Interview with Brenda and Clara from Siren basics!

Tell us about yourselves and your brand!

Brenda: Hi! My name is Brenda Liang — I’m 20 years old and a student and co-founder of Siren Basics alongside my sister Clara. Obsessed with sticky rice, fluid blob-like, jelly shapes and electronic techno music. 

Clara: Hi, I’m Clara! I am 16 years old, a junior in high school and co-founder of Siren Basics with Brenda. I’m obsessed with baking and decorating cakes, which is how I spend a lot of my time outside of school and Siren <3. 

What was the inspiration behind Siren?

Brenda: Hygge and yin/yang. They’re also our values, I feel like values and inspiration merge for us. Hygge is this emotional and palpable sense of contentment in one’s daily life — underwear is worn everyday, it’s the foundation for one’s self-expression, why can’t it be a source of confidence, inspiration and daily zest? In terms of yin/yang, “yin” is the “feminine” side, which is more about intuition and healing but I also see it as goddess energy, or for lack of better words, straight bad bitch energy. It’s a mindset and an aura, it’s intangible but can be felt, and it's this feeling that inspires us everyday. 

Clara: I fully agree. Hygge and yin/yang are values that Brenda and I hold deeply, which we wanted to express through Siren. Something I really love is the feeling of picking out a cute pair of underwear when I am fresh out of the shower — even though it is such a minor detail, knowing that I am in pretty underwear makes me feel happy for the rest of the day. We want to give others the same experience of finding joy in the little things in life, hence the idea of hygge.

What is it like working as sisters?

Brenda: It’s been really crazy, we’ve been able to bond more than ever and truly see each other as partners and friends rather than only sisters and all the daily squabbