My First Lesson on The Lens Story’s Customer Service Department

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Last week, I posted an Instagram ad for 7 days period. It was the sixth ad I posted on Instagram and it was the first one got rejected. It was really confusing to me. That ad had been previously approved and I received many clicks for 2 or 3 days until it was suddenly disapproved. The content in that rejected ad was pretty much the same with 5 others prior ads I posted; the major difference was the targeted audience (it was the first time I aimed Instagram users outside Indonesia).

There was a note on my Instagram apps saying that my ad was not approved because the destination URL was not viewable or functioning properly.

There I wondered what they referred as “destination URL”. When I created my ads (six of them), the destinations were always my Instagram business profile. If they said the destination URL was not functioning properly, didn’t it mean they had a problem with their own web?

I decided to click “appeal” button and I told them my confusion as my ad was actually linked to Instagram profile and not to any other website. I also asked them when they stopped my ad and how much I would pay for that rejected ad.

Six hours later, I received a reply from Facebook team. Initially I thought, “Wow, given their huge size, their response is very fast!”

But did you know what their answer was? They were simply repeating the rejection reason that I already read 6 hours earlier in their rejection note! It was a total copy-paste from A to Z. At the end, they added one sentence saying that I should edit my URL and that’s that! They didn’t even answer my question on when they stopped it and the amount they would charge to my account. It was fast, but not helpful at all.

I sent another reply telling them that they didn’t answer any single question I asked. Then I rephrased my question to make myself clear, “Which destination URL that you referred to?” I also repeated my question about my ad period and fee. I even asked them to read my questions and answer them accordingly.

Did you know what happen after that? They sent me another robotic answer! None of my question was answered (again!).

I was really upset at that point. Their customer service’s replies were even more disappointing than the rejected ad itself. Maybe I did something wrong with my sixth ad, but how could I learn from my mistake if I didn’t even know what I did wrong? It’s their job to tell me which part was actually going wrong! I know they are busy with many other inquiries, but it shouldn’t be an excuse notably because this ad I posted was not free.

I finally realized what I did wrong with my sixth ad after three times of trial-error (I edited, posted, got rejected, edited again until it was finally approved) but it doesn’t change my opinion on Facebook team’s performance. Was that really what they wanted? Asking the customers to go figuring out by themselves? The way I see it, if I gave them 3 questions, then they are liable to also give me 3 real answers that I need.

After I managed to fix my ad, this Facebook team’s behavior reminded me of myself. I received hundreds of registration e-mails in a week and I had prepared dozens of templates to reply the applicants depends on their e-mail contents. I began to worry that I also did what Facebook team did: answering people’s questions using a fixed template!

I rushed to my sent items folder and I checked every single e-mail I’ve ever sent to make sure that I have answered any question addressed to me in users’ applications. I was so relieved knowing that I always completed my standardized answers with additional answers to my customers’ additional questions!

At the end of the day, this ad problem with Instagram has been my first lesson on customer service department in my own start-up: it’s not only about how fast you can reply and close the ticket, but also how helpful your replies to the customers are.

Sometimes, You’ve Just Got to Live with Your Own Fear

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Usually, I’m not that kind of person who takes the work problems to sleep at night. Whatever happens in the office, stays in the office. Yes, I complain about situations at work sometimes, but that’s that. I can still sleep tight at night as if nothing happened the days before.

With that being said, running my own business is completely different to me. I feel scared, I feel okay, but then I feel scared again. I always have a new reason to feel scared about my very own big dream.

What if nobody wants to buy from my web?

What if I’m running out of money?

What if it’s not going to be as good as I want it to be?

What if I fail miserably?

What if it’s only going to be a setback in my career?

I still remember how shocked I was knowing that a friend of mine decided to quit from his own start-up. Not only I was shocked for him as his friend, but also I was shocked for myself. What if the same thing happens to me? Will I be okay with that?

My whole life, I never really experience a big failure in my career. There were ups and downs, but never a real big disaster. What if the company I own become the first big career failure in my entire life?

