We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Dishi Solanki a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Dishi, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?
I was born and raised in India. Coming from a low-income family, we only celebrated on special occasions like birthdays. I had an extraordinary birthday ritual growing up. It would be buying raw materials at a local garment shop to rough sketch my designs for the neighborhood tailor to bring them to life. My birthday dress was a labor of love! Sadly, shopping malls came to town, and the ritual stopped. Scarcity experiences growing up concerning our buying power as a family discouraged me a lot. So, when I moved to the US for my master’s and cut my teeth in tech startups, I ended up devouring fast fashion. That was until 2021 when my skin broke into hives and I started getting pounding headaches with no prior history. My buying choices began taking a toll on my health, and soon realized that I was wearing hazardous waste from fast fashion brands.
I had been in tech for over seven years and was at the prime of my career at one of the most sought-after companies, Stripe Inc when I went through a layoff. It was a harsh awakening. Instead of diving back into the corporate, I pursued an immigrant parent’s nightmare, entrepreneurship. It took me over six months to develop Amotha from idea to inception. Amotha – is a fashion e-commerce startup HQ in Seattle and our online shopping experience connects conscious consumers and an elusive roster of global brands. Amotha helped me return to my roots to build a company, one that proudly reclaims; and celebrates heritage, modern craft, and communities.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I’m the Founder/CEO and jack of all trades at Amotha. We are a fashion e-commerce startup HQ in Seattle and our online shopping experience connects conscious consumers and an elusive roster of global brands. We are a year-and-a-half-old startup.
At Amotha, we work with brands/designers trying to break beyond the homeland due to limited access, economic hurdles, and lack of representation on the global stage. These brands showcase progressive designers who have taken the sensibilities of heritage designs and reinterpreted the codes of style to fit modern, contemporary silhouettes while keeping ethical production practices in mind. We have removed the hassle of customs for our customers and helped reduce the shipping times down to 2-3 weeks from 6+ weeks.
Amotha is built on a foundation of fair trade and slow fashion. While curating designers and brands to onboard, the core focus is to promote ethical fashion. A great example, and my favorite piece at Amotha, is a dress made from yarns that utilize recycled plastic bottles. I meticulously vet the designers and brands to ensure they maintain a manageable number of SKUs, practice fair trade by offering transparency and equitable wages, and use eco-friendly fabrics like certified organic cotton, AZO-free dyes, modal, and deadstock materials—all of which are better for both people and the planet.
To control the manufacturing supply chain, we just launched, Amotha Jewels – a new vertical of Amotha! Amotha Jewels is a reflection of my unexplainable love for statement jewelry and my immigrant story of longing for representation. Through the venture, I hope to design pieces that aim to relay stories that evoke a sense of belonging and let you experience cultures in a way that’s both bold and intimate. Our first collection, Old School – is all about flipping ancient relics like coins, kings, and geodes into bold, must-have pieces that scream, “Wear me!”
I’m incredibly proud of this venture and believe that it’ll empower us to directly influence and impact the lives of artisans who help us manufacture these pieces, creating a positive ripple effect beyond fashion.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Like any immigrant household, my parents had an ideal career path for me: to have a stable job, and climb the corporate ladder. So, when I told them about leaving my 7-year career in tech to be an entrepreneur, it was met with a lot of resistance. I was 32 and an immigrant on a visa; nobody understood why I would give up a stable job in a foreign land to pursue something so risky. Defying social expectations shaped my entrepreneurial journey. Coming from a developing nation where we were not encouraged to ask questions and be in our lane – I paved my lane.
Looking back, three things powered Amotha: my engineering background, technical recruiting know-how, and scrappy resilience. Engineering taught me how to break down complex problems (like figuring out logistics for brands to onboard with no manual). I got to flex my problem-solving muscle —because trust me, running a startup is no less than playing a never-ending game of Tetris. Meanwhile, my recruiting skills? They were a total game-changer! I was basically headhunting for the designers and manufacturers, marketing channels, and collaborators. And every onboarding felt like landing a dream hire.
I learned to be scrappy and resilient—when funds are tight, you’ve got to get creative! My budgeting skills had a major glow-up while building Amotha. Every decision was a mix of resourcefulness and strategy to help us pinch every dollar in the right direction.
For anyone just starting, my advice would be to get comfortable wearing multiple hats! You don’t need to have everything figured out right away but always be ready to think on your feet. As an entrepreneur, you’ll be constantly marketing your ideas, convincing people (sometimes yourself) to invest in your vision, and building a team (even if that team starts with just you). So, develop your problem-solving skills, stay nimble, and don’t be afraid to get creative when the budget gets tight.
One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
We’re always looking to connect with creators who’ve got their finger on the pulse of what’s trending and know how to ride the wave of current memes and viral moments while spreading messages that matter. At Amotha, we’re all about ethical shopping and conscious choices—but we think it’s even better when it comes with a laugh and a nod to what’s popping in the culture.
So, if you’re someone who believes shopping should be deeply intentional, and can create lasting stories for our designs and products that matter, we’re already speaking your language.
Slide into our DMs on IG (@amothaofficial) or drop us a message at amotha.com if you’re interested in collaborating.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://amotha.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amothaofficial/
- Other: https://www.instagram.com/amothajewels/
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
