Episode 49: The Expat Toolkit: Crafting a Business: Arzelle's Path from Passionate Sewist to Entrepreneur

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Paula: Hi, I'm Paula and with me is Rachel and together we are truly expat podcast
Paula: today we're excited to chat with Arzelle, a fashion designer, former lecturer, and now , can name Sewing Queen to her title. Arzelle is dedicated to inspiring and mentoring beginner sewists, helping them unlock their unique creativity. She fosters a deep appreciation for self made items and is committed to preserving valuable sewing skills in a world dominated by fast fashion.
Paula: Welcome, Arzelle.
Arzelle: Thank you, it's a
Rachel: Welcome,
Arzelle: here, thank you. Great to again. Yeah, that's good. I'm
Paula: so excited to
Paula: hear all about it because, um, Rachel obviously has told me so much about you and, and your business. So let's start from the beginning. How did it all Yeah. Or you. How did you get to Singapore?
Paula: And then,
Arzelle: then the next step is Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Well, I'll start with this. My passion for sewing probably started at a very young age. I was four years old. Yeah. Seeing my mom [00:01:00] sewing. Ah. And then she bought me this tiny little holly hobby sewing machine that worked with a battery.
Arzelle: Yeah. And I started making things from there on. And I just kind of knew I wanted to go into fashion. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I actually went into lecturing in South Africa while I was designing as well. And that is what got me into Singapore as well. So 12 years ago, December, it will be 12 years. I got an opportunity to come and lecture in Singapore.
Paula: what did
Arzelle: design. So fashion design specializing in, um, technical skills or things like sewing, design, pattern drafting, draping, illustrations, all the technical aspects. Yep. So I got into that and yeah, that's how I got into Singapore. And from there, of course, the road led me to start so on and so forth a few years back.
Paula: I love that
Arzelle: Yeah, it's a,
Paula: how did you come up with that?
Arzelle: It's actually quite a funny story. Um, during COVID, um, lecturing online at that [00:02:00] time. So at that point I was lecturing part time and, um, I, like many other people, was looking for things to do around the house. And mine was gardening and sewing.
Arzelle: So I really got into sewing and like hand embroidery. And then my friend and I, we were just sitting around and we were like, Oh, imagine a cool name for this. And we just played around with a few words. It's actually sew on, like sewing. And then S O W, like sewing seeds.
Paula: love
Arzelle: love that! It's, I kind of liked it.
Arzelle: I thought of changing, but I kind of kept it because I like natural dye as well. So it is something maybe in the future I can bring that in back into it again. That's natural. So at the beginning, if you go down to my Instagram right at the beginning, it's a lot of plant posts, photography. Yeah. And then I just kind of thought, you know, I like this name.
Arzelle: Let me just keep it when I started the business. yeah,
Paula: it, that makes a lot of sense. And so how did you start the
Arzelle: Well,
Arzelle: The business actually started last year, the idea for it started, [00:03:00] but it actually have to backtrack a little bit with it because I've had this idea of starting a business again because I had my business in South Africa making wedding dresses and evening gowns.
Arzelle: Um, I had this idea of starting a business again in 2018, but I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. So 2020 came along or actually 2019. Um, and in 2020, my mom retired and my idea was I want to go travel with her. I want to design my life so I don't need to work corporate hours. So if I want to Go somewhere for three weeks.
Arzelle: I can go somewhere for three weeks, still do my business. And yeah, so 2019 then 2020 happened. So I resigned full time. 2020 happened. I carried on working part time and 2022, I started pursuing what I thought was going to be what I wanted to do, which is something I also love doing as travel content. So I have a whole website.
Arzelle: I create content for a few brands. Um, but. It [00:04:00] didn't just, it didn't gel well, because it was, they call it your zone of excellence, but it wasn't my zone of genius. It wasn't the thing that just came naturally to me. I really had to then suddenly put in effort, because now brands are expecting certain things, where before I just did it as a hobby.
Arzelle: Um, So with my coach last year, April, after coming back from a fantastic trip overseas, I was like, this is not working. What am I going to do? And we had a nice discussion and I'm like, you know what, what are, what are questions that people keep on asking me to help them and show them? And it came back to sewing and being creative and doing things with your hands.
