Meet Sheel Yerneni | Founder of Svarini

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sheel Yerneni and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sheel, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Two major things determined why I wanted to start my own business- ideal lifestyle and fulfillment.

Ideal lifestyle- I knew eventually I would need flexibility and freedom be able to go anywhere or do things on my own time table. The 9-5 work day or working for someone else wasn’t conducive to this and climbing the corporate ladder did not bring me any closer to this goal so I got out early, knowing that any time I invested in building my career should lead to toward my ideal lifestyle as well.

Fulfillment- On one hand, work-life balance and stable income was great working as a software engineer, but I have realized I like to do things with intensity and pouring my all into someone else’s vision- specifically big tech- felt very demotivating. Because 1. I was replaceable, 2. as a women in tech, I felt every time I entered a new team/space I had to establish myself outside of my disarming “girly” disposition. It quickly became exhausting to play anything that wasn’t 100% myself under the guise of what I thought I needed to be to be taken seriously or considered “professional”. Starting my own business, although it’s the most demanding, it’s been the most fulfilling and I have been able to form deep connections with incredible, like-minded people, and also get lost in building something from the ground up while 100% being myself.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Svarini is a fashion brand, but it was born out of this message I wanted to share about being all things as a woman, specifically a South Asian woman. Growing up there were so many adjectives I wanted to be- smart, talented, beautiful, sexy, etc. But as I grew older, it felt like I had to pick between these, and that being one made it hard to be the other. Specifically, the narrative that you cannot be sexy and respected as a brown girl struck a cord with me. I felt very restricted and shameful in my own body and what I chose to do with it for many years- this is not a safe place to be mentally, but also physically, because it felt like my body did not belong to me. Once I felt empowered to express myself and my sexuality freely as well as build a successful career, I truly felt safe in my own body and setting my own boundaries. This transformation was very harsh, certainly too harsh for the 17 year old younger version of myself trying to contextualize her value. I am most proud that Svarini is something I would have loved to see growing up, a brown girl narrative told by a brown girl, and shared with something I love doing- making art. Right now that art is clothing inspired by both western gen-z fashion and everything I love about centuries-old Indian craftsmanship that we see all over mainstream fashion brands and red carpets.

As for some lessons- to keep it short, trust yourself. If you feel like nobody thinks like you, it’s not a sign that you need to conform your thinking but that you have an opportunity to create something new and also, connect with people that we don’t get to usually hear.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I am not an LA native so I will save this for the experts. I do love visiting West Hollywood- I would take them to Vegan Glory for an affordable and delicious asian-inspired lunch. Probably post up at Bohemia Cafe and do some work. Then dinner at Sushi Park- the best fish I’ve had in Southern California. And just stroll along the sunset strip- a cliche but I’m a tourist and there’s a certain magic in the air of a city where so much artistry and iconic media (film, music, etc.) has been pumped out of. We’d probably make friends with some fellow full-time and aspiring creatives and end up at someone’s after party we have no business being at.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
A poem by Rupi Kaur I read my freshman year of college changed my life. “i stand
on the sacrifices
of a million women before me
thinking
what can i do
to make this mountain taller
so the women after me
can see farther
– legacy”

I don’t know what happened, but it quite literally changed how my brain was wired. Every opportunity I have ever received has been in the form of a women reaching back to give me a hand. And oh boy was I a mess for many years- imposter syndrome, trying to make it in a field built and run by predominantly white men. So when I read it, it filled me with the best cure for disillusionment- purpose. I knew I wanted to give back to this legacy and felt incredible purpose in pushing it further. Definitely played a part in the drive to found Svarini and it’s mission.

And also- my parents really came through for me this past year. After trying it there way, getting my engineering degree and a high-paying tech job- they could sense how miserable it made me. Despite starting as first generation immigrants with traditional core beliefs, they went against their core beliefs to cheer me on as I chase my dream. They have become my biggest rock and it has made all the difference to my own self-belief.

Website: svarini.com

Instagram: instagram.com/svarini.shop

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@svarini

Image Credits
Sukhmani Kaur, Jeevan Portraits