Ariya Behjat on How He Co-Founded the Fastest Growing Creative Solutions Orientated Agency
In 2019, the biggest issue affecting 63 percent of startups was access to talent. It is, therefore, not surprising that Ariya Behjat, a professional Entrepreneur, Photographer, and Industrial Designer, chose to work with his friend Lewk, who is now his business partner. Luckily, Lewk and Ariya shared the same passion for creativity. “I always surround myself with like-minded people. Lewk has always been a friend, and though we are in contrasting industries, our collective passion for creativity worked for the business,” Ariya says. Together, Ariya and Lewk founded Axenic where they influence many people through serving enterprises, brands, and celebrities with creative solutions in the form of marketing and branding campaigns designed uniquely to a brand’s needs and optimization standards. I spoke to Ariya about Axenic and uncovered an incredible story of how he co-founded the fastest-growing creative solutions orientated agency.
Drawing Inspiration from Influence at an Early Age
Ariya believes that “cultivating a brand, creating a product, and building something come from different sources of inspiration that one is influenced by.” Growing up, his parents would buy him art kits, science kits, and musical instruments. Ariya had to learn how to make original creations by himself. Research shows that through elements of art, even the youngest children can express their creativity. As a child, Ariya learned exclusively on projects. The result was a strong passion for architecture and photography, which landed him in Industrial Design. Ariya’s profound interest in industrial designed influenced his approach to finding solutions to problems. He calls it “finding an influential solution to a problem. “In application to real-life scenarios, “It is more like how the art of Origami is used in designing compactable satellites, or how Teflon was an after-math invention to fridges, and many other examples like it,” he says. When Ariya decided to get into entrepreneurship, he wanted to be that one guy whom everyone came to when they needed creative solutions for business problems. However, even with the right influence, Ariya had to overcome a huge challenge to get his brilliant idea off the ground.
Investing Creative Expertise and Leveraging That to Get Clients and Stay Profitable
To get the business idea rolling, Ariya and his partner Lewk had to do something that other players in the branding and marketing were not doing right. They both came up with the Creative Investment Model that allowed them to invest their creative expertise in a brand or business for a percentage of profits. The strategy helped to give their clients confidence that the agency could produce the desired results every time. One challenge, however, that Axenic faced was that there were some areas ready to be invested in, but both its founders were picky and could not decide where to start. They finally cracked the puzzle and on the first shot were able to help a few brands succeed with Creative Investments. The profit they made enabled them to make business trips around the world to extend the reach of their services. With the tours, Axenic grew into a team of about 30 contractors and employees, got partners in various workforces, and acquired countless clients internationally. Today, Axenic is a global enterprise with offices in Monaco, Dubai, and Calgary. Among Axenic’s international clients include Dolby Audio, TED, MasterCard, Uber, DJ Snake, and more.
Using Lessons from the past to Plan for the Future
Ariya’s vision for the agency is reaching as many people as possible, through improving brands and products, to practically lead to social developments. To do this, he and his partner have three goals. They want to build relationships, partner with businesses, and target potential clients that seek global marketing. Achievement of these goals is being made possible through consolidating and reflecting on their past few years to rebuild necessary structures. Ariya believes that by implementing the lessons learned over time, the future will be better for the company. “We are looking forward to our expansion goals for 2020, with plans to purchase multiple properties, hire more members, and serve the community,” he says.
In Ariya’s world, relationships are everything. He has carried this mentality into the business and is using it to drive revenue and customer satisfaction at an unimaginable scale. It is the only way he can explain how, sometimes, their clients become partners. There is no doubt that Axenic’s clients are impressed by the company’s unique expertise.