Arzelle: And then, A lot of brainstorming. I'm like, oh, come on. It is so obvious. Sewing and design and teaching comes naturally. It comes easy to me. And I love it. I absolutely love it. I love seeing how people grow. And you know, after somebody made something or designed something, you know, that, that, that the [00:05:00] face, everything, the energy that comes with it, I just love it.
Arzelle: So that's last year. June, I created a course. I just, I remember just two weeks before I had to go to South Africa on a six week holiday. I sat down and I created a, I think it was an eight module course. I just, I think it was four or five days, I locked myself in my studio room and I just recorded.
Paula: Yeah.
Arzelle: And I got beta testers in after I came back and they tested it for three months from October.
Arzelle: And yeah, since this year, then it just kind of grew and grew and grew. It's now a membership. And I also do one on one clients because people actually asked me, they don't want to do workshops necessary. They probably have done it. They've tried it, but they like, they, they, they felt that they maybe keep everybody else behind, or they felt that they were just a number in the group.
Arzelle: Um, and, So I had people approaching me for one on one lessons for sewing, which I love. I
Paula: love.
Paula: Are these all people
Arzelle: These are in Singapore. So it's [00:06:00] just a, it's not my main focus. It's a passion because I still love that connection with people. So my focus of course goes into my membership and everything that I do onto there and the Instagram and the online education, but I can't not
Arzelle: and do in person.
Arzelle: So, yeah.
Paula: So what are the modules? So what is the courses that you provide?
Arzelle: Okay, so the courses that I provide so the course I launched it officially in March But then i'm like, hmm I want to do more. I want to connect more with the people in who are doing this course because questions that popped up And it made me think okay, why not make it into a membership?
Arzelle: So I changed the course with all the content into a membership with a a pathway that they can take from Starting sewing knowing nothing not even knowing how to turn the
Paula: do I have to know anything?
Arzelle: No, it's knowing nothing not even knowing what machine to buy
Arzelle: From that taking them through machine options setting [00:07:00] up a machine choosing your tools guiding through fabrics So it's a whole process and then of course into techniques as well So i've taken the course content put it into this membership, but then I added a few things like um, So people can ask questions.
Arzelle: They can share their wins. They can, you know, participate. So I love that because they are talking to each other and inspiring each other as well. yeah. That's the course went into this membership that I'm absolutely loving.
Paula: And, um, the membership is what type of platform
Arzelle: it's actually quite a nice platform that I've found because I have been a member on a few different memberships myself and I found Um, the app's name is Circle.
Arzelle: So you can download it onto your phone as well. So you can have it on your computer, watch videos there, or just that's what I like about it because you can quickly go. It's almost like a Facebook idea with like chat. Go on your phone, chat, upload a photo of what you're doing, ask for [00:08:00] advice, share a win.
Arzelle: And yeah. So, but my, the membership I called Sew Simple.
Paula: love this,
Paula: yeah, I love this
Arzelle: playing with words. I know it's very cliche or like, but I love it.
Rachel: Yeah.
Paula: so
Rachel: That is awesome. I was saying before, I'm always getting inspired by your posts and I'm like, oh yeah, I should really start sewing. Um, and then I realized that I'm going down a different track and I have to pull it back and I'm like going, okay, right, wait till you're retired to do that.
Rachel: Um, but I mean, a lot of people just do it as a part, as a, And that's fantastic. I love that. So can you tell me more about your background? I, I love that you, you were a fashion lecturer and you, another thing that is, that you're quite passionate about is sustainability
Rachel: And,
Rachel: um, and a sort of fast fashion industry, [00:09:00] which, you know, is a crazy,
Arzelle: crazy
Rachel: industry.
Rachel: And I love that you are doing your own bit to sort of, Make it more sustainable and things like that. Could you tell us a little bit more about that?
Arzelle: Yeah, so I've actually been lecturing for 16 plus years both South Africa and in Singapore and South Africa I had my own business, like I said before, creating wedding dresses and bespoke attire for ballroom, Latin ballroom But lecturing, it opened up another world because then you are suddenly exposed to not only just the core content of learning how to sew, learning how to do this, because I taught degree, we explored different avenues within fashion.
