Around the age of 16, she was already been offered to act as the lead role in a French film. And by the time she was at her 3rd year of university, she was contracted as the brand ambassador for Double A, the renowned paper company that spans its operations across the globe. Her career as an artiste, a news anchor and a singer had picked up fast since then. A refined Thai lady with many talents, Lukgal Srikarn will share her journey from the experience in the entertainment and media industry to where she is now, an entrepreneur for Myanmar jades and jewelleries.
1. Tell us about yourself
I had been working since the age of 14. And after graduating from university, I started working as a news anchor for Ch11, Radio Thailand and Mono29 Channel. At the same time, I was also pursuing an acting career by starting with MV and TV commercials.
At one point, I started to get overloaded with advertorial and acting jobs. I had to make a choice between the young popstar or creditable news reporter. And I decided to go with the prior as I figured that I could resume my news reporting later as I get older.
Then I had an opportunity to work with the music label GMM Grammy and started my training as a girl band artiste. As such, I started to receive many offers for TV shows and as event emcee.
I am in the entertainment and media industry for 6 years, from a girl band singer to an actress to a show host. I had done over 40 advertisements and TV commercials and hosted on a wide range of shows such as travel, music and education. I also hosted for Thailand IT Gadget reviews platform Beartai. My proudest moment for this career was the chance to interview Dwayne Johnson (aka The Rock) and Scott Eastwood about their roles in new films.
2. What are you currently working on now?
I am still hosting many TV shows and also as a bilingual event emcee. In addition, I am now learning and managing my business on Myanmar jades and jewelleries. I am intending to market my business through the social media, by collaborating with brands and creating sponsored contents. I am still learning on how to deal with client campaigns which are targeted through micro influencers and photographers. I have plans to create my own clothing brand in the near future.
My company brand is named Rupar Gems. It has a range of top-quality Myanmar jadeites, with all-natural Type A, as ready-made jewelleries or as loose pieces for customers to customise. We also have top grades of Myanmar rubies, pearls and sapphires.
Jade itself is a very rare gemstone and it will be very difficult to access to the high-quality ones. Yet we have high volumes of top-quality Type A jades. The source traces to my relative. My cousin owns the mine in Myanmar and has been in this industry since 1996. As an owner, she will select the best quality of jade pieces for making jewelleries before auctioning off the remaining jade stones in the for other buyers. As she loves jades so much, she wants to make it accessible for the public. Comparing to those jades of the same grade in the markets, be it in Thailand, China, Hong Kong, Macau or Singapore, our prices are lower.
3. Tell us more about your entrepreneurship journey.
I know that there is a limited working shelf life in the entertainment and media industry. Thus, I set up the business for another source of income. I will be able to manage the business even if I were to be pregnant in the future. I thought of many different things I can do, and jade is one of the prospective options for me. As I have the advantage to access high-quality jades from my cousin’s mine and with connections to photographers, producers and marketing experts, I decide to bring in the jades and start selling them in Thailand. Also, as a lady, there is always a passion in fine jewelleries.
I plan to do it slowly but steadily, as I am still learning about the business along the way. I started all the branding and marketing on my own. I initiated my personal Instagram with the connections from the entertainment industry to promote and post about the jades. I also wear them whenever I go for shootings. I have also set up a website and other social media platforms for the business so that clients can approach me with the specifications of the jades they want, and I bring the jades to them for private viewing. I started bit by bit in Thailand to develop my own customer base. My mum will help me in keeping track of sales and client database.
My cousin, who is the owner of the jade mine, teaches me about jades and the industry. However, she lives in Myanmar, so I only get to see her from time to time.
My entrepreneurship journey requires a lot of learnings and I need to hone my business skills. My time is very limited as I am also involved in other projects.
4. When did you decide to be an entrepreneur?
About 2 years ago, it struck me hard that I lacked business skills. I had been pushing myself to learn and improve the skills since then. As I learn more, I realise that I can make more money and deals by connecting the relevant dots and expanding what I am already doing.
For my Rupar Gems, I want to build my customer base and make it the one of the top names for high-quality jades in Thailand. In the future I want to expand it to overseas and have my own showrooms in Bangkok or any other places. I also hope to be able to create my own future brand for jades that are more appealing to the youth. As for my social media channels, I want to expand them by creating official contents, so that in the future I can pave the path on opening a company as media content creator.
I am also starting to work as an agency for companies who are looking for social media marketing, through micro influencers, photographers, PR events as I have a large connection in the media field and can provide them with solutions and campaigns to suit their marketing budget.
5. What are the challenges you faced and the benefits you received as a female entrepreneur?
I think in today’s corporate world, there are still a lot of gender divides and stigma on being a female entrepreneur. People tend to impose more limitations on you.
And having been in the entertaining industry for a long time, I think I am quite used to dealing and working with people. I handle them in friendly and approachable manner. This probably works well for both genders, but I do have a 70% male-based audience in my social media as followers. I think products targeting to men will fetch higher sales and this also explains why a lot of my work revolves technology and IT gadgets. A number of my clients are men. They are CEOs looking for jades as good luck charms for their businesses or as gifts to their mothers, wives or girlfriends.
6. How do you manage a balance in your work and life?
I am currently scheduling my regime to be more routine, organised and disciplined. As a freelancer and entrepreneur, I arrange all my work schedules and timetables by myself so that I can have high discipline, productivity and control.
I do not really have any problems to keep myself busy. I am constantly thinking about my projects and trying to keep myself as productive as possible. The only time I can switch off my work mode will be when I am exercising and the quality times with my family and friends. I will try to sleep as early as possible and start my next day by going to the gym before I start work. I hope to manage my time well so that I will not be slogging till late nights.
You may follow Lukgal Srikarn through these channels:
Lukgal Srikarn Nakavisut (Thai)
Instagram @lukgalsrikarn
Facebook page: Lukgal Srikarn Fanpage
Youtube: Lukgal Srikarn
Write in to us via media@blackstormco.asia to contribute your story!
About BlackStorm Consulting
BlackStorm Consulting is a boutique growth consultancy firm that specialises in corporate strategy, profit management and investment management. We mainly serve clients in four sectors: FinTech, Gaming, Technology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT), and manufacturing.
Our clients and connections are internationally present and range from small and medium sized businesses, MNCs, to government agencies.
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