We were lucky to catch up with Mina Mousavi recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Mina thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s start with the decision of whether to donate a percentage of sales to an organization or cause – we’d love to hear the backstory of how you thought through this.

We donate a percentage of our sales to Seventh Sea Conservation. Seventh Sea was chosen because we share a common mission to keep our oceans clean.

I chose Seventh Sea because the founder Jeremy loves what he does and I wanted to support another small business who was setting out to make a positive change.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

The word Samsara has roots in Buddhism, Jainism and Hinduism, at its root it means “World” and as a concept refers to the cycle of life, death and re-birth.

Our mission is to create a sustainable, eco friendly yoga brand that brings you comfort and style while never compromising our promise to Honor The Earth.

Our active wear is made in a sustainable manufacturing facility in Bali
Indonesia, the facility is in compliance with the highest government standards paying fair wages and guaranteeing fair working hours and clean work space for its employees. We have a personalized activewear specialist named Chessy who I have Face Timed with and seen the smile on her face as she was helping us develop this brand.

We sampled a dozen sustainable fabrics before finding the perfect fit for you, this buttery material will hug you like a glove and the best part is, with every purchase you are helping keep our oceans clean! Samsara active wear is made from materials derived from recycled water bottles and fishing nets found during ocean clean ups, giving these materials a second chance at life!

Our lounge wear is made from organic cotton, sustainably made in Los Angelas, CA

and our yoga mats are made from Portuguese cork which is known as the the best cork in the world. Cork is a natural and sustainable resource that does not require harsh chemicals to produce, it’s naturally absorbent and contains antimicrobial and anti-fungal properties. The base of our yoga mats are slip resistant and made from natural tree rubber which is a plant derivative making it completely non toxic!

So you can breath easy yogi, knowing that you are honoring your practice, your body and the earth.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

When I was creating this yoga wear line I had very intentionally picked colors that you find in nature. I had sampled many fabrics and chose the one I desired most. The fabric was faulty and the manufacturer recommended against it and the colors I chose weren’t available in my second choice fabric.

I ended up having to change colors as well as fabrics multiple times and with every frustration I would take a breath and tell myself to sleep on it. I told myself that in order to start this business I would have to learn to pivot otherwise I would never get past the development phase. So I pivoted, again and again and again.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

I worked and continue to work at my job to find my business. I saved money for 6 years which was going to be a down payment on a house but this business was aching to be born so I used it for this instead.

I really wanted to give consumers a better option and it was just something I had to do.

Don’t quote you day (or night) job until your business is profitable. There’s definitely a struggle there, way less time to pour into the business but without the job there would be no way to find the businesses.

Contact Info:

• Website: Samsarawear.com
• Instagram: @thesamsarayoga
• Facebook: Facebook.com/samsarayoga
• Other: TikTok @the_samsarayoga