How To Style (and Love) Your Long Torso ft. Founder and CEO of Korai Kathryn Aposhian

Good morning everybody. You are currently listening to a tall girls podcast hosted by a tall girl named India. I hope everyone who is tuning in today is doing super fantastic. Today we have a special guest, founder of Karai and fellow tall girl, Katherine Appocean. Hi, Catherine, Hi, India. How are you? I'm doing it? Please tell me I got your last name right. You nailed it, Okay. I was a little scared. I was a little scared. How are you doing today? Though I'm doing great. I am so excited to be joining you today. This is I love your show, so I am honored part of it. I was so oh my gosh. Please please introduce yourself to the audience. Yes, I will so. I am Catherine Opocean. I am the CEO and founder of Karai. We make bodysuits for women with long torso. I grew up and currently live in Los Angeles and went to school here. I am Armenian, as exhibited by my crazy last name, and I'm very proud of it. And finally, I am h five nine. So like you said, fellow tall girly, uh and I love being five nine and uh yeah, so that's me. You know, you're like the first guest that I've had here that has been shorter than really, yes, because most of the people are like over six feet. And then there was one that was in the fives, but I think she was like a half inch taller than me, or around the same height as me. I don't remember. But you're the one that's like truly short as me. Oh man, you may have directly, you may literally have set a record, but I mean you're still tall because the average heide of a woman, well in America, because we both said of America, it's by four, I think, so that short. Yeah. When I saw that, I was a little bit confused. I was like, but then again, we both live in big cities, so I guess, like adversity, most of the people here are like different heights, different sides, so we're kind of used to being around taller people. I don't know. When I looked at I said five four, I was like, what what's going on here? So funny, dude, technically above average, so tall a part of the crew. I love it. So let's unpack, let's get into it. I want to hear about your experiences growing up as a tall woman. You said you love being five nine? Was that always the case when you were younger? I just want to I want to know a little bit about it. Let's go, let's totally wait, let's get into it. So I was so excited to hear this question because I have never really given it a lot of thought up until now, and I feel like I'm I was able to reframe a lot of my experiences as positive ones. So I'm going to tell you three experiences that I had growing up that I guess sort of shaped me and sort of brought me to my concept of who I am as a tall girl. So the first one is, so I went to an Armenian day school from kindergarten to second grade, and in kindergarten, my parents had to sit down with my teachers because there was a discussion whether or not I would be held back in school or not, and the reason being was that I was younger than all of the other students in my class. I was, you know, at that cut off. I think my birthday was in November, and everybody else was older than me, So you know, they're having this discussion. And the way my parents tell the story is that, you know, these Armenian teachers with their like accents, are like, you'll know what she's tall to keep her going. And I always i you're this story. When I've heard this story over the last you know, years of my life, I always thought it was in the context of not me being smart enough to go, but just because of my height. Ye Now I'm thinking it was more of a social decision, Like if I were to have been with kids that were my age, I would have been taller than all of those kids, as opposed to being in the class with kids I would probably be at the same height or like close to the same height. So I'm I like have reframed that and thinking maybe socially that was a choice that they made because of my height. So that was sort of fun to kind of think through exercise. And so the next two experiences, and I'm going to flip them because the last one will move right into my business, which I'm excited to talk about. So I also wasn't really aware of my height again until I got to college. And the reason being is that from middle school to high school, I went to an all girls school. Okay, and I feel like girls schools, you know, obviously you have your issues. You can bet the girls can be catty all this stuff, but I felt like I had a really supportive community there. And in fact, my closest friends from high school were my height or even taller, like one of my closest friends fixed two from high school. So I felt like I found my community in middle school high school, which I feel like is such a scary time for when you're growing obviously and you are going through all these feelings and all these foremost peak insecurity time right right, And so I'm so grateful for having such a positive experience throughout that time. And again, wasn't really aware of it until I got to college where I'm now interacting with guys, and I just remember thinking, like that first week of school, I'm like, most of the guys are a foot like most of the guys are like a foot shorter than me, and I'm like, what is happening? Why is this? What is going on? And so and so that was a realization. But again, like I did in high school, I found my community in college, like my best friend is five to