The HTF Hot Seat: Extraordinary Ordinary Day

It’s always fun meeting new people, which is why we came up with the idea of The HTF Hot Seat – a regular post to introduce you to the creative dynamites behind some of your favourite hardtofind products. This week’s seller in the spotlight: Ashley Lim, creative director for Extraordinary Ordinary Day (EOD).

I’m known on hardtofind for my… beautifully handcrafted, smoking-hot shoes for women that make their every ordinary day extraordinary.

Right now I’m inspired by… Everything from art, movies and performance to inspiring dialogues with people that I meet along my journey. I’m currently revisiting my vision for Extraordinary Ordinary Day, so I’m constantly thinking about what things make our every day extraordinary.

My favourite part of the making process is… concept research, material hunting and exchanging ideas with other creatives. But the best part is when I finally see a physical product, a new pair of shoes made from my sketch – it’s thrilling to say the least.

I work from… everywhere! I’m working anywhere my laptop is: home, my retail store or a quiet corner at my favourite café while watching passersby.

A typical day for me involves… my important morning ritual: drinking warm water > doing some random YouTube home yoga for an hour > meditation > eating a nice big breakfast. Running a business can be mentally challenging and the day gets easily hijacked with meetings, emails and phone calls – so it’s important to set my tone for the day right. Before beginning work, I create a priority list and attempt (but sometimes fail!) to spend my morning just doing that. Some admin or operational work in the afternoon. After work, I enjoy occasional dinner catch-ups with friends, watching movies and reading books to take my mind off the business.

My proudest business moment was… when I sold my first pair of shoes in my first pop-up store in Surry Hills back in 2014. Another great moment was when I received an email from a customer telling me how much fun they had while wearing my shoes. There are so many customers who tell me they get stopped by strangers on the street in mega fashion cities like NYC and Paris. These testimonials definitely make my day.

When I started my business, I wish I’d known… more about business strategy and planning for the first three years – I wish I had patience and wisdom to plan my long-term game. I must confess that I still struggle to plan my next 5 to 10 years. Old enough to know but young enough to (not) do it anyway…

I’d describe my personal style as… minimally dramatic.

My last purchase was… a bunch of facial masks last time I was in Seoul.

The first thing I do when I wake up is… drink water, lots of water!

The motto I live by is… “A master in the art of living draws little distinction between his work and his play; his labor and his leisure; his mind and his body; his education and his recreation. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence through whatever he is doing, and leaves others to determine whether he is working or playing. To himself, he always appears to be doing both.” – Lawrence Pearsall Jacks. It’s the motto that I recited during my farewell speech in my last job as an architect prior to launching EOD.

I’m hoping 2017 will bring… a pop-up store in NYC and Seoul.

Everything tastes better with a little… sugar, salt, butter and red wine – though I’m abstaining from alcohol for the rest of the year, and it feels good!