CEO Insights Magazine

In a world brimming with endless possibilities, it takes a unique individual to inspire others to explore unfamiliar territories and seize opportunities beyond their comfort zones. Meet Devfanny Artha, Founder and CEO of TRANSFORME, and an extraordinary woman on a mission to empower the youth in Indonesia to break free from self-imposed limitations and venture into the unknown with confidence. Through her dedication as an IELTS tutor and mentor, she is not only imparting language skills but is also instilling a mindset that transcends borders and encourages individuals to embrace all the opportunities that foreign nations have to offer. Let’s hear more from her in this interaction.

Tell us about the journey of TRANSFORME. Describe its brand persona and what it represents.

With a background in pharmacy, I pursued further education and obtained a Master's degree in Media and Communication from the University of Westminster, London-UK in 2012. During this time, I also gained valuable experience as an Assistant Attache for Indonesian Education at the Indonesian Embassy in London. While in London, I observed that there were very few Indonesian people despite being extremely smart and talented. This is when I realized that while intelligent, Indonesian people lack the confidence and courage to go abroad and pursue education and jobs in a foreign country for various reasons including the low skill level in English.

Following the completion of the master's degree, I assumed the role of Head of Public Relations at the Faculty of Pharmacy, Universitas Indonesia. Leveraging this experience, I established an IELTS English course: devfartha.com, in 2018 where I served as a Professional English Trainer. In 2020, I, along with a few more women founders, established TRANSFORME, to help Indonesian professionals hone their skills and get suitable educational and professional opportunities abroad.

Give a brief account of your flagship offerings.

We offer many diverse offerings that all provide various benefits as per the needs of the individuals. Because there is a lack of language skills, one of our primary offerings is the yearly program called SIGAP stands for Scholarship Incubator and Global Accelerator Programme because I believe even though this is non-formal education, it still needs ample time and focus to stick in the learner’s mind. Then, we have a Ph.D. Preparation Program, Career Preparation Program. We offer all our programs at affordable costs by providing not only webinars but also workshops, mentorship, focus groups, breakout rooms, and all kinds of support services throughout the program. We prepare detailed schedules on a monthly basis to give learners goals to accomplish, ensuring that they are at the right pace.

Tell us about the major factor you take into consideration while suggesting your offerings.

To suggest the right program, we simply ask the candidates what their goals are. For someone who wishes to enhance their English skills, we suggest the IELTS course. For those seeking funded scholarships, we suggest the scholarship incubator program, instead of the IELTS if their English skills are good. If an individual needs help with the application process, we help accordingly. Unlike other organizations which focus only on one aspect, we try to offer services from the upstream to the downstream.

Share with us a case study of how TRANSFORME changed the scenario for the better for your clients.

One of our learners was a woman, a mother of three, who wanted to initially enroll in the IELTS program, just to upgrade her skills during covid when there was a little more time to do other things for working professionals. Despite having children to take care of and the classes being scheduled at a time that would not be suitable for most mothers, she gave her undivided attention to classes and got a good score in IELTS. The next year she joined the scholarship incubator program for her master’s degree and achieved the scholarship she wanted. She then moved to the UK and is now taking another course to fit her current needs.

How is the team built and what motivates them the most to ensure client satisfaction?

Leading a team is one of the most challenging tasks as you need to set targets, be strategic, and ensure you can provide for your team. During the first year, we did not hire and waited to earn a certain revenue before hiring more people. When hiring, the first thing we did was assess how many people were needed and for which purpose. We hired two people for programs, promoting one of them to the operational manager to help us manage the programs. We also focus on social media communication, so under this department, we hired social media experts and digital marketing experts. We also host events for various programs which led us to hire an event organizer too. We also have business development employees, video editors, IT experts, and an English language assistant. We hire a select few individuals instead of many people because we do not want to lay people off during challenging times.

Devfanny Artha, Founder & CEO, Transforme

Devfanny is a highly accomplished individual who has excelled in both academia and professional endeavors. She has successfully mentored numerous employees and professionals from various ministries, state-owned enterprises, and large companies in Indonesia. With a passion for language and communication, she continues making a significant impact in enhancing English proficiency and professional development for individuals in Indonesia.