eleven, Like all of our friends are either five eight and above. So again I was I gravitated towards those women like obviously we were like minded and you know, love them, but there's there was something about I guess something about those tall women that you understand each other, you have these shared experiences and in fact, like the guys in our class would call us the Tall Girl Group group. Uh huh, I literally like the tall Girls that like that kind of has a ring to it. It could be like the TGG Tall Group, Yeah right, where you just a little TLC Like that's like the name. I'm a band of tall women taught musicians just started like a full on band. That's crazy though. That's crazy though. So the third experience I want to talk about is my whole life. I have been told I have a swimmer's body, oh dear, and I'm like random like random people, and it's it was never like one experience. It was enough to be told that. It was like what does this keep happening? Literally walk right, I'm like swimmer's body. It's like kind of a bizarre thing, first of all, bizarre thing to say to anyone first of all. Exactly, So at one point I like talk, I like asked my mom, I'm like what does that mean? Like what are these people saying to me? And she's like, well, like you have a long you have a long torso, and so a lot of people associate swimmers with having long torsos, and yeah, so I don't like my Phelps for example, like if you look at his torso, it's super long. Wow, the ladies look that up, Michael Phelps, super long torso. So. So I've always been told this my whole life, right, and I after I graduated school, I ended up going into public relations in the healthcare space. So worked in pharma, worked in biotech, and did that for ten twelve years. And it wasn't until the pandemic that I thought back to that comment of well, you have a swimmer's body. Because I was looking for body suits online. I'm like, oh, you know, I want to find a longer torso body suit because obviously, you know I need something that fits. And I kid you not. I went to every imaginable bodysuit boutique and I ordered. I ordered a bunch of body suits. None fit, not even close, like, would not like, would not I'd like these like really pulling it down, pulling it down. The wedgies were dear, oh dear, Yeah, we're going in, We're going it was out of control, and so I was like, why doesn't this exist? How does this not exist? And so that's where that's the point in which I thought of karay. So it's it's been obviously that it started with that comment, Yeah, but it really sort of led into well, if there's a need, if I'm experiencing that need, then there must be other women that are experiencing the same thing. Sou so. Yeah, So that's kind of my tall girl experiences culminated now is Karai, which is something that I'm just super proud of and I'm excited to continue growing. Oh my gosh, well you brought up two points. Number one, you are like the prime example as to the fact that you don't necessarily have to have long legs to be tall, because you know, I like to think of your tall for three reasons. Long legs, which is probably the most popular, right, torso which is where you come in, and then long neck. I'm still waiting to meet the person that has the long neck. But yeah, I haven't met the person. I've met the person that has a long torso. So thank you number one, man, You're welcome. And number two, I also like how you brought up that when you were talking about you know, TGG, the Tall girl group at having that sense of community in a way is like extremely helpful because you know, at least when you were growing up, like in middle school in high school you went to all girls school, you were at least surrounded by other women who are like around your high and taller, so you didn't necessarily feel like you were out of place. You didn't feel like you speak out, you didn't feel like a sore thumb, whereas many of us me included, I was literally the tallest all throughout from third grade to eighth grade, and in high school I was still one of the taller ones, and me having these complaints about my height it's like finding clothes or I don't know, like hitting my head in doorways or stuff like that. Likely wouldn't understand. They were look at me like are you okay? Like is everything okay? But I feel like with you having a group of girls who are around your high and like you said, one of your best friends like six two right, I feel it just makes the experience a lot easier and a lot more manageable because there's just that sense of relatability and shared experiences as you said before, and that's why I love you and what you're doing because it's it's it's creating that, right, it's creating that community of women who have felt other but they're not. They're a part of this group. They are part of this community that has the same shared experience exactly. Yeah, and you know, we feel less alone and feel a lot less for lack of a better term, because there are people out there who will, even on social media, make comments or even really like make comments, make it seem like, oh, they're like downplaying our struggles, like, oh, it's not that it's not that serious where it's kind of like it kind of is. It has impacted my self esteem for my entire twenty one and a half years of existence. So yeah, it's pretty deep, but it's pretty serious, right it is. So I just I really like that idea of having that community where we're gonna talk about with