Welcome back to a fresh season of the ABCDEI podcast. In this season co-hosts Susan Diaz and Rohini Mukerji present a 6-episode arc with in-depth episodes on different aspects of 2 core topics: intersectionality, and the return to workplace culture.
In the first episode of the arc, Susan Diaz sits down with Pamela Shainhouse, Award-winning Certified DEI&B professional to tackle the former.
Pamela is the Founder, President, and Creative Designer of Allistyle Inc., a size-diverse and sustainable fashion line named in memory of her daughter Alli. Allistyle highlighted the need for beautiful, comfortable clothing for curvy women and was designed and manufactured from sustainable fabrics in Canada.
She is a highly accomplished Entrepreneur and Consultant with more than 35 years of success across fashion, apparel, and professional fundraising sectors. Her broad areas of expertise include networking, brand development/management, and public speaking.
Her new division, “The Shainhouse Group, a division of Allistyle Inc.” is a consultancy that specializes in the world “Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEI&B)” within the corporate culture. Their sweet spot is in the fashion marketplace.
Susan and Pamela dive into:
📝 The need to create greater awareness around physical abilities and size diversity in the post-pandemic workplace
📝 Why labels given to physical and mental abilities by “outsiders” - like “plus size” and “ADHD” - which inherent shame, need to change
📝 Why some larger fashion corporations from Nike to Old Navy, have recently integrated their clothing lines to offer a wider size range instead of grouping any size over 14 into a tab that is titled “Plus”
📝 The importance of becoming aware of independent brands that are doing a remarkable job of creating size diverse options - like Hilary MacMillan, and Lesley Hampton, an Indigenous fashion designer
📝 The easy business case for becoming more inclusive of customers with different physical abilities: “Our dollars work too!” Pamela talks of some of her experiences at big department stores and malls, as an older adult in a mobility device
Listen to the full discussion with Susan and Pamela for more ⏩
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About Pamela
Pamela Shainhouse is a highly accomplished Entrepreneur and Consultant with more than 35 years of success across fashion, apparel, and professional fundraising sectors. Her broad areas of expertise include networking, brand development/management, and public speaking. Her new division, “The Shainhouse Group, a division of Allistyle Inc.” is a consultancy that specializes in the world “Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEI&B)” within the corporate culture. Our sweet spot is in the fashion marketplace,
In addition to Allistyle Inc., Pamela is the President of a charity, Alli’s Journey, founded in Alli’s memory to support young adults with cancer.
Pam is currently finishing her first book about her journey with her daughter and how resilience and courage keep her moving ahead.
