Yonder Living

YL : We are both owners of an online lifestyle & interiors shop. We pride ourselves on the fact that all of our products are handmade by skilled artisans, the brand has a theme of travel at its core. We both handpick each and every item from artisans around the globe, as well as managing all our social media. We are both very hands on within the company. 

ND : Why lifestyle accessories, have you always had an interest in interiors? 

YL : Both of our backgrounds are in art & design, having studied at Central St. Martins and Camberwell College of Art. We also have a shared interest in interior design along with a love of colour, textiles and travel.

ND : What would your dream interior look like?

YL : Our dream interior would have to be a white blank canvas room filled with splashes of colour and neon brights from our very own Sahara Pots, Pompom baskets and vintage Kilim cushions, of course! Hee hee. We would also have to throw a Moroccan Beni Ourain rug into the mix as well (we hope to add some to the collection in the near future) as they are AMAZING!

ND : What do you love most about what you do? 

YL : Travelling and picking out new products for the shop are two of the best elements. It is so exciting choosing new Sahara Pots and then seeing them up on the shop ready to be snapped up! You have to take the good with the bad when running a business.

ND : What’s the best piece of advice you have been given with regards to running your business? 

YL : I think it would be fair to say that we have both not really been given much/any advise in terms of setting up our business. We have taken everything step by step, using our gut feelings and natural sense of savviness. 

ND : You have a wonderful product range, I bet you get to travel a lot with your work, where are your favourite destinations in the world? 

YL : Morocco certainly has a special place in both of our hearts, especially Phoebe who knows the souks like the back of her hand! But one place that really has stayed with Sophia is Iceland: I am secretly a bit of a nature nerd and the landscape there is awe inspiring. Especially in the depths of winter when I was out there. I will never forget the otherworldly surroundings of the Blue Lagoon, watching the sky turn black over the endless snow covered mountains. I also love the way that folklore and traditions are so commonplace in day-to-day life; one morning I found myself caught up in a totally legitimate and serious protest against road works taking place because the area was thought to be inhabited by Elves.

ND : Are the artisans that you currently work with people you found on your travels or did you go looking for specific products / pieces? 

YL : The people that we work with have definitely come from a process of finding them as we go along. With each new trip comes a new source of inspiration or an opportunity to work with someone new. We of course have a group of people with whom we have built strong relationships and continue to work with on our products .

ND : If someone came to you to ask for advice about running a creative business what advice would you give them? 

YL : If you want something bad enough, then just do it. That is what we did! However, be prepared to do a lot of hard work and make quite a few sacrifices. 

ND : What do the first two hours of your day look like, do you have any rituals? 

YL : The Yonder morning ALWAYS starts with a hot drink! A cappuccino for Sophia and a Hot chocolate for Phoebe. We will then usually go through our emails and attend to anything we need to. Next we usually hop onto social media and post a few Instagram pics. Then comes the fun part of packing up the day’s orders, which we both really enjoy. We take care to wrap each item in white tissue paper and make sure that the parcel each customer receives looks as nice as what’s inside! 

ND : Lastly, how lucky are you, and why?

YL : I think we both consider ourselves very lucky. Insofar as, we both really appreciate the good and amazing things that we have in our lives. We are very grateful for the opportunities that we have come across and that we are in a position to do something that we both love. We are also very lucky to have a great amount of support from our partners and family members that have always been there to lend a hand and offer support. However, we also feel that we’ve got to where we are through a lot of hard work and determination, and that has come from us and just us, no luck at all.