Interview #2 My conversation with Michael Ellis founder of Crosspath
Two weeks ago I sat my final University exam, the final “Thing” I had to complete to graduate. Whilst I’m proud and excited for the future I’m also quite nervous. University, getting there, doing it, and graduating have been my goals since about 2018. For the past 6 years, I’ve felt like I’ve been on set-out tracks. Finish high school, go to university, finish university. As long as I followed along the tracks, aka showing up and submitting assignments on time, I succeeded. It meant I could go with the flow, not have very much money, party a lot and still be considered a success. Now I’m no longer in University I definitely feel like the pressure is on. Fortunately, I have chosen to go on some extended travels next year. I plan on living abroad, working and traveling and I have not set any solid end dates on that. I have though set one major goal: To develop this website and blog into something that I can either earn an income from or something that can get me a really quality job when I choose to settle down.
To achieve this goal I want to learn how to maintain a lifestyle where you are so involved in the growth of your brand. I thought a great person to talk to about this would be Michael the founder of Crosspath. I met Michael around a year ago through a good mate. In the time that I have known him I have respected Michael’s consistent commitment to growing his brand. I’m always seeing him put on events or just developments with the brand in general and thought it would make for a great conversation. A few weeks ago Michael and I met up in Scarborough, had some Kebabs and discussed The reason he started Crosspath, the creative process, his ambitions for the brand, getting his clothing into stores and general advice about making your brand your life.
Michael Ellis - Founder of Crosspath
Introduction & Reasons behind Starting Crosspath
Michael Ellis founded Crosspath a little over a year ago on the 27th of July 2023. Michael explained to me that since he hasn’t “Built a team yet” he is currently responsible for designing all the art and clothing, printing the clothing, promoting the brand and everything in between. I told Michael that it sounded like he is Crosspath, he told me that he started saying that as a joke but its true and lots of people say the same. When I asked him to explain Crosspath briefly I got two explanations, the clothing is “Wearable Art” and the brands purpose is to “Inspire people to cross onto their new path”. Michael has been drawing for as long as he can remember and was given the advice to use clothing as a medium to share his art. He decided to frame the brand around this new chapter in his life and “Crossing onto a new path in my life at the time”. Michael told me that through Crosspath he wants to “help other people completely change up their lives.” Michael told me that he decided to use the brand as a vehicle for his own change after feeling like he wasn’t where he wanted to be in life. “I needed something to show myself what I could do”
Motivation & Inspiration
Managing a project, brand or even a goal over a long time frame requires a lot of motivation, things often will go wrong but you must remain confident in the vision. I know I have struggled with motivation and certainly will as I begin to set higher aspirations. I decided to ask Michael if he had struggled with motivation and commitment to the brand over the past year. He revealed that he has considered quitting 4 times and was seriously close to doing so on two of those times. Michael told me that disappointment and things not going the way he expected or had hoped were the biggest reasons behind considering quitting. He overcame this though, realising “Its not meant to be easy” and that if he chose to quit it would not just be a failure to him but everyone who believed in the brand. “If he cant cross onto his new path then who can”.
I wanted to know who inspired Michael from art to lifestyle and mindset. He told me his favourite artist is a realist artist from the UK named Wil Shrike. Michael told me he had been in contact with Wil and shared how cool it was to be talking to one of your inspirations. When it came to mindset and lifestyle Michael told me the occasional bit of David Goggins was always helpful and in particular he loves the way Russel Westbrook and Jimmy Butler from the NBA consistently show up for their team.
Impact on Lifestyle & Personal Growth
Our conversation naturally transitioned onto the topic of lifestyle after Michael shared that at one point he didn’t get the balance right, spending so much time writing down ideas and thinking about the brand that he would only get 4 hours of sleep, “If I’m not doing this, I’m doing this”.
I wanted to know how Michael’s lifestyle changed from before or when he first started Crosspath to now. He shared his lifestyle is completely different now. “I was still playing video games because I had the time”. Michael told me how his dad was instrumental in him changing his mindset and ultimately his lifestyle. “My dad like put this into me… Your time is money”. I asked Michael if he found making the brand his lifestyle was a beneficial thing to do. He said hugely beneficial “The brand is meant to improve lives so obviously it's gonna improve mine as well.”
Michael told me that his confidence and ability to be authentic have improved drastically over the past year. Sharing that if he had been interviewed at the beginning of Crosspath he would not be able to speak about himself so confidently and would likely stop himself from saying everything he wanted to say. It’s really promising to hear about someone who has managed to remain committed to their goal despite adversity and that there are massive benefits and opportunities for growth along the way
Changes to the creative process
With my blog, I have kept most of my writing very improvised. Some posts have taken more time and I’ve been sure to link resources to back my claims, others are off the cuff and are about what I’m feeling at the time. I know that If I’m looking to grow my platform I’m gonna have to make changes to my creative process.
