Haya Al Sunaidi
Self-taught, passionate and driven – Haya Al Sunaidi, the mind behind the Jewellery Salon is a true representative of women empowerment in the Kingdom. She commenced her journey in jewellery retail as a young woman in Lebanon and eventually came back to Saudi Arabia in her early 20s to break the mould which was constricting the nation’s jewellery industry.
From the strong influence of a few elite, tricky customs to the absence of a platform for jewellers, the sector was marked by a plethora of challenges that Haya Al Sunaidi identified and sought to overcome. Being an avid collector herself, she envisioned to launch an exhibition that could unite local and international jewellers on a single platform and serve an exclusive clientele. However, crossing hurdles in an industry dominated by men was not easy. A decade ago, the Kingdom was still walking down the road of development and attracting foreign exhibitors was difficult.
Yet the determination of Haya Al Sunaidi did not let her down. She continued to persevere and successfully launched the first edition of the Jewellery Salon in 2009 which attracted positive media attention. Since that glorious year, each outing of the exhibition kept on breaking barriers and pushing traditions. As a champion of women’s role in business, Ms. Al Sunaidi has emerged as a role model for hundreds and thousands of Saudi women that yearn to follow her journey and carve a name for themselves in a field that they admire from the bottom of their hearts.