Arzelle: And like, especially when you're Like in the mid, I think it was 2018, 2016, or when was it now, um, a documentary was released about the true cost. And before that already, a lot of questions came up in the fashion industry, like, ooh, you know, pollution, you know, the effect that it's having. I remember [00:10:00] myself when I was interning as a student and seeing in the factory, The cutoff waste, the fabric waste, the thing that happened, it always kind of bothered me, but at that time it didn't really click yet.
Arzelle: Um, there was, people didn't really speak about sustainability yet and things like that. So going into education myself and then teaching degree level and exploring various options, it became quite, you know, this whole world opened up like, oh my goodness, fashion is the second biggest polluter in the world.
Arzelle: Um, Not only within the production system, but in how people buy clothes. So the consumerism of it and how our value of clothing has changed before. When I grew up, you know, you, you went once every season to go buy for that season, you know, it was four seasons and you bought for winter and for summer. You didn't go every single week to the shops.
Arzelle: So lecturing and. All of that and being exposed to new concepts like zero [00:11:00] waste patterns or minimal waste patterns Exploring techniques where you cut away the waste basically reducing the waste I absolutely love that and i'm quite passionate about that because We are in a world of over consumption We don't need a new item every single week because the sales advert told us to And it's also When you are buying these fast fashion items, have you ever asked yourself the question, why is it so cheap?
Arzelle: Why is that product that cheap? And then you go back into the quality of the fabric, the labor, the working, the ethics, you know, the labor conditions these people are working in, where is it coming from? So I like voicing those things up and I like bringing it back into when I'm teaching as well.
Arzelle: Understanding fabrics and choosing fabrics that are good quality and fabrics or prints and things that you would wear. Not just sales telling you, Oh, it's on [00:12:00] sale. You need five of this. Um, and then you buy it and you wear one thing once and the rest never. Because it was so, you know, that whole thing just, I need to buy.
Arzelle: So making more conscious decisions. And that's where I think teaching sewing,
Arzelle: Okay, firstly, you sew things that you like. And if you are choosing a quality fabric that's more expensive, you're going to take time in choosing what you want to make with it, and is it something that you're going to wear again.
Arzelle: It's not just going to be quick, because it takes time to make it as well. You're going to choose fabric that you like, that is quality against your skin. And I think, Learning how to sew, even if you just sew one project, it doesn't need to be a garment. You learn the value of the product or the technique because it takes time.
Arzelle: It costs the money to actually purchase all these supplies, the supplies of the sewing machines and all these things. You understand the value [00:13:00] and you appreciate what goes into garment. So you end up taking a garment in the shop. I've had that with some of my clients where they come back to me and they're like, Oh, I can't buy the same anymore because I go in a shop now and I turn it inside out and I look at the
Paula: see, yeah, the bad quality of
Arzelle: I think that's Yeah, i'm very passionate about it. I can talk for hours about it. Um, But I like bringing in these concepts of understanding your fabric, choosing designs that you would want to actually wear and then even taking it up a level later and bringing practices in like zero waste or upcycling and reusing and minimal waste.
Paula: because it seems to be More like when I first moved much it just seems in the last say years that all these shops popping up with upcycling for clothes.
Arzelle: It, there has, there were a few in the [00:14:00] past, but they were very small. Um, it is, I want to say, of course, we grew up also with thrifting.
Arzelle: Secondhand, you buy quality things. So it is a newer concept within Singapore. There are a lot of brands and companies doing it now. And. Seeing more and more and even the younger generation, which I absolutely love the younger generation also bringing it in and doing
Paula: And when you say, is there a lot of places here that you can buy all the materials and things for your, you call them a workshop?
Paula: No.
Paula: course. of
Arzelle: course, um, I will be hosting workshops soon as well. So, um
Arzelle: There's not a lot of places. We do have Arab street where you can buy silks and things with certain shops. There's a few of the shops that I absolutely love in Arab street. Cause you go and you ask for a Irish linen and he will come and bring out the little tag with all the different fabrics.
Arzelle: You can see the manufacturer. So it's [00:15:00] a very, I want to say it's the old school way. So you can see where the fabric came from. I'm like, Oh yes, this is the textile mold. That's actually there and there. It's not just another random fabric where I have no idea where it's coming from. There are shops in Chinatown.
Arzelle: Like one of my favorites is actually the fabric that I'm wearing now.
Paula: Which you're wearing a beautiful pink and, um, is it aqua?
Arzelle: teal with a touch of maroon into
Arzelle: it.
