Yoko Simon is the Co-Founder of Ringkas, which is helping to democratize home ownership for Indonesia that facilitates access to financing to help home seekers become home owners.
Let’s start with your background! Can you share with us your career journey and what you’re currently up to?
I started and ended my corporate journey with Dell Tech in Austin for 16 years. I climbed up from operations, quality, engineering and ended up in digital transformation as program manager focusing in automation working alongside with a consultant team from mckinsey until I decided to move back to Indonesia December 2016.
Starting 2017 I started becoming involved in the startup world, building my first failed start up in P2P and pivot the tech team I built in Hanoi to become software development team helping many founders building MVP for their startup mostly in fintech (mobile banking, loan origination system and remittances) before I built Ringkas back in Nov 2021 with my other co-founders.
We’d love to know what a typical day is like for you. Could you describe a recent workday?
In Jakarta = Gym > Coffee > Office (same building).
In Ho Chi Minh where my tech team now resides = Gym > Walk > Coffee > Office.
Can you define work-life balance for yourself and share with us your approach in maintaining it?
I personally like the structure and monotony of doing the same thing over and over. It works for me. I just take it as a process and journey. I think for me work-life balance is what you make out of it, first thing first you need to love people you work with the culture, the cofounder, the employee, even the office itself. The plus side of corporate vs startup you have more time networking and meeting Investor + founders + others minded community.
Change is constant, and it’s essential for growth. Have you made any lifestyle changes in the past year to improve your work-life balance?
I network more, I started mentoring people, I structure my supplement intakes and eat real food.
We’re always on the lookout for new resources! Can you recommend any books, podcasts, or newsletters that have helped you in your journey towards balance?
The last book was actually audio — The Cold Start Problem, and for podcasts PBD.
Before we wrap up, do you have any final words of wisdom or insights on work, life, or balance that you’d like to share with our readers?
You have to enjoy the journey, good or bad, because failure can be a blessing and maybe a step up to a better journey.
