NTUpreneur Qistina Warren and her future aspirations
Qistina Warren shares her transformative journey through the ET9122 MiE elective and how it spurred her interest in entrepreneurship.
What kickstarted your interest in entrepreneurship?
I am an alumnus of Ngee Ann Polytechnic's School of Film and Media Studies (FMS). During my time in polytechnic, I built a strong foundation in digital and traditional media. After graduation, I went on to start my own home-based business (@seriouslyhummus). The experience inspired me to learn more about digital marketing through ET9122.
How has your experience in the module been?
Every lesson is a new yet challenging experience for me. The academic team brought in industry experts and guest speakers. Apart from the talks, we also got to launch campaigns on different apps (e.g. Facebook ads). This hands-on experience was informative albeit challenging. While it seemed extremely complex at first since most of us did not have experience using the platform, it was interesting to see the success of these ads when the clients used them for their businesses. The group pitch was the most time-consuming and had us racking our brains since we were all new to these tools, but with the help of our peers and lecturers, we were able to reach a solid outcome!
What insights have you gained from the elective?
Social media acts as a powerful tool to leverage any business. The marketing budget goes hand in hand with using the right tools with the right resources to boost your brand product and awareness such as Facebook ads, keyword trackers, influencer analytics, etc.
What advice would you have for students interested in this field?
Thriving in the media industry is not an easy feat. It is constantly evolving with new tools and trends. Yet, it is extremely fulfilling to see reactions from consumers first-hand through comments, likes, shares and the sales figures. Do not simply hop on the bandwagon or have a herd mentality. Instead, find your passion or niche and start from there. It is important to find the right people with the expertise to work with since media is a multifaceted industry and you get to learn from them too, as I did from my peers in ET9122.
What’s next for your journey as an entrepreneur?
I wish to be able to start my own business upon graduation and use the social media marketing and analytical tools I was equipped with to my advantage.
For students like Qistina, who yearn to meet new people and consistently challenge themselves, learn more about our programmes as we continue to cultivate entrepreneurship with a multidisciplinary approach and foster the diversity of ideas.
