“Nothing is more difficult, and therefore more precious, than to be able to decide,” said Napoleon Bonaparte, the French emperor and military commander.

Decision making is indeed a key component of success and leadership. Many a times, the difference between a successful individual and an unsuccessful one is, the choices they make in life.

For Noura AlZayed, sound decision-making has always been a strong suite. The biomedicine expert turned entrepreneur has been faced with critical life choices several times during her professional journey. Be it the decision to give up her field of expertise, Biomedicine for a business role; the choice to put her entrepreneurial ambition on the back burner to accept a lucrative job offer in interest of gaining business experience; or the tough call to quit a stable job to establish VEND, while being an expecting mother; Noura has always managed to make the right decisions for herself.

Owing to her sound decision making skills, Noura has achieved several laurels that often allude others. At a young age, she was onboarded by Raha to join the founding team. One of the youngest in the team, she was also the only women and the one with least number of work-experience under her belt. At a young age Noura has also founded VEND, a digital transformation platform that connects consumers with businesses. Her vision has already received the backing of investors and customers alike.

An astute leader, Noura envisions building VEND to be a home-grown platform for the Middle East that not only caters to the needs of the region, but also supports local businesses. Noura sure has her heart and mind in the right place.

As VEND prepares for its market launch, Women Entrepreneurs Review spoke to Noura to get to know more about her professional journey, idea behind VEND, approach to leadership and more.

Here are choice excerpts from the interview with Noura AlZayed, Founder & CEO, VEND.

Take us through your professional journey so far. What have been some of the most crucial junctures throughout this journey?

I graduated from Boston University in the U.S. with a degree in biomedicine. Upon my return to Kuwait post my graduation, I began working in the biomedical field. One day, my boss approached me with a job opportunity in a startup. At the time I was not looking for a new job, neither was I looking to shift my work field from biomedical to business. I took the tough decision to join the startup and my career trajectory completely changed thereafter.

While working at the startup, I got the inspiration to establish VEND with the objective of helping Kuwaiti stores adopt digitization. I had a little money saved up which I used to start the company. Very close to VEND’s launch I was presented with a lucrative job opportunity. A publicly listed company that had raised millions in pre-series A, but hadn't launched in the market, approached me to join their founding team.

At the time it was a tough decision, as I essentially had to give up my ‘baby’ that I had built with immense hard work. However, joining an established company was the right thing for me to do at the time. I realised that I required to gather more experience before venturing out on my own.

I took the job at Raha. I was the youngest person on the team and the only woman. I also had the least amount of experienced. It was a challenging role but it helped skyrocket my career.

What ultimately led you to establish VEND? Tell us about the underlying idea behind the venture.

While working with my career’s first startup, I was made privy to a problem that several of my peers faced as well, i.e. the lack digitization of Kuwaiti stores.

Currently, a majority of businesses in Kuwait function through Instagram. There's a huge disconnect between consumers and businesses. To counter this challenge, VEND intends to bridge the gap between consumers and businesses by leveraging technology.

The idea for VEND was in place. But I had to put it on hold when I joined Raha. After Raha was launched and, on its feet, I made the tough decision to pursue the idea of establishing Vend. I ended up leaving the company while also being pregnant with my first baby.

I was able to secure funding which was a huge accomplishment for me. I began work on building the company; in the process, I also made several mistakes. But in hindsight I believe that I have learnt to see the good that can come out of making mistakes as well. This has been remarkable personal growth for me.

Looking back at your professional journey, what has been the biggest milestone that you've achieved over the years.

In my opinion, one of my life’s biggest successes has been accomplishing professional highs while not compromising on my personal life. Although I have had long and rigorous work days, yet I have never let it affect my personal life. Over the years I have gotten married and even experienced motherhood. Anytime I feel exhausted, I'm ready for a vacation.

Another noteworthy milestone for me has been the positions that I have been able to achieve despite the limited work experience under my belt. Receiving such validation from external sources has been rewarding for me.

I have succeeded in raising funds for my own company and have become a founder and CEO, which has been the pinnacle of my ‘I’ve made it’ moment.

In your opinion, how is VEND positioned in the market to align with the industry’s trends and requirements?

Going forward, VEND intends to support local businesses. We have admired other regions for their innovation. I wish to build something can we can be proud of as Kuwaitis, as women, and, as Arabs. The best way to achieve this is by supporting everything local.

So far VEND has made efforts to support businesses that are local, smaller in stature or new in the market. We do so by giving them lower commission rates. We also support them by providing longer free trials. This can help young and small businesses stand on their feet before they have to pay our fees. The objective is to help them help themselves before they help us.

Noura Alzayed, Founder & CEO, VEND

A Business leader you admire: My father is one of the people I admire the most. He built his own company from scratch with his own money. He invested his entire life savings and got to a very successful place in his life. Its because of his guidance and support that I have been able to build a business at such a young age.

Advice for aspiring women entrepreneurs or business leaders:

I would urge people to go with their gut feeling. Always do what makes you happy because at the end of day, it’s your life.