Career is something that I’m always proud of, and the thought that my own business might ruin that pride totally scares myself. I often sit alone and make some back-up plans on my head just to make sure that at least, I have surviving plans for my future.

I always wanted to write this post on my blog but I kept cancelling the drafts. It’s not that I’m ashamed of my fear, it’s just that I can’t seem to close this writing with something good. I wish I could tell you guys how I had conquered my fears, but that’s just not the truth. For the first time in my life, I take my work problems to the bed at night.

I guess the lesson I’ve learned is that sometimes, you just need to live with your own fear. I’ve come to think that trying hard to get rid of my fear is just a waste of times. Rather than trying to figure out how to not be afraid, I’d better try to figure out how to develop my business. Figure out how I can monetize my website so that I can earn an living with it. And of course, figure out the things I should do for my start-up so that I won’t fail miserably.

I may not have some kind of tips and tricks to get rid of my fear, but at least, I can tell you this one very important principle in life: never ever let your fear get in the way. As I read somewhere in my social media, “It’s always better an oops rather than a what if.”

It’s okay to wonder “what if I fail” but it’s definitely not okay to wonder “what if I tried”. Even if I fail (and I hope I won’t), at least I have tried and I have given my very best fight.

And did you know? As Kevin Caroll once said, “If your dream doesn’t scare you, it isn’t big enough.”

Bismillahirahmanirahim, may God would bless me along the way as He always does, and I hope, He always will. Amiin.

My New “Discoveries”

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Been busy with lots of stuffs going on in my life and now I’m back to this blog! Kali ini gue mau tulis hal-hal yang baru gue coba dan gue langsung suka banget! Siapa tahu bermanfaat buat yang lainnya juga.

  1. The Face Shop cleansing puff. Awalnya gue cuma iseng-iseng beli puff yang warna putih, trus gue ketagihan beli lagi yang warna hitam. Apa bedanya? Nggak jelas juga, tapi gue cara pakenya, putih buat pagi, hitam buat malam (soalnya bekas bedak susah hilang kalau si putih dipake di malam hari setelah gue bersihin make-up). Berkat dua puff ini kulit gue jadi berasa halus dan kenyal! Gue lebih suka pake yang putih karena enak aja dipegangnya, kenyal-kenyal membal di tangan dan di muka, hehehehe;
  2. Listerine Multi Protect mouthwash (botol warna ungu). Biasanya gue pake Listerine yang rasa orange, tapi karena terakhir gue belanja bulanan sedang sold-out, gue cobain si botol ungu ini. Awalnya gue gak suka banget, terasa nggak enak di mulut. Tapi ajaibnya, sekali kumur pake seri yang ini, radang di gusi gue langsung membaik dengan sendirinya! It works like a charm to my gum!
  3. Clinique BB cushion compact. Berawal dari terdampar di Bangkok tanpa bedak, gue terpaksa beli bedak di Sephora terdekat. Awalnya mau beli bedat padat, tapi tergoda pengen coba BB cushion compact yang katanya lebih bagus dari BB cream yang botolan. Gue suka karena teksturnya lebih ringan, terlihat lebih halus, dan nggak bikin jerawatan. Asyiknya lagi, pemakaian spons bikin tangan gue tidak lagi dikotori oleh alas bedak di pagi hari! Kadang kalau kelupaan, bekas bedak di tangan bisa mengotori pakaian gue sendiri. Suka banget deh sama BB cushion gue ini! Jadi penasaran pengen coba BB cushion merk Laneige yang terkenal banget itu!
  4. Snapseed. Gue lagi ketagihan banget edit foto pake apps ini. Fitur “selection” bikin gue bisa edit di bagian-bagian tertentu yang gue inginkan saja, fitur “portrait” bisa bikin model di dalam foto kelihatan lebih menonjol, dan fitur “curves” betul-betul quickfix untuk foto yang bermasalah dengan lighting;
  5. Dum-dum Thai tea. Ini beneran Thai tea paling enak yang pernah gue coba! Gue bisa pesan tiga kali dalam seminggu. Sejak minum ini, Thai tea merk lain yang sebelumnya gue suka banget jadi terasa biasa-biasa aja. Dum-dum ini bahkan terasa lebih enak daripada Thai tea yang betulan gue beli langsung di Thailand, hehehehehe.