Paula: it's a beautiful
Arzelle: So this is, um, There are these small little shops in Chinatown that stock different designers. So this is a Malaysian designer, textile artist designer, and they stock those and like liberty fabrics that has got a history and a reputation for being good fabrics so you know where it's coming from.
Arzelle: So there are shops, so there definitely are, you just need to know where to go.
Paula: Which, obviously, you, when, when they become part of your, um,
Paula: network or your community, Then do discuss things like that so people can, okay, that's a great, that's a great little [00:16:00] group to be involved in if you're, into
Arzelle: Yes.
Paula: just so because honestly Someone who hasn't sewn since they were at school.
Paula: I wouldn't even know where to start Like I wouldn't know where to go. I wouldn't know where to find anything because it's not like in australia where every other shop Material and Do you do you find do you have you ever
Rachel: Yeah, um, well, actually my mom is a really good sewer, uh, and she got me into it when, when, when we were kids.
Rachel: She used to buy her fabric on Friday. She would, and the pattern, and then she would do it on Saturday and she'll wear it out on
Paula: Oh wow!
Rachel: And her mom used to teach her. So, so my mom taught me. And then we also did, we had like, I don't know what it was in school, like some kind of home economics kind of thing, where you learn to, back then, back, it wasn't that
Arzelle: So
Rachel: It was like how to be a health wife, probably.
Paula: house, quite
Rachel: Then, and so I used to sew quite a lot and I loved it. I really, really enjoyed it. [00:17:00] So, um, I would love to start it again, but I can just imagine my finger going under the needle and things, all, all blood going everywhere. The
Arzelle: with new technology and the machines, you can make them very slow.
Rachel: Oh,
Arzelle: And you can, these, I love the new features. So some of the ones that I'm working on, if you don't have something in the right place, the machine will not work. It will go peep, and it shows you a little thing on the screen like
Rachel: was that
Paula: years ago.
Rachel: years ago. My mum used
Arzelle: Yeah. So
Paula: because my mom used to have that old singer where it used to be a desk and it popped up.
Paula: Yeah, popped up.
Arzelle: why. That's how old I am.
Paula: how old I am.
Rachel: I
Arzelle: have, my mom has still has one. Oh my. Hers is in the case, the wooden block case. But yeah,
Paula: Did you have to
Rachel: But did you have to use your foot to make it go? Yeah. That's awesome. And my grandma had that. My
Paula: my 16th or 17th birthday. Very [00:18:00] big hopes, but it never went anywhere.
Paula: Clearly. Um,
Paula: so what advice would you give someone looking to start their own creative journey?
Arzelle: Hmm. Creative journey, creative business, anything like that, I would say stay true to yourself.
Arzelle: Okay. Um, the markets can be saturated, but people go after you. Yeah. If they buy a project, product, it is not because. You are selling like for me instance, I'm selling sewing. There's a lot of people doing it already. But there's only one me doing my style of teaching and my way of it. So staying true to yourself is definitely one of it and niche down.
Arzelle: That's what I found as well. Um, being a designer, my range of what I can do is wide and it, I had to say the beginning, it was so difficult for me just to stick to. Beginner sewing, because I'm like, I want to make the wedding dresses. I want to do those things, but then it opens too wide. So [00:19:00] niching down is staying true to yourself.
Paula: That's, that's good
Rachel: I guess eventually you could go to beginner. Yes. Intermediate kind of
Arzelle: That's the plan for me as well. You build, you build. But start with niching.
Rachel: Yeah. Yeah. No, that's
Paula: to bring these people on to start,
Arzelle: Exactly.
Paula: and then you can build, it's like building blocks, you can then build onto that.
Rachel: can
Paula: Um, my brain is, really struggles with niching down there.
Rachel: really
Arzelle: difficult. It's difficult
Paula: is.
Paula: because, especially in this day and age with so much
Rachel: information going You touched on something before that really piqued my interest and it was, um, what was it? The Your thing of genius and yeah, yeah, could you briefly explain what that?
Arzelle: Okay.
Arzelle: So
Arzelle: I'm going to give you what I as a mentee got from my mentor, from my coach. So zone of genius is the thing that comes naturally to you.
