Noura Sakkijha is the CEO and co-founder of fine and semi-fine jewellery brand Mejuri.Illustration by Photo Illustration by The Globe and Mail
Off Duty is a series of lively conversations with influential people, from CEOs to celebrities, on life, work and the art of taking time off.
Since its launch in 2015, fine and semi-fine jewellery brand Mejuri has trumpeted the message “Buy yourself the damn diamond,” according to CEO and co-founder Noura Sakkijha. Yet the Toronto-headquartered company – which in a matter of weeks opened its largest retail store to date, released its newest dance-inspired collection, unveiled its first Sustainability Report and announced investment in regenerative mining – has evolved to champion activism above and beyond encouraging women to buy jewellery for themselves as a simple celebration of life (and not something to wait around for another person to gift them).
The brand has also introduced its own Empowerment Fund to support education for women and non-binary folks in Canada and the United States; it has signed the sustainability-focused UN Global Compact – the first Canadian jewellery brand to do so, as well as the UN Women’s Empowerment Principles. And last month, Mejuri became the sole jewellery partner of Regeneration, a remining initiative from the NGO Resolve. We caught up with Sakkijha in the wake of these monumental developments to hear more about why they’re causes close to her heart, as well as what other points of advocacy she’s passionate about.
I wanted to start off by talking about the sustainability report. Why was it important for you to publish one?
This business started with the idea of doing the right thing. We’re really selective about who we work with and prioritize partnering with businesses that have certification from the Responsible Jewellery Council. It’s the biggest governing body in our industry, and it does third-party validation on our behalf. Additionally, the ethos of the brand was founded on empowering women. I’m the third generation within my family to work in jewellery; I was an insider, and I saw the dynamic which was very much focused on men buying for women. Jewellery was seen as very exclusive, and very traditional in the sense of it being a gift. I started off with flipping the narrative, and it’s one of the things that I absolutely love about the business.
As we continued to grow, we were able to expand our resources and work with someone like Holly McHugh, vice president of sustainability, who comes with deep industry expertise. We want to commit to doing better, and hold ourselves accountable. I’ve never thought of sustainability as a competitive advantage; it’s something I believe in.
How did the partnership with Resolve’s Regeneration project come about?
Innovation is something that we really truly believe in as a business. We are investing $1.5-million in this initiative, which essentially takes sites that have been mined and are close to being obsolete and looks at what is deemed to be waste on that site in order to remine it. The initiative also aims to ensure that the ecosystem and the habitat is regenerated, and wildlife and biodiversity are actually returning to those locations.
Is there anything that you wish you’d known when you were starting out?
Advice is one thing, and when you live it, it is another; I underestimated the importance of surrounding yourself with very strong people, even though I heard that a lot. When you get to a specific scale, you recognize that you have to lean on experts. I’ve found being on the lookout, and teaching myself what excellent looks like, is key. In terms of what I wish I had known … to be honest with you, that ignorance is bliss [laughs]. I think if I had known it would be this hard, I probably wouldn’t have done it. So I’m very happy I did not know.
How do you grow your business while still taking time for yourself?
I have a business coach, and that makes me feel grounded because it just pulls me out and gives perspective. I’ve also been doing therapy for a very long time. I’ve come to recognize the importance of having that hour to process things because I’m going at a high speed and sometimes I don’t even connect feelings with my thoughts. I work out twice a week, and I play tennis once a week. I spend time with friends – that’s very important for me. And I spend time with my four-year-old twins; weekends and evenings are primarily about them. My life at work is run by the minute so routine is not necessarily something that I kind of seek in my personal life. Whatever the heart desires is, outside of the workout schedule, what I pursue.
What’s it like for you to put Mejuri out there in terms of making commitments to empowerment and reproductive rights?
To me, empowerment is about making choices; what I care about is making sure women have access to choices. The Empowerment Fund is one manifestation of that, and when Roe v. Wade was overturned, it meant that people won’t have access to health care; and we know that people of colour are the ones who really suffer from lack of access to health care. The issue is a lot larger than what it seems. And we have also subsidized IVF treatments for our team. It’s not like we want to be the “face of abortion.” There was a clear alignment, and it was honestly an easy decision to take a stance to ensure that women are able to cultivate their lives and be healthy.
Tell me about how you’ve personally dug into the idea of being a ‘work in progress.’
Building a business is the most humbling thing, especially if you’re VC-funded and you’re shooting for the stars. You’ve promised people a certain deliverable, you’ve promised a certain scale. You learn the hard way that being the CEO of a $5-million business is very different from being a CEO of a $60-million business. If I don’t understand that I need to evolve, then the business will outgrow who I am.
Instead of resisting this, it was something that I embraced. I have my way of learning, of growing, of acquiring knowledge. That’s the premise of it – instead of feeling like I’m inadequate, it’s about knowing that there’s ways to evolve. If you have that growth mentality, I think everything in life is a lot more exciting.
This interview has been edited and condensed.