Words by Aini Hanifa

In life, we must be facing good and bad moments that inspires and teaches us something or even changing our minds. Those experience are the moment that shape us today.

Four years ago, when I was a fifth-semester-student majoring in Interior Design, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember Surabaya, I was the girl with a lot of limitations. Enrolled in Design Department is one of the most challenging experience for me. Facing unlimited assignments, creating expensive projects which requires times, effort and cost at the same time.

In my college life, I had friends who were fully supported by their parents and I was totally envious. It seemed unfair to me that some friends were able to do/to buy whatever they wanted while I spend most of my midnights working in my room to earn some money. However, forcing me to figure out how to provide for myself was probably one of the best things my parents ever did to me. I believe that every difficulties and pressures are actually push ourselves to think big, and do bigger. In my case, Talky Pillow, my masterpiece­—a result from my difficult situation back then, when my friends are capable to produce expensive products for Marketing Design assignment, I think about something that I could make by myself. Since I was able to sew, thought of the idea to create a cushion which still have high-value to sell in the market, which I named Talky Pillow.

Talky Pillow itself is a customized cushion cover that produce only premium quality of printed typography and illustration, as well as the available covers are designed to be simply motivationg and of glee. The process is 100% handmade, by my team and I. All fabrics are hand cut and the printing process is done using traditional screen printing, tailoring methods. In short, soon after I finished the Marketing Design subject with a good score, I receive a lot of positive appreciations from the market which made me think to grow this business bigger. It begin from a tiny room of mine with only two hundred thousand rupiahs, now has moved into a fourty meters square studio with five employees and turnover of tens of millions rupiahs.

Now, it has been four years and the sales expansion have reached the international markets. We have been sending package from Sabang to Merauke, from Aceh to Papua. We also have stockist in Surabaya, Yogyakarta, Bali, and Singapore. Moreover, we received many request from another country at Europe and Middle East yet we still figure out how to meet their demand.

Regardless of the effort that I do, I received many supports from the loved ones and also experienced from every failures. A chance to be an XL Future Leader to learn about entrepreneurship, leadership and effective communication skills is also an awesome experience that shaped me to be a better entrepreneur. I hope that XL could made more young people who dare to living their dreams by becoming an entrepreneur as a contibution to as well as increase our country’s economy.

To anyone who read this, don’t let your dreams be just a dream and ideas be just an idea. Start small, start now.  (Aini – FL002 Surabaya)