On leadership: Aulia Halimatussadiah of Zetta Media Network

Southeast Asia Globe Editorial

8 years ago

Focus Asean interviewed Aulia Halimatussadiah, co-founder and chief content officer of Zetta Media Network to discover her inspiration, drive and advice for those set to follow in her footsteps

Having shaped the writing and publishing industry in Indonesia with her online self-publishing platform NulisBuku.com and story-sharing platform Storial.co, Halimatussadiah, known as Ollie, has written 28 books and organises Girls in Tech Indonesia, which encourages more women to use technology to improve lives

What, in your opinion, makes a great leader?
A great leader has emotional intelligence, understands herself well (her strengths and weaknesses) and has empathy for her team.

On a personal level, what drives you to succeed?
To be able to transform society for the better drives me to work harder and smarter

What has been your greatest achievement over the course
of your career, and the biggest lesson you have learned?
My greatest achievement would be creating a whole new industry of self-publishing in my country, as a way to build a creative nation. [The] biggest lesson I’ve learned was to not tolerate negativity, like lack of excitement, passiveness, incompetence, dishonesty, longer than [I] should.

What or who inspires you?
People inspire me every day. I have a big curiosity for life.

If you could meet your younger self, what would you say?
Be confident, trust yourself – you can do it

What would be your best piece of advice for youngsters
who aim to become the future business leaders of the Asean region?
No matter what, you should choose to do the thing that excites you the most and solve problems in society that you care about.