Merry Riana

Merry Riana
Merry Riana in 2023
Born	(1980-05-29) May 29, 1980 Jakarta, Indonesia
Nationality	Indonesia
Occupation(s)	Motivational speaker, Businesswoman
Years active	2006 - now
Spouse	Alva Christopher Tjenderasa ​ ​ (m. 2004)​
Children	2
Parent(s)	Ir. Suanto Sosrosaputro Lynda Sanian
Website	merryriana.com

Merry Riana, B.Eng (born 29 May 1980) is a Chinese-Indonesian motivational speaker, entrepreneur, and writer.

Early life and education

Merry was born on 29 May 1980 to Ir. Suanto Sosrosaputro and Lynda Sanian. Her father was an entrepreneur. She is the eldest child and has two younger siblings. Merry enrolled in Don Bosco Primary School (1986-1992), Santa Ursula Junior High School (1992-1995) and Santa Ursula Senior High School (1995-1998, Science stream).

Due to the 1998 riots, she migrated to Singapore and later studied at Nanyang Technological University, taking Electrical and Electronics Engineering (EEE) major, although at first she wanted to continue her higher education at Trisakti University. She graduated from NTU in 2002 with Second Upper Honours.

Career

As a college student, Merry took a loan of $40,000, which she had to pay off after graduating from the university. This difficult situation led her to take part-time jobs such as flyer distributor, flower shopkeeper, and banquet waiter at a hotel. In the second year, she started to delve into the business world by participating in various seminars and joining the business organization at the university after she realized that her live did not change. She also tried the thesis writing business, the Multi-Level Marketing business, and even tried playing stocks. However, all the businesses that she tried failed, and she even lost $10,000 when she played stocks.

After graduating from university, Merry became an insurance sales and worked for 14 hours. Afterward, Merry worked as a Financial Consultant in 2003, and she managed to earn $200,000 in her first year. With the money that she earned, she was able to settle the student loan in four months. In 2004, she was promoted to manager due to her achievements. Later, she established a financial services company named Merry Riana Organization and MRO Consultancy. The latter is a company that engaged in training, motivation and book printing. In 2005, she earned Top Agency of the Year and Top Rookie Agency awards.

She published his/her first book titled "A Gift From A Friend," which told her life experiences while in Singapore in 2006. The book became a best seller in Singapore. In 2007, She managed to earn a million dollars. Her achievement was reported in the Singaporean national newspaper The Straits Times, on January 28, 2007.

In 2011, Merry and Alberthiene Endah authored a book that told her life story in Singapore titled Mimpi Sejuta Dolar and the book became a best seller in Indonesia. Mimpi Sejuta Dolar was adapted into a film named Merry Riana: Mimpi Sejuta Dolar in 2014.

Personal life

Merry married Alva Christopher Tjenderasa in 2004 and the couple are blessed with two children.

Publications

• A Gift From A Friend (2006)
• Mimpi Sejuta Dolar (2011)
• Merry Riana Million Dollar Dream: An Inspiring True Story About A Poor Student Who Struggled Financially Until She Achieved Her First Million Dollar At The Age Of 26! (2016)

Awards and nominations

Year	Awards	Category	Result
2016	Indonesian Choice Awards	Digital Persona of the Year	Won

Further reading

• Endah, Alberthiene (2011). Merry Riana: Mimpi Sejuta Dolar. Jakarta: Gramedia Pustaka Utama. ISBN 978-979-22-7481-3. (Indonesia)
• Widjaja, Debbie (2013). Follow @MerryRiana. Jakarta: Gramedia Pustaka Utama. ISBN 978-979-22-9333-3. (Indonesia)
• NG, Clara (2014). Merry Riana: Langkah Sejuta Suluh. Jakarta: Gramedia Pustaka Utama. ISBN 978-602-03-0198-3. (Indonesia)