Beauty-with-brains has always seemed to walk in tandem in Shazreeyana Ahamad Shukri’s academic portfolio. She went to study medicine in Russia in the 2005 fulfilling her parents’ dream to have a doctor-in-the-house, however, it came without passion and the burden made her time abroad a dreadful journey. Her leap of faith to becoming a make-up artist and a stylist would certainly not get her any blessings. This is how Shazreeyana, the founder of Shazreeyana Beauty Sdn Bhd describes her early journey to TMV in an interview. She talks enthusiastically about how her deep passion for beauty propelled her to new heights of success as an entrepreneur.
In her first year abroad, Shazreeyana Ahamad Shukri was diagnosed with a cyst problem and had to come back home for the operation and continued her study in Malaysia. She laments how depressed she was when she was diagnosed again with the second cyst and even hit her rock bottom when her mother passed away from cancer soon after that. She was faced with yet another heart-wrenching dilemma when she had to abort her first unborn child due to ectopic pregnancy in her final year of study. At this stage, Shazreeyana was losing herself. She found her knack for beauty during her time off from study which led her to self-realization of what makes her inspiration ticks. She was pregnant again and to keep her focus and balance she had to give up on becoming a doctor. This impacted her life tremendously because she had to keep up appearances with her family until she had made her first million.
Shazreeyana started making video reviews on beauty products and make-up tutorials while making her name as a make-up artist. She started with RM5,000 buying her first beauty product to work with and ended up with RM1.2 million in revenue during the first year. “I was happy and surprised to have believed in my instinct,” says Shazreeyana with a smile.
“Anything on beauty, health and skincare just come naturally to me and I just know where to pin the tips for my viewers and customers,” she reiterates. Shazreeyana started to gain more confidence from her viewers and new clients which led her to a ready-to-wear (RTW) clothing line in 2015 and also appointed as ambassador for several beauty products. Being an ambassador is easy which Shazreeyana is still currently active, however, the RTW came with its set of challenges when she lost quite a fortune due to her lack of proper business strategy. “Somehow I turned my disappointments into positive vibes and focused on what I do best. “Failure will never stop me,” she says enthusiastically.
She promoted herself by giving free make-up for renowned fashion designers like Rizman Ruzaini, Modvier and others during their fashion shows and also free services to celebrities like Ella, Zahira McWilson, Juliana Evans, DeFam just to name a few. Her magic touch sparks confidence among the influential circle in the entertainment industries and her brand was well received.
Since the inception of Shazreeyana Beauty in 2017, she has spread her wings into promoting and distributing new local beauty and health products of her choice through her website. Dermova-Dream Skin Gel Moisturizer is Shazreeyana’s latest skincare product under her third company, Dermova Sdn Bhd and the response has been remarkably overwhelming.
Shazreeyana owes her success in the business to her self-reliance and self-determination and most of all, her husband’s blessings, understanding, trust and sacrifices during her tight schedules which have made their relationship even stronger. She sets her dreams to be successful in her way and her indifferences while underpinning for new job creators in the beauty business. “I am determined to lead and shape them to grow with me,” she says. Shazreeyana may not be the doctor-in-the house anymore but she certainly is the beauty-with-brains in the house.
