Conversations with the Inspiring Karina Shivdasani

I had an idea for a fashion company that would uplift women when I was in college. I really wanted to learn the industry in hopes to make my dreams a reality so I got into the corporate side of fashion retail. I was a buyer for about six years before I left to work on Common Assembly full time. We launched at the end of September 2019!

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?

It hasn’t been the smoothest road. There have been so many challenges and we just got started!
I was really hard on myself at first, but then I realized the beauty in it all. We are learning so much and are making new decisions every day. We are stronger and smarter for it.

For anyone that is thinking about starting their own business, expect hurdles and expect challenges. Remember challenges don’t equal defeat and don’t equal failure. Challenges are the building blocks you need, you will learn how to be agile and think outside of the box. It’s how you address and respond to the challenges that will determine how successful you can be.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into Common Assembly story. Tell us more about the business.
Common Assembly is an online women’s fashion company that exists to spread kindness through fashion.

We believe in a kinder way of doing business and we do our best to take care of everyone involved with the brand from the men and women making our product, to the customers interacting with us, to our team in our HQ office.

We source socially responsibly, which means we only work with manufacturers that pay fair wages, have safe and healthy working conditions, and dispose of waste in accordance with government regulations. We have a legal binding contract with our suppliers to ensure they uphold our standards. We embrace diversity and inclusivity and don’t retouch the models in our images- this is huge for us as we are on a mission to showcase real, relatable beauty. We also pay a portion of our profits forward. Once a month we hold Common Hour in our headquarters and it is open to anyone that wants to attend. Common Hour is a time to bring women together and have some real conversations about what we are all dealing with and ways to move forward (if anyone would like to join our Common Hour mailing list please email help@commonassembly.com). And lastly, we aim to spread our kindness message through ever touchpoint we can, whether it be on our website, through our emails or social media.

My hope is that women feel connected and uplifted when engaging or shopping with us and that we inspire women to be kinder to themselves. By being kinder to themselves it makes it easier to be kinder to those around them and kinder the world… and that is how the ripple affect starts!

Looking back on your childhood, what experiences do you feel played an important role in shaping the person you grew up to be?
Over the years, I dealt with my own battles of self-confidence and built myself up or down based on how clothes fit me or made me look. I saw women around me of all ages dealing with the same thing and it really bothered me. I wanted more for us, I wished fashion didn’t have that power. I wanted a brand to tell me it was ok if I looked different than the models. That’s when I realized I wanted to create something in fashion that would help uplift women. Fast forward ten years later, and that idea turned into Common Assembly. I really believe a little kindness goes along way, whether its kindness to yourself and loving yourself or kindness to those around you with words of encouragement, compassion and support. It matters.

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