We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Shanley Suganda. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Shanley below.

Shanley, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.

I moved to the U.S. alone from Indonesia when I was 19 as a student at the Academy of Art University, in San Francisco. As I was finishing my first semester, the Asian financial crisis happened in 1997. My parents gave me 2 choices; either to come home to Indonesia or stay in San Francisco on my own without any help from them.

San Francisco was not the cheapest city to live in and also my school was not cheap either. As a foreign student at that time, I wasn’t allowed to work as I didn’t have a work permit.

Something was telling me that I would be just fine here. That 19-year-old girl, without a doubt, chose to stay in SF and continue with her study. I didn’t know how to do it yet, but I was so determent I would be ok.

I asked many lawyers in town to help me, I also told them I have no money because of the financial crisis. They helped me anyway to get my first working permit and they found me a way to apply for a student loan as a foreign student. It was not easy but with that determination, I made it through.

During the day time, I was working at the fabric store, I went to school in the evening after work. I stayed up often till 2 or 3 am to finish homework. The perk of working at the fabric store is that I didn’t have to buy fabric for my school projects.

Next to the fabric store, there’s a small manicure spa owned by a nice Vietnamese couple. They were so nice to me, they brought me lunch every day. They were Godsend to help me! Even when I was sick, they came to my place to bring medicine and food.

With many ups and downs, I graduated on schedule in 2001. I packed all my stuff the night after my graduation ceremony, and moved to New York City, to look for a job. I got a job in a week! They also gave me a sponsorship for my working visa. I was so grateful and felt so lucky!

Since then, I’ve been working in the fashion industry. I worked in many corporations in the U.S. and Europe as a Creative Director. Fashion is a fast-paced industry, if you are not one of the bests, you’re not going to survive. Many fashion companies had done many layoffs and gone bankrupt. At this point, it’s part of my daily life to see big fashion companies disappearing one by one.

The same voice that always whispers to me, has been telling me to prepare for something new and this could be big. I need to do something else besides fashion that aligned with my value. Fast forward to 2020, while I was making Jamu (the Indonesian herbal drink) at my apartment in Brooklyn, New York, one of my friends suggested I made it as my side gig. Such a brilliant idea!!

A side story, my grandparents and my mother are herbalists. I grew up seeing them making herbal drinks when any of us was sick. We didn’t take a lot of modern medicine since we don’t know the side effects.

I formed the Djamu LLC in 2021. I rented a commercial kitchen and applied for all the permits I needed, and start testing the market. It’s been 2 years and Djamu is well-rated by the market and we got into the Good Food Award as one of the finalists. From about 2000 entries, we are in the top 5… Yay!!

The business grows steadily and we project by next year, I can leave my corporate job and focus solely on growing Djamu. It is another big risk that I need to take, but so far I have never regretted any risks that I’ve taken. I will always find a way to make it work. Thank you to the whispers, and also most importantly thank you to all my friends who supported me since the day I launched Djamu.

“The biggest risk is not taking any risk. In a world that is changing quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking any risks” – Mark Zuckerberg.

Shanley, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Shanley Suganda, I grew up in Indonesia and moved to the U.S when I was 19. Since I moved to the U.S., I have developed many allergies and I suffered from bad period pain every time.
I have been making my own herbal drink – Jamu since 2011. I always use organic and fresh ingredients. Since then, I rarely got sick, my allergy and my period pain have gotten much better.

In 2020, when I was making jamu for my Covid sick friend, someone told me to start selling Jamu in the U.S.
It was such a brilliant idea!
There must be many people just like me, who avoid GMO products (because of many allergies) and prefer fresh ingredients.
Many turmeric pills or drinks are already available on the market, but not sure if they are organic, and most probably they are made from powder – not fresh. Some of the turmeric ginger drinks on the market also taste too sour or too spicy and burn the throat.

Djamu LLC was established in 2021. We have 2 flavors so far, plus some seasonal flavors.
Our drinks are organic and made from fresh ingredients.
The tastes are so refreshing, many people are surprised when they know the benefits.

Benefits of drinking Djamu:
• Boost the immune system
• Cleanse and detox body systems
• Eliminate inflammation
• Protect against respiratory diseases
• Improve digestion
• Reduce bad cholesterol

The History of Jamu

Jamu is a traditional herbal tonic, which originated in 800 AD in Bali and Java islands in Indonesia. It was recognized as a healing concoction that is commonly used to cure flu, reduce inflammation, cleanse and detox body systems.
Jamu is made from assorted spices and herbs that have been pounded, squeezed, and boiled in water at a specific degree and within a specific time to produce the magic of jamu tonic.
Some of the most common jamu ingredients are:
turmeric, ginger, galangal, curcuma, cinnamon, sand ginger, lemongrass, nutmeg, cardamom, tamarind, and lemon.
Jamu is used for the purpose of maintaining health.
People in Indonesia drink jamu as a daily routine tradition.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

Here is the list of books that helped me with my management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy: • Hooked by Nir Eyal
• The Magic of Thinking Big by David Schwartz
• Competing Against Luck by Clayton M. Christensen

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

Be true to yourself. Your team culture is your own reflection.
We work hard, but we always make it a fun journey.
I always tell my team how grateful I am that they are part of the team.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.djamu.nyc/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/djamu.nyc