love.

Piolo Pascual

If Piolo didn’t believe that showbiz was really in the cards for him, you might have met him on a trip to the hospital.

From 1996 onwards, Piolo was in Los Angeles with his family where he eventually worked as an ER representative. However, his early experiences as a teenager in showbiz via That’s Entertainment never left him. At 21 years old, Piolo found himself on a plane back to Manila to pursue an acting career.

From being a guest star in Gimik and Mara Clara, he was soon paired up with Judy Ann Santos and starting pulling his own weight in the industry. From The Hunks to a thriving career as a drama actor, Piolo is a mainstay name in Philippine entertainment.

Solenn Heussaff 

If our guide on how to be Solenn taught you anything, it’s that success comes to those who always want to improve on themselves.

After finishing her fashion studies at Studio Berçot, Paris, Solenn wanted to widen her skill set by taking up makeup classes. She even went as far as studying at the Make Up Forever Academy in Paris to get a minor in prosthetics and body painting. In 2009, she did the makeup for model (and future Besties co-author) Georgina Wilson on a cover shoot for Rogue. Between taking small commercial modeling stints, she took the plunge into the mainstream with Survivor: Celebrity Showdown and became a face worthy of the spotlight.

A few shows, hostings, and a gazillion commercials later, Solenn is now a book author and major #fitspo icon. Recently, she got married to her longtime boyfriend Nico Bolzicco.

Iza Calzado

Once upon a time, there might have been a chance we would have never known Iza’s face. Her first formal foray into entertainment was a dubber for the Mexicanovela Mis 3 Hermanas, that was renamed All My Love for Filipino audiences in 2012. Her only experience prior to that was a guest starring role in Click in 2001 and That’s Entertainment in 1992.

In 2005, Iza scored her first big role as the leading lady in the soap opera Te Amo, Maging Sino Ka Man. Soon after, she landed the role of Amihan in another primetime show called Encantadia. From then on, she delved into hosting through The Sweet Life with Lucy Torres and variety shows like Party Pilipinas! and even jumped from one major network to another, proving that’s she’s still in-demand at 33 years old.

Matteo Guidicelli

Prior to 2007, Matteo would have probably just been forever known as that wonder kid of race car driving. A passion he’s had since 11, he would soon however trade in the wheels for reels when he took up a few acting workshops in New Yorkwhere and earned a degree in performing arts at Columbia College in Chicago.

In 2010, he landed serious acting jobs by acting along side Andi Eigenmann in the fantasy series Agua Bendita, which led to a stint on Maalala Mo Kaya. Six years after his big break, he’s starred in five movies including Somebody to Love where he worked with Carla Abellana and Isabelle Daza, and Shake, Rattle, and Roll XV where he worked with Heneral Luna director Jerrold Tarog.

Art by Dorothy Guya