Punya sesuatu yang kamu lagi suka banget? Share with me in the comment box!

Sahabat itu Adalah Orang-orang yang…

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Mulai mengenal pertemanan sejak usia gue masih di bawah 5 tahun, sekarang gue sudah mulai bisa membedakan antara teman, teman baik, dan sahabat. Dan buat gue saat ini, sahabat itu adalah orang memenuhi semua definisi di bawah ini.

  1. Orang yang bisa gue ajukan pertanyaan-pertanyaan bodoh seperti, “Kalo gue unfollow orang lain di IG atau FB, orangnya bisa tahu atau enggak ya?”
  2. Orang yang tidak pernah iseng bertanya, “Kapan married?” Mereka enggak pernah iseng bertanya karena mereka tahu gue juga enggak tahu apa jawabannya, hehehehehe;
  3. Orang yang bisa dengan entengnya untuk gue bilang begini, “Eh jangan lupa like foto gue yaa.”
  4. Orang yang membuat gue merasa tidak perlu mengarang alasan di saat sebetulnya gue hanya sedang tidak punya cukup uang untuk jalan-jalan, hehehehe;
  5. Orang yang gue ceritakan pengalaman gue yang paling memalukan sekalipun. Tipe orang yang biasanya akan menjadikan pengalaman lucu itu sebagai lelucon antar kita sampai bertahun-tahun kemudian 😀 Mereka juga orang yang bisa gue ajak diskusi tentang hal-hal yang sifatnya tabu dan/atau kontroversial;
  6. Orang yang pernah gue biarkan melihat gue tanpa make-up… dan biasanya mereka akan bilang begini, “Elo tetap cantik tanpa make-up“. Mungkin hanya supaya gue enggak minder, hehehehe;
  7. Orang yang bisa gue ceritakan ambisi dan cita-cita gue tanpa takut dianggap tukang mimpi, terlalu ambisius, dan embel-embel negatif lainnya;
  8. Orang yang selalu bisa menyisihkan waktunya buat ketemuan sama gue. Sesibuk apapun, mereka selalu punya waktu buat gue;
  9. Orang yang berusaha membalas pesan gue segera setelah mereka membacanya (entah kenapa, gue tidak pernah bisa berteman akrab dengan orang yang sering tidak balas texts orang lain);
  10. Orang yang tidak pernah merasa bosan dengan curhatan dan masalah gue yang itu-itu saja (termasuk curhat mendadak di tengah malam, hehe). Tipe orang yang tidak pernah putus memberikan support mereka di saat-saat terburuk sekalipun;
  11. Orang pertama yang gue hubungi saat baru balik jalan bareng gebetan, baru dapat promosi, dan hal-hal positif lainnya (meskipun terkadang, kabar gembira itu sifatnya norak dan tidak terlalu penting, hehehe);
  12. Orang yang bisa gue ceritakan ini-itu tanpa takut rahasia gue itu akan tersebar ke mana-mana;
  13. Orang yang bisa gue curahkan kesedihan gue, kadang bisa sampai meneteskan air mata, tanpa takut dianggap lemah atau cengeng;
  14. Orang yang bisa membuat gue merasa nyaman untuk menunjukan sisi rapuh, sisi insecure, atau kelemahan dan kekurangan dalam diri gue tanpa takut sisi lain gue itu itu mereka salahgunakan;
  15. Orang yang tetap percaya pada gue meskipun “seisi dunia” berkata atau bersikap sebaliknya;
  16. Orang yang berani mengambil sikap untuk memihak gue meski tanpa pernah gue minta sebelumnya;
  17. Orang yang bisa menerima gue dengan segala kekurangan gue dan selalu membuka pintu maafnya buat gue;
  18. Orang yang memberikan saran untuk kebaikan gue dan bukan untuk membuat gue berkecil hati;
  19. Orang yang ikut sedih saat gue sedih. Mereka ikut memikirkan jalan keluar dari masalah gue seolah masalah itu adalah masalah mereka juga; dan yang tidak kalah penting…
  20. Orang yang ikut senang saat gue senang dan bukannya diam-diam menyimpan rasa dengki. Gue bisa dengan santai menceritakan ini-itu tentang hidup gue tanpa takut dianggap sombong atau senang pamer.

