Meet Maddy & Jeff: The Wandering Wilsons
Maddy & Jeff are 1) two of my most beloved and dearest friends, and 2) the ultimate adventure couple that keeps it real + shares their life, love, and “go with the flow” spirit with the world. We are so blessed to be graced with their presence and wisdom. They empower each other, and Maddy and Jeff seek to grow together while making sure each other’s strengths shine in their work! Read on to find out how Wandering Wilsons went from 9-5 jobs to traveling all around Australia + the world!
Tell us about who you are and your journey to where you are now!
Hi there! We’re Maddy and Jeff Wilson and we’re stoked to be featured today! We’re adventure travelers and content creators from Texas and we aim to inspire people to live a little more adventurously by sharing our life and travels around the world.
In our former lives, we were grinding it out at intense 60hr/week jobs. We both weren’t fulfilled with spending so much of our time on someone else’s dreams, so we set some goals and spent a few years honing our skills. We traveled to off-the-beaten path places, constantly practiced photo and video, and saved as much of our salaries as we could. In 2017, we moved to Australia (for those intense careers) and fell absolutely in love with the country. Finally in 2019, after years of dreaming, we took the leap to travel and create full time.
We’ve spent the past year traveling all over Oz, creating content for travel bureaus/brands/ourselves, exploring, learning, and loving life all from the back of our little van home - The Millennial Falcon.
We create and share photos and videos, but most importantly, we share stories – the good, the bad, the tips, the trips, the downright goofy and even sometimes the ugly. And we have a lot of fun!
What is the mission of your brand? How does it empower couples?
We always say our motto is if we aren’t pushing out of our comfort zones, we aren’t really living - and that just about sums up our brand.
We find the most growth and happiness when we leave those boundaries behind, and our goal as a brand is to encourage others to get out there and live a little more adventurously themselves.
We’ve always felt strongly that travel enriches our lives, our ability to relate and connect with others and to ourselves, and broadens our perspectives - so we love encouraging others to get out there and give it a go. Life is more fun when you think of it as one, big, wild ride!
How do you collaborate with brands working towards a better world?
Our niche is in the adventure travel and outdoor space. We have always tried from the very beginning to stick true to ourselves and align with brands who share our values - encouraging people to explore and get outside their comfort zones, and brands who are leading the way in protecting the places we love to explore and play.
We approach brand collaborations with this in mind, and we turn down opportunities that we don’t think are the right fit. This is and has always been really important to us because it means our followers know they will get honest recommendations and endorsements from us that they can trust!
What is the biggest challenge you’ve had to press through as a female entrepreneur or couple duo and what are the steps you’ve taken to overcome it.
As a couple working together, it is the epitome of teamwork. We live together, work together, love each other, and are with each other literally every hour of the day in a small space. We truly are best friends, so we really love it, but it can get stressful and tense sometimes.
We’ve both focused on having very open and honest communication, but also encouraging each other to take breaks and time for ourselves. I love to read/listen to podcasts and Jeff loves to go on runs - so we protect time for those independent activities and encourage each other through them. Taking time for ourselves makes sure we can come back and give the best versions of ourselves to our projects, and to each other!
What advice would you give to a female entrepreneur or couple in the beginning stages of launching their brand or business?
I think that the best advice we can give - especially to a couple - is to check your intention constantly. If you don’t set out with a clear intention, it can make everyday decisions in your business more challenging. Having a clear intention/goals together enables us to make our business decisions through that lens, instead of through emotions of the moment. It makes difficult conversations or decisions about partnerships and opportunities a lot clearer and easier to navigate if you know where you stand and what your goals are.
We would also stress that it’s so important to recognize and honor your relationship over your business. Setting clear boundaries is really important so that your life isn’t just consumed by your work, you treat each other with love and respect, and you can put it all away at the end of the day and still enjoy a date night :) Being business partners and life partners is an amazing blessing, but it takes a lot of work!
What sets your brand apart from others?
Authentic is a word that’s thrown around a lot these days, but we’ve always promised we’re always going to keep it real. And that is what we’re told over and over again sets us apart. We are a bit goofy and we try to have fun in all situations, and that comes through in our content, with our clients, and in our partnerships.
Here’s where you can find us -
Instagram: www.Instagram.com/wanderingwilsons
Our website: wanderingwilsons.com