DISCLAIMER: www.muhamadrisyad.com supposed to be the place to share ideas. Since the day this blog is created (2020), I only have posted one opinion (shame on me). For the past few months, I always tried to keep writing but ended up not finishing it. Here are in my own opinion the top three best topics and the outline that stay on drafts: 'The World Where Age is Really Just a Number', an article about how humanity is so close to crack the code of immortality by using STEM (this post should have been a celebration of my birthday), 'Amazon vs Walmart: the Battle of Commerce Giants ' an article to breakdown the powers of these Gods and what we as Indonesian could learn from them. 'Crappy yet Happy' an article about how something so painful in life may result in eternal happiness. Some are quite interesting, right? I know! Beside all of those Opinions, there are also some drafts about books and movies I think are worth sharing. I'm still not sure if I would continue to write what's on draft or not, but In this new year, I promise from this day onwards I will try harder to keep updating my blog more frequently with much more interesting topics. Thank you!!
Let me start this year with a new section for this blog, it's called Reflection. Reflection is a section where I shared my life stories, it's a life journal for myself and hopefully, would have some valuable impact for the reader (I know this might sounds boring but it's mostly for the sake of me hehe). I will update reflection every 6 months or once a year, just to highlight progress & noteworthy events.
The first post, Chapter 1, dedicated as a simple reflection and reminder for myself (or whoever you are) to keep being grateful for 2020. No matter how hard 2020 was, it has passed. Rather than seeing a half-empty glass, it's time to see this as a half-full. This post is a compilation of short stories about things that needed to be highlighted, celebrated, and to be learned furthermore. To this day, I'm extremely grateful for an amazing family, wonderful friends, food to eat, a roof to live in, a stable job, and last but not least, to have a growing curiosity and willingness to improve.
A Simp for Passion
Greater step brings greater responsibility
January 2020 marked as the official month when I finally graduated from higher education. My four years of journey in IPB University has finally come to an end. There was a slight feeling of proud that day. Got pranked by singing Indonesia Raya right in the middle of GWW, Rabuan, and Ideanation still seems like yesterday. This place taught me so much, not only because from educational-wise, but the environment impacted at its finest. This is the place where I found some of the most extraordinary people all across Indonesia. I learned how to be more appreciative of different opinions, responsible and after years and years of questioning the idea of formal education, I finally realized that it is really important and is the best investment possible. This might not be the best place to study entrepreneurship all over the world, but It gave me more than I could ever imagine. The knowledge I gained, tons of projects I did, and supportive environment definitely shaped me to who I am right now. I'm proud to say that IPB University is part of me.
Right after graduation, the universe just didn't quite stand on my side. Got tricked from the last company I worked for, and then the pandemic with all economic instability came made job hunting much harder than before. As a person who was born and raised in a family that values work & education so much, being unemployed puts me under such huge pressure. I still have the excel sheets where I wrote down all the companies I applied for, there were around 250+ companies. I even lowered my standard and idealism because all I think about that day was to get a job as soon as possible. Being ghosted and tons of rejection emails flooded me. Every single day I woke up and checked on emails, LinkedIn, and other job portals. I know it sounds like I'm exaggerating, but the idea of being unemployed even haunted me to my dreams. I always know that I don't want to spend the rest of my life working with someone else, I know that I want to create something and build a business. But at that moment, I know a job is all I needed, maybe deep down it was because I don't want my parents or even to be precise my partner back then to be ashamed of having an unemployed boyfriend. I know insecurity kills and I shouldn't think that way, but it is what it is.
Tech companies have always interested me, maybe it is because of their impact, tons of learnings and connections that would be valuable for my long-term goals. I applied in early-stage startups to the biggest global tech-company just to tried my own luck. And then one day, I got a call from Shopee and I couldn't be more excited. It was for Marketing Campaign role for ShopeeMall. I knew that it might be my last chance for me to really stand out and got recruited, I knew that there were thousands of other applicants fighting to get the same role. So I prepared for any possible outcome. I opened up my camera & turned the video, practiced the interview, and see what's wrong with myself and to see if I look confident enough (I believe that confidence is the key for any interview). Trust me, this method is really really helpful, practicing for interviews is a must.
Weeks after that, I got a phone call from the Shopee HR team and told me that I got the job. Finally, after months of being unemployed, I was so happy over the moon and grateful to hear that I got accepted in a well-known tech company in a role that fits my interest. Back then, all I can think about is how excited I am to get back in the e-commerce environment with its fast-paced workflow and full of talented amazing workmates.
