“I’m a mum of seven awesome children, and I’ve helped my sister care for her kids too,” she said. “So very little fazes me and I like trying new things.”
She formerly worked in the food and beverage industry, starting as service staff and eventually managing a few restaurants. She also dabbled in facilities management, tried food delivery, and for a while, was a stay-at-home mum to her kids, now aged between 11 and 25.
One thing has stuck with her across all her experiences: She likes keeping places clean.
“If a place isn’t clean, it can really affect the mood,” she said.
“It may sound obvious, but I saw how a dirty place can turn many people off in the restaurants I managed.”
She got into pest control “accidentally” after a friend in the industry suggested she might enjoy the work because she was so particular about cleanliness.
At first, Norhayati laughed it off.
“I had the same reaction most people probably would, which I’m honestly embarrassed about now,” she said. “Why would I want to work in pest control? It sounded dirty and gross.”
But the more she thought about it, the more it made sense. She’d already been trying out different jobs, and she was craving something more stable that would allow her to be home more with her children.
Plus, as someone who gravitated towards the unconventional, this didn’t seem so far off. Even her initial fear of cockroaches and other insects like large ants and termites disappeared quickly once she immersed herself in her job.
“It was like the fear was all in my head,” she said. “Just because I’m a woman, I thought I had to be scared of pests, but they didn’t bother me that much at all.”
A BOOST TO HER CONFIDENCE
It’s this fearlessness from work that Norhayati also brings to other aspects of her life.
