Sharen Kaur is the Founder and Director of Raising Vibrations, a holistic clothing brand aimed at the awakening of consciousness and to promote mindfulness. Born and raised in Manchester, UK, she has always had a creative flair when growing up and pursued this further at university while studying fashion design technology with surface textiles for fashion at the London college of fashion, University of the Arts London. She then went on to intern at luxury British fashion houses Alexander Mcqueen & Burberry London and worked as a textile print designer for print factories that supplied the fast fashion online retailers.
What were your initial years of growing up like? Tell us about your life before starting your corporate journey/venture/initiative.
I always knew I wanted to work in the creative field and was very passionate about fashion. My studies and education was tailored towards this, I studied fine art and textiles at high school and sixth-form before going to fashion college to pursue a degree. I also worked part-time in luxury retail while studying and did internships to gain insights and experience in fashion. However, I also very quickly learnt entrepreneurship was in my core and the 9-5 grind really wasn’t for me.
Every industry that is now a large-scale, top-notch business once started as a small idea in the minds of entrepreneurs. What was that idea or motivation that made you start your business /initiative? What motivated you within to say YES, go for it!”
I remember looking for white kundalini yoga clothes online for a one day retreat in London that I was attending for the first time and not being able to find anything. Once I was there and saw the 500+ other attendees that were there wearing random all white misfits, I realised there was clearly a gap in the market for this. It was after this retreat I went home and started making samples.
Tell us something about your initiative or current role. What is it about, and what impact are you trying to make?
Raising Vibrations is a contemporary, holistic clothing brand aimed at the awakening of consciousness, to promote mindfulness. We provide sustainable, affordable, practical yet fashionable white clothing for yoga/ meditation and everyday casuals to feel comfortable and confident, while elevating in the awareness of the true authentic self. The color White is symbolic in many cultures across India. It is said to be associated with divine light, simplicity, purity and radiance that brings us into the awareness of soul consciousness. This space allows us to protect our own energy field while expending and elevating it. Raising Vibrations was founded out of the desire to awaken the divine feminine in women all over the world to elevate a collective consciousness. Also, promoting sustainability in the fashion industry is something I am very passionate about.
Your journey and your vision are very inspiring, but are there any achievements or accomplishments you would like to mention?
After graduating from university in 2009 I took part in a competition to design a sari that reflects life in Britain. My winning design made headlines in India and was featured in the daily mail, the telegraph and BBC Asian radio. I was also approached by Indian clothing retailer RCKC to design a range of products based on my design. These Western designs and silhouettes are now mainstream fashion in India.
Would you like to share with our young budding women entrepreneurs the change you would like to see in the world if given an opportunity?
The change I’d like to see in the world is for the G20 summit to be full of female leaders. For all global leaders to be women and for these women to lead from their divine feminine energy to bring healing to the world.
Women are a growing force in the workplaces worldwide, standing shoulder to shoulder with their male counterparts. There are cracks in glass ceilings everywhere, with many women breaking through to carve out a space right at the top of the pyramid. What are your thoughts about women leadership today?
I think it’s fantastic that women are in leadership roles. Working alongside their male counterparts as well as succeeding them. I also think this is nothing new, although we are only just starting to see more and more women in corporate leadership roles, women have always been natural born leaders of nurturing. It is the innate nature of women to nurture and a true leader creates other leaders. A quality many men lack in business. Dictatorship creates hierarchies, followers and enslavement built on greed of men.
What would you want to say to our young women leaders/audience reading this?
Know what you are passionate about, what drives you, excites you and fulfills you. And then find a way of sharing this passion with the world with the intention of spreading love. When we are creating something from nothing we are living in harmony with creation.
