Keeping Up With Model Student-Athlete Kendra Kramer

Kids really do grow up in the blink of an eye. From the cute and charming little girl the public saw trailing along her celebrity parents Doug Kramer and Chesca Garcia-Kramer, Kendra Kramer is blossoming into a young lady keen on learning new things and pursuing what she is passionate about. 

In her first Metro digital cover feature, Kendra takes us through her dynamic young life and her early journey to self-discovery as she pursues her growing interests in fashion, sports, learning, and reading. In between all those things, she also fulfills her roles as an emerging social media personality, a doting ate to younger siblings Scarlett and Gavin, and an obedient daughter to Doug and Chesca.

Described by her mom Chesca as a bibo child, who’s been exposed to various extracurricular activities, Kendra is turning out to be quite a young Renaissance lady.

“Because she’s an active child, parang lalo akong na-excite to see what she’s capable of doing and how I can really help her develop and become the all-around child. And with Kendra kasi, she’s just as excited. It’s so easy to talk to her,” Chesca shares.

The supportive mom enrolled her in ballet, music, the arts and encouraged Kendra to engage in sports. “She has a lot of talents. It’s not because I’m cheering my child on, but that’s one thing I keep telling Kendra. ‘You know, Kendra, God has given you and gifted you with a lot of talents. It’s just a matter of finding the one that you will really love and that you will really use not just for yourself, but also to be able to share it with others,’” Chesca adds.

With infinite possibilities on the horizon, coming of age is certainly a season for Kendra to look forward to. She exudes the quiet confidence of someone who can expertly take on many hats.

Young fashion icon on the rise

And on that particular summer yet somewhat rainy kind of day, Kendra channeled her model and fashionista self with an exciting photo and video shoot for Metro. As young as she is, she acts like a pro who’s already used to the cameras, art direction, and the lights.

“The shoot is so much fun because I’ve never done a concept and a theme like that before so I enjoyed doing all of those shots and trying on clothes,” Kendra confesses, saying she particularly liked the badminton shoot because she sometimes plays that sport with friends in school, too.

Kendra is also proud to be taking some style cues from her equally fashionable mom Chesca, considering her as her very own style icon. “But then, that’s kind of like a given, right? When I say that mom’s my fashion icon. Actually, before, I used to borrow her shoes. But then, it was short-lived because my feet grow so fast and now my feet do not fit mom’s shoes anymore,” she begins in jest.

“I go to her closet sometimes and steal her clothes and her bags. Also, some of our Ates in the house, they put some of my mom’s clothes in my closet so I just use them and I’m not complaining,” she shares with a playful smile. Chesca has certainly influenced her daughter’s impeccable sense of style as she has also passed on some of her vintage designer bags (Gucci, Coach) to her which have become Kendra’s personal favorites.

Kendra does hop on some fashion trends but favors comfort and personal style in general. “I like big gold hoop earrings and I also try to do the slick back hairstyle sometimes. But then I just do that sometimes when I go out. I pair [the hairstyle] with gold hoops and some sweatpants, something comfy. I like that,” she says. Like the average teenager in the digital era, she also looks up supermodels online and the way they dress for inspiration.

“I just search on Pinterest and get ideas from that. If I have those clothes, I’ll put an outfit together that’s similar to that,” Kendra continues. Putting an outfit together will also be a walk in the park for the stylish teen as she has previously shared on a YouTube Room Tour vlog about her favorite part of the room: her big walk-in closet filled with various clothes and dresses, as well as designer shoes and sneakers.

As a young fashion icon on the rise, Kendra has also been recently invited by luxury brand Dior to grace their events. Those instances allowed her to get all dolled up and showcase her luxurious yet youthful take on a fashion event. “I was very excited because it was a very intimate event that I was invited to. [I was scared] because last time, me and mom went together but this time only I was invited. So Dad is like my plus one to be there with me,” she happily shares, talking about the Dior Beauty event that was also graced by muses Anne Curtis-Smith, Catriona Gray, and Heart Evangelista-Escudero.