Arzelle: That doesn't have to take a lot of effort. [00:20:00] It is like with me with sewing, I teaching it, it just comes naturally. I don't need to go sit for hours. And okay, how am I going to structure this two hour lesson with this person? Now it just comes naturally where my zone of excellence is, It's something that I'm good at.
Arzelle: I was good at content creation for travel. I really enjoyed it. But as soon as I had to put a bit more effort and things into it, it became overwhelming and it took the joy out of it. So my zone of genius, that whole, the concept, I can't remember the book where it's from now. Um, but the whole concept is it comes easy to you and it brings you joy. It's not feeling forced. Yeah. So, yeah.
Rachel: Yeah. That's a good thing to think about when you're wanting to start a business yeah. Um, I really liked that.
Arzelle: It's like not taking your hobby, because travel and travel content creation was a hobby for me. That I try to force into making it a business. So, yeah.[00:21:00]
Paula: it does work, obviously, because the sewing you enjoyed
Paula: and then a business
Arzelle: always
Arzelle: work, but it does for that one. It definitely worked. But again, it, it came, it comes naturally to me to be creative and to teach. I don't need to overthink
Paula: Yeah.
Paula: And I guess also if you love something enough, it comes through. You know, like if you, if you love to talk like I do, it comes through.
Arzelle: Yes, exactly.
Paula: So I think, I guess, obviously then, um, what, what do you think the next stage is for you then in terms of, What do you expect, um, what are your goals
Arzelle: this?
Arzelle: Okay, so I'm a very interesting person. I don't have five year goals. Okay. I don't work on five year goals and I've got other few things that people will be like, Oh, why don't you do that or think of that? I have, I work in one year goals and then breaking it down. Yeah. [00:22:00] So my first goal is to have this life.
Arzelle: where my Business is around my life. Not my life is around my business. So Yeah, so growing my membership is my main focus because that will allow me to travel and go visit family whenever I want to um to get that in place and then like you said earlier building blocks So taking it into a next level, maybe opening up a, cause I've had a lot of people ask about things like draping and drafting, making patterns for themselves, which is a more technical skill, maybe adding a second membership to it.
Paula: because that's specialized,
Arzelle: is specialized. Yeah. I have another goal. I don't know if I should say it out loud. I'm like,
Paula: It's all about
Arzelle: about manifestation. So my, I think, you know, my mentor, you're one of my mentors here in Singapore, Mangla. Um, yeah. So I love traveling. I love [00:23:00] sewing. I love textiles and I love exploring textiles when I'm traveling.
Arzelle: So a lot of times my travel is based around textiles, which is quite interesting. So I've had this idea for, I'm going to say eight, nine years that I want to have a show
Paula: Oh, that's
Paula: not where I thought. Oh you were going but yeah go
Arzelle: show showcasing different crafts from across the world and somehow, you know, showcasing people true, the techniques, the craftsmanship, why something costs what it really costs.
Arzelle: So, uh, I have this whole big idea, so I'm putting it out there now.
Paula: if there's any producers out there,
Arzelle: there's an
Paula: here.
Arzelle: So,
Paula: Because that, I mean, that's a beautiful idea. I just went, I went to India this year and went the prints. You know, like they go and they show you how they're
Arzelle: The block print,
Paula: Yeah, it's amazing, right? You just, there's so much more to just putting on a piece of paper.
Arzelle: Exactly, exactly.
Paula: it because you got to feel good in the [00:24:00] garment too. And when you've got a pattern feel of a material, I'm getting all,
Paula: you know, like I, it is though. It's once you put something on
Arzelle: and it feels nice.
Arzelle: Yes, exactly,
Rachel: the same when I did a tour just in Singapore. And we went to a batik shop and just one designer took, or one
Rachel: batik
Rachel: artist,,, would make these beautiful pieces of, uh, fabric that took them like six months to
Paula: Yeah, I know.
Rachel: Like, and then you're, and then you're, you're looking at that and this is, It's absolutely original the way they do it and the different types of dyes and everything like that. And then you go and you see it in a market and you're like going, I can't spend 200 on that.
Rachel: I can get it from, I can get something similar from Shein, which is not even half the amount of skill that's gone into it.
Paula: disgusting
Paula: Yeah.
Rachel: I mean, horrible, horrible. [00:25:00] Stuff and actually some they come with a health warning now because they're so
Paula: they? They
Arzelle: toxic. They do. It's
Paula: can be
Rachel: be it's
Arzelle: It's polyester.
