Farewell Balitung, Hello Kyai Maja

It seems like a twinkle of an eye. But 11 years have passed when my business partner Lita and I chanced to pass by Jalan Balitung II in Senopati and saw a “For Rent” sign.

We made an appointment and came back to inspect the building. We liked it immediately and signed the rental contract. We now had a base to operate from for the enterprise we started: Maverick.

Now, 11 years later, we have to move. Maverick has grown from 6 to over 70 people and the old house cannot accommodate us anymore. We’ve extended to the back, the front and upwards and we have no more room to expand. So two years ago we bought a piece of land near Pakubwono Apartments and started to build a new office. As I write this, the new office is getting its finishing touches for us to move in on Monday.

I am still at my desk in Jalan Belitung. Around me the fourth and fifth generation of Mavericks are either still working on their accounts or packing up. The office seems voluminous with space and memories.

The Balitung house, that some Mavericks have dubbed The Orange House (probably because of our corporate color because the house is anything but orange) will always occupy a special place in my heart.

When we started the business and moved into the house, we were still very uncertain whether we could make it. We had to be careful of our money. And I had moved from Singapore back to Jakarta alone. So I stayed in the adjoining upstairs room. I was to stay there for six months, until we broke even (because we had landed a huge Litigation Support case), then I moved out to a house nearby.

As the Maverick story unfolded, we progressed from borrowed folding tables and chairs and Yahoo email accounts to something resembling a more established business. Lita and I had four staff but we managed to grow the business and very soon the Balitung office was full of activity and employees.

From the outset we wanted to live up to our name so we recruited staff who had that maverick streak about them – independent thinkers, people who loved learning and wanting to do things that other said could not be done. It has been a a joy to work with them and watch their talents bloom. There is something very satisfying about getting in a young talent and working with them, at times cajoling, at times coaching, encouraging and pushing them to their limits so that they reach their full potential.

I am very proud of the people who work in Maverick today. They are a great crowd of enterprising and spirited young men and women who will collectively take over from Lita and I one day and push Maverick to greater heights.

I am also proud of the many Mavericks who, for one reason or another, have left us physically but not in spirit. They have moved on to lives overseas or promising careers with top multinational companies. My only hope is that they still feel, after all these years, that the time spent at Maverick was one of the best in their lives.

The walls of the Balitung House have also been witness to the many unfolding human stories of the staff here. At least eight of them paired up while working here. I wonder how many other ships passed in the night in this office. We have seen Mavericks getting married, having babies, suffered losses and go through good times and bad.

And now it is time to say goodbye to the Balitung House as we being another chapter in the Maverick story in Kyai Maja.

Farewell house. Thank you for sheltering us through tough times and nestling us in good times. Thank you for the memories and just being there or us. You served us well.

We now leave your gracious walls for our new office at Kyai Maja