Five seconds of bravery. For Karisa Malchow that’s all it took – just enough time to hit that send button and get the attention of The Startup Collaborative. One year later, My Stature LLC is ready to launch.
“I want women to feel empowered,” Karisa says.
My Stature is a custom-tailored clothing solution for tall women; one of five startups selected to be on stage at Get Started Omaha 2018. Karisa says that honor – and feedback from potential customers – validated her idea: “After getting the survey collection, 100 percent of my respondents said it is a problem finding clothing that fits tall women. That’s when I was like, there’s something here.”
Here’s how it works: women arrange, through My Stature, to meet with a tailor at the customer’s convenience. Their specific measurements are then entered online for current and future purchases and used to create custom pieces.
“It’s clothing that’s actually going to fit – whether you need broader shoulders, longer sleeves or a longer torso, any of those key, common fit elements,” Karisa says. “We don’t carry inventory; we just have bolts of fabric that are ready to go as soon as those measurements come in.”
My Stature is starting with a business casual line, which was designed in partnership with Denise Ervin of Fashion Institute Midwest. Karisa is especially proud of the fact that the company embraces technology but doesn’t lose the human element: “There is so much value in that human connection. Having the tailor actually come out and talk to you – that’s a huge part of what we’re 100 percent focused on.”
Not only is she the owner of the company – she’ll also be a client.
“I’ve always had trouble finding clothes that fit,” she says.
A tall woman herself, Karisa moved to Omaha from Oklahoma to play volleyball for and study marketing at Creighton University. She’s been here ever since, pursuing a career that’s taken her from an ad agency to the corporate banking world and back to agency life. Through it all, she couldn’t shake a decades-old entrepreneurial spark: “I’ve always wanted to start my own company. I remember as a little girl, if my family had a garage sale, I’d make a bracelet business and sell them on the side. I’ve always had that in me, but I don’t think I had the courage to get out and do anything” – until that window of bravery connected her with TSC.
“I wouldn’t be anywhere near where I am without TSC,” she says. “Every single time I talk to Erica and Nathan, they are so excited about what I’m doing. It’s invaluable to have someone like that in your corner.”
Now that those five seconds of bravery have evolved into a new startup, Karisa says “it’s the scariest fun time ever.” She hopes to see My Stature take off: “I want to see a bunch of tailors living out the brand in a bunch of different cities all-over.”
