What a journey the past nine years has been, from starting RAMA WORKS as nothing more than a hobby during my final year of university in 2015, with my first product sold purely through GEEKHACK: a painted CNC machined keycap of maybe 30 units! I made so many friends through that, cultivating relationships and meeting many in real life. I then went on to design my first macro pad, the M10, then subsequently the M4, EXENT, M65-A, KOYU, M60, U80, M65-B and so on, with many other designs in between.
After the first successful release of the M65 and M60, I invested in an office/warehouse in 2020 and started hiring. A year in and we had 13 employees.
In 2021, I was backstabbed by those closest to me, people within the industry whom I had done so much for, whilst they actively undermined my reputation, business operations and supply chain in the background. Vicious rumours and lies about me and my business were spread through an orchestrated campaign which people blindly believed and propagated around the globe.
It sent me to the shadows, how could I defend myself against these globally distributed lies? I was so constantly vilified and bullied by people who did not know me that I became reclusive, sticking to myself whilst holding onto the truth. I decided to fight in a court of law where justice, fairness and due diligence prevail and not in the court of public opinion. Unfortunately, my respectful silence allowed these lies to spread and poison the well. I have enough self-respect and belief in karma to not do the same, seeking out to destroy someone’s reputation and spread lies.
Last year I hit my absolute lowest and darkest time with the relentless harassment, bullying and understanding of how the discourse of lies had spread. Individuals who participate in or condone bullying should engage in deep self-reflection and consider the true impact of their actions.
At the outset, the timeline and prospect of achieving justice seemed clear and manageable. We were greatly mistaken. Given the nature of the Justice system, complicated by the pandemic, what we anticipated to conclude in a matter of months turned into two exhausting years. It was an incredibly tedious process which involved reviewing and compiling mounds of damning evidence.
We were anticipating for judgment to come out in December 2023 as the final hearing took place in September 2023. Lack of judgment to date has held up the release of a public statement, which is not only very frustrating for RAMA WORKS, but for our customers, friends and those closest to me who deserve to know the truth.
We look forward to the release of the case judgment that we so vigilantly and privately fought for. Hopefully, it will put an end to this haunting chapter.
What I would do to turn back the clock to when it was just myself and nothing else but me and my designs; no distractions, when things were simple. Design is my solace, and unfortunately, as a business owner, so many things overtake my time and desire to be in my happy place of creating - so many distractions and problems that need to be dealt with. However, I’m very fortunate to have created these jobs and run this business.
The decision to pursue legal action was not taken lightly, especially knowing the impact it would have. As a designer and business owner, our rights are something I strongly believe in and will stick up and fight for. All we have as designers is what we put out in the world, we should not have it stolen and our trust abused without consequences.
As hard as these past two years have been for me, it has fostered a significant amount of personal growth and resilience, something I could only learn through grim experience.
Every company, regardless of its nature or industry, inevitably faces challenges and hardships. This is a universal truth in the world of business. 'Gold is tested in fire, and human character is tested in adversity’. Running this business and expanding in Australia has been very tough. I wanted to foster and grow in my home base, but this has made things much harder for our globally serving business as Australia is so geographically isolated. This distance compounds the headache of receiving faulty goods which have to be returned, remade and resent - adding to the import/export fees, time and other costs.
Did RAMA WORKS “fall off”? Absolutely. Are we where we were two years ago? Absolutely not. Are we where we want to be? Not even close. We are diligently working through each product, and I am personally committed to tackling these challenges directly. There is a lot of work to be done, and I am not going anywhere. RAMA WORKS continues to employ nine fantastic and loyal staff here in Melbourne, Australia and operate in the same warehouse I chose to start this venture with.
I am proud of all my past achievements and designs I’ve released, and what I’ve done for the keyboard community with this once small hobby. I truly look forward to moving past these adversities and bringing back RAMA WORKS to where we once were and beyond. Not for a second have I been idle, there is so much I have worked on in the background and collaborations that are upcoming. RAMA WORKS is excited to bring these to fruition in the near future.
Thanks to all that have believed in me and what I’ve created as a dream nine years ago. Thanks to the ones that did not blindly judge. Thanks to those who consoled and supported me in my darkest times. Thank you to my friends and family who stood by my side and supported me. Thank you to our loyal customers.
In the heart of the night, a new day is born, and with its light, shadows of the past are gone.
Rama 💛
