Meet Asha - Wedding and Colour
M E E T
Interview by Sophie Cottrell / Photos by Asha Hall
weddingandcolour.com.au
Continuing on with our series we want to introduce you to artists and business woman, Asha Hall, who created our map for the Sydney Volume. She hand watercolour paints wedding invitations and stationery for brides across Australia. She is clearly quite a cleaver little cookie and we love what she does, so we sat down for a little chat!
Tell us a little about yourself and what you do with yourself?
My name is Asha and I'm a stationer and watercolour artist. I run my own business specialising in wedding stationery and previously worked as a commercial Interior Designer in a local firm.
How would your best friend describe you, do you think?
Hmmmm that’s hard. At the moment a terrible friend who has no time :/ ! But probably fun, little quirky and often doesn’t think before I speak, which is always fun in itself….
What was your journey to where you are now?
Brave. I feel like the biggest thing that got me to where I am now was being brave, having faith, not listening to too many opinions, choosing the ones that count and not always listening to common sense. I quit my full-time job at an architectural firm based in Subiaco and threw everything I am and my pride on the line to start my own business.
I studied while building the business and then launched Wedding and Colour 6 months later.
Would you change anything along the way? And what advice would you give to someone who is looking at taking a risk and just starting out on their creative journey?
Be brave, it may not look like you thought, however, its always worth risking otherwise you will always wonder why. Ask yourself. What’s the worse that can happen? You fail. My husband used to always say that to me, I had to brain storm what it meant to me if I did fail….Your mind is cruel and always makes it much worse than reality. I probably wouldn’t change anything; even, mistakes have only helped e learn and grow in my business but also personally.
How did you find your voice in the industry and what is the biggest challenge with this?
I’m still finding it, the wedding industry is big! But its finding it with the right people and net working with the right people, people who aren’t even within the same industry. I found connecting with other small business owners helped so much in learning and growing from each other.
How do you stay motivated when you are the only one responsible for creating content? What motivates you?
Days it was hard but I’m a pretty driven person. Lists! Lists always help. I have a white board that I write my weekly and monthly tasks on. I post it note all my jobs so I can visually see my work load, this helps me stay on track. Also learning not to procrastinate, starting with the hardest task and working my way backwards.
Who/What inspires you creatively?
Spaces, beautiful spaces. I think the Interior Designer in me appreciates all type of design so I am inspired by beautiful interiors, colour palates, textures in nature etc.
If you had to do something completely different to what you are doing now, what would you do?
Renovate. I love creating something from nothing so my other dream would be to flip houses or just live in Italy and paint haha.
What places are at the top of your travel list around the world?
Greece, Croatia, Italy. All of Europe really
What are 5 things you would never travel without?
My husband
If I had a choice my puppy – Hugo
A journal
Dry shampoo (it’s a must!)
Ugg Boots (summer or winter, they are a go to and remind me of home)