The story behind every Father’s life advice

In celebration of Father’s Day, we reached out to our team members to learn from their journey of fatherhood.

Celebrated annually on the third Sunday of June, Father’s Day is the day where we take time to acknowledge the contribution of fathers and their importance in the lives of their children. This year, we asked Adika Hertanto (Head of Legal and Compliance) and Roberto Gonzalez (VP Engineering) to share their experience as a father and what life advices they’d like to give to their children.

My father deserves all of the credit for raising me to be a problem solver and decision-maker. He insisted on me weighing the benefits and drawbacks of whatever I did. I was a mischievous and wicked kid and I remember my father used to gently told me that I should think about the implications and effects of my actions on other people. He would always remind me to be mindful of other people — he can almost sense when I’m about to goof around. As I grow up, I also found the advice of being thorough to be a very beneficial lesson for both my personal and professional lives.

I receive one of my life lessons from early on and I’ve been doing some too for my children since they were little. I would love for my children to be thoughtful in making whatever life decisions they’d make. Giving them advice and telling them about my life experience; I find comfort in knowing that my life lessons could also be useful for them too.

Becoming a father is a lifetime job and it has been nothing but an amazing experience for me. Seeing my children born and grow is a priceless memory for which I am grateful. Every moment, achievement, learnings, and all of their journey are something that I hold close to my heart.

My father always let me make mistakes so that I might acquire certain life lessons on my own. As a result, I’m doing the same thing every day with my daughter and the teams I work with.

For instance, there was an occasion where my kid was playing with a light bulb one day and accidentally burned her thumb by touching it. She has no concept of what a light bulb is or the implications of her actions. While she was still stunned and her thumb was beginning to tingle, she reached out and ran to me for comfort and aid from her father. She cried for more than 30 minutes before finally falling asleep in my arms, exhausted. When I glanced at her face, I realized she had been through a lot. I wanted to help her, but there wasn’t much I could do in the first place. I realized that sometimes all you have to do is be present for them.

I am reminded of my father’s words that, “Children require a lot of time and money. When they are babies, they require more time than money. As they grow, they require more money than time. Then comes the moment when they don’t require almost any money or time: that's the time when they are already adults and you start missing them”.

Fatherhood has certainly taught me a lot of things I don't think I’ll ever get from other roles in life. It takes time, money, energy, patience, and resilience yet, on the other hand, a child provides you joy and blessings like no other. I cannot wait to share my life experience so they could learn from me but I also excited to support and be there for them when they learn their own lessons.

Ayoconnect is Indonesia’s largest API marketplace and leading Financial API developer. It enables developers to choose from a wide range of financial white-label products on Ayoconnect’s API platform and quickly launch them to their users. We embrace diversity with open hands to create an empowering, inclusive, and nurturing work environment. Eager to be part of our global remote company? Head over to our career page to discover available positions!