Welcome to the personal portrait of Lea Antonia Varga, the founder of AWA. Manuscripts. 

We choose to refrain from writing it in third person to be objective and professional. It is a personal story, written by Lea herself, so let it be read like a conversation with her:

My childhood and youth were a"different kid” story. 

I preferred to play in the forest and study books, leading to concluding primary school within 3 years.
This did not give me popularity as a kid, growing a sense of insecurity within.

Within my adolescent times, I chose to bend and blend, exchanging my beloved books and forest with sneaking into clubs to fit in.

After finishing my A-Levels also another year early, enriched by volunteering in Africa and AuPairing in Australia, I chose to forge myself into a sharp sword of steel to be at the forefront of what I considered success and beauty at that time. 

Graduating with honors in the english-chinese taught degree of International Business Management 23kg lighter, I secured a position at a prestigous corporate institution, yet taking the leap to be an entrepreneur after three years as I realized that a structural cap does not allow me to grow at the pace I wanted. 

My first business skyrocketed quite fast. Within 2 years, I had achieved to provide a lavish life for myself and all my beloved ones. Nevertheless, at the peak of my success until that very moment, I realized one vital thing that was missing: A deep sense of fulfillment.

This was quite confusing at first, as I did everything according to the playbook, but the results did not feel satisfying to the degree I estimated them to be. Life began to feel meaningless. 

To fix this, I began the hardest and at the same time most rewarding journey of my life so far - the one into the deepest depth of my inner world. Back to forging myself. This time not externally but internally. Not to be popular but to feel satisfied. In this process, something became as vital as breathing: 

Self-Realization through reflection and structuring in writing in a trustful environment. Eventually, this ritual became precious.The trustful environment for me was nature. I could let myself drop into the soft moss, lean on trees and dive into myself. 

Slowly but surely, the thirst for my own work today emerged. Previously utilizing casual blocks and journals on the market, they all of a sudden did not feel representative anymore. I longed for something that felt soulfully rich to me, as it would carry my whole being through verses. Additionally, the more time I spent in nature, the more precious she became to me. Consequently, I became aware and eventually felt pain about how we as humans pollute her. This was the point where I needed a solution for both. 

For notebooks, I screened the whole market, looking for the right fit but there was notthing that felt adequate. Until one day, the day before New Years Eve 2019. I visited a flea market in Brittany on a rainy Sunday. Beautiful old books that nobody wanted anymore caught my attention, resulting in a question: 

“What if I can make a journal for myself out of these?”

They have been created in ways that radiate a sense of refinement and care I did not feel in any notebook produced in the modern time. They felt soulful.  Having already lived a life, probably travelled far and accumulated a texture that radiated matured experience in perfectly imperfect beauty. 

Spinning this question further in my head, I realized through this, I could even support to mitigate the pain of pollution. A small step for now, but at least something. 

From the very beginning, it was important to me to sensitively care for the art and intellectual property of others, so I incorporated a market screening before touching any of them. Ever since up until today, the screening is the vital part where everything starts.

In the process of refining myself, my standards rose, resulting in the necessity for every detail to be substantial and as conscientious as currently possible. After scouting over 100 suppliers across DACH, I realized that for the vision to come alive as I feel it, I get to become a restorative artisan myself.The process of creating a Manuscript requires a long breath and cannot be standardized nor automated, which seemed unattractive for the suppliers I talked to. So eventually, after almost two years of scouting, faith led me to become a private student of an 86-year old Bookbinding Master for one year to learn the skills required to do it anyways. 

Finally, 2026 is the year where I can conscientiously share the result: AWA Manuscripts was born.
From thread, sewing technique over its writing paper to garments and cover - every nuance is intentionally curated, tested and polished to deliver a fine writing experience that is natural and soulful. 

Making it the notebook for the refined individual. The one with distinct taste who equally values the nature within and around. 

In the process of refining AWA Manuscripts just as much as I forged myself into being the years before, right now the environment in which I live and work on a day to day also needs to align. 
So last year, I began to restore the 1887 heritage I live in with natural materials.

I felt fed up by the artificial coverage of the walls, the layers that have been added to cover the original substance and go with trends over the years. Step by Step, we gradually breathe life into its walls again, revealing and restoring its inherent surfaces to shine again. 

This is how AWA.Homes is being born right now. Eventually, intended to become a co-creation space for ambitious beings who choose to make an impact.

Overall, I wholeheartedly invite those who choose refinement within and around themselves and their beloved ones to explore the goodness we share as well as to genuinely get in touch with us. 

If you are curious about me as a person, the processes within me and the art and innovations I create, I invite you to connect with me via Substack.

Here, I share more of my inner and outer world views with you.

This is my personal vita. I hope it gives you a picture of me. If not, here is one: