Putri Santoso, Fragrant Coffee from Champion of Equality

Dian Dewi Purnamasari

· 6 minutes read

The fragrance of coffee becomes stronger when it is brewed with boiling water. The character of Putri Santoso, 28, a businesswoman who is driven to empower the disabled, is similar to coffee. Since she was a child, Putri was taught not to give up despite the hearing impairment she was born with, and that she was the equal of other children.

The veiled and bespectacled woman’s countenance seemed to brighten when speaking of her activities as a coffee shop owner. It was only in the past year that Putri and two hearing impaired friends established the Tuli Coffee shop.

Tuli Coffee (Koptul) is not just any coffee shop because all its employees are deaf, from its baristas to cashiers and to waitresses. They call themselves “teman Tuli (Deaf friends)” with a capital T, instead of hearing impaired.

When ordering coffee or another beverage at the shop, guest receive a plastic cup that illustrates the sign language for the letters A-Z. The images were printed to bridge the language gap between the hearing and the deaf.

In addition, the items on Koptul’s menus use simple terms derived from nature, for example, Kopi Daun for matcha tea. Even though its employees are deaf, guests need not worry because they can all lip-read.

Rejection

Putri’s journey to becoming a difabelpreneur (disabled entrepreneur) was not an easy once. The Bina Nusantara University graduate of visual communication design initially wanted to find work at an office. After university, Putri sent out 500 job applications. She only received one response, but endured a bitter experience.

In the end, the company decided not to hire her because they noticed during her interview that Putri’s voice was different from the vocal quality of people without hearing impairments. Putri became desperate and tried to explore other opportunities by speaking with the people closest to her, including her husband, Terry Eduard, 42.

“It was then that I thought of starting a foundation and a company. I believed that this was how I could empower my deaf fellows. So I could set up a foundation or company,” said Putri, whose husband accompanied her.

Because she had limited funds, Terry suggested her to set up a foundation. Finally, on Aug. 2, 2016, the Sampaguita Dhanya Mandiri Foundation was established, its name taken from Putri\'s middle name, Sampaguita.

The foundation focuses on empowering teman Tuli and offers a variety of skills training workshops, such as making sweet rolls, hand-sewn leather wallets and bags, and hand-painted shoes and glasses.

“After nearly 700 teman Tuli in Jabodetabek [Greater Jakarta] were trained, I thought how to find employment for these skilled friends, yes? So again, I wracked my brains,” she said.

In the end, Putri\'s good intentions received a lot of help from generous hands. One day, a private TV station covered a teman Tuli training session. One of her mother’s friends that owned a company saw the show and was interested in helping the foundation. Putri was then challenged to create a creative program with her “Deaf friends”.

So she started a plastic bag reduction program, selling 1,000 environmentally friendly bags. The sales proceeds were used as capital to run the foundation.

The foundation continued with its empowerment program while Putri looked for other ways to find employment for the teman Tuli. One day, a childhood friend, Mohamad Adhika Prakoso, 28, got in touch about starting a business together. Adhika, who has also been deaf since he was a child, asked Putri for advice on starting a business. Later, Putri asked him how his hobby was coming along. Adhika is a coffee connoisseur.

The two then met with owners of coffee shops and studied how to open a coffee shop. Finally, together with Adhika and another close friend, Tri Erwinsyah Putra, 28, Putri opened the Koptul shop in Krukut, Limo, Depok.

“The initial capital to open Koptul was around Rp 105 million as a joint venture with my two friends. We received a lot of help from Adhika\'s relatives in renting a kiosk,” said Putri.

It could be said that the three friends’ decision to jump into the coffee business was rash, because they didn\'t have much background or knowledge in running a coffee shop. However, they had a very strong drive to learn and experiment.

Adhika and Erwin got drunk on coffee when they were experimenting with brewing the perfect cup using an espresso machine, but they eventually discovered the perfect formula that they felt confident about selling to the public. An average cup of coffee costs about Rp 30,000.

It didn’t take long for the Koptul coffee shop in Depok to become popular and go viral. The beverage business, especially coffee, was a growing trend in Jakarta and its surrounding areas. In addition, Putri said, the store found a place in people’s hearts because of its strong philosophy.

Koptul is not just open to business: its other purpose is to hold social activities. First, it empowers its employees, who come from the teman Tuli community. Second, it serves as a bridge toward understanding equality for the disabled.

Aside from selling coffee and breads, Koptul holds activities like film screenings and regular sign language classes, which are always full.

Today, Koptul operates two branches in Krukut, Limo, Depok, and in Duren Tiga, South Jakarta. After a two-week training program, eight teman Tuli were hired as coffee shop employees. Putri’s recruitment criteria were that they must be committed, disciplined and honest.

Opening the coffee shop was a very pleasant experience for Putri. She welcomed many guests from the teman Tuli community across the country. Many were inspired by her efforts, and asked her to open other Koptul branches outside the capita.

Putri believes that her upbringing helped her become who she is. Her mother raised her alone when her father died while she was pregnant with Putri. Her mother also gave Putri a strict education about discipline.

She sent Putri to public school to interact with non-hearing impaired children, even though Putri became severely depressed from discrimination. She was discriminated not just by her peers, but also her teacher.

“I was stressful. I didn\'t want to go to school, I even wanted to commit suicide during junior high school. But after reaching this stage, I believe that this bitter experience strengthened my mind,” she said.

Putri still has other big dreams. She dreams of one day owning a production house that could fully empower teman Tuli. She believes that disabled people must be able to live independently and achieve equality.

Putri Sampaghita Trisnawinny Santoso

Born: Jakarta, Jan. 16, 1991

Husband: Terry Eduard

Education: Visual communication design, Bina Nusantara University

Award: Nominee, 2018 Gantari Award

Editor:

kompascetak