Orang yang memenuhi 20 kriteria di atas memang jarang ada, itulah sebabnya gue pernah bilang di blog ini, gue merasa bersyukur dipertemukan dengan sahabat-sahabat yang belum tentu dimilki oleh banyak orang lainnya. Dan gue harap sebaliknya, gue juga sudah memenuhi 20 kriteria itu di mata sahabat gue yang keren-keren itu!

Punya Kenalan yang Berjilbab? Baca ini Dulu!

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Beberapa minggu yang lalu, gue mengadakan photoshoot untuk website yang sedang gue bangun. Gue masuk ke ruang make-up bersamaan dengan make-up artist gue (sama-sama perempuan). Kemudian tiba-tiba saja, penjaga studio (laki-laki) masuk ke dalam ruangan dan dia tetap masuk meskipun gue bilang jangan masuk ke dalam karena gue sedang tidak mengenakan jilbab. Padahal, penjaga studio itu sama-sama muslim (gue tahu karena gue lihat dia shalat di studio), tapi dia tetap tidak mengindahkan larangan gue itu.

Hal ini mengingatkan gue dengan acara jalan-jalan dengan beberapa orang kenalan di waktu yang lalu. Waktu itu perempuan yang berjilbab bukan hanya gue, tapi ternyata, beberapa perempuan berjilbab lainnya tipe orang yang hanya pakai jilbab kalau bepergian saja. Mereka semua melepas jilbabnya di dalam villa meskipun saat itu ada beberapa teman laki-laki yang menginap di villa yang sama.

Akibatnya? Teman-teman cewek ini dengan santainya memperbolehkan teman-teman cowoknya masuk ke dalam kamar tanpa mengecek dulu apakah semua teman berjilbabnya sudah mengenakan penutup kepalanya (mungkin karena dipikirnya, semua hijabers punya kebiasaan yang sama dengan mereka). Dan di saat yang bersamaan, teman-teman cowok di sana juga jadi tidak merasa perlu berhati-hati.

Jika diingat lagi, sejak satu trip itu, gue putuskan pada group trips selanjutnya untuk tidak pernah lagi melepas jilbab gue di dalam kamar (kecuali jika gue mendapatkan satu kamar hanya untuk gue sendiri). Memang sangat tidak nyaman, tapi gue tidak akan pernah tahu siapa yang teman sekamar gue perbolehkan masuk saat gue sedang tidur tanpa jilbab gue.

Kenapa gue sangat ketat untuk urusan ini? Karena buat gue, jilbab itu sudah jadi bagian dari diri gue. Ibadah gue secara keseluruhan memang masih jauh dari sempurna, tapi untuk urusan aurat, gue ingin menjaga sebanyak yang gue bisa. Kepergok tanpa jilbab bisa bikin gue merasa sangat malu dan terus kepikiran sampai berhari-hari lamanya. Emang sih, jilbab gue belum sesuai syariat yang sebenar-benarnya, tapi tetap saja… jilbab gue kurang panjang bukan berarti gue memperbolehkan cowok yang bukan muhrim melihat gue tanpa jilbab sama sekali!

Memang benar akhir-akhir ini ada makin banyak perempuan yang terbiasa lepas-pasang jilbab, tapi bukan berarti kita boleh main pukul rata! Beda orang beda pula prinsip mereka dalam menjaga auratnya. Karena hal ini tidak selalu bisa dibedakan secara kasat mata, maka sebetulnya sama sekali tidak susah untuk kita bersikap hati-hati saat berada di sekitar perempuan yang berjilbab.

