There are many Facebook based online clothing shops in Sri Lanka. We now have many brands with internet entrepreneurs. Most of them sell goods which are either imported from China or limited edition stitched clothing. This beautiful girl is different. All she wants to do is create a solid clothing brand with a difference. Her name is Dinali and her brand goes as The Clothesline. Started off just 1 year ago, Dinali has come so much far with many satisfied customers. She doesn't believe in imports, so she does her own designing and stitching.

· Full name: Dinali Niyoma Ruwanpathirana
· Nick name: Dinz, Din, Dinu
· Education in brief: BSc. Management Marketing (Special) University of Sri Jayewardenepura (First Class), Dip.M UK
· Life motto: Life is too short, make each day count.
· Experience: Internship Trainee and Category Operations Trainee at Unilever Sri Lanka, Management Trainee at Nestle Lanka (Pvt.) Ltd, Assistant Manager Business Development eMarketingeye (Pvt.) Ltd, Part Time Lecturer, Freelance Writer.

Tell us the story of The Clothesline in a nut shell.

I had the idea of starting my own fashion outlet since I was small. I never really thought that I would be able to start it till I was in my 40's though! I studied with the aim of becoming a brand manager and with this in mind had the opportunity of working in two leading multi national companies in SL. While working I realized that brand management was not going to make me happy and that was not what I wanted to do for the rest of my life! I knew I had a dream and with FB things that were not possible a couple of years back were possible now. I knew I wanted to start a page and do something about this dream I had. With all the expectations placed on me by my family it was very hard to take the call to quit. With my husband's support and a lot of prayers I took the plunge and took the first steps of starting The Clothesline. It took a lot of effort, a lot of disappointments and quite a lot of time to get here. Even still managing my time is the biggest challenge I have and I am quite busily engaged with my writing. There is still quite a long way to go! This is only the start.

What made you an entrepreneur?

Everyone is born with a dream. To be honest as a child, I had dreams of becoming both a doctor and a teacher, just like most little girls do! But as I grew up I began to realize that my passion and enthusiasm was lying in the field of entrepreneurship. Because I like taking challenges, I like doing things that people tell me I can't do. Once I got this idea for The Clothesline, I could not rest. I knew that I had to do something about it, if not I would never have been satisfied. My field of study which is marketing also fuelled this passion. So here I am!

So you are a fashionista yourself. Where did you get the influence?

Everyone has his or her own way of dressing. It's all to do with the taste as well as how much time and effort you are willing to dedicate to make yourself look better. The way you dress can say quite a lot about what kind of person you are. So one cannot be too careful with clothes for sure! Fashion is a wonderful industry, its about making people look beautiful. It's a pleasure to be active in this field. Pictures of models and fashion photo shoots have always captured my mind and fascinated me. With the amount of colors and types of fabric we have today the opportunities for creating styles are truly limitless. That thought certainly appealed to me.

Are you educated in fashion?

If by education you mean a degree in the field I don’t have that. I wanted to start off by capitalizing on the skill that I already possess which is Marketing and I want to try and understand what the market wants and give it something that will truly delight them. But indeed I am looking at educating myself more on the field as competency is key for thriving in any field.

Can you design and stitch a garment by yourself?

Basic designs I can cut and stitch. But cutting is an art that must be mastered and I am working on that. Designing yes, every item of The Clothesline are my designs.

In another five years will this be your family business?

I don’t know what the future will hold for us. But my husband Anuradha already has a passion of his own and is pursuing it, being quite successful in his chosen field in the corporate world. I know I will always be able to count on him for support and strength and he will always be there like he always has been. But from where we both stand right now, I think both of us will be very happy living our own dreams, walking our separate ways, hand in hand always.

You have a gorgeous outlook, do you model?

I have modelled once or twice. Whether or not I want to seriously consider it has always been a question with a vague reply in my mind.

Any plan of opening an outlet?

Of course! That is still my dream! Facebook is an excellent way to connect with customers but using it as the sole selling tool does not always guarantee the results you expect. But I want to first learn about the market, trends and seasons before I do any heavy investments and I'm slowly learning all that through my page.

Interview & pics by Jayantha Fernando
Modelled by Shamika Fernando