your business now, because it's not even just a community of tall women are tall people, because I think that anybody can really have a long torso in comparison to the rest of their body. Yeah, so yeah, you know, tell me a little bit more about your business itself, like sell where it is where do you envision it in the future, any other like sneak peaks of products that aren't released yet. But maybe because I don't know, let us know, I will, I will so so cry. We started about a year and a half ago. Officially we are starting really small. We have four different body suits on the website and each bodysuit comes in two different colors. So we have a rap style body suit, a long sleeve, a puff sleeve which I'm actually wearing today, and uh and a tank top. So wanted to try and kind of to start really you know, give a range of like styles that we would be able to present on the website. And you know, getting to that point, I will say, has been a challenge and quite the journey. Like I said, I my backgrounds and public relations, I have zero fashion experience. So I when I started the brand, I kid you not. I went on Google and I was like, how do you write a business plan for a fashion business? Search? And then and then I was like, how do you find a manufacturer? Send? But that's how it starts. That's how it always starts. You know, at least you were actually trying to find the answer. So okay, and the age in which we're living. I mean, how lucky are we that we're able to like search to find and find he'd like anything and everything about how to start a business and how to make it successful. So I it's I give credit to Google for a lot of this, but it's it's been also finding the right partners to come up with the designs. For example, we've had some amazing designers that have helped bring these to life. We've had an incredible partner in a manufacturer that's actually based here in Los Angeles, which I'm really proud of to say that we're you know, we manufacture here in the United States, and I get to interface with them, I get to learn from them, I get to be close to the process, which, again for me, who's an outsider coming into the industry, has been invaluable. I obviously the branding has been a big part of you know, what we are all about? Uh POORI Uh. The word is actually a Greek word. It refers to ancient Grecian female statues, so all you art history books might might recognize it. But it's it's got this, you know, sort of strong feminine feel, and I just love that idea of it. Just being you know, confident, feminine and out there. So that's kind of what the name invokes for me at least. And yeah, and so ultimately and most recently actually, we partnered with tall size dot Com, who has been incredible. I don't know if yours, I'm sure your listeners are familiar with them, but if they're not, they exclusively sell women's clothing for tall women and they are also selling our body suits as well in addition to our website, So shout out to them. As I said, they've just been a fabulous partner and we've been able to interact with a bunch of other people because of them, So we love them. Congratulations on that, by the way, that's like accomplishment, especially in just like a year and a half to get in like a big I guess you could say tall retailer like that, Like that's awesome. Honestly, Yeah, I'm sorry to cut you off, by the way, No, no, I'm I appreciate it. I really do. It's like I said, it's been such a journey that having someone else along with me on the journey has been has been fun in the last several months. So so where do I see it going? I I'm just really excited to continue just growing the brand bit by bit, you know, like tackling blocking and tackling and seeing where the comments and the feedback are and applying them to the body suits. Right now, we're in a little bit of a holding pattern with coming out with new designs, but I think in the next several months, as we kind of continue to sell through like our current inventory, We're then going to really kind of crank up the different types of things that people want and are excited for and want to wear. You know, obviously with winter coming up, I'm excited for people to check out our long sleep body suit. And yeah, I mean, we're we're looking to continue to grow the business. You know, it would be great ultimately to get in person retail at some point. You know, my dream would be to be in the North Strums at some point. And uh, yeah, I mean I think I think there are venues and there are places for this type of item, you know. I think, yeah, there's a there's a movement now that's really catering to very specific sizing needs and you're seeing these brands that are coming out that that are addressing those needs. So we're one of them. You know, there are obviously other great brands that you know, Pepper for example, Like they sell like a and double a cup bras that fit and that's all they sell, you know. So these really like particular market right right, that are serving this group that has otherwise not been served. So that's what we're all about when it comes to the long torso community. So, yeah, that is so that is so interesting. Actually, I like wanted to ask. I don't know if it's a weird question, but bring it. Just like with uh pants or jeans, for example, we talk in terms of like end scenes and for tall women it's usually like thirty four maybe, but thirty five inch and above. So how does that like work for torsos? Im? I