After being a stay-at-home mom for 9 years, Fikriyah wanted to better support her family. Having previously been from a predominantly customer service background, she struggled to find stable employment that offered office hours. She wanted to make sure that she could support her family all while being able to spend time with them. Unstable shift hours would not work for her. Fikriyah hence made sure she worked doubly hard to prove herself up to the job — within 2 months of her job search, she received 2 job offers.

These job offers didn’t materialise out of nowhere — it was born out of Fikriyah’s tenacity, humility and hardwork in the face of adversity. Despite some initial setbacks in her job hunting journey, Fikriyah tackled the feedback she received head-on, vowing to do better the next time. One of the challenges she had to face was having to carry out multiple interviews in English, as English wasn’t her first language. Instead of backing down, she carried out multiple mock interviews with the help of her tutors and her children until she knew she nailed it.

Fikriyah’s optimism is also boundless and faces challenges that come her way with an infectious sense of humour. When she was previously interning at an IT company, she needed to improve her skills in Microsoft Office. As she could not afford professional training, Fikriyah turned to her children for help. She shared her stories of being taught by her teenage child with mirth, laughing at her own situation and the mistakes she made.

Fikriyah’s strength and dauntlessness in wanting to learn new things and scale new heights makes her a true Shero.