Ones To Watch: Ayeshah Rose

Ones To Watch, Inspirational Women, Kokoda, journey, mentor, charity, life advice

Everybody is on the hunt for young up-and-comers and, here at SHESAID, we have been lucky enough to meet a few of them. These ladies are on the road to success and generating waves within their chosen field. Whether they be creatives, sporting talent, founders of start-ups or someone striving to make are difference, these young women are definitely ‘Ones to Watch’.

Tell us a bit about you. Where are you from? What do you do?

My name is Ayeshah Rose and I am born of Eurasian origin and grew up surrounded with acres of green and endless amounts of imagination. When I was younger I found an escape from being a mixed raced girl in a rural area in my love of animals, which gave me a sense of freedom. This was the perfect recipe to be moulded into a storyteller. But it was almost as though one path was not quite enough to pursue a life of no limits. As a tomboy, I joined the Naval Reserve Cadets as a teenager and found the focus and discipline I needed to hurtle a career in the arts. I’m now also a model with WINK Models.

You have recently completed the Kokoda Trail – is this something you have always wanted to do?

I genuinely have an addiction to the outdoors; I love to test my own limits. This was something I knew would test my physical and mental spaces. I will admit I had very little knowledge of the significance of the trail and the detailed stories of the heroes that gave us the freedom we enjoy today. I think many young Australians are uneducated on this part of our history and this trek was a way to be identified as an Australian.

Your journey along with your groups was filmed and made into a documentary, Life Challenge – Kokoda. How did you find out about this project?

My good friend James the founder of Life Challenge suggested I do this. We both had battled personal and physical issues with health before and decided to test ourselves and risk everything for this project.

As a model, did you feel like people underestimated your inner strength to complete the journey?

Definitely. I was laughing with the camera guys on the final days because they all had bet with each other that I’d be the first to crumble and I’m sure even some of my close friends may have questioned my endurance for this adventure.

What were the most challenging moments for you on your journey, both physically and mentally? How did you resolve these?

The moments I went down on day 7 with dehydration. It really took me by surprise because I did drink almost 3 litres of water that day already. Going in and out and forgetting where I was and seeing cameras really shook me. Time and rest was the only way out, but the words of Charlie Lynn in my ear was the real awakening and those words of support and hope really rearranged my thoughts and enabled my wheel power.

What was the most rewarding aspect of your journey?

I loved feeling my body switch to survival mode. I loved how well I slept despite all the strange sounds, wild dogs, and torrential rain. Mostly I loved learning from Charlie and watching him with the people, helping, supporting and really investing in them and giving me the opportunity to give back too by naming a scholarship program after me. A major inspiration to me, he’s like my family now.

What advice would you give to those following your career path and to those hoping to one day complete Kokoda?

Purely to pay a respect and gratitude for the greatest opportunity of all, freedom. So why not?

As a creative, what inspires you?

I’m a quick learner so I love to try anything and try and master it, whether that’d be a new technique, a new style or activity. I love pushing myself to be inspired by other creative outlets; I am inspired everyday with something else, something different every time.

What are your plans for the future? Where do you see yourself in the next 5 years?

I have so many plans! I always love doing a lot with so much variety. I want to continue building on my strength with my fitness and yoga, continue with making art that explores a variety of executions, I want to be creating characters with my own imagination and express them with my acting, and of course be travelling to climb the rest of the treks in the world!