don't know totally and I'm so glad you asked. So. So, there are several ways that you can measure your torso. The way that we've sort of we've established it is based it's called creating a torso loop. So if you have like a fabric measuring tape, what you would do is you would basically start at kind of the edge of like where your shoulder and your neck need put the start of the tape measure there. You then put it through your legs and then back up to the top to meet this point. And so you take that measurement and that's it's that's like I said, it's called a torso loop. So that measurement would be how long your torso is. So, what I've found is that women who have a forty five inch or below torso length tend to have a shorter torso. Anywhere from forty five inches to sixty inches tend to be kind of where you would find like a standard body suit size and standard torso sizing sixty inches and above. Definitely on the longer torso side. So I will tell you I have a sixty nine inch torso. Oh my gosh, wow, super long, super long. And you know, it's so funny. I hearkening back to my high school days. I vividly remember sitting next to my friend who was six two. We were the same height seated. Wow. Yeah, so that is how short my legs are. But you know, but it's it is. It's pretty remarkable to think about. But but yeah, anywhere from sixty and above, so our body suits serve up to I think we go up to about seventy four inches. Wow, it's still very, very long, very long. Oh my, I've literally never heard of this. I know, because never in my life would I have thought to measure my torso. It's always been measure your in scene, measure your lives, make sure you know how long your pans need to be. But I know, well, then again, I do have a relatively short torso ipared to the rest of my body, but I've never heard of that. Yeah, yeah, And so I have a I have a little little YouTube YouTube, short video that shows how you can do it yourself. I like, do I measure one of our models torsos to kind of exhibit like hers? I think hers was like sixty inches. So so we've we're trying to educate as much as we can about torsos and how to measure torsos and what they're all about. This is great because I'm pretty if I didn't know this, I'm pretty sure a lot of people didn't know that either. Oh my gosh, you're awesome. You're awesome. I do want to get into the last question, So, what is one piece of advice that you want to give to the tall girls listening who are struggling with their self confidence in their self esteem because at their height. Totally, I think it really goes back to what we were talking about. Find that community, Find those people that understand where you've come from and your struggle because they're able to to see the positives of being tall and where you know where your your your blessings come, I guess because otherwise, you know, if you're you're not able to find that those other people that have that shared experiences. It can be very isolated. It looks like you said, right, really isolating, really difficult to sort of get out of your own head, right, I mean, sometimes we can be our own worst enemy. So finding that group that you can relate to, and I know it's hard, it's hard in these days to you know, find that group. But you know, your community on Instagram exactly, podcasts totally like you're you're following and the people that that follow you, that listen to you. I mean, you know, oh man, you should do an event you get ladies together. I mean like twenty twenty four. Hey, we've got stuff going on, so we'll see, we'll see. But thank you so so much for that advice, and thank you so so much for being here today. Please can you tell us where to find you online? Please, Yes, you can find us at we are Karai dot com or where koriger dot com. But we are Kari dot com. And then all of our socials. We're on TikTok, We're on Instagram, We're on Facebook, we're on Twitter, We're on all of them. You get all of your all of your local social media sites at where Karai dot com. So check us out. And like I said, you can find us on our website and you can also find us on tall Size as well. So yeah, yeah, everything is going to be linked in the description. And also, do you do you have a discount code for us? We do, we do, so, so I wanted to do a discount code with y'all. So we're we're doing like I think, Tall Tall Girl fifteen, Tall Tall Girl fifteen. So that should be live. So check us out, Tell Gift a Girl podcast, Taller Girl fifteen. Every all of the information is going to be in the description, so it's easy for everybody to check out. And I'm gonna shamelessly plug myself. Of course. You can find me at a Tall Girls podcast on Instagram, TikTok, and pinchers and so free to hit me up and let me know what you thought of this episode. Do you have a tall not a tall torso? What a long tour tall torso? Are you lost? It's like the terminology long waisted long torso. It's all right, it's all right exactly. And did you know how to measure your torso? That's what I want to know. Please hit me up and let me know if you need to measure your torso because I've never heard of that before. And thank you so so so much again Katherine for being here and educating us on long torsos. You were amazing. You're awesome, and I absolutely love your bread and I can't wait to see where it goes. They thank you, thank you, Thank you, India. I appreciate it. And I'm gonna catch you guys in the next one. Goodnight and goodbye.