Too bad that the time I onboarded at Shopee, the pandemic hitted Jakarta quite hard so our office is basically empty. Most of my introduction I did and teammates that I work with were from online. Call me old-fashioned but I think I still need to know someone and meet face-to-face in real life to get to know them better. But hey at least I still got a chance to meet and had lunch with a few of them and they were amazing, and my responsibility is still there so I needed to stretch out my social skills.
As a born and raised boy that spent 90% of my time being in my hometown, moving out from home and live in a big city is always on my to-do-list. (Who am I kidding, Bogor and Jakarta only a few miles away). So after two weeks working at Shopee, I decided to move out from my home, rent a place and go live independently in Jakarta.
Back in Jakarta, I lived near block A station. A place that was quite familiar for me but felt very strange. I still remember exactly the small cracked-mirror near the exit where I checked on myself every day before going to the office, the stinky water, and how small my room was. I usually woke up at 6, did a little workout, took a bath, and went straight to the office. Even though I knew that the office was going to be empty (the day I moved to Jakarta was the day the Government started a new lockdown, so there were even fewer people that came to the office). I really love the ambience of working from the office so no matter how empty the office would be, I still went to the office everyday. When I arrived, I listened to my favorite podcasts while tackling all the jobs, sometimes I ate alone, went back to my place around 8 and always had a cigarette before hopping on to Gojek. Most of the nights alone I spend reading, browsing or watching a few episodes of Friends. All this routine was basically all I did for weeks or even months (I honestly don't remember the exact period). Sometimes I felt so lonely, and keep in mind that I just went through a breakup so the sadness was still lingering every second. Even in some days, the longest conversations I had were with Gojek drivers. But luckily after weeks of living alone, I made an unexpected group of new friends that became top of mind to go to Jakarta, and to this day they're still one of my closest peers, I'm so lucky to have this v-shaped bounce back.
Work in Shopee is fun, at least for me (I'm not sure that it's just a honeymoon phase or what but to the day that this article is written I really mean it). I love the fast-paced environment and I really can see the impact of my work. Every single day I open up Shopee app and see all the campaigns I am involved in, making me excited to see what's next. I believe there must be tons of things that I could learn more and huge room for improvement every single day. And don't get me started with the environment, it's the best. Even though most of my time I spend and know them from online, I feel welcomed and appreciated for all the work. All of my team that joined way before covid and this WFH regulation told me that work from the office is much more fun and asked me to be patient until all things go back to normal to feel all the experience (when???). I'm not sugarcoating, but please note that I'm sure that what I feel is the same for all Shopee employee hehe :))))
No matter how fun and empowering work at Shopee is, it is not my life purpose. I have decided that I live to become an entrepreneur, create something new, create a real impact and help millions of people while also making myself rich in an ethical way. Don't get me wrong, working at Shopee gives me useful knowledge that would be valuable for my long term goal. I just believe that becoming a good entrepreneur takes practice, just like all the professional basketball players out there. So what I need to do is to try and try again, practice up, especially because I'm still young and not even reached the age of 25. So it got me thinking that I need to do something now. I don't want to spend my youth just to work for someone else, I want to do something. And plus, in the era of the digital world, gave me tons of possibilities that I could hustle.
From selling stuff on Shopify, RedBubble to Etsy I tried it all. All failed, well mostly caused by lack of capital and I didn't quite optimize it but hey at least now I know how those things work. I still have an ownership in a small sock company, my baby SOXYSOCKY. But in the era of saturated where everyone could sell stuff online, a product that only has value aesthetically-wise is just not enough. I know that I need to stitch in some experience right in my brand. Most of my time that I spent alone got me thinking of a new strategy, I grabbed my note and started to list down every possible strategy that is unique yet effective. I would implement one this year just to try out my own luck.
Beside from SOXYSOCKY, last year I also tried my own luck to try to create a new digital marketing agency, it's called Clutch Connect. We specialized in SMEs, especially those who are in a really really early stage. We provide services like branding, A to Z digital marketing activation, products photography and videography, talent and influencers management, website creation and e-commerce activation. It all started by accident but I really really enjoyed it. Our first client was a patisserie cake shop from Jakarta. It was quite challenging you know since it was our first step. But here in this experience I learned how to be a good persuasive speaker, how to craft strategy and time management. From the technical side, I also learned how to create creative and brand briefs, a slight knowledge of good photography and some knowledge about digital marketing. Even though our contract has ended and Clutch is on a pause right now, sometimes I still write down my ideas about this business and will certainly be active again as soon as possible.
Insert Don Corleone Quotes Here
Family comes first
Pandemic hitted us hard, not only us but every single person in this planet. But at least it got me realize: Family is everything.
