You know when you sit across from someone and you can just feel their passion? Their zest. Their inspiration. Their ease. Their fire. Even if you yourself weren’t too sure if magic was real, you knew that they did, which helped you to believe that you could find it for yourself.
As I sat and sipped my coffee, I was reminded of the ‘just go for it’ feeling you get when it’s Friday, or a time where you feel like you owe it to yourself to let loose, have fun and to do exactly what you love to do. They lived differently. You could see it in their beaming eyes. They don’t wait for the weekend. They don’t wait for things to be perfect or for others to give them permission to follow their passions. They commit to a life filled with purpose, excitement and adventure, now.
Meet Hanna and Ash, founders of Axel& Ash.
Their adventure began with each of them writing down their bucket lists and sharing them with each other. They never made it through the entire list because they stopped on a particular item that would change their paths; they both wrote down ‘start a business’. They then went on to create Wanderlust and Bucket List journals, stocked in bookstores and boutiques all around the world, that inspires you to live life to the fullest and capture all the incredible moments along the way. Hanna and Ash are filled with knowledge about self-publishing, getting your product into dream stores and living a life where you don’t wait to live out your bucket list, because it’s meant to be lived now.
We’re delighted to have them as speakers at the first #RadLivin event in Sydney on the 20th of Feb and wanted you to get aquatinted a little early, wherever you are in the world.
Introducing Hanna and Ash…
Where are you in the world?
Right now we are sitting at a rooftop in LA, loving life as we have just finished a two month road trip across the country to launch our books here (and tick off a bunch of bucket list items! 🙂 )
How do you follow your bliss?
This is what our whole business is about – to follow your heart, live your dreams and chase what truly makes you happy. We started our business by following our guts. We only knew each other for five months prior, yet the idea of starting a business together seemed so right. Everything inside our body was saying yes, go for it! We all have these wonderful feelings of excitement and when we do get them, we need to just follow them and listen to our instincts.
Following our hearts, bliss and dreams just somewhat comes so naturally but throughout life, and especially during our business, we realised that for many people it doesn’t. There are so many people out there full of dreams that they gave up on already (without always realising themselves.) This happens simply because they just don’t dare to take the step to get out of their everyday safe life. We understand it is scary to step outside of your comfort zone and to go chase those dreams, but we find it even more frightening to get to the age of 80 and realise we lived a whole life where we didn’t chase those dreams at all and did nothing in order to make them come true! We only live once and there is nothing more fulfilling for your body, mind and soul than going out there chasing and living your dreams! Whether successful or not (not everyone can marry Brad Pitt) we promise that it’ll be a fun adventurous ride!
When did the inspiration for Wanderlust first come about?
In 2012, after reading a book called 100 Things by Sebastian Terry, we decided to share our bucketlists with each other. One late summer night, we made some coconut drinks and sat down on Ash’s balcony to read through our lists. It was so much fun. A must do with a good friend! It was a long night of laughter and fun and despite having over 100 items each, we only got to #32 when we realised we both had ‘Start a business’ & ‘Start a business with a friend’ on our lists. We were both like, ‘Let’s do something together’! We were bouncing ideas and I (Axel) had an idea to do this type of travel journal for years. When suggesting it to Ash whose biggest passions are writing and travel, she loved it! From that moment, we made a pinky promise there and then that we were both in and would see it through.
Our goal was to create a travel journal that was completely different from anything else out there. We wanted it to be full of inspiration, beautiful photography, quirky prompts and surprises on every page to really capture all those moments, adventures, feelings and explorations of travelling that are otherwise easily forgotten. Something that was stylish and you wanted to keep for years to come, and fills you with wanderlust by just opening the cover. And so ‘Swept away by Wanderlust’ was born…
Then you created Bucket List, can you tell us a bit of a backstory about this and what you hope people gain from it?
We wanted to create a book that really captures the attention and inspires anyone who flicks through it to follow their bliss. Since our whole business started with sharing our bucket lists with each other, it came naturally that it was going to be our second book. We really love fulfilling our own bucket lists and have so much doing so and we in turn wanted to inspire others to do the same. By creating a spot to journal and capture all their dreams, this would be the tool to do so. We collaborated with some great photographers for beautiful imagery, added inspiring quotes and decided to interview and feature some amazing people who have done exactly that – followed their hearts and bliss and therefore are living their dreams. Normal people like you and me! Just to motivate and show that anyone can do it if they set their hearts on it!
What advice could you give to someone who wants to start a business with a friend?
Just do it! I (Axel) have tried to start businesses before and always got stuck in writing a business plan, and planning everything to 100% but have never actually been able to make simple decisions and so I never got it off the ground. With Axel & Ash, Ash was on a plane to China a week after the idea to source printers, we hadn’t even started to design the product! Do a quick calculation in your head – could it be profitable? Do you really believe in the idea? If so, go for it! Be prepared to work hard and put your whole soul into it! It’s not easy and there will be a lot of rough hills to climb over along the way, but the rewards are priceless.
It’s definitely a learning curve working with a friend, as you spend so much time with each other and it becomes a relationship. The best advice is to really get to know and understand the strengths and weaknesses of one another. It will help with getting work done efficiently. Also, don’t be afraid to be honest with each other, even if it’s a bit sensitive, because then you will know that you have the best interest for each other and the business. Lastly, don’t forget to smile and laugh. You will learn and have so much fun along the way that even if you’d end up not being as successful as you expected, at least you tried and you won’t die wondering! You will look back and not believe the amazing journey you have come with each other.
How did you go about self-publishing your book and why did you decided to do it yourself rather than with a publisher?
We didn’t really have a clue on how to go about it but learnt all along the way. Ash had taken, and took during the time, some writing courses and picked up a bit about how publishing and self publishing works. There was a lot of googling, wondering and picking everyone’s brains and we quickly realised that you loose a lot of control and creative choices when publishing a book with a publisher. For us it was never about the money or getting published. We really just wanted to be able to create products that inspires people to live life to the fullest. We had a great vision for the brand and wanted to be involved in every part of the business, from production to sales and marketing to make sure it didn’t lose the value or feel along the way. We wanted to create a brand that aligned with all our beliefs. Also, we had such a good idea of what stores we wanted to be stocked in and were so excited to approach them ourselves. We decided that the best way to reach our dream with the business would be to self-publish.
What are you most looking forward to at #RadLivin?
Meeting and mingling with all the other dreamers, entrepreneurs and rad souls out there! And the food. With Olivia being in charge we can imagine there will be some #radeatin food stalls around! 😉
What are you hoping attendees gain from your talk?
Lot’s of inspiration and a new courage to start doing all the things they dream! Look where we are now – not only do we have a business we love, we are sitting on the top of the world working and have crossed off a bunch of bucketlist items each. What a rad ride it has been!
Follow their journey on Instagram and Facebook and be sure to purchase your tickets to #RadLivin to hear their inspirational talk.
