"What motivates me during the difficult times is to always feel grateful with what God gives us, and never be lazy if you want to succeed."
"I come from a family of farmers in Payangan Ubud, but my father passed away when I was in second grade at elementary school. Life became very difficult for my mother and us, she had to work very hard to support her eight children and I'm the 6th child. I had to go school barefoot since I had no shoes or slippers. Sometimes we had nothing to eat for breakfast – at best, just rice left from the day before. This was our lives until I graduated from a Junior High.
"I lived with my foster parents during Senior High, but my foster father passed away too before I could finish school. So, I took up work as construction worker after school to pay the school fee, until I finally graduated from Senior High School.
"After that I tried to breed pigs, to no success. Then, in 1997, I learned about crafting bamboo wind chimes just by observing my friends and neighbors at work. I sold what I could make, piece by piece, until I had enough capital to receive larger orders from customers.
"Business was good between 2000-2005, everything successfully sold out and I was able to buy the a house that belonged to my foster father. I also helped my brothers and sisters to finish school. I built two shops for my products, but since I got really busy, I only focused on one shop.
"I almost went bankrupt when I was cheated by somebody who asked me to join his automotive business. I lost around USD $150000 and suffered long time debts. Since I was familiar with life's hardships, I went through all the pain again. But now we are free of that. What motivates me during the difficult times is to always feel grateful with what God gives us, and never be lazy if you want to succeed.
"People know me as an honest and simple man. I am married and we have two beautiful daughters."