Rachel: And it's toxic chemicals as well.
Paula: Because I, I remember going out to some sort of village out in Malaysia, where they were doing the batik, and the, batik, and they were, they, it was just, Some old, little old man, you know, it's, I find
Rachel: And it's a dying art,
Paula: a dying
Arzelle: So that's, that's the whole thing. That's why I want to create like a show that showcases these things. Cause I, last year I went, I've been to Bali many times, but last year I went and I spent three days learning about the natural dye techniques that they use in Bali from, it was amazing.
Arzelle: So batik, I know batik cause I studied fiber arts. Um, but I got to use tools that I've never used before. I got to use dye. So I know indigo dye, but I got to use mud. from under the, that's under the rice fields that creates black. Jackfruit bark that [00:26:00] creates yellow. So I got to learn all about that, um, it's actually a place called Thread of Life in Bali.
Arzelle: And I posted about that and then my one friend saw about it and she's like, well, she has family in Malaysia and, um, Because I mentioned a type of fabric that I really want to go see how they make it. And she's like, well, we can go do a road trip. So last month, a month before, I did a road trip up with her to Malaysia to see how they produce the traditional songket fabric that's hand woven.
Arzelle: One piece, a four and a half meter piece, takes at least, the basic one, um, three to four weeks. But I saw pieces that takes, what Ami's told me, I think was five to six months, and it costs thousands. But then when you see it, and you see the actual person doing it by hand, that's the appreciation you get for it, and you're like, I can't pay so little for something.
Arzelle: Yeah,
Paula: that's like rugs.
Paula: I've seen them make rugs
Arzelle: rugs from
Paula: and you go, wow, I didn't realize there's so much involved.
Rachel: [00:27:00] individual
Paula: Yeah. Yeah,
Arzelle: exactly.
Rachel: that are combined together to make that.
Paula: And that's why you understand why, okay, these prices that you're paying, you know why
Arzelle: exactly and that's why you know, I I question why is something only twenty thirty dollars
Arzelle: You know, yeah
Paula: And that's the problem it's cheap, and it's quick, and it's fast. And, I mean, when you get something of good quality, people don't realize that you pay a little bit more, but it lasts so much longer, and you can have it forever.
Arzelle: Yes. Yeah. I still have clothing garments that are 15 plus years old, you
Paula: you know what? I have my mum's dress that she wore to my, on a date with my dad for the first time. And mine, I wore it to like a ball, I guess, cause it, you know, back little bit more fancy. And then my niece wore it. So it's like a beautiful [00:28:00] piece of, and it never went
Rachel: of town. History, Yeah.
Paula: They're the sort of
Rachel: Family heirloom,
Arzelle: yeah.
Arzelle: That's
Paula: I'm hoping
Paula: that she then sends That would
Arzelle: be
Paula: What strategies do you use to stay organized and managed, you know, on a day to day operation?
Arzelle: Um, I am not a very organized person and I know that. So I have strategies in place to help me. Um, yeah, I,
Paula: that's where a coach helps? Yes. recommend having
Arzelle: definitely. Especially for me, if I had to do on my own, I have so many ideas and so many things that run through my brain that.
Arzelle: I
Arzelle: sometimes just get like overwhelmed by it. And I'm like, okay, it's just me, I think.
Arzelle: And that's definitely where a coach comes in because they help you focus on something. So one of the strategies she actually told me to do is each beginning of the [00:29:00] week, for each day, write down three priorities. You have a massive, maybe to do list, but write down three priorities and that's what you start off with.
Arzelle: And. What I like about that, so I've got another social media coach as well, an online one, um, she is, again, it's progress over perfection. And, you know, doing that little bit each day. So definitely one of the strategies I put in place is three priorities.
Arzelle: I Don't have a set time that I work from like this to that time because sometimes in the morning I find it that if I get up at 6 I start at 7 and I finish at 11.
Arzelle: I am just Why I'd like that. And some days I'll work at night and not during the day. Um, so I don't have like a clear, like, this is how every single day looks like, but I know what my goals are because I set three months goals and then I have steps to break it down. And then these priority lists are what is the most important for [00:30:00] each day to do.
Arzelle: And if I can add on, if I want to add on anything else in there, I do that. So another strategy for me is to keeping my space organized.
