I've been running AKU for a little over four years now. I've loved it, I've hated it, I've been close to pulling the pin and then I've loved it again. I'm not sure where on the scale I'm sitting at the moment. I flirt the fine line between "I've had enough" and "man, I love this". I'm sure it's the same for all business owners.
Of the four years we've existed, 40% of those have been navigating a global pandemic. Lockdowns, broken supply chains, the suspension of sport, the resumption of sport, sport kind of back, sport shutting down again. Yet in this time, we've managed, we've grown, we've built a community.
This is no underdog story. There's no redemption nor is there a protagonist or a villain. Our pages are still crisp, the ink still fresh and we've only just begun writing. We're just a group of ordinary kids, all of us with our own 9 to 5 jobs, working with teams, clubs and athletes at the levels we have no right to be working with, honoured they'd choose us to tell their story through their teamwear. The fact that we've gotten to this point and achieved this alone isn't ordinary.
Ordinary is such a vague word, it can mean everything and nothing at the same time. It means different things to different people but at the end of the day, the concept of Ordinary is just based off a person’s mindset. Scoring a tap in goal can seem “Ordinary” for some, but for someone coming back from a 12 month ACL injury, the same accomplishment is extraordinary.
Our Never Ordinary campaign celebrates ordinary people coming together, achieving and celebrating the extraordinary.
We're here for
The Ambitious.
The Driven.
The Dreamers.
Those that Never settle on the Ordinary.
- Ruz Roslan, Founder
Watch the Never Ordinary video here.