JNA Awards 2020 - Jewellery Industry Best Practices

JNA AWARDS • 2020 41 Effective leadership Zhao cultivates a work environment that values the time-tested virtues of honour, creativity and excellence. “To be an innovative enterprise, we must constantly seek new methods and create a larger platform for these ideas to flourish. We have to encourage employees to realise their dreams of innovation, by guiding and empowering them every step of the way,” she narrates. As a result, BOJEM registered impressive numbers in its six years in the business. Staffing grew from 137 in 2017 to 208 in 2019. Revenues increased by 29.9 percent in 2019. Despite being a relatively young company, BOJEM expanded its reach. In October 2019, its very own Bao Jie Jewelry became part of the Sino-French Brand Exhibition at the French Pompidou Art Centre in Paris. There, it launched the “Sino-French Cooperation Jewellery” series. Around that time, Zhao delivered a speech at the Fifth Sino- French Brand Summit Forum during a roundtable discussion and held the first offline salon tour at the Asian Contemporary Art Centre. She claims to be the only person invited to represent a coloured gemstone brand from China in the event, which was also held in Paris. These follow a string of other recognitions BOJEM garnered in the previous year, such as when Bao Jie Jewelry was recognised as an “Excellent Exhibitor” at the Bazaar Jewelry & Florence Biennale. Crisis management Even as new challenges emerge in the face of COVID-19, Zhao remains steadfast in her mission. “The pandemic has made customers more cautious about investing in precious stones. As such, we have made necessary adjustments to adapt to these changes,” she says. Aside from launching its online platform “Bao Jiejia,” the company introduced a more liberal repurchasing policy and implemented measures related to high-end coloured gemstone acquisition. It also lined up a series of promotional sales events and videos that encouraged customers to purchase their beloved gems and jewels. Creative, hardworking and passionate, Zhao has definitely earned her keep as one of the Young Entrepreneur of the Year (age 40 and below) Honourees at JNA Awards 2020. “By creating a new marketing model that combines the power of the Internet and the beauty of jewellery, we bade farewell to the limitations of physical stores. This makes it possible for us to sell several pieces online,” she notes. 1. Joyee Zhao, co-founder of BOJEM 2. French designer Nathalie Sokierka with Joyee Zhao in 2019 3. Joyee Zhao was named one of UN Women’s Goodwill Ambassadors in 2017 4. Bao Jie Jewelry receives the ‘Interesting Design of the Year Award’ at the 2018 Bazaar Jewelry Awards 5. Joyee Zhao sifts through rough material in search of gemstones in Brazil in 2018 2 3 5 4