We had the good fortune of connecting with Rudy Djuliardjo and Francisca Sari and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Rudy and Francisca, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
We both started our work life in “practical” careers. Growing up, we never thought of creative career as a choice. We both come from practical families. We were taught to choose a “sensible” career and then we can have hobbies to channel our creativities. We were doing okay with our careers but we always felt like doing something different. When God put the idea in our hearts to create the two-in-one bib and burping cloth – or the biBurp as we named it later – little that we knew this is that “different thing” we were searching for. In the beginning, we really struggled since we had zero knowledge of the industry. At various times, we felt like giving up. But God always showed His faithfulness. Every time we thought we were at dead ends, He showed us a way out. When we finally had our first biBurp, it was a moment we would never forget. After we have a little bit more experience, we started to enjoy the creative process. The excitement when you get an idea in your head, the research, the trial and error, and finally that feeling when you see the final product – all these, now we can say, are the reasons we want to keep pursuing creative career.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
For us, our creative careers started with the biBurp idea. As neither one of us had any prior experience in this area, the beginning was exciting and stressful at the same time. There was so much to learn, at times it was so overwhelming we had nowhere to go but to Him. On hindsight, we’re grateful for the opportunities to experience His guidance. Since then, we have been adding various accessories to our product family – beanies, flip hats, headbands. We wished that we could say the process is getting easier as we gain more experience. It doesn’t turn out that way. Every new product has its own challenge. But we can say now that we’re doing a little bit better in embracing the challenges. Recently we added nursery decorations to our product lines. This requires a little bit different process than our previous fashion products and poses a different challenge. This time around we could say we handled the challenge better (emotionally). Although running your own business has its ups and downs, we feel blessed that we have a chance to own a handmade business. For now, we’re focused on baby products, newborn especially. We want to deliver high quality products to our customers. So we pay attention to every little detail starting from the choice of material to the packaging of the products. We want our products to be different than any other products you find elsewhere. We know we still have a long way to go but we’re looking forward to the journey.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
We had family visited us a couple years ago and the first place we brought them to was the “We Love Houston” sign behind 8th Wonder Brewery. It’s a nice picture to have especially if you’re into scrapbooking. You can use it for the cover of your album. And since we’re already in a “photo” mode, the next place we went was Jamail Skate Park. From here, you can get a dramatic view of Sabine St. bridge with downtown Houston skyline as a backdrop. And, of course, no visit to Houston is complete without a trip to Space Center Houston. We can’t see rocket launch anymore, unfortunately. But there are still interesting exhibits to see. Another place we took them was the Bluebell Creamery in Brenham which is only one and a half hour away from Houston. Here, from the observation deck, we could see how the Bluebell Ice Cream was being flavored and packed. Now our families love to eat. Fortunately, Houston and surrounding areas have so many good places to eat. The must-have eating experience when you visit Houston is obviously Texas barbeque. Our favorite places for barbeques are Rudy’s and Goode Co. Barbeque. We know we don’t exaggerate when we said “must-have” because they had to have their last barbeque before they left Houston.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
First and foremost is to God. Poca Ance started with His idea and He keeps guiding us along the way. Our pastors have been our advocates. We learned a lot from his sermons. Not only that, we also witness their faithfulness in planting a new church. That gives us encouragement to keep going when times are tough. We’re also thankful for small business owners we met at various events. They have been a big help in sharing good business practices.

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Image Credits
Personal photo: Ariya Hoedajanto