A Life Well Lived
As part of our journey to redefine Wealth we are exploring what “A Life Well Lived” means: interviewing artists, entrepreneurs, explorers, and change-makers as they share their stories and ask “what is my life well lived?” Here we talk to Sebastian and Brogan Cox, the team behind their eponymous furniture and design studio, Sebastian Cox Ltd., about their business and what living well means to them.
“Our business designs and makes things with British wood.” Says Sebastian. “I started the business back in 2010 and had begun looking into how, in the UK, around 90% of the wood that we use is imported. I thought it was a really interesting point around which to start a business.”
“I met Brogan in 2013, and she joined the business full-time a couple of years after, and since then it’s really accelerated. We now make furniture for brands, private clients and we also sell internationally. We’re based in South East London and we have a jolly nice time making things with British wood.”
“My background is in fashion and brand management – I love marketing,” says Brogan, “which is how I first came to help Seb with the business. It was really fun and really interesting for me because I was able to help Seb better articulate all of his enthusiasm and passion – everything that was in his head, in a slightly more strategic way.”
“I studied furniture design and making,” says Seb, “and then ended up falling in love with the academic assessment of sustainability. Then I started thinking about relating it back to my time spent living in the countryside, coppicing woodland. So my background sort of came together with my training and here we are.”
On Work
“Our business designs and m“At that time I was still a student, I didn’t have a workshop, I still hadn’t even finished my Master’s, but I just couldn’t say no to the order. I found a way to do it in the university workshop in the end, basically bribed the technician to let me do it, and then that was it, I was in business. So there wasn’t really a leap, I didn’t really have a choice! I had to take the order and then all of a sudden I was busy.”
On Being an Entrepreneur
“All three of my parents run their own businesses; my Dad, my Mum and my Stepdad.”
On Milestones
“I remember really clearly when you received the email from Heal’s,” explains Brogan, “to participate in Heal’s Discovers, that was a really defining moment. That, and the invitation to participate in the wish list and design and make something for Sir Terence Conran. That moment felt enormous.”
“When you’re a student you form these sort of role models,” says Seb, “brands and businesses that you really like the look of, and then when they then get in touch with you, that’s an amazing feeling. Even small things, like Morris & Co just getting in touch to say “We really like what you do, would you like to come and meet us and get to know us?”. As a student I used to read William Morris, so little things like that make the hard graft of running a business really worthwhile. I think recognition from people you admire is probably the nicest gift to receive.”
On Success
“Challenge the perception that capitalism or business equals unhappy workers and destroying the planet.”
On Advice
“The only way you can get a business off the ground is to just put in the time.” says Seb. “There’s no kind of magic formula, or quick fix, you just have to work the 50, 60, 70 hours a week or whatever it takes. However once you have done all of that heavy lifting, you can continue to do that – to run it as a lifestyle business, or you can also then go through that transition of it not just being a lifestyle, not just a part of who you are, but actually ask what is the value of this business, what is it as a separate entity to me?”
On Living Well
You can find out more about Sebastian and Brogan Cox by visiting their website, or by following their journeys on Instagram; @sebcoxltd and @broganjane
