Just Keep Resin-ing: From Passion to Pursuit

A budding entrepreneur speaks of her achievements and struggles in a growing industry of resin Instagram shops. One of her favourite Pixar films, Finding Dory once said, just keep swimming.

By Shannen Leong

Clad in a teal ruched top and denim jeans with her signature half-parted hairstyle, 18 year-old Tan Jia Hui Adella, makes her way to Civic Centre to take a bus to Ngee Ann Polytechnic, where she pursues a Diploma in Early Childhood Development and Education. She boards the bus and shuffles her favourite artist, LANY, on Spotify which gets her through the day. Quickly squeezing through the packed-like-sardines bus stop, she makes her way to her first class of the day.

Amidst her known title as an Early Childhood Educator or a Ngee Ann student, Adella is more than what many know of her. As a budding entrepreneur, she owns an Instagram shop with a following and has big dreams for it.

Earring shops in Singapore have been on the rise, with about 2-3 new shops popping up daily. As one of the original Instagram shop creators who started in January 2019, Adella has paved the way for many of those who would soon follow her footsteps.

How did it all start?

A creative girl since young, she has never stopped in her pursuit of new endeavours. With more time on her hands after the ‘O’ Level period, she decided to try making handmade earrings after gaining inspiration from a Ngee Ann Polytechnic student who was featured in her school magazine. What came from a simple ‘just for fun’ activity took a leap of faith and became an actual business.

Struggles/Achievements

Starting out, it was difficult to get sales and grow a business with a small pool of audience. Alongside with the sales pressure, Adella, as a student and CCA executive committee meant that she had more on her plate than a normal person. Juggling both her school life and her business was strenuous and taxing, requiring a lot of resilience.

With a firm spirit, Adella never let her adversities overpower her passion. She sourced for alternatives on how to improve her business.

“I remember slowly reaching out to similar shops on Instagram and even made friends with them, so that I could gain insights and tips on how to improve my business. Overtime, made friends from the shop owners and they were nice enough to help me spread the word about my shop.”

She had also learned the cost of it – sacrificing one of her rest days to work on new products for her shop so as to come up with good content to attract a bigger crowd.

It is a good lesson for us all, to never give up on our dreams, and to just keep “swimming”.

Adella blushes with her slightly rose-tinted cheeks, enhancing the red on her cheeks, explaining her proudest moment of doing this business.

Adella on Lian He Zao Bao. (Photo Credit: Adella Tan)

Getting featured on Lian He Zao Bao, the largest Singaporean- Chinese newspaper, she recalls the first moment of opening the newspaper.

“I still remember that I was in disbelief when I opened the page with the article on it. My face and my name was on it. I remembered thinking to myself, did I really get myself on the newspaper? I dreamt of being on the newspaper ever since I was a kid and I was really shocked that I accomplished that.”

Giving Back

Not just an entrepreneur at heart, she is also as sweet and gentle as a deer. Adella does not keep profits to herself but always makes the effort to give back.

“I have always believed in the spirit of giving back to the community ever since I was a kid. Hence, from time to time, I would reach out to different communities (sometimes they reach out to me first too) when I see that they are hosting meaningful campaigns.”

For instance, she took part in a mental health campaign – contributing by giving out 10% store wide vouchers to people who funded the event.

She also took part in Verve, a community arts festival in August hosted by Ngee Ann Polytechnic Arts Businesses Management students.

One of handmade products for Verve. Photo Credit: Adella Tan

As a vendor, 20% of her sales funded the campaign – aiming to enable communities (such as the disabled) connect through the arts.

Looking forward

With a glint of hope in her eyes and a shy smile, Adella shyly states that she hopes to make this her full-time job in the future. She also hopes to do a physical pop-up in public to sell her products and meet people who like her products. She ends off with one of her favourite quotes that drives her.

“Focus on the steps in front of you, not the whole staircase”