Arshiya Kherani

You’re reading The Messy Middle: weekly deep dives on leadership, startups, identity, politics, and how to make high stakes decisions that are intentional and in-line with your values. ✨ A Vision & Naivete When I launched Sukoon Active, the modest activewear brand I poured my life into from 2015 - 2020, I had a dream, a tailor I trusted, and absolutely no idea what I was actually signing up for. I thought starting a DTC brand meant designing product and watching it sell. That was maybe 10% of...

You’re reading The Messy Middle: weekly deep dives on leadership, startups, identity, politics, and how to make high stakes decisions that are intentional and in-line with your values. ⚽ Iran vs. Egypt It was Friday night and I was so pumped to be watching the Iran vs. Egypt game. The score was 1-1, and Iran was seconds away from making history at the World Cup. The game was already in overtime, and in minute 93, Shoja Khalilzadeh scored a goal against Egypt. The team goes nuts and the crowd...

You’re reading The Messy Middle: weekly deep dives on leadership, startups, identity, politics, and how to make high stakes decisions that are intentional and in-line with your values. 🌪️ A Black Cloud I was driving to Target on Wednesday afternoon when I noticed a massive black cloud in the sky about a mile away. I texted my husband a photo: what the...? He texted back a link to the Boyle Heights warehouse fire. That was a week ago. We're about 5 miles from the fire, but we've had our air...

You’re reading The Messy Middle: weekly deep dives on leadership, startups, identity, politics, and how we stay sane and think about it all. ✈️ Talking Through The Turbulence I was flying back home from Houston, and I looked out the window and saw a lightning storm right next to the plane. It was absolutely beautiful, and of course, terrifying. The plane wasn't shaking at all, and it felt like my eyes were deceiving me. My thoughts were interrupted by the muffled voice of the pilot: we're...

You’re reading The Messy Middle: weekly deep dives on leadership, startups, identity, politics, and how we stay sane and think about it all. 💬 Ask More Questions Last night my husband was cooking dinner and said, hey, talk to me about something you never talk to me about. Like what, I said. He didn't know, just something new. I told him I couldn't just start monologuing, he had to ask me questions. "Okay: if you could wake up tomorrow and be any three careers, what would you be?" Without...

You’re reading The Messy Middle — weekly deep dives on leadership, startups, identity, politics, and how we stay sane and think about it all. 🏛️ The Library: A Radical Place I needed a place to work yesterday with a private room and fast internet, so for the first time in years, I did something radical: I went to the library. I'm visiting my in-laws in Grand Rapids for the week. I'd never been to this library before, but the second I walked in, I felt like I was home. It smelled like summer...

🌙 T'was The Night Before Eid The night before Eid always created a buzz in our house growing up. Sometimes my sisters and I were lucky enough to get henna on our hands; we’d excitedly sleep on old sheets on the bedroom floor and wake up to the smell of dried henna on our pillows. The house was always busy: ironing our best clothes, my parents marinating biryani for our semi-annual Eid dinner, taking turns straightening our hair, picking out favorite costume jewelry to go with our Indian...

😰 Millennial Heart Break Millennials were getting our first jobs out of college when brands like Everlane and Allbirds introduced us to a new idea: that buying things could be an act of integrity. We weren't just consumers, we were conscious consumers of ethical production, sustainable wool, and radical transparency. And brands and customers alike were absolutely swooning. This weekend, I taught a storytelling workshop to eight entrepreneurs for The Jazba Collective, and I used Everlane as...

😰 The Dreaded Question A client was recently promoted to Director of Client Relationships. One of her first business lunches in her new role brought her to a 1:1 conversation with a 60-year-old man from a legacy family in the South...the kind of person whose network can open doors for her and her organization, beyond what we can probably imagine. She had done her research, and had a slew of amazing questions to guide the conversation. She felt great...until her client asked her the ONE...