Paula: Oh, that's, that's
Arzelle: a hundred
Arzelle: percent. Because if it's not, it overwhelms me and I walk away. Mm hmm. So, No. find a
Paula: messy desk
Arzelle: I can't. I just
Paula: then all of lawn. Yeah. And, I don't know. The dishes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The dishes that I needed to, or the cupboard I needed to look at.
Paula: But if you have a, I'm absolutely with you there. If you have a clean desk, and a clean space, then all of a sudden your mind is
Arzelle: clean
Arzelle: Yes. Yes.
Rachel: I love those tips. They're really good. I could really learn
Paula: learn a lot. It
Arzelle: time to get used to them or to get them in place, but yeah.
Paula: Yeah.
Paula: And I think everybody's different, that they, they deal, you know. Somebody might be super scheduled and that's the way they, they like to work and a little [00:31:00] bit more flexible.
Arzelle: very different. He's very scheduled, routine. I'm the furthest from routine person ever. So yeah, but it works.
Paula: It works somehow.
Rachel: I think my husband's like that as well. He's very structured with routine and, and I work well under that. If I had to do it myself, I could not have in my own routine. I would just be all over the place.
Arzelle: So
Rachel: that's good to have somebody who is, you know, a bit more up in the clouds and then, uh, somebody who's down to earth.
Rachel: And I think that works really well.
Paula: Yeah,
Arzelle: Yeah, yeah. It definitely does.
Paula: definitely
Rachel: So how did you build your community that you have?
Arzelle: My, okay, so, Instagram.
Arzelle: Instagram. Instagram, yeah.
Arzelle: Yeah. Um, One
Arzelle: of the first things I've had Instagram for my travel account. Could never figure out what and how to work it and I kind of just did things here then everywhere and [00:32:00] that's two years ago I signed up for online membership in social media coaching and I'm using my social media to engage with people and to grow my membership So I don't at this moment don't do any other things But just the Instagram
Arzelle: Is that the best
Paula: to contact you if
Arzelle: I think so, definitely. Yeah, Instagram or email, but Instagram is definitely the, because I'm on there every day. Emails, I check maybe once a day,
Paula: can put that and if anyone's liking, if anyone wants to follow out social media, we'll link you
Arzelle: um,
Paula: episode so
Arzelle: get in touch with
Paula: Do
Paula: you find that, um, I mean, cause instagram has changed so much over the last few years Um, so, so what would they find on Instagram that would be, is it your personality that comes out in it? Is it your work that comes out in it?
Arzelle: I think it's both actually. Definitely my personality comes out in [00:33:00] there.
Arzelle: People can see who and what I am. Um, they will see I'm very vibrant and bright colors and I dress how I want to dress. And so it's all about expression and tips, beginner tips. So I share a lot of beginner tips on there as well. And behind the scenes of like now we are in a launch phase again about what is happening.
Arzelle: In the membership or preparing for the for the doors opening So those are the type of things that we'll see on their stories. I like to share other people's things so that's where I will be sharing things like sustainability or Have little rants some days when I saw something Just go off about sustainable things like that.
Arzelle: So yeah, that's the story part. Um, I also yeah, I share a lot of tips and things
Paula: Is there any major projects that you have that you'd like to share with us?
Arzelle: Yeah, so I think I'm going to put the one actually as an achievement, which is a big achievement for me [00:34:00] is I am working with a brand that I absolutely Um, I've had this sewing machine brand since I think it was 15, 16 years. And I now recently became their first ambassador in Singapore. So a Benina sewing machine. It's a Swiss brand.
Paula: That's very
Arzelle: Yeah. So that is very exciting for me to be working on and with them. And then I, my membership will be opening its doors again soon.
Arzelle: End of November. Um, I only open it about three times a year. So I can, yeah. So I can pay attention to the people who are in there. It's not just an influx of people coming in. Um, so yeah, those are the two major things that are at this moment happening.
Rachel: Wow, that's good to know
Paula: Quite big things.
Arzelle: Yeah.
Rachel: actually love that you only take on a few people or, you know, a certain amount of people every year so that it doesn't grow too big or, so that you can manage it consistently.
Rachel: You sound like a [00:35:00] one lady band at the moment. So without with having too many things on can be overwhelming and yeah, yeah, no, that's a really, really love. And then you take care of those people who do sign up.
