Be at your prime with Prime Culture : Meet the Founders Senal Ranaweera, Shaven Rajapakse, and Dinuk Ganearachchi

13 Dec 2020

Be at your prime with Prime Culture : Meet the Founders Senal Ranaweera, Shaven Rajapakse, and Dinuk Ganearachchi

13 Dec 2020

By Mahika Panditha For those of you who love to workout, I highly recommend checking out this amazing brand that is made in Sri Lanka! If you have not heard of them, check out their page @primeculture.co on Instagram which will also lead you to their website. Run by the very talented and admirable young entrepreneurs Senal Ranaweera, Shaven Rajapakse, and Dinuk Ganearachchi, Prime Culture brings you comfortable and stylish athleisure. Before we get into it, here’s a little bit about each of the founders. Ranaweera just completed his Bachelor’s in Business Studies and is now pursuing a postgraduate in motor mechanics, as it is another passion of his. He is also working full time in the retail industry which helps him learn more and also fund both the business as well as his education. We asked Ranaweera what his passion was, to which he responded: “I think health and fitness is one of my biggest interests. I love the gym, running, meal prepping, and maintaining my fitness goals. It keeps me grounded and helps me with managing stress. It was what sparked my inspiration to get together with the boys and start Prime Culture and maintain @primeculture.co with similar posts. Other than that, I love being an entrepreneur and I'm obsessed with cars. I am so grateful and blessed to be able to pursue and experience all these things at once!” He hopes to maintain Prime Culture from Australia whilst also pursuing his education as it is his main focus at the moment. His guilty pleasure is a six pack of donuts and a coffee (we are right there with you!) Rajapakse is in his final year of studying digital communication and marketing. He is working two part-time jobs which fund both himself and Prime Culture, alongside other ventures. When asking Rajapakse what his passion was, he commented: “This is a hard one since I’m passionate about a number of things. I’ve always had a passion for entrepreneurship, fashion, and living an active lifestyle, which is why Prime Culture has become a great reflection of this. The love for entrepreneurship was always something I was passionate about since I love to solve problems, explore new opportunities, and I’m full of ideas, which I hope to one day bring to life. Just a year ago, my life reached a huge turning point as I was no longer financially supported by my parents and had to be 100% independent. This was not easy for me as I was always given everything I wanted and was kept comfortable. However, after the change in circumstances, I was forced out of my comfort zone which made me the person I am today. This also drove my need to become my own person and grow into an individual whom I could one day be proud of. My passion to succeed is what keeps me going everyday regardless of the challenges I face and the tests which life puts me through.” Didn’t I mention they were admirable? Rajapakse hopes to return to Sri Lanka in the future and make an impact in the fashion industry through Prime Culture. He also would like to grow the business whilst also exploring other ventures. “I believe Sri Lanka is a land of opportunity if you look and focus on the right places, which is exactly what I intend on doing. I’d rather do what I love and take risks than not try at all!” Last but not least, Ganearachchi. He is awaiting his results for his final semester of his bachelor’s and then plans to apply for his Master’s in Cybersecurity. Aside from his education, his life mainly revolves around his little puppy who joined the family a few months ago. “One of my major interests would be anything that's technology-related. Having studied in the discipline I have, it’s a given that it would be. Adding to this, a few of my other interests would be fitness and automobiles. Spending at least two hours a day in a gymnasium, working on myself, and pushing myself to my limits has been something I’ve been doing since I was just 15 years old. As for the automobiles, growing up with a dad who is an enthusiast, I guess has rubbed off on me,” Ganearachchi noted, talking about his passions. Ganearachchi would like to ensure that Prime Culture grows into the best that it can be, and he hopes to increase the brand awareness as well to the best of his capacity whilst also expanding into other businesses. He plans to reside in Australia to guarantee he has the most amount of exposure in a variety of industries. Well, there you have it. The guys behind Prime Culture. This is just a part of the story, check out what else they had to say. How did Prime Culture come about and what is the story behind the name? We have all been friends since high school and we all ended up moving to Australia together to pursue our higher education. This was a really fun and exciting period of our lives because, even though we were into fitness back then, we got even more involved in Australia. This made us even closer friends because we shared the same passion. Another thing we had in common was how much we loved activewear. We wore it all the time; our friends even used to ask us if we ever owned other types of clothing. This got us thinking; we always wanted to run a business together, and now that we are in our prime, we decided it was the right time to bring this all together and start our own business. One thing that was really important to us was that we are Lankans at heart. So, we wanted to connect with our own people who had the same passion for fitness that we do and love athleisure as much as we do. I mean, who are we kidding, with a great outfit comes major confidence. Trust us, the day we are dressed amped up for the gym is the day we amp up our game. Another thing we aspired for is accessibility. I mean, not all of our locals can afford Nike or Adidas. I mean, it doesn't even make sense that we have to pay so much because it's literally made in Sri Lanka! So we needed to get on it. It was time to make athleisure clothing that was both trendy and affordable – and this was the dawn of Prime Culture. The inspiration for the name came to us when we thought about what we wanted to do with our brand. We wanted to always inspire people to be their best or to be at their prime. Also, our people are our community, and this is our culture. When it all came together, we came up with Prime Culture! What are your favourite pieces from the collection? I’m sure you are expecting this answer, but we love our whole collection. I mean it’s our dream in every piece. We made it to be as perfect as it could be. Each time we made something, it was made to suit everything we love. However, if we had to pick a few, we would go with our Pink Lemonade T-shirts and Tank Tops. We can't be sure though, maybe when we release our new collection, our minds may change. Can you describe to us the entire process of getting the pieces made and manufactured? I think living in Australia gives us an advantage because we are surrounded by the best athleisure brands in the world. What’s more is athleisure is the thing here. People wear it all the time and they sure do wear it well. So, we are basically surrounded by inspiration. So once the designs are sorted out, then comes the fabric. We personally went to all the manufacturers and picked the material ourselves. The next thing that was important to us was ethical manufacturing. So, you know those rumours about how big brands make their clothes? Well, we don't do it that way. We also make sure we avoid plastic and use paper bags and wrapping paper instead. This is a big process, but it also guarantees extreme quality. So far, what has been your biggest challenge and how did you overcome it? I think time management. We have a lot going on with the company and keeping @primeculture.co up to date. We have also started our new company Zenik Global to help start-ups like ours come off the ground like we have. We are currently working with a few new apparel start-ups at the moment. With all that and being all the way here managing the time difference and juggling university, part-time jobs, and trying our best to maintain some kind of social life, you can imagine, finding time is our biggest challenge. Any advice for budding entrepreneurs? Many feel like when one dreams big, they should also try to go big and go hard – but we think that is the opposite of what you should do. Break your idea down; it is about making small achievable goals. Trust us, having too much will be too overwhelming. Take it step by step and you will get there. Where would you like to see Prime Culture in five years? We would continue providing affordability and expand the variety of products available for both men and women. We also hope to be a fully functional international activewear brand and to have our first in-person store by then. We want to be a name that everyone knows. Most importantly, we want to continue inspiring people to always be at their prime. PHOTOS Prime Culture and Sachintha Ranatunga

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Be at your prime with Prime Culture : Meet the Founders Senal Ranaweera, Shaven Rajapakse, and Dinuk Ganearachchi

Be at your prime with Prime Culture : Meet the Founders Senal Ranaweera, Shaven Rajapakse, and Dinuk Ganearachchi

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