Jadi jika kamu mengenal perempuan lain yang berjilbab:

  1. Jangan biarkan laki-laki yang bukan muhrim melihat mereka tanpa jilbabnya. Bantu mereka untuk menjaga privasinya;
  2. Jangan mengambil foto mereka (apalagi menyimpannya!) saat mereka sedang tidak mengenakan jilbabnya;
  3. Minta ijin mereka sebelum menyebarluaskan (upload ke socmed misalnya) foto mereka saat belum mengenakan jilbab. Foto masa kecil mungkin masih tidak masalah, tapi pikir dua kali jika foto yang ingin disebarkan adalah foto mereka setelah dewasa; dan
  4. Jangan mendeskripsikan penampilan mereka tanpa jilbab kepada orang lain (menyebutkan model atau panjang rambut mereka misalnya). Jangan pula keluar kalimat, “Dia kalo lagi nggak pake jilbab itu cantik banget lho. Badannya bagus bla bla bla.” Mungkin maksudnya memuji, tapi perempuan yang tingkat keimanannya sangat tinggi tidak suka dibicarakan seperti ini.

Kita tidak perlu mengerti alasan kenapa ada perempuan yang menjaga aurat sampai sebegitunya, tapi kita tetap perlu menghargai keputusan mereka untuk menutup auratnya. Apa yang kita anggap tidak penting bisa jadi luar biasa penting untuk banyak hijabers di luar sana. Dan seperti yang gue tulis sebelumnya, melakukan 4 hal di atas sama sekali tidak sulit, jadi terlepas dari pendapat pribadi kita mengenai jilbab, tidak ada salahnya untuk melakukan hal-hal yang akan sangat mereka hargai itu.

Let’s learn to live in diversity, and we can start with protecting the others to believe in their beliefs.

Have a nice Sunday!

10 Tanda Ketidakbahagiaan

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Dulu banget, gue pernah merasakan hidup yang membosankan. Hidup tanpa gairah, sering merasa kesepian, yang pada intinya, hidup gue tidak terasa membahagiakan. Pernah berada di posisi itu membuat gue dengan mudah membedakan kapan gue happy dan kapan gue unhappy dengan hidup gue sendiri.

Mungkin, definisi bahagia VS tidak bahagia bisa berbeda dari satu orang dengan orang lainnya, tapi setidaknya untuk diri gue sendiri, berikut ini 10 hal yang menandakan gue sedang merasa unhappy.

