I met Rinnie about two years ago at a friend’s event in Shanghai. My first impression of her was an active, beautiful mom-to-be whom still enjoyed going out and socializing with her girlfriends. I thought it was pretty cool that a pregnant woman still had her own life instead of resting at home, especially when I learnt that she is a social entrepreneur and self-taught bag designer promoting and supporting local Indonesian artisanal skills and culture.

When Rinnie first moved to China as an expat, she was working for a Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) company in Shanghai as an in-house business operations consultant. Since then she has married and is now a mom to 8-month old twin babies.

Rinnie started Mozaik in 2013, a venture beginning from her humble closet, where she kept her collections for private viewings. Two years since its launch, Mozaik has expanded it’s business across multiple cities in China as well as international markets. The road of being a foreign entrepreneur in China has never been an easy one, but can be a rewarding one.

Here are some of tips Rinnie deemed necessary for launching a successful brand:

Localized Brand Communications: China market is huge and segmented. Create authentic branded content that works for local markets and embracing the local trends, traditions and humors is key. It’s a rather challenging task for foreign entrepreneurs especially since there is a language barrier.

Customer Loyalties: A business that retains its customers for longer usually makes more money from them at lower cost than one that is constantly paying to acquire new customers. Invest in creating customer loyalty program that will attract your customers to come back. Offer a warranty program for products sold. Make your customers feel that they are in good hands.

What I really respect about Rinnie is not only how brave and passionate she is to Mozaik brand but also the values that she stands by, which is to promote Indonesian artisanal skills.

Rinnie has uncompromising attitude to design, production and is dedicated to the importance of producing beautifully handcrafted products in ethical work conditions. Production is exclusively at Rinnie’s atelier (workshop) in Jakarta, Indonesia where a loyal team of five highly skilled artisans is employed. Rinnie also supports her employee’s children by sponsoring their school fees as part of their employment benefits. Rinnie believes that education will help the younger generations to break that poverty cycle.

It’s not easy to be entrepreneur especially a social entrepreneur. Let’s give a big thumbs up for those who are fighting for their dreams to make a difference. Many people exist in this world, but not many people live!