Arzelle: Exactly. And I kind of apply the same for the private clients that I take on. I take three, maybe four clients per week. Okay. yet again to balance my time between working my membership, doing the other things I need to do like admin, and then having the personal interaction with actual yeah,
Paula: people don't realize how much
Arzelle: your own
Paula: just Instagram
Arzelle: and, telling you are everything from the financial person through to the videographer, the editor, everything . It's account you wear every single hat. Yeah, I know. That's the one I don't like wearing . I know.
Rachel: I know,
Paula: I'm not, I'm not great I, do you know what it is for me is that I just like to be creative.
Paula: So [00:36:00] I, I put things
Arzelle: Yes.
Paula: and then it becomes overwhelming cause I've put so many, so much off and then it's like, Oh, I have to do
Arzelle: Yep.
Paula: I get
Arzelle: it.
Paula: Is
Paula: there anything you'd like to tell, tell anyone out there that we haven't covered today because I mean you're, you've got so much going
Arzelle: on. Yeah. So one of the other things that I'll actually be doing soon is in person workshops. So I'll be hosting it at the Bernina studio or
Arzelle: Creative Space.
Arzelle: space. So in person workshops for small groups with focused other garments or projects to build confidence in sewing. Yeah, so not only just one on one but workshops and then membership.
Arzelle: So I've got these three different things.
Paula: And do you have a date for that yet? I don't have
Arzelle: a date for it yet, but I have a broadcast channel on my Instagram where I update these things. I also host uh, socials.
Arzelle: I go to this creative space, Benina Creative Space, at least once a week. I [00:37:00] just go sit and sew there, so I've had people ask me, Oh, but can I come as well?
Arzelle: And yes, they can. Um, just rent a machine, and I normally host it for two hours.
Paula: So
Arzelle: So I've had people come and just sew their own clothes or had somebody actually come and upcycle or mend things
Paula: Ah.
Arzelle: in that
Arzelle: time. So it's like a social.
Rachel: because it's a bit of an investment to, and, and obviously with space and stuff to buy your own sewing machine.
Rachel: But the fact that you can actually hire a machine at Bernina, that's
Arzelle: awesome. It's pretty amazing because.
Arzelle: living in
Arzelle: Singapore, condos are
Paula: Yeah, yeah, we don't have space. You
Arzelle: don't have the space for it, so, yeah, it is nice.
Arzelle: It's fantastic.
Rachel: And that you're a Benina Influencer,
Paula: Yeah. Congratulations. Yeah.
Arzelle: Yeah, I think
Arzelle: a lot of people like when they want to start sewing they're like, oh. I don't know. Can I? Can't I? Oh, I don't have [00:38:00] the time. It comes down to making the time. So you have to make the time to actually do something that you love. And I not only see sewing as, like I said earlier, like learning a technique, learning to appreciate fast, or fashion from it, um, or making things for yourself.
Arzelle: I also see it as a form of I want to say self care because sewing for me if I go into my room and I sew I say oh i'm just going to sew for 10 minutes. It ends up being like two hours. Yeah, and I I actually relaxes me so and It's a form for me of self care Or mindfulness and that way taking time for myself.
Arzelle: So If you want to do something whichever craft it is or anything You Take the time, schedule the time and say this is me time or however you want to put it and then pursue that if it is [00:39:00] exercise or whatever, you know.
Rachel: Yeah. I do too. I love it. Yeah, it's really good advice to live by.
Arzelle: It's difficult. Yeah. It is
Rachel: it is really difficult because you, you more, most times feel guilty for doing that. Especially if you've got like some other chores that you have to do or priorities and stuff like that.
Rachel: But actually doing that, you should really enjoy that time Azale, thank you so much for coming to see us today. We've, I've learned so much just in this short time. I'm like in awe of how much you've achieved in such a short time. And, and, um, how beautiful. I love your posts, to be honest. I get really mesmerized by them and it's like, well, how did, how to do a top and, and how to find something that suits your figure and how, you know, all of those things are, You know, a never ending, question in a person's mind, when they can't try to get dressed and everything.
Rachel: [00:40:00] So it was fantastic. Thank you. Thank
Paula: much for
Arzelle: Yeah, no for having me, it was fun.