“INI SEMUA KERANA MINAT, SAYA NAK ORANG ENJOY APA YANG SAYA JUAL TANPA MEMIKIRKAN HARGA YANG TERLALU MAHAL”
#1 Tell us about your journey into the antique industry, when did you realize that you could turn your love for antiques into a career?
She started this business in the early 2017, she was in Japan for 24 years, once she returned in 2015, she was unemployed for a year, she has been collecting since young, she keeps buying and collecting, she has a lot of interest even before she returned, she makes a lot of connections with people in order to get the best collections, she finds it important to connect with people.
#2 What was your very first job before getting into business?
Puan Juliah was a simultaneous interpreter in Japan, she is very fluent in the Japanese language and worked with a German company. She found this quite challenging as she needs to translate the communication between two parties in the real time.
#3 If you could go back in time and give your young artist self-one piece of advice, what would it be?
One advice that she held dear to her heart is too never trust people way too easily, she shared with us that, in business you should never have a high trust on anyone you’re dealing with, one time she lost RM15,000 worth of goods to a fraud that she had built a strong trust with.
#4 Where do you find the most inspiration for your work?
She gained ideas and inspirations from her surroundings, a prime example is her aquarium cassette player, she finds it hard for someone to upcycle such amazing unique piece, one of her friends actually helped her vision to come to alive, the piece was amazingly curated; its practicality was well thought and we were so amazed with the craftmanship.
#5 What was the most significant design or business challenge that you have encountered and grown from?
When she first started her business in Kandang, Melaka. She was very new, and barely knew the ways to make good sales, she only managed to get in between RM900 to RM1000 worth of sales only, the business brought her no profit, but she braved up her heart to find ways to continue until she discovered Mudah.com, this had changed the game for her. Buyers from all around Malaysia, Sabah, Sarawak and Penang are always interested on what she has in store, this managed the business to get up to 12k a day. Julia Alibaba EQ antique is the name she used on Mudah.com.
#6 What makes your antique store different from others?
She likes to make sure the store is well packed with everything, she does not like the idea of only having a focused and one kind of stuff. And also she said, she would never put the price according to the market price, all the items are under the market price.
#7 Which upcoming project or endeavour are you most excited for?
She is excited to be opening up a new café near her store, it would be a vintage themed, however she is still considering it since she has low manpower.
Puan Juliah was a really inspirational woman, she works hard and she has the biggest trust in her passion, talking to her made us feel so inspired and she definitely is a good storyteller.
