Tere! I’m Retno Ika, the creator, designer, thinker and writer behind The Life Designer blog.

Most of my friends call me Retno, and some of them call me Ika, but in the online world, a lot of my friends know me as Ocha.

I’m an Indonesian living in Tallinn, Estonia 🇪🇪 with my husband and beloved two cats, Matthew and Garfield. And I design my life around the things I believed in: creativity, entrepreneurship, growth mindset and life design.

I’m a serial entrepreneur, currently running several business units through Lillika OÜ. In the past, I used to be a UX Designer, but I also built and managed several startups such as Tanibox, Kultiva, and All Trades Digital. I did two podcasts: Mari Menanam and Ngopini Sejenak but decided not to continue them.

I take care pets through Lemmika pet boarding and house sitting. I’m gardening on my small balcony and writing my experiences and knowledge on a blog named Plantree. Together with my partner, we’re creating a webcomic around gardening called Mari Menanam. I also building and managing Tania—an open-source farm journal software.

Creative making is one of my great passions. Since a young age, I’ve done beading to make accessories. In 2016, I started knitting and I really love it! Knitting has brought me a sense of peace and enjoyment. It allows me to try other fibre crafts like crochet and sewing.

Crafting, or making digital or physical stuff, is my mindfulness practice. It relaxes and soothes me, and makes me feel recharged and grounded.

Life design is a process to connect us with our purpose, makes us live our dreams, builds our net worth (network + wealth), and develops leadership abilities on our own terms.

My mission through The Life Designer blog is to give a real example of how to reconnect with our authentic selves to design the life that we want — a fulfilled and purposeful life that we love.

I sincerely believe that every person has the opportunity to:

• Break through what has been stopping them and what has been keeping them from doing the same thing over and over again.
• Letting go of the things that they have been carrying on their shoulders.
• Give them the freedom, focus and power to work on the things that matter to them most.

Essentially, I want you to design, build and enjoy a life that you don’t and won’t regret. If you can inspire others to have the same too, it’s a nice bonus.

Thank you for joining me on The Life Designer blog.

Retno Ika.