Who the heck is Maya Kirana?
It’s my nom de plume, pen name, secret alter ego. It’s a name I used when I first got online and started blogging way back in the year 2000 when I was still working in the corporate world. I didn’t want people to trace me – I felt that being unknown allowed me to voice my opinions freely and openly.
Too bad that over the years, everyone I know stumbled on this blog. So much for anonymity! Sheesh! So here’s who I am. My name is Krista Goon and Maya Kirana is my alter ego.
My husband and I met at Universiti Sains Malaysia in 1994 as students, married in 2001 and have never quite left Penang. We built our business here and we think there’s something really special about Penang.
Nic and I are total opposites in personality but somehow we manage to get along well enough to run a business together. I’ve been in business with him since 2004, the year I called it quits in my corporate communications manager role in a public-listed software company called KarenSoft Technology.
At that time, I was also the website editor of a now-defunct women’s portal called i-asianwomen.com (I was hired to manage and run the portal but soon got sucked into doing corporate communications for the mother company as people figured out that I could write and handle events and a plethora of other comms stuff).
Anyway, my ability to write (specifically website copywriting) and Nic’s ability to design make us a rare and interesting combination.
We combine our abilities and competencies in running Redbox Studio, a business focusing on helping business owners attract more customers using their websites. Nic started the business in 1998 so this means we’ve been in business for 25 years!
Our secret sauce is that we build marketing strategy right into the websites we design. To do this, we have to understand the client, his target audience, his unique offering and how he is unique. Once we understand this (we’re marketing consultants because we simply love marketing), we start researching keywords, writing copy (or website content in plain-speak) and designing the website to help position the client as distinctively as we can. For the past 23 years, we’ve proven that our website plus marketing strategy works as evidenced by the reviews and results we’ve achieved for clients who are usually direct business owners.
Besides website design and website copywriting, Nic and I teach marketing to service business owners such as doctors, coaches and consultants. In 2016, we wrote and published a book teaching business owners our exact formula for getting online success with websites.
Besides business and the work we do, we are involved in projects that impact our community (TSN Book Adoption Centre and WomenBizSENSE). I co-founded WomenBizSENSE with a friend, Josephine in 2006 for women entrepreneurs. Nic and I started TSN Book Adoption Centre in 2016 and many have lauded us for the elegant idea of saving books while saving lives (and you can read all about how the centre has evolved.)
Nic is also a spiritual healer and he helps people who have problems that medical professionals cannot resolve. Many of these problems arise due to karmic issues and spirit affliction and he has been helping people since 2019 on a private basis. What differentiates him is that he can logically uncover the root cause of a problem and explain this in plain English while offering an effective remedy that doesn’t involve rituals, faith conversion or prayers.
I had a fat, grumpy tabby called Margaret Montokong Mustafa (seriously, that’s the name Nic gave her and she lived up to her uppity snob cattiness befitting her British name till she died of kidney failure on 8 April 2014). As with anyone who has had pets die on them, we were so depressed that we vowed not to own any more cats.
Ah, but sooner said than done, right? Eventually, another tabby came along and now we have a drop-in cat called Timah Boestaman. She comes for meals and belly rubs and hangs about till we shoo her out of the apartment. The cat was named by Nic. He calls himself the cat whisperer besides being a soul whisperer.
Let’s Backtrack A Little, Shall We?
I’ve been scribbling, dreaming of stories and giving into my imagination since young.
I remember with clarity that at the precocious age of 6, I diligently copied questions and answers from a Tell Me Why book into an exercise book with a red pen!
I read my first Enid Blyton that my dad bought for a princely sum of RM9.90. Back in the 1980s, RM9.90 was a big deal!
I remember getting what I wished for – my first pre-loved typewriter at 11. I felt like a star! My Godmother bought it for me when I got first in class in Standard 5. I learned to type fast and concocted delicious stories and poems that read rather funny now. I even typed out a poem in my rage against the injustice of Tiananmen Square and I was a regular contributor to the Starchild section of The Star when I was 11.
I’ve been writing for a long time.
What Malcolm Gladwell says about putting in at least 10,000 hours to be trained as an expert is possibly true. I must’ve written thousands and thousands of words in my life since I was 6. I’ve read equally as many words too, given my love for fiction and business books.
I discovered blogging one day in 2000. And I’ve stuck to it though sometimes it unnerves me that there are strangers who read my blog and build up pieces of me in their minds, especially those who have not met me in person.
But people who have read my blog say my writing is refreshing, humorous, honest and intellectually stimulating.
I haven’t been as regular a blogger in the past few years as I have a lot on my plate – managing my business, being on various committees, helping out in women’s and community projects, speaking, consulting, training and trying my best to exercise diligently on my Kettler rowing machine, eat well (and eat fewer carbs), be kind (to myself and others), practice Spanish and Mandarin on Duolingo.
I’ve also told myself I’m going to write more books and everything takes time. During the pandemic lockdown, I did two things that I’m pretty proud of – pushing myself out there with live streaming and starting a podcast featuring Asian women entrepreneurs across Asia. These two platforms have opened up a whole different world!
Tell me, what is your purpose in this journey of Life?
As a Buddhist, I believe that living life well is the best gift to yourself. I love being inspired by the people around me and I despise complainers. I have removed a lot of whiny, toxic people from my life. I used to want to have the last word in any argument but these days, I just move on. Sometimes, the angst isn’t worth it. And Nic says if you’re not accumulating karmic credits, and just accumulating material wealth, it is a poor life indeed. As you can see, we’re both mission-driven people!
I like cooking more than baking, I love gardening when I have the time to just feel the soil in my hands.
I love Traditional Chinese Medicine and soups (check out MY OTHER BLOG here), I love the smell of rain on a blistering hot day. I love spending time with good friends and family and I treasure relationships like I treasure the moments I spend alone. I love journaling, I love reflecting and I love being patient, strong and courageous. My mantra band reads Serenity, Courage, Wisdom.
I also was one of the 18 women nominated for the Great Women of Our Time Awards in 2008 for co-founding WomenBizSENSE. I was the president of this organization but stepped down in 2016 to make way for new leadership. I’m still involved as the advisor for WomenBizSENSE but I’ve realized it’s time to do new things and explore new adventures in life.
“I didn’t know what I wanted to do but I knew the woman I wanted to be.”
– Diane Von Furstenberg
I like escaping to my blog but as the business needs me more and more, I have very little time to escape here. Still, I could never give up my blog.
I am on these platforms too (Facebook and Linkedin) because I love connecting with people online. Mostly I am on these platforms researching what works, what doesn’t and relaying this knowledge to our clients who trust us to have their backs.
(If you want the full list of what I’ve done – speaking, writing, blogging, coaching and setting up a women entrepreneur network etc. – take a look at this.)
Also check out our Youtube channel where we share about marketing, entrepreneurship and more.
And if you feel you need to write to me, please do.
I love getting mail, I love hearing from strangers who in the end become my friends. Many have.
P.S. If you’re wondering how I got the name Maya Kirana, fret not.
Here’s the answer you’re dying to read…in this post.
