2022 IOTM noura siham's interview podcast
Audio Edited by: 21B3004, Dk Syaida Qistina Binti Pg Ibrahim (Public Relations Officer, Executive of Media and Public Relation Officer)
Written by: 21B9017, Nur Rahmah Haziqah binti Mohammad Nazif (Public Relations Officer, Executive of Media and Public Relation Officer)
Interviewer: 22B0006, Nurul Natasha binti Haji Lalim (Public Relations Officer, Executive of Media and Public Relation Officer)
We honourably mention the Business Inspirasee of this month, Noura Siham Aljandali, an English Studies major from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. She is passionate about making jewellery that includes trinkets and accessories such as bracelets and necklaces. She started her business in March 2021 and is known as @precioustrinkets.bn on Instagram. Her savings from allowances became her source of funds to start her business. Rather than spending her allowances, she thinks it is wise to invest it in something she can generate money from. With that, having her own business allows her to practice saving up.
Noura displays the uniqueness of @precioustrinkets.bn by using her original designs in her customisations. She customises her products according to her customers’ requests by combining materials like actual natural gemstones to create something new, such as stone necklaces. While most jewellery Instagram accounts usually focus on particular themes, Precious Trinkets is a large collection of various products, all in one place.
invests several hours in it and could even end at two o’clock in the morning. On the other hand, she would not spend time on it during her bad days.
One of her weaknesses is poor time management. At times she would invest too much time in her business, but there are other times when she would completely forget about it. Sometimes, her business is slow, which could be demotivating. She also tolerates rude behaviour from her customers because she thinks they might eventually purchase her products. For that reason, she still politely replies to their private messages. Regardless, she does not let it have a long-term impact on her daily life.
Despite that, her greatest strength is customer service. She provides excellent service by giving gifts to returning customers and free deliveries when their purchases exceed a certain amount. She also tries to get every single item that she possibly can according to her customers’ requests. However, this can both be a strength and a weakness for her.
private messages late at night and would read them in the morning.
As a matter of fact, she likes when her customers come back to tell her how much they like her jewellery. She found that admiration from other people brings more satisfaction to her than the physical form of money. Although she has never collaborated with anyone before, she is open to the idea. She tries to keep her customers happy not only by providing good customer service but also by offering refurbishing services. If their jewellery is damaged, she offers to fix it for free, even if it is not her products, such as old beads that can be used to create something new. Her key to providing excellent service is friendliness. She would include handwritten notes in her customers’ orders to show her appreciation.
attending religious events. She enjoys volunteering in said events, such as being an MC, which she excels in. She balances her time by prioritising participating in religious events. However, she would prioritise her university work if she cannot evade it. She generally does not have a fixed time management schedule. Thus, she describes herself as unorganised and easily distracted.
Her central support systems are her sister and her friends. The first person she tells everything to is her sister and the second one is her best friend since high school, Tasha. They are the ones that she goes to regarding everything, good or bad.
Her goal for her business is to have Precious Trinkets be well-known. Although it is not an active goal, it would be wonderful if it happens. Whether her objective is achieved or not, she still enjoys doing the work. She also hopes to sell as much of her jewellery as possible by the time she graduates from university.
As a Business Inspirasee, Noura’s advice for other people who would
like to pursue this journey is:
“to have an original idea that you believe in. She feels that the barakah is not there when you imitate others and resell them. She also advises you to be unique and different from everyone else, as well as to start small and not overestimate. If everything goes well, you can then build up on it.”
To find out more about Noura’s business, head over to @precioustrinkets.bn on Instagram!
Noura was inspired by the world of business at a young age. Her parents used to own a business, and she used to take chocolates and candies from their store. She would sell each piece in school and therefore learned to calculate profits. On another note, she was interested in making jewellery like bracelets and necklaces and started selling them. Even though she used to undercharge people, her younger self did not regret it, as it introduced her to her journey in business.
Her goal at the beginning of her business was to cover her expenses. Apart from doing it for extra income, she was bored and wanted to find something to fill up her time during the rise of the pandemic.
Noura faced several challenges while running her business. When she first started, there were some difficult designs that she was quite unfamiliar with. Furthermore, the time she spent buying supplies could lead to customers cancelling or changing their orders. Before, she had made heart-shaped pink quartz necklaces inspired by Barbie and the Diamond Castle that were popular the first time but took a while to sell the next time she made them. On top of that, delivery is also a challenge for her. She previously had someone to do the deliveries for her, but now that she runs everything, it takes time. She would not usually charge people that high, but her runners do; hence people would sometimes cancel their orders. One of her worst working days was when she would get orders at midnight from indecisive customers. With that, she has learned not to check her
Working on her business had brought Noura outside of her comfort zone, especially when she participated in the pop-up store. She felt pressured because she had to customise her jewellery on the spot, which she had never done before. She could not entertain all her customers simultaneously, but fortunately, her friend was present to assist her.
Noura’s peers describe her as a very honest person. Nonetheless, she tries her best to live by the Hadith and Sunnah and remembers to avoid hurting other people’s feelings. She is a person that is reliable and mature in most of her group of friends. Apart from running Precious Trinkets, Noura participates in other activities like
She mainly markets her business through Instagram by purchasing sponsor advertisements on the platform. Apart from that, she receives exposure by organising giveaways, in which she asks people to repost their favourite photo from her Instagram page. Other than digitally, she once marketed her business publicly by participating in a pop-up store. Even so, she generally does not do it often for many reasons. One of them is that her products might get less attention due to the number of different vendors in one place. Nevertheless, she would do it again if she has the opportunity.
The time Noura spends working on her business depends
on her motivation. On days when she feels inspired, she
