Finding joy in creating colourful jewellery pieces out of beads and charms, Michelle Chong started a jewellery business, the Fairy Nook, to share her beautiful crafts.
The young entrepreneur started creating hand-beaded accessories, first as a fun hobby and a way to share her creations. Now, She has turned her hobby into a business and sells her products on Instagram.
The full-time student not only likes to wear jewellery but she also enjoys making them too. She would spend most of her spare time in her little nook gathering beading materials and designing ideas for her next creation.
“Over time, I started to become more interested and started my creative process in making new designs and started to make more than rings, from bracelets to necklaces to phone charms and more,” said the entrepreneur.
The name “The Fairy Nook” was inspired by her love of fairy-related themes and elements from ‘Tinker Bell’ to the magical world of “Fairy Hollow”.
“I started selling them because I loved the idea of wearing jewellery made by my own hands and hard work, especially when it looked pretty. And I wanted people to feel that way, as if there’s a special connection and love made into every piece,” said Michelle.
The entrepreneur shared that her favorite part of the business is creating custom order pieces for her customers. She would pour heart and soul into each piece she has created, making them unique.
The home-based business has a wide selection of hand-beaded accessories including necklaces, bracelets and phone charms priced ranging from $5 to $17.
Customers can browse through the products on their Instagram @thefairynook_. Michelle would also join pop-up events to promote her jewellery-making business.
“I have had pop-ups and would sell my products physically, an example being my first pop-up in 2021 at The Box, Telanai. However, with the COVID-19 restrictions in 2022, I haven’t had the opportunity to sell physically, but I would love to join another pop-up as a vendor to sell my products soon,” said the youth
When it comes to opening a business, the youthpreneur admits that it comes with its own sets of challenges, and most of them are tied to her as a person.
With so many competitors and Michelle seeing herself as an entrepreneur, her self-esteem seems to go with how her business is doing, at times it is great but some days not so well and this affected her.
“I’m doing better in dealing with these negative thoughts and learning to not tie my self esteem to my business. It’s been a rough journey as an entrepreneur, especially when progress and improvement felt so slow and so far away. But with time and growing experience, it’s getting better and I’ve learned a lot since the time I first started my business,” said the 21-year-old.
There is still room for this business to grow into and the crafter is always thinking of ways on how to make the best out of her business.
In the future, Michelle would love to offer more products to her customers as well as have the option of ‘gift sets’, where customers can buy their beaded jewellery and have extra gifts such as flowers.
Give this small fairy nook some support by following their Instagram @thefairynook_ or have a customised jewellery made by them.
This article was first published on 25 June 2022 in our Weekly Epaper issue 199 |
THE BRUNEIAN | BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN