Shayani Alwis, the Founder of ShayInt, has elevated her creative impact to a level of exclusivity in terms of style and uniqueness. As a woman of style and substance, Shayani continues to write her own narrative while she dedicates persistent effort to take her company to a new level every day.

As Shayani opens up to the new role of motherhood she embraces the privilege with the greatest value as she relates it to be similar yet different as being an entrepreneur.

“All roles come second to my favourite and most challenging role of being a mom or a new mom. It’s a whole new world with similar responsibilities to running a business. Most people call their business their “baby,” and I’m starting to see why. But the difference is that my brand doesn’t wake me up at midnight to sing “Baby Shark.” Having to juggle being a new mom and being a business owner keeps me extremely busy at all times.” 

While embracing her new favourite role with the most affectionate heart, Shayani regards every role she plays as extremely valuable. Among those many roles is the role of founder and designer of the ShayInt brand. Establishing a household fashion brand that is the go-to for many women in the country has not been easy. These difficulties, according to Shayani, serve as the illuminating foundation of ShayInt, which she built with care and precision. 

Always looking to do something original, Shayani has made sure to carve the brand of ShayInt to have its own identity as one of the leading and emerging brands that stand on the level of the other giants of the industry. Making sure to meet the fresh fashion trends while also adding her unique spin on the designs has always been a balance Shayani has strived to achieve as she created the name ShayInt to be one of the trendiest and most unique fashion brands in the country. 

“Being a woman in corporate gave me the opportunity to be a helping hand to many other women, not just my employees but also my friends, family, and clients. I understood their pain, and I am now in a position to help. Employing more women certainly made me glad. About 90% of the workforce (manufacturing and retail) are women. And nothing makes me happier than giving another woman a chance to grow financially independent and secure.” 

As a distinct individual and a woman of distinction, Shayani expresses her commitment to effecting meaningful change, as Shayani considers it an immense privilege to have the chance to work in a field that employs a majority of females and caters mainly to women. She always opens up herself to gain insight from other female entrepreneurs considering their perspective and experience on running a business and how they deal with hardship. Having an expansive mindset that is open to the diversity of opinions has been an important essence for Shayani as she looks to constantly expand her creative and entrepreneurial outlook. 

Shayani puts herself on the path of constant improvement as she looks to contribute to the positive changes in society. Despite the difficulties that she encountered on the path of her career as a woman, she has been able to progressively move forward as she has networked a vital support system and a solid team around her.

“Building a good team is vital, and I make sure our growth is aligned. A great team of employees is the backbone of my brand’s efficiency and smooth operation. “ 

As Shayani proudly claims the growth of herself as well as her employees within the environment she created, she takes pride in being their leader and having the opportunity to create such a field for growth for her employees. While creating the dream team by her side, Shayani also claims the importance of personal bonds, as she acknowledges the power of having a strong partner. Having worked side by side with her husband to establish the brand, Shayani stresses the importance of surrounding oneself with positive and nurturing relationships that’ll form equal grounds for growth within one another. 

Shayani tackles the pressure of being a female leader in a predominantly male-dominated society that is still moving into a new dawn of equality. Within this atmosphere of novel transformation, she claims it is important to not give into any unrealistic expectations or pressurized circumstances as a woman. While it is very important to embrace the new progressive changes allowing women to be independent and powerful without any guilt, it is vital to share this experience of power and independence in a healthy way with the network surrounding you. Even as a strong woman, Shayani believes it is acceptable to be vulnerable. Tackling vulnerability in a positive manner will effectively strengthen the network around you and allow you to grow as an individual, which is vital to being a truly good leader and a good human being. 

Creating her own unique place as a female leader, Shayani leads her clan with resilience, being a smart risk-taker and an avid self-motivator. Shayani fuels her leadership skills with the quality of resilience, tackling her challenges with an acute mindset catering to implementing productive and efficient impact. 

“You have to have the resilience to deal with constantly changing market conditions and a challenging economy. Nothing gets handed to me on a silver platter, everything takes time to build, it’s difficult to not give up and quit, but I always remind myself to keep going, adjust my mistakes, do better and always have hope because hard work truly pays off. ” 

Always looking on to the future with the positive outlook, claiming “the glass is always half full,” Shayani continues to trust her entrepreneurial instincts as she grows more and more each day while tackling these numerous challenges. Trusting her guts as she takes risks to improve her fashion empire, the heroine always stands as her own self-motivator through the tough times as she continues to remind herself of her unique purpose as a woman and a leader. 

Shayani hopes and works to change the conversation around what limits women and their progress within society as individuals, as she highlights the ingrown toxic tendency of society to blame women for working late nights or use the lack of safety as an excuse to restrict their careers. Instead, she looks forward to actively contributing to a society that would address why it’s so unsafe for women to work late and travel late and would effectively find a solution to it. With her own experience standing as evidence as a part of the accumulative experience women go through, Shayani hopefully looks forward to change, as she evidently contributes to the progress of that change.

“For women to thrive in leadership positions, they must be given a safe working environment free from harassment and discrimination. Workplaces must educate their staff about how misogynistic habits can harm and derail the careers of female colleagues. Female workers should be given the ability to voice their opinions and innovative ideas without second-guessing or being shot down.” 

As Shayani claims, balancing the narrative of true equality on the basis of impactful actions is important. It is always great if women have role models to look up to and constantly show them that it’s possible to climb the corporate ladder, that it’s possible to launch their own idea and be successful at it. Looking forward to strengthening her network catering to this mighty purpose, Shayani continues to actively contribute to the new dawn of change as a leader, motivator, and role model herself.