Desak Yoni, Life Coach, Writer and Entrepreneur

“My money story begins, when I was growing up as a poor child in a village north of Ubud – Bali, Indonesia – money is a necessity part of life. My mother cannot read or write, but it didn’t stop her from becoming an entrepreneurial woman in her own small-scale ways. She made money from selling whatever we planted in our backyard like veggies and fruits (she still does). She also helped other women with their daily activities like drying rice, drying coffee, harvesting, and in return she received payment in the form of rice, so there would be enough rice for us to eat during the week. My father was a laborer on building sites, he often took me to the sites where I made my pocket money by carrying bags of cement, sand or piled up bricks on my head.

I learned that there are always ways to make money when we are prepared to work hard for it, learn the necessary skills, gain experiences and find opportunities around us. Two years ago, I came to Adelaide hoping with my master’s degree in international business and loads of work experience I would easily find a 9-5job. However, as I had been living overseas in Bali for 5 years, I found that I was lacking a network and ended up with rejection after rejection with all those jobs I was applying for.

My self-esteem sank to the ground, I become very depressed and anxiety kicked in. I then decided to re-assess my skills and experiences. I decided to enroll in a life coaching course which the first requirement was self-coaching 101, I must be able to help myself before I can help others. I was picking myself up, I put together my skills, experiences and see what’s going on in Adelaide. I joined the local women network and found out that there is an opportunity for me to coach women just like me; women who have skills and experiences but cannot find a 9-5 job. I started coaching women on how to create their small business from home. I have clients here and there, I love helping them, but the money is not great. So, I had to look around again in Adelaide to see what else?

Since, I had owned and operated a restaurant in NSW for 6 years, plus I love cooking, perhaps Adelaide needs a Balinese restaurant. I worked on my idea, did plenty research, found a restaurant for sale. After months of preparing my budget, upgrading my cooking skills, ready with the menu, website, company all set up, then found out some aspects of the deal were not right – so I didn’t go ahead with it. I was devastated, disappointed, lost money and time. I have been sad and feeling lost. It is easy to give up but instead I realized that I have plenty opportunities elsewhere. So, I’m about to build more villa rentals in Bali.

My attitude to money is that we must be grateful for what we already have, and the universe will give us more when the timing is right. The key is not repeating past mistakes, keep moving forward, get up each time we fall. When things don’t work, it means time to reassess what we need to do right next time. Also, by becoming a minimalist helps me not to spend as much, that way I don’t have to make as much as I only buy what I need, although occasionally it is ok to spoil myself with celebrations for each little win in life. Enjoy the journey and celebrate along the way.”