Who are you?
My stats: mum, partner, founder of Awesome Source - the best non alc G&T cocktails that ENCOURAGE YOU TO EMBRACE YOUR AWESOME WITH EVERY SIP.
In reality, I’m just a person who’s trying to figure out what to do in life, doing the absolute best I can, then tripling it with a giant slice of faith and conviction that I am doing good.
What sets your soul on fire?
Creating something that doesn’t yet exist. Kind of like a magician or fortune teller, if you will, although there’s a lot of grunt work involved and no ‘woo woo’ tea leaf or card readings. But I digress…
The technical term is “innovation” (a corporate buzzword these days), but the way I describe it is “creating the world people will enjoy within one, two, five years from now”. It’s the most exciting feeling to do something that is so new and beautiful, with the thought that people will have this as part of their day-to-day life. Or in the instance of Awesome Source, they will have a gorgeous, luxury drink to enjoy in their most beautiful moments without the hangxiety.
What do you wish you could have told your teenage self?
Life isn’t a competition. In fact, your only competition is you.
There is so much money, success and achievement for everyone to enjoy. So support one another, embrace people's success (clap LOUDLY and cheer!!), and become really, really good friends with those that are doing exactly what you want to do. Jamie Kern Lima (founder of IT Cosmetics) wrote about this interesting idea that haters are confused supporters… I’d prefer to just skip the hate and go straight to being a supporter.
What is something most people don't know about you?
A lot of people don’t know that I’ve worked for a tobacco company for nearly a decade. I have learnt a lot from this experience, and I appreciate that this is not something that seems to be aligned with my core values, or many people‘s values, and I truly appreciate that. But if you ever want a challenge, and I mean a true, bonafide challenge - then work somewhere where you’ll be pushed to your creative limits (and ALL of your limits). As they say, growth doesn’t happen on the 9th push-up, or even the 10th. But on the 12th. This environment has done this for me on many occasions, and I have met some seriously strong, resilient and innovative people, particularly women, here.
What is your proudest achievement outside of work?
Backing myself. There’s a real difference between thinking that you are going to do something, versus violently, with EVERY fiber of your being knowing it is 10000000% true.
There was a significant shift within me a while ago where I really believed that I was able to obtain everything I set my mind to. My philosophy shifted from “I build million dollar businesses” to “I build billion dollar businesses”. Just like Jesse Itzler said to himself when he created his first million dollar company: “I just haven’t been paid yet”. Try that on for size, will you?!
And don’t get me wrong, this isn’t mindless positive thinking, and meditating on my dreams. Fuck no. This is significant hours invested into what I would love to achieve. But this in itself IS the achievement that most people have a really hard time wrapping their heads around, let alone actually doing.
I dare you to ask yourself - “what if failure wasn’t an option”, or say to yourself: “I build billion dollar businesses, I just haven’t been paid yet”. Watch what happens… then write to me and let me know at frances@awesomesource.co.
What are you currently working on?
I’m currently working on the next set of flavours for Awesome Source. This is the most exciting & complex part of our business. It’s the one that I enjoy the most too, but it always seems to be that where we think we’re going to land, we always end up somewhere else entirely. This makes having a plan really difficult, as flavour combinations and product development are so critical, but it always feels like an entire journey that takes us to unknown places where we have to trust we’re destined to go. Don’t get me wrong, we’re not “winging it”. We start with an entire tonne of research and customer feedback, but when you’re standing mixing drinks and Black Rose extract lands on your benchtop, you question everything you ever thought.
What is next?
A really unique, elevated drinking experience no one else has seen. We are fully intending on colouring outside the lines, and delivering something so different, so cool, even collectible, that it will blow your minds. I remember originally stating our intention to create good-for-you RTDs that had the same zeal as luxury fashion items. Our beverages are more than just delicious drinks in a bottle, they’re an extension of our customers, who are looking to revel in the celebratory atmosphere of their lives whilst maintaining their health and avoiding the spectre of a crappy morning the next day. And we are going to continue to deliver on this even more, just wait and see.
If you could have any superpower, what would it be?
Obviously I’d love to fly, have night vision, see-through things. But with the power of technology, that’s gonna happen anyway. The biggest challenge will be for people to have control of their minds and hearts. So if I was to have any superpower in the world, it would be to have an infinite amount of kindness, patience, and faith.
Whilst I work on this every day, the idea that nothing would ever faze me and I would be able to have clarity of mind 100% of the time to make the best decisions from the heart, that would be the best superpower. I suspect I might get better at this as the years go by… or they’ll make a wearable device for this or plug it into your phone.
Being constantly creative, how do you balance?
To be honest, my strategy is to carve out time NOT to be creative. Anybody who is in a creative space understands the power of stopping, and being quiet, or doing something radically different for a while in order to then be able to come back and unleash triple, quadruple, x10 the creative power you had before. Right now I am responding to these questions after spending one day not working on the business, and I can tell you with 1000% certainty that I am itching to create something awesome again. I know that I wouldn’t have that itchiness, or the so-called ‘tension’, if I didn’t give myself one day off. It’s strategic. It’s weird. But it works.
What is something you believe in that not everyone agrees with?
I believe in living a beautiful life. To me this means enjoying design, things that are aesthetically pretty, things that make your environment, or what you wear, or really anything, beautiful. Some people think this is superfluous. I disagree, I think life is so short, you might as well live within beautiful circumstances. To me this doesn’t equate to spending a lot of money on designer clothes, or anything too costly, but it’s probably why my brand Awesome Source looks the way it does, like art. So when I receive comments on our packaging, often from complete strangers, my heart is so happy.
What is the most valuable lesson you have learned in life?
I’m still a giant WIP (work in progress). But here goes… Back yourself via personal development. The most successful people spend a lot of their time (and $) on this for a reason. They are their biggest asset, so just like upgrading your software, YOU should invest in your growth, learning and experiences.
But if I had to answer the question “what’s the most valuable lesson”, it would be “where focus goes energy flows”. This is self explanatory! Try this next time something is bothering you.
The other thing I learned from Sara Blakely (founder of Spanx) is to double your goals/expectations, so that you’ll almost certainly arrive at your actual goals. In practical terms, if you’re literally jumping over something (say, a river), aim further than where you need to land, and you’ll land right where you need to be.
What change are you going through? Why? And where do you want to go with this change?
I have finally settled into the role of ‘mum’. My son was born early, and he also was conceived quite unexpectedly. It’s taken me a long time to process this really exciting part of my life, but also it’s been a very confusing, fast and sudden change. I made it extra hard because I also decided to build a business at exactly the same time. I think I was desperately trying to cope with the circumstances changing, and trying to regain control of my life. But with Ozzy now one, my relationship with the role of ‘mum’ is incredibly different, and I enjoy spending my time with him and being present, whereas before I was pretty lost.
Currently, how is your relationship to yourself? How is this different to a year ago?
I spent a lot of time working on my limiting beliefs and trying to rewrite them. A year ago I would’ve told you that I wasn’t capable of many things, I wasn’t going to be a mum, I wasn’t going to have a business, I would forever work in corporate. I would even tell you things like I might not be in the right relationship, have the right friends. Today my relationship with myself is significantly more kind, more generous. Not everything is perfect, but I give myself allowances in moments where things truly are difficult, but then I go right back to my state of certainty - that I AM capable.
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