an origin story

An ad man back in the days, my father thought that he could be a little crafty by adding a lil’ history to my name. My middle name, "Restalia", is short for Reformasi Total Indonesia, which means the Total Reformation of Indonesia—the dawn of a new era as our dictatorial president of 31 years resigned three days before I was born. I owe it to my father for giving me a a killer conversation topic, but also the life-long duty to live up to my name. 

Although I have no plans to instigate a cultural revolution back in Indonesia, I translate the weight of Restalia to the way I approach my work by always asking these questions: How can this brand stand on the right side of history? How can it change and reform culture? Leave an impactful mark etched as a household name in an average person’s mind?

No one can know the exact answers to this, but exploring the possibilities breeds game-changing stuff. Eight out of 10 times, we won’t get to that level. But eyeing that level, while working towards it, gets us closer. The win is great, don’t get me wrong. But it doesn’t excite me as much as being otw . It’s the incremental steps, aha moments, first sip of my iced oat milk latte, and bouncing five ideas at a time with my AD. Those things gives me purpose. Winning is nice too though.

The day Restalia was engraved on my birth certificate was the day I made a solemn promise to myself to not do anything half-heartedly. I can’t promise that I will ignite a national revolution right away, but I can start one on TikTok and Twitter instead.