If you’ve ever tried to explain Axis to a friend but didn’t know how, you’re not alone. We’re a pretty unusual organization! Here, we’ve compiled a list of our top 12 FAQs to help shed some light on who we are and why we do what we do.
1. Who is Axis?
Axis is a team of gospel-minded writers, speakers, and content creators. We translate pop culture to help parents and caring adults understand and disciple their teenagers.
2. How long has Axis been around?
CEO Jeremiah Callihan and President David Eaton co-founded Axis back in 2007, when the first iPhone was released and denim skirts, boot-cut jeans, and tracksuits reigned supreme.
3. What’s the Axis story?
We began as a live event speaking team, traveling across the country (and even around the world) to schools and churches, encouraging students to live out a biblical worldview. But we soon realized that speaking to teenagers for a couple of days at a time wasn’t enough; once we left, it was hard for schools to sustain momentum and continue the conversations we had started.
We realized that parents, caring adults, and the local church were in a much more strategic position to impact the next generation than we were. So we began creating resources (like the Culture Translator, Parent Guides, and Conversation Kits) to equip parents and caring adults to do this work. Since then, we’ve helped hundreds of thousands of caring adults to start meaningful conversations with their kids.
(P.S. Click here to watch our founders dive deeper into the Axis story.)
4. What is “culture translation”?
Culture translation is how we help you understand your teens’ world, and speak their language. Every day, we sort and sift through what’s happening in social media, entertainment, technology, sports, and other cultural trends, then curate what we believe is directly or indirectly shaping your teen’s heart and mind. Our goal in doing this is to make it easier to start conversations about the issues that matter most to your kids in ways that gently guide them toward truth, beauty, goodness, and God Himself.
5. What’s Axis’ mission statement?
We build lifelong faith by helping parents and caring adults talk with their kids about what they otherwise wouldn’t one conversation at a time.
6. What about your overall vision?
To see all caring adults equipped with the conversation, discipleship, and culture translation skills needed to reach the next generation for Christ.
7. Why is Axis called ‘Axis’?
At Axis, we’re all about intersections. Just like points have to be plotted between the x-axis and y-axis, we’re all about the place where two distinct realms come together, whether that be the Bible and pop culture, Heaven and Earth, or Baby Boomers and Gen Z. We stand at the intersection of pop culture, media, faith, and entertainment to help parents and caring adults navigate meaningful conversations with the next generation.
8. Can I trust Axis?
We would love the opportunity to earn your trust. We have a lot of products that cover a lot of different issues, but here’s part 1 of our popular video series on Social Media, which should give you a feel for what we’re about. Feel free to reach out with any questions you have, and our customer service team will be ready to help you make the most of what we have to offer.
9. What is your statement of faith?
Axis holds to and affirms the Apostles’ Creed.
Members of our staff represent a variety of Christian denominations. Although we don’t all agree about everything, we are united in pursuing the abundant life that Jesus promises His followers. This beautiful life is possible because Jesus restored humanity’s broken relationship with our Creator through His life, death, and resurrection.
10. Is your content appropriate for younger kids?
This is a difficult question to answer, because we cover a wide range of topics in our content, and some kids mature more quickly than others. We always ground our content in both scriptural truth and diligent research into what’s really happening in teen culture and pop culture, but we would also encourage you to preview our content if you’re unsure about its appropriateness for your context.
It can feel scary to think that our kids will be exposed to certain things, but the reality is that today, because of the internet, the rising generation is being exposed to much more at younger ages than used to be true. It’s often better if we can be proactive in these conversations before our teens’ culture fills the void. We’re careful not to include anything unnecessarily explicit in our content, but ultimately we are trying to equip parents to navigate some pretty explicit issues with Gen Z. We believe that any conversation our culture is having with your teen is worth you having as their parent, and our goal is to help you bring the light of the Gospel into it.
11. If I purchased resources, how do I access them?
You will need to log in to axis.org with the user name and password you received with your confirmation email. Once you’ve purchased an All Axis Pass (which gives you full access to everything we have to offer for just $9.99 a month or $99/year!) or an individual resource, just hover over the “Members” tab and select “Dashboard.” There will be all the resources that you purchase.
We have resource specialists available to help walk you through how to navigate the dashboard and use our resources. Just give us a call! And you can also watch this video to help you navigate through our new website.
12. Where do I start?
This is a great question! We have a huge library of resources, and honestly, it can feel pretty overwhelming at first. Where to start will depend on whether or not you have the All Axis Pass.
- With the AAP. If you already have the AAP, we suggest starting with the Path to Teen connection. You can find this under Members -> Dashboard -> Extras. The Path to Teen connection is a year-long plan that walks you through a range of topics, like mental health, social media, technology, and more.
- Without the AAP. If you don’t yet have the AAP, the best way to get started is to browse the Resources Overview page (Resources -> Resources Overview). This page gives you a glimpse into what each product has to offer. Next, subscribe to our blog for tons of free content on pop culture, faith, and more.
Feel free to share this with a friend, family member, youth leader, or another caring adult who could benefit! And, as always, don’t hesitate to reach out with any additional questions you may have. We’re here to help.