Michael told me that his creative process for the brand was initially quite “Messy”. He described choosing art pieces he liked at random, putting them on print-demand services and then selling them when they arrived. That process has completely changed now that Michael is responsible for the printing of his shirts. “I care much more about the quality and how the brand appears”. This change has also influenced the creative choices Michael is making as well. “I’m much more intentional with trying designs that look great then making series based on what looks great”.
The move into printing has changed Michael’s whole perspective towards the process and the art itself.
“the whole process is much more creative which actually means I’m drawing less.”.
“the new wrap-around design I have done I am only able to do that because I print myself”.
“It’s a new way of creating for me which is why In call Crosspath wearable hand-drawn art.”
The art behind crosspath
Events & Experiences
Crosspath has held two Basketball events so far, both organised by Michael. He shared that he learnt a lot from organising the two events.
“So the first one was sick cause it wasn't approved by the council I just said to everyone go to Scarbra”
“thank god no one got hurt”
Michael learnt from this first 3v3 Basketball event and a second one which was organised to celebrate the 1 year anniversary of the brand that he needed to make changes both organisationally as well as in the advertising for them.
“The way I organised it would not have worked with more people.”
“Once I get insurance I can get council approved then I can promote it”
“If I wanna be a big brand I need to think like I’m a big brand”
This learning is valuable as Michael already has his aspirations set high for future events. For The Love Of Boarding a wakeboarding, wakesurfing, and Wakeskating event. Michael wants to take the permission and ambition awarded to him after getting approval and insurance to book live music acts to perform and attract corporate sponsors. He also plans on hosting another basketball event this time at Mullaloo beach with performances.
Physical stores and future plans
Michael has high praises for the Perth small business and fashion community having made several valuable connections and friendships. “Everyone is so nice”. One of those valuable connections is with the GoldDubs store. Based out of Girrawheen Golddubs prides itself as “the premier shopping destination for local brands”. A friend sent Michael their social media and he reached out, an interview was set up and Crosspath was in Goldubs. Michael now also works as a part of the team, running the store at times and helping Golddubs at events such as Fashion Thrift.
Joining the local fashion community in Perth has increased the amount of opportunities for Michael and Crosspath. He shared that he does not see other local brands as competition but “Someone to collaborate with”. Michael has been brainstorming some really exciting events including warehouse raves. His friends Dart [@FreshUp_au] and TJ from Locals Only [@Localsonlyofficial_] have similar ambitions and together they are planning some exciting stuff. Michael tells me that currently, his biggest hurdle to doing events like warehouse raves is an investor. Raising all the capital required to put on such events is extremely difficult on your own especially when you are running the business as well.
Crosspath designs
Content Creation and Advice for others
Michael has communicated a lot of his dedication and ambition for Crosspath through the brands social media. As the brand is about crossing onto your own path and Michael is using the brand to help him do so he is naturally all over the content. As someone who is working on a brand that does relate to me personally quite a lot I wanted to go to Michael for advice around being the face of your own brand. I started by asking Michael how he finds being front and centre, he answered “Great”. Michael went on to explain that he uses social media and talking to the camera as an outlet for all he has to say about the brand. When he first started the brand in particular and he did not have many people to discuss it with that became the camera. I can really relate to this as that is how writing my blog often feels, yes I am looking to build a platform but first and foremost I’m sharing my perspective and spilling my guts.
Finally, I wanted to ask Michael if he had any advice for someone like me who had started this website as a hobby but is ready to take it to the next level in 2025. Michael shared with me some really useful advice that he has learned over the past year.
“Think big and prepare to be big. Don’t put things aside because you think you have to wait until you're bigger.”
“Take a step back look at those who inspire you and try to show up like they do.”
“Surround yourself with people who are doing the same thing, thats finally when I started getting recognition and I stopped feeling alone in what you're doing.”
“You'll find the people you meet doing this stuff will care more about your work then people you have known your whole life.”
I really appreciate Michael taking the time to talk with me and share some wisdom from his time running Crosspath. Please be sure to check out what Michael is doing with Crosspath they have some incredible designs and some exciting plans coming up, I’ll be sure to link the website and Instagram.
Talking to Michael did leave me inspired, there is a whole community of people like him in Perth keen to collaborate, create content and fun events. I am keen to interview a variety of interesting people across Perth and speaking to Michael has me confident that there are plenty of exciting brands, people, and events to cover. I’m excited to see where Crosspath will go next and would love to collaborate with Michael again and cover some future events he plans to put on, be sure to stay tuned. Thanks for reading.
