Melissa Sunjaya at Ideafest 2015

“Idea is the future for all of us,” said Triawan Munaf, the head of the Creative Economy Bureau of Indonesia as he opened the second day of Ideafest 2015. The event was held in Jakarta Convention Center in Senayan, where more than 800 people attended the seminars, talkshows, and conferences on ideas and how they can change the way people live.

Among the keynote speakers, Tulisan’s Melissa Sunjaya was one of them. Being the first conference in the morning, people queued up in front of the gates and when it finally opened at 10 a.m., they rushed to get the best seats in the room. The huge room was filled with enthusiasm, as DJ Hogi warmed them up before Sarah Sechan as the host introduced Melissa and Carline on to the stage.

Sitting along with Carline Darjanto of CottonInk and moderated by Dien Tirto Buwono, they discussed the creative process behind the retail business and how the company operates while having a creative background in the session: Anatomy of Modern Indonesian Brands.

Melissa shared her story with the audience on how she and her mother built Tulisan from scratch, and how they strived for excellence on every aspect of the business, including the process of planning and calculation of every decision they made as a company. “She is the ideal business partner: the one you can trust to be honest with you the whole time,” said Melissa, as the audience clapped with admiration.

The whole session felt heartwarming as both the speaker talked about their experience in running a business with their own partner. The sincere tone in their speech and the confident gestures made the audience realized however strict and discipline they are in running their business, they are both human after all.

Text and Photograph by Yuda Dilianzia