Did you ever wonder who the faces are behind our brand Ananda Soul?
A few weeks ago we spent a wonderful team day at a beautiful villa here in Ubud, Bali with our 18 team members to mingle, eat, dress up, play and take professional photos. The time spent together, the laughter, jokes and bonding clearly blew our hearts and minds. I've always known that our team members are beyond beautiful, inside and out, but I had no clue that I was working with an entire crew of super models ;)
To cultivate a sense of family at work - as we spend most of our days together – has always been one of my biggest aspirations. I am incredibly proud to share that this is what my reality looks like today.
Every member of the Ananda Soul team is so very dear to my heart and together, we keep creating the roles that suits their skills and contributions to Ananda the most.
Over the next few weeks we will be introducing our Ananda Soul team to you. From management, to operations, productions to fulfillment.
This week we are starting with our management team: Yuni, Julia, Dewi, Intan, Novy and me, Christina.
Ni Made Marhayuni
We gently call her ‘Bu Yuni’ (the Indonesian word Ibu means mother or woman and is often used as a formal or respectful address to women who are married or older).
Ibu Yuni is our operations manager and has been leading the biggest part of the Ananda Soul team on the operational ground for the last six years. She joined the company when business was picking up and growing out of its first baby shoes.
When I asked her what makes her the most happy, she named her children and ‘making other people happy’. Outside of work Ibu Yuni loves to spend time in her little garden - or in nature in general.
Ibu Yuni’s favourite Ananda Soul pieces are earrings. Any earrings. She doesn’t wear anything else :)
Desak Putu Yulia Artini
Yulia is our production manager. She holds all the knowledge around our material, production procedures, artisans and how to gently take care of our love pieces. Watching her handle and deal with our pieces with so much care touches something within me every time.
Yulia has been with us for the last 7 years. She surely has been one of the bedrocks of the original Ananda Soul team.
As a profound connoisseur of all our jewelry she feels mostly drawn to the Power of Intuition necklace with its beautiful Aquamarine.
What makes Yulia happy? To work hard :) and to spend time with her family. Which is why she loves to spend her free time mostly visiting them, especially her mother who she loves to help and spend time with in her own Warung.
Novy Linasari
If you ever reached out to us via email it is very likely that you have already been in touch with our Customer Service and Happiness Angel and Manager Novy. She is the one whispering gentle and clear words via Email to anyone who has questions and concerns, always willing to listen and to receive.
Novy is a true blessing and an Angel in disguise that came out to play when she was in front of the camera.
Novy has been with our team for 2,5 years now and I wouldn’t want to miss her on any other day.
Novy is happiest when life goes smoothly without any drama. She loves to see her son growing and being comfortable in the environment he gets to be raised in. To watch him enjoy his current stage of life (he is now 1.5 years old).
In her spare time Novy loves to make dessert, she makes an epic pesto that she sells locally, too – or catches up on all her parenting books that have been piling up on her desk ever since her baby boy was born.
Novy loves the symbols of Universal balance, because we all need that balance in our lives. Our One Day at a time pieces resonate so strongly with her during her daily chaos and are good reminders for her to sometimes take a step back.
Intan Arifani
Intan is a biiiiig person in a small physical frame and our Marketing strategy manager.
What she creates, illustrates, edits and captures turns into Gold – literally :) She is all that you get to see when you experience Ananda Soul on our digital channels.
Intan has only been with Ananda Soul for 7 months. And yet, it feels like a lifetime. Our soul team is a whole new family for her and she shared with me that going to work feels like visiting her family house.
Originally from Borneo Intan left her home to take on the world one step at a time. She is self-sufficient and there isn’t really anything she is not curious about. If she doesn’t know it, she sits down and learns everything about it.
Apart from reading she enjoys drawing and scribbling, doing completely nothing and cooking! She really loves that and that’s when she is at her happiest, too. Next to little treats and special moments like her man and dog greeting her at the door every time she comes home from work, the smell of fresh grass and when her dogs and family are happy and healthy.
Intan’s favourite pieces are the Surrender to the flow ring - that she felt drawn to the moment she tried it on (“It was made for me!”) and “I love the Dare to shine Angel necklaces, as a beautiful reminder because I'm a shy person and love to be backstage. I'm daring my self to shine slowly every day.”
Indah Purnama Dewi
Dewi’s name literally translates as ‘Beautiful Moon Goddess’. With this name (and of course her impeccable skill set and intelligence) she was made for becoming a part of Ananda Soul.
She is our E-commerce & Business Development Manager and has been with Ananda Soul for 6 months now. Just like Intan it feels so much longer. She brings in her zest for life, laughter and her calling everyone ‘Babe’ makes me grin and smile every time.
Dewi loves her family and enjoys spending her time with her friends, going to the beach, shopping and having an occasional beer (as you do as a Moon Goddess).
Dewi ‘obviously’ loves the most our Shoot for the Moon jewelry range as it reminds her of ‘that moment, when you don’t really know where you are headed, but suddenly there is this urge, this call that you need to follow. That’s why I am here.”
Christina Elisabeth Zipperlen
If you have been following Ananda Soul for a little while, Christina is no stranger to you anymore.
Christina Elisabeth Zipperlen is the ‘OG Ananda Mumma’: founder, carer, mother, decision maker, heart and soul of Ananda Soul.
Originally from Germany, Christina has always felt the pull away from the homeland off to explore foreign shores and islands. Hence she left a loooong time ago – fun fact – one may actually recognize a slight American accent when she speaks German :)
Christina founded Ananda Soul over 11 years ago with the first shop opening just two years after the brand’s first inception.
Christina is the most happiest when she gets to share her time with her loved ones and with her dog ‘Hero’, ideally paired with time in nature. To find herself in flow state, to write and create and connect from a place of truth and authenticity are the things that make her the happiest.
Her favourite things to do are time spent in nature, movement, meditation, reading and creating.
Christina’s favourite pieces are the You are loved earrings for their sweet reminder as well as the You are brilliant products that carry a Herkimer Diamond which she is absolutely fascinated about.
We hope this gives you a little bit of a better insight into who we are. Let us know in the comments if you would like to learn more about us!