For the most of my life, I always get myself as a kind of person who enjoys hanging out with friends way too much, friends are equal to family for me. Back in high school to the early times after I graduated from college, I often cancelled quality time with my family just because I wanted to hang out with my friends. Back in those day, almost everyday I go home late-night, wake up when my parents are already at work, and then when they come home I go out to meet my friends. But the older I get, especially because by this pandemic, I realize the crucial fact that my main family is really all I have and I can surely depend on.
Pandemic made us work from home, all the usual activities that separate us during normal days were gone. We spent more time together, had more fun and had frequent conversations than ever. Watched K-Drama and Kiano Tiger Wong with my mother, played playstation with my brother, had a deep-talk wih my father all I experienced during this pandemic. It's funny when you think you always know them, but this pandemic just made all these things just make family more what is the word for 'more feel like a family' I don't know but you get my point right? Don't get me wrong, we do have some arguments all the time. But it doesn't mean that they don't love me and I don't love them. Sometimes it's just we have different opinions and deep down it's all because we love each other. And also something needs to be remembered that just because family is bonded by blood, doesn't mean we won't have our own problem. Sometimes it's better that no one knows thus burying things certainly overwhelms us.
When I was down because of job hunting and other stuff, my family was the only one who got me. I'm not sure if they knew what the real problem was (but I'm pretty sure they didn't know), they still got me and tried to cheer me up in every possible way. I'm so lucky to have such a supportive family.
Considering the fact that 2020 was a quite lousy year where infection & death rate of covid is high, I'm so grateful that God still gave me a full healthy family member (ffs even Gorillas in San Diego got infected I mean wtf?) Ayah, Ibu, Kakak, both of my grandmas are still healthy to this day. This is a lucky opportunity that God gave to any person. I'm the luckiest guy in the world, they are amazing people. I couldn't ask for any better family than this. I pray for a long happy healthy life for them in any possible way. I promise that from this day onwards, I will always put them on top of everything. I'm sorry for all the mistakes I made years before, I love them so much.
The Closest Thing to Marta Kauffman's Cultural Legacy
So no one told you life was gonna be this way~
Your job's a joke, you're broke, you're love's life D.O.A~
As what Winston Churchill said, "If you’re not a liberal when you’re 25, you have no heart. If you’re not a conservative by the time you’re 35, you have no brain.’ So, this is me living up my early 20s just be as liberal yet responsible as possible.
I don't know that it's just me that suck with socializing, but being in our 20s is weird. It's the best years of our live but creating a new real friends especially from total stranger is quite hard. Think about it, I bet that most of your best friends are from high school, higher education, work mate or room mate.
When I watch Friends, I always envy them for having that group who always be there for you through thick and thin ups and downs and just laugh out all the problems. I always imagined that I was part of them, living in New York City and just trying to stand straight no matter how shitty your day ways.
Just like I mentioned before, back in the early days I lived in Jakarta I was all alone. The pandemic made all the lonliness felt harder. But luckily, two of my best friends Marbel & Porco was already live in Jakarta for months, but I meet them frequently in Bogor too. One day I contacted Marbel and asked her "Hey, Let's have a drink. Invite your friends and I'll invite mine too" Since Marbel and I quite obsessed with Friends, we kinda hoped that this peer could be the closest thing to that sitcom.
So that day Marbel invited her friend back when she was an intern in McCann which are Pute & Ami (Vanya couldn't make it I don't quite remember why) and I invited Porco, my best friend since college. The first time we met turned out to be great, I thought that we were going to be shy or couldn't talk about anything but the conversation was so smooth and intense. From that day onwards, we managed to create a group chat and more frequent meet up. One night led to another and another. This group of strangers turned out to be great, greater than any of us expected. From just casually drinking buddies, to late night talk friends. From strangers to a group of friends that might be the first-come in mind if anything happen. We had such a great time together. From a crazy chaotic night, to full of laugh sleepover night all were amazing.We even had a short vacation together, and this one I won't even forget. It was so fun to the point that we LITERALLY almost died (or at least one of us). If Winston Churchill, the guy that I quoted above, saw what we had been through, he must be proud of us.
I'm beyond glad that I met all of these guys, they are amazing, know how to have fun but still responsible for their future. I mean it's still kinda amzing to had a chance to made friends from strangers. Bonus point, this is the kind of peers that empower me to grow but still open up for some (yet once again I'm gonna point this once again: responsible) crazy things, just like what being in 20s should be. I really hope that this would be a long-last friendship. Can't wait for our next amazing trip!