The making of a swimming champ

Kendra is also a natural little mermaid with her swimming skills. At a young age, she has done jiu-jitsu, ballet, and other sports but swimming brings out Kendra’s strength and her best performance. Chesca thinks Kendra’s interest in sports, in general, was also because of her and Doug’s influence.

“I used to be a swimmer and Doug was a basketball player. I think it’s us who really put our kids into sports because we were exposed to that. We made them try different sports for them to see where they feel like they can best excel and something that they really would not just like to do, but love to do so that they could put their heart and mind into it. And by exposing them to that, they were able to choose,” the adoring mom shares.

Her parents made Kendra try different sports but she soon spotted that she would excel more in swimming. “In the beginning, she wanted to actually do ballet and swimming at the same time. But I said, if you really want to be good at something, you have to choose one and dedicate your time and be committed to that. I know it hurt her but I said, give this a chance. And she did. Now, she’s loving it and she's spending time watching videos, getting to know the sport even better, and training hard,” Chesca narrates.

Kendra reflects on what makes swimming special for her. “I think one thing that’s different in swimming is even though you have a team, it’s almost like an individual sport because you’re just relying on yourself. So one thing that’s different about swimming than a team sport is that if you know you’ve worked hard, if you know you put in the time and the effort, you won’t have to doubt yourself because you’re not relying on other people,” Kendra observes.

As Kendra dives and swims for the cover shoot, she also rises from the pool with quite a glow that reflects her happiness and passion for the sport. Her hard work in swimming has been paying off. As early as last year, she has already reaped rewards for her commitment and dedication to the sport as she has already earned gold, silver, and bronze medals in swimming competitions.

She takes us through her training process as a swimmer. “My training is two hours every session. It’s honestly so tiring because swimming is really like a whole-body workout. It’s two hours and I train five times a week. Two of them are like weight sessions and three of those are swimming sessions. I try to be as consistent as possible. I train for two days, then rest, and then three days of training, and then rest again. I always rest on Sundays because that’s family day,” Kendra shares, making it a point to balance her academic and sports requirements with a well-deserved rest with family.

“I spend time with [family] and my siblings, especially Scarlett, because I just feel like now that she’s getting older, we just get along even more now,” she smiles.

She also supplements her training with a well-balanced diet and reward meals too. “Drinking PediaSure Plus®  10+ is important to me because I do what I want to be tall, like my dad, too, because I want to be as tall as my dad... I always drink my PediaSure Plus®  10+ and when my friends come over after training, they go to our fridge and they ask for it too. So we drink it together. We get two tetra packs, you put it in one glass and you just chug it,” she begins. “Because I have a very active lifestyle, I also try to eat my healthy meals and vegetables. A balanced meal is always so important. But also allowing yourself to have a few cheat meals once in a while because you deserve it, you know?” she adds with a smile.

Chesca revealed that Kendra started taking PediaSure Plus when she was eight years old. Since Kendra is into extracurricular activities, she said she needed something to help her in her growth, and drinking it is a habit the 15-year-old continues to do today. Chesca explains, “Her teens are such an important time in her final growth spurt, and I also realized that during these years, she needs something that will help provide the nutrients she needs to grow tall.”

A journey to self-discovery

“Kind, keen, and kawaii” was how Kendra described herself, using adjectives that start with a “k,” but we’d like to add “kinetic” as she’s a total ball of energy who keeps pursuing the things she loves and the things she’s interested in. This swimming champ is also a studious girl who loves writing, and reading and has an absolute love for learning. “My favorite subject in school is English class because I like writing essays. In homeschool, we were always writing essays every week so when I went to regular school, it was much easier for me to talk about things and write about things, especially about things that I like,” Kendra declares.

She went on to describe her passion for reading, saying, “I’m also a big bookworm. I love reading books. I got a Kindle and that helps me. I use that to read my books, especially in summer, because it’s good to keep being active not just physically but also for your brain, right?” 