  1. Tidak begairah. Tidak semangat untuk memulai kegiatan sehari-hari. Rutinitas harian mulai terasa sebagai beban. Hal-hal rutin yang biasanya gue nikmati (seperti dandan di pagi hari) akan berubah menjadi sesuatu yang terasa merepotkan;
  2. Sering merasa kesepian. Rasa kesepian ini agak susah digambarkan dengan kata-kata. Yang jelas saat gue sudah sampai fase ini, gue akan tetap merasa sendirian meskipun sebetulnya gue sedang berada di tengah keramaian atau bahkan saat gue tengah berada di tengah orang-orang yang paling dekat dengan gue;
  3. Lebih suka menyendiri. Meskipun sedang merasa kesepian, anehnya, gue justru lebih memilih untuk sendiri saat gue sedang sedih-sedihnya. Sendiri di sini bukan sendiri dalam artian me time yang sifatnya menyenangkan, tapi betul-betul sendiri hanya untuk tidur seharian dan melakukan hal-hal yang sebetulnya membosankan (seperti membaca Facebook timeline gue sampai habis misalnya, hehehehe);
  4. Jarang tersenyum, apalagi tertawa terbahak-bahak. Saat unhappy, senyum gue hanya senyum demi keperluan sopan-santun saja. Kalau sudah parah, nonton film lucu sekalipun tidak akan bisa memancing senyum dan tawa gue sama sekali;
  5. Lebih sering marah-marah. Emang sih, pada dasarnya gue emang tipe orang yang gampang marah. Dan saat gue ngerasa unhappy, frekuensi ngomel gue akan jadi lebih sering. Hal-hal sepele yang biasanya bisa gue abaikan jadi lebih mudah bikin gue ngerasa marah;
  6. Merasa iri melihat kebahagiaan atau kesuksesan orang lain. Pada dasarnya gue tipe orang yang sangat jarang merasa iri, kecuali saat hidup gue sendiri sedang luar biasa sedihnya. Untungnya gue bukan tipe orang yang suka berbuat jahat saat merasa iri dengan orang lain, gue cuma jadi lebih memilih jaga jarak dulu dari orang yang bikin gue ngerasa iri itu. Kenapa begitu? Karena melihat orang yang memiliki sesuatu yang justru sedang jadi masalah buat gue saat itu rasanya seperti pengingat atas unhappiness gue sendiri;
  7. Susah tidur di malam hari, tapi sekalinya tidur, gue akan butuh jam tidur lebih panjang dari biasanya. Mengingat masalah besar yang tengah gue hadapi betulan bisa membuat rasa kantuk gue menghilang dengan sendirinya. Kemudian saat sudah bisa tidur, gue cenderung malas untuk cepat-cepat bangun karena saat sudah terjaga, gue jadi harus kembali menghadapi masalah besar gue itu;
  8. Tidur tidak nyenyak. Definisi tidur tidak nyenyak buat gue adalah saat gue beberapa kali terbangun di tengah malam dan saat gue melihat jam, ternyata gue baru tidur sebentar saja! Tidur yang nggak nyenyak juga ditandai tubuh yang terasa lemas dan pegal di pagi hari. Itu sebabnya tidur yang tidak nyenyak hanya membuat gue semakin lama bermalas-malasan di atas tempat tidur meskipun sebetulnya gue sudah sepenuhnya terjaga;
  9. Tidak nafsu makan. Gue jadi betulan cuma makan kalau sudah terasa sangat lapar saja. Makan tidak lagi terasa menyenangkan. Tidak ada satupun makanan enak yang bisa memancing nafsu makan gue. Ini yang bikin gue bisa jadi tambah kurus! Badan gue ini benar-benar gampang turun beratnya tapi sangat susah untuk bisa naik melebihi 50 KG; dan
  10. Mudah jatuh sakit. Sering sakit kepala, magh gue kambuh, sakit tenggorokan dan sinusitis… Saat sedang unhappy, gue betulan bisa sakit sebulan sekali dan bisa lebih sering lagi jika tertular orang lain yang sedang sakit. Kayaknya unhappiness bikin daya tahan tubuh gue jadi melemah sehingga gampang banget ketularan orang lain.

Terdengar menyedihkan? Memang iya! Itu sebabnya, saat gue sadar sudah mulai tidak bahagia, gue akan berusaha untuk cari solusi secepatnya. Gue sangat tidak suka berlama-lama terjebak dalam unhappiness. Hidup gue jadi terasa not worth living aja gitu.

Saat mulai merasa unhappy, sebisa mungkin gue akan cari penyebab dan juga cari solusinya tanpa perlu selama-lamanya menjauh dari sumber masalahnya. Jika upaya untuk berdamai dengan sumber masalah itu tidak berhasil buat gue, barulah gue memilih untuk pelan-pelan mengambil jarak.

Sekali lagi, hidup terlalu pendek untuk tidak merasa bahagia. Kenali diri sendiri, upayakan dan bahagiakan diri sendiri. Jika kita tidak bisa membahagiakan diri kita sendiri, maka tidak akan pernah ada orang lain yang bisa membuat kita merasa bahagia.

Wish you all a happy Sunday!

A Thank You Note for Incredible People who Support Me to Ignite My Start-up

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Ever since I decided to start my own business, I’ve received numerous unexpected supports from my families, colleagues, and friends.

The ones who repost my ads to their social media without being asked.

The ones who help me to find potential sellers (one of them even told me that she was willing to work with me without being paid!).

The ones who help me to get affordable spending to support my business (I managed to get special price to help me to ignite my start-up!).

The ones who voluntarily pose as the models for my website’s portfolio (they even trust us to handle their prewedding photoshoot!).

The ones who offer me financial supports, from a zero interest loan to capital funding.

And the ones who simply support me to fight my own doubts! This kind of moral support is always heartwarming to me. They keep telling me that I can go far with this business, they share the same excitement with me, they simply believe in me even a lot more than I believe in myself!

