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Christopher Wei and Vivek Rama are very young and mature business owners that were invited to discuss their entrepreneurial endeavors with the team at Future Shark. It has been less than a year since their clothing brand, Commons Lane, released, but they’ve already found so much success. Those interested can find the website and instagram for Commons Lane below.
What is “Commons Lane”?
Christopher Wei: Commons Lane is both a representation and a message to those interested in taking control of their own lives. We always say to visualize this: The social rules established in our world (Ex. Go to college and find a stable job) creates this infinite and narrow road that people travel on, which we have titled “Commons Lane”. As they follow those in front of them, they rarely ever find happiness or meaning in life. Despite having so much freedom to take risks in life, we are pushed to settle for an occupation we don’t like and pursue that for the rest of our lives. We’re telling people that there’s so many ways you can escape “Commons Lane” and create your own path in life. We ourselves are escaping the Lane and we’re here to tell you it’s possible, you just need to take that step in life.
How did you guys establish your name?
Vivek Rama: We’re still establishing ourselves but I think we’re on the right path. We made a mistake our first release by thinking we could just do everything online but we quickly found out that the market we were entering had an abundance of new clothing brands being born every day. It’s hard to establish yourself, especially online. We changed this with our re-release by deciding to embrace our local presence and establish ourselves on an online community of like-minded thinkers. We started spreading like fire and we’re still growing to this day. We know for sure that we’ll keep growing and not just our name, but also our message will get out there for the world to see.
What is your dream for the Company?
Christopher Wei: Our dream is simple. We want this to become something bigger than us. We see ourselves in the future changing the game of fashion through Commons Lane. We’re going to define a new path that both companies and consumers approach fashion and we’re especially going to branch out and do more than just clothing. We truthfully want to make an impact in the world.
How do you guys come up with designs?
Vivek: We always spend a long time on designs because that is the first impression we make on outsiders. We pay specific attention to what the designs mean; our “Road Illusion” shirt visually depicts the infinite and futile path of “Commons Lane” and our “Shoe Pills” longsleeve shows the dirtied and worn down shoes used to metaphorically run away. It’s little things like these that create meaning behind our shirts and our brand in general. For our next collection, dropping in January 2018, we have been looking into the designs of our garments more and we’ve messed around with different and unique styles. We have a unique hoodie we’re planning to come out with, and if everything works out, we know everyone is going to be excited about it.
What would you tell those interested in entrepreneurship?
Christopher Wei: “Escaping Commons Lane” Is based off of each individual’s life so just know that entrepreneurship isn’t the only way to escape “Commons Lane”. Entrepreneurship is its own field and a sad truth is that not everyone is cut out for it. My favorite quote from Elon Musk, founder of PayPal, Tesla, and SpaceX, was when he was meeting with a group of young students pursuing entrepreneurship and he responded to the same question by telling them that they should not pursue it if they need a motivational quote to be inspired. Although harsh, he was telling the pure truth. To be an entrepreneur means to have a constant drive and inspiration inside of you, especially when the world is against you.
Thanks for sharing your story with us on Future Sharks Christopher and Vivek!
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