With her keen interest in learning, she has been thinking about the courses in college and career path to take but she’s been keeping her options open. She’s considering a course related to business as she’s inspired by her dad Doug. “But also, I’m torn because my mom wants me to become a doctor. A few months ago, I took a pre-med level one Harvard course because my school sent an email. I applied and I got in. I did that for a few weeks and I really liked it. I might do another one because I got invited to do level two again. So maybe one of those two options but I’m not sure yet,” she confesses.

With mom Chesca and uncle Patrick successfully getting their start in showbiz, does she ever see herself in entertainment? “Maybe. If there’s like a nice project, I will talk to my parents about it. I’m not saying no because you never know, right?”

Kendra’s future looks brighter than ever and with all these open doors available for her, she honors the best traits she picked up from her parents as something to guide her in navigating this chapter in her life.

“From my dad, I picked up becoming super hardworking and being really dedicated in my sport because my dad has such an active lifestyle and he’s still so fit even at 41. And so, it inspires me, too, to work as hard as him. From my mom, I think just really being focused in, like, whatever I’m doing, especially my sport, and being really intentional with it because my mom is so meticulous and careful with everything,” she notes.

Growing up in the public eye is also something that her parents guided her on thoughtfully. “[I’ve learned that] my support system is my parents and God. I don’t want to be easily swayed by social media and the things I see online. And then just knowing my anchors in my life and making sure that I know who I am because, at the end of the day, I’m the one who knows myself best. My family’s the one who knows me best so I won’t allow another person to tell me who I am, you know? Something like that,” she shares, revealing a side of her filled with wisdom and a mature point of view. 

“My mom always reminds me to remember to have what you call an audience of one—God. So whether you’re doing your sports, working, or for example, when I have speeches in school, I just remember that there’s only one person watching me. God is really the one that is my true and only anchor that keeps me guided through everything that I do,” Kendra pensively says.

In Chesca’s eyes, Kendra is really the good girl that any parent would be so blessed to have. “Kendra’s very obedient. I saw how smart she is and she’s the type who really works hard. She really wants to excel. She's not the type of person that she will just accept being mediocre. She wants to prove that ‘I can do this, I will work hard for it.’ And while she has pride in herself, she’s also humble in knowing that there are other people who are smarter and better but [that she can] work harder. She always considers what her parents have to say,” Chesca beams with pride and happiness.

“Because of that, she’s able to absorb the wisdom, the guidance, and she’s able to learn a lot. She’s also the type of person who takes responsibility for herself in such a way wherein I don’t have to tell her to, say, study. No, she will study on her own. And that’s why she’s the perfect older sister. Because she sets the tone and the habit, her siblings follow suit. She’s a great leader,” her mom continues, with eyes filled with admiration for her eldest daughter.

Right now, as Kendra intends to make the most of her youth, she pictures herself taking swimming and studying seriously and spending quality time with family, but she also looks forward to seemingly mundane things like learning how to drive.

“I just want to enjoy life. I feel like I have a lot of responsibilities but I feel like I can take it more lightly because I’m not an adult yet,” Kendra concludes, determined to savor youth while preparing for a promising world of potential. And for a girl like her with a good head on her shoulders, the possibilities are aplenty.

Photography by Jerick Sanchez

Metro head: Christina Lopez

Editor-in-chief: Geolette Esguerra

Sittings editors: Grace Libero-Cruz and Kate Paras-Santiago

Creative direction by Randz Manucom

Cover story by Grace Diez

Shoot coordination: Red Dimaandal and Mika Yusay

Videography by Giancarlo Escamillas

Makeup by Justine Navato

Hairstyling by Jay Wee

Styling by Team Rain x Em, assisted by Elaine Villapando, Rio Camantigue, and Cyla Villanueva

Clothes by Lacoste and KOI Swimwear

Props styling by Tipping Point Collective

Photography assistants: Karl Rimando, Buddy Reyes, and Roniel Sañez

Shot on location at Seda Manila Bay and Bounce at Parqal

Special thanks to Christian Cruz, Joyce Yu, and Hendrich Namoca