I often look back and I wonder, “What did I do so well in the past that made me deserve any of this?”

If you; all the people who help me out, read this, then let me tell you this: you guys are awesome! Even just a simple encouragement actually means a lot to me. Building a start-up is hard, and you guys have really made it feel easier for me to go down this road. It’s going to be harder and harder, but thanks to all of you, I finally believe that someday, it can be sooner or later, I’ll eventually get there (insyaallah and amiin to this!).

There are some moments when I nearly lost my faith in humanity, but then I have this one moment that makes me believe that good people do still exist. Alhamdulillah 🙂

Props Hunting for the First Ever Lens Story Photoshoot!

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Tomorrow, I’m going to have the first photoshoot for my start-up; thelenstory.com. The photographers will be the first three of my marketplace sellers; we help each other to build a portfolio for our website. It’s going to be an indoor photoshoot for 5 categories at one shot! Pre-wedding, baby & kids, graduation, family, and beauty portraiture.

In the past one week, I’ve been super busy to prepare all the photoshoot details! The concept, wardrobe, rundown, hunting for MUA and all the props I need! The only big spending I did this whole month was only for the props. I bought some clothes, accessories, aprons, I even bought a very big teddy bear! Hunting for this big bear was quite a story.

Initially I was planning to buy from Teddy House but the nearest store was a bit far from my place. I told my friends about that plan and they suggested me to go to Gembrong market instead. They said that the items were pretty much the same but the prices were significantly cheaper. I am actually not a big fan of traditional market; the aisle is narrow, the space is open air (and therefore it’s hot!), and I still have to bargain just to get the best price from the merchants. But well… I don’t have million dollars USD to fund my start-up and a bit of saving here and there would definitely help!

So there I decided to give Gembrong market a try. My friends gave me some tips: bargain as much as you can, go around the market to compare the price, and don’t wear nice and fancy clothes so that they won’t charge you expensive price for your items. That sounded like a plan to me so that I decided to wear just a simple outfit with almost no make-up on my face.

My outfit was just fine, except this one stupid mistake I did: I still kept my heels on. I’m 171 CM with 7 CM heels and it made me have to bow when I walked through the aisle so that I could keep my head safe from the toys hung on the ceilings. The market was also longer that I saw from outside and wearing heels on uneven ground could also be very challenging. My sister laughed seeing my struggle and she said, “I’m amazed that you’re willing to enter that market!”

Well the truth is that I enjoyed my visit to Gembrong market. Apart from all the downsides, they indeed sell varieties of nice toys both for boys and girls. My nephew really loves this market too. There’s only one thing that made me feel disappointed in my first time to Gembrong: the merchants somehow still offered me overrated price.

Back in Gembrong market, I almost bought a bear priced around IDR 500k. It was fluffy and the size was just right. I still wanted to look for a cuter doll so I walked away and left the market empty handed. I entered Basura mall; right next to Gembrong, hoping that maybe I could find something in that mall. And I was right. I found a toy store in Basura and they also sold the exactly same doll I saw in Gembrong. And did you know? The price in that mall was only IDR 300k!

I managed to find a cute doll I wanted in Basura but I was still unhappy with the size. I needed a doll with height more than one meter and the doll I had was around 20 CM shorter. I told myself that I should find a way to either make it work, or to buy another doll online and ask the seller to send it using Gojek (same day delivery).

I already had some plans running on my head.

Maybe I should change the pose so that I can work with this shorter bear.

Maybe I should order from Tokopedia today so that the doll will arrive tomorrow noon.

But then the universe brought me to an even better plan!

On our way home, I asked my brother not to take a freeway hoping that we can find something along the way. And then my sister replied, “If I’m not mistaken, there is this one nice store close to your high school.”

I tried to recall and she was right; there is one store selling dolls in Gamprit area. My sister checked on Google Map and we were only 2 KM away from that store! Initially I doubted I would find something nice in that area, but right when my car arrived on the parking lot, I instantly changed my mind. I could see the exact doll I was looking for displayed by their windows! I walked so fast to that store, and the first question I asked, “How much does that cost?”

