Wrapping up International Women’s Month (IWM), Invest Ottawa hosted Creating Mejuri: Noura Sakkijha's Journey to Canadian Business Success. Celebrating its 7th year, IWM aims to champion current and aspiring women leaders from every walk of life, with the organization spotlighting the inspiring story of a woman who redefined the jewelry industry.

The afternoon began with opening remarks from Paula Hopkins, Director of Entrepreneurship at Invest Ottawa. She proudly recognized the support of event sponsors: BDC and Futurpreneur. Paula also highlighted the community booths circling the room, including ventures such as The Urban Botanist, created to connect people with nature, and Eight50 Coffee, a woman-owned, responsibly sourced coffee company.

We then heard from Sonya Shorey, President and CEO of Invest Ottawa, who spoke on behalf of BDC and highlighted the essence of entrepreneurship: “It does take a village to build entrepreneurs, to build companies, and to build a stronger, more equitable, thriving, and prosperous economy.” 

Mejuri’s Origin Story

Noura Sakkijha, Co-Founder and CEO of Mejuri, took the stage in a fireside chat moderated by Futurpreneur CEO, Karen Greve Young. Mejuri, a global jewlery brand started with a straightforward mission: to make fine jewelry accessible to everyone.

As a third-generation jeweller, entrepreneurship was ingrained in Noura. Her path wasn’t linear; she studied industrial engineering, pivoted to consulting, and eventually led her to create her path.

A question prevailed through the audience: why did she build her empire when she already had an established one in her family? 

Noura commented that she wanted to operate differently, and having a desire to shape her own story. Her family business ran under the industry’s traditional model, positioning fine jewelry as an exclusive, high-priced luxury product accessible only to a select market.

Noura entered the industry with the desire to move away from the idea that only men can buy jewelry for women. “I realized I couldn't find a brand that spoke to me as a woman who wanted to buy jewelry for herself,” establishing the motto “buy yourself the damn diamond.”

Karen pulled out Mejuri’s original business plan from 2012. Since then, the business model has evolved, and although this plan won awards and was the “gold standard business plan,” it ultimately failed. Why? Mejuri’s original concept was a crowdsourcing platform where designers submitted creations based on open briefs. Quickly learning that this model lacked consistency, a cohesive brand image, and a collective message, “I wasn’t building a brand, I was building a marketplace. And that’s not what I set out to do,” commented the entrepreneur.

Sakkijha pivoted, keeping the essence of this idea of creativity and relaunching in 2015 in New York as a direct-to-consumer brand.

Once this concept truly took off, Noura found success not only in sales, but by customer responses. She shared that the first time she felt real success was when customers wrote her emails thanking Mejuri for opening a world to self-purchased jewelry.

Staying True To Values

Every detail, from store design to product pricing and sustainable practices, is thoughtfully considered. In the early stages of Mejuri, Noura went through a core entrepreneurial experience, securing funding. She shares that she returned her first investment cheque despite needing the money because the investor did not share her values. Sakkijha emphasizes, “Sustainability is very near and dear to my heart… it should never be a value proposition—it should be something you do because you truly believe in it.” This belief is evident throughout her brand by using Responsible Jewellery Council-certified manufacturers and launching regenerative projects. The company has also invested $1 million into regenerative mining, securing exclusive access to salmon gold. Furthering its commitment to social impact, the company has also committed $5 million to the Mejuri Empowerment Fund by 2030, offering scholarships to women and non-binary individuals from underrepresented communities.

Noura emphasized that implementing sustainable practices from day one is not always possible, but intentionality about who is partnered with and how a supply chain is structured can. “It’s a journey—it’s not perfect and never will be—but what matters is that you’re doing something, and taking real steps as you grow.”

Speaking more to her core values, she talks about her family both at home and work. As a mother of twins and the CEO of a 1,000-person team, Noura emphasized her work-life balance. She spoke about letting go of perfection, leaning into creativity when it arises, prioritizing tasks, and relying on those around you for support. “Team is everything,” she said. “Hire people who are better than you. But make sure they’re entrepreneurial in spirit, people who know how to roll up their sleeves.”

As the event drew to a close, I asked Noura Sakkijha one final question: What single message would you like to communicate to future business leaders and Telfer Business Journal readers? She commented, “There are twists and turns in business—it’s not a linear path. You just have to keep showing up.” A powerful reminder that perseverance, above all, is the key to building anything, claiming your success, and buying yourself the damn diamond.