Not only one doll, but also I found a couple more of big and cute dolls in that Gamprit store! It took me around 30 minutes until I ended up buying the first doll I pointed out when I arrived. Before I left the store, I told them that I would definitely come back if I needed something else. They have a high quality product and apparently, they are local company who produce their items in Malang factory. As a fellow Indonesian entrepreneur, I’m so proud that we have more and more capable local players in Indonesia!

Running my own business has really made me do the things I never did before. I had to walk out of my comfort zone to do the things that I usually avoid. But apparently, doing the unknown can be a lot of fun! This doll hunting is just one small stories, I still have a few other big stories to tell, but I’ll keep that for next time.

Now I really need to go back to work just to make sure that all are good for tomorrow’s shoot. Wish me luck!

September, Please Come Soon!

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Bulan September tahun ini benar-benar bikin gue ngerasa excited! Bakalan capek, tapi capek dalam artian yang positif!

Ini agenda lengkapnya!

1 September: Idul Adha. Senang meskipun tahun ini keuangan gue sedang sangat ketat, gue bersyukur masih bisa berpartisipasi. Senang juga karena jadi dapat long weekend dan kerja cuma 4 hari aja, hehehehehe.

2 September: The first ever The Lens Story photo session! Tujuannya memang hanya untuk membangun portfolio, tapi gue tetap senang! Peran gue? Director merangkap stylist merangkap model, hehehehe.

5-8 September: Lazada Summit di Bangkok. Kerja kantoran cuma sehari aja! Big yaay! 😀

9-12 September: Bali trip with my friends! Udah kebayang akan banyak foto baru buat dipajang di Instagram gue, hehehehe.

17 September: the second photoshoot for The Lens Story portfolio 😉

21-22 September: Lazada finance team outing trip. Excited karena tahun ini panitianya tim gue sendiri! I just know that we’re gonna rock it!

See? September this year is gonna be awesome!

Fun Things this Week

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Awalnya, minggu ini benar-benar minggu yang melelahkan. Ngebut bikin report bulanan karena akan ada business trip 3 hari di Bali, berangkat ke Bali dalam keadaan belum tidur (I was awake for more than 24 hours!), sampai harus menahan kantuk selama workshop berlangsung di Bali.

Awalnya workshop itu terasa membosankan buat gue, tapi lama kelamaan gue mulai enjoy! Ada juga hal-hal menyenangkan lainnya di akhir minggu yang membuat gue puas banget dengan satu minggu yang gue lewati.

Ini daftar lengkapnya!

  1. Ketemu sama teman-teman baru dari ventures lain (Lazada di negara lain). Bangga rasanya saat tahu tim gue di Indonesia sudah dua-tiga langkah lebih maju dibanding tim Finance di negara lainnya!
  2. Workshop break selama dua jam dan kita curi-curi waktu buat spa bareng! Pergi spa bareng tim FP&A dari negara lain sambil cerita banyak soal hobi kita masing-masing. Meskipun hasil mani pedi-nya mengecewakan, gue tetap senang!
  3. Mbak-mbak di spa (tiga orang sekaligus) mengira umur gue masih 21-23 tahun saja doong. It’s so flattering, hehehehe;
  4. The foot massages were so good! Pas banget ngilangin capek dan pegal di kaki gue ini. Sayang pewarnaan kuteksnya benar-benar berantakan;
  5. Kumpul bareng di pinggir kolam renang hotel sambil curhat soal beban pekerjaan masing-masing. Ternyata semua orang dari negara yang berbeda-beda punya “penderitaan” yang sama dengan tim gue. Good to know that I’m not the only one!
  6. Pergi shopping bareng adek gue, beli kelengkapan wardrobe untuk photoshoot The Lens Story yang pertama kalinya!
  7. Rapihin alis lalu mampir ke nail salon buat memperbaiki hasil meni-pedi di Bali yang kacau balau itu. And I really my new nail colors! They’re gonna look stunning in the photoshoot next week!

I have a lot of plans for September and I know it’s going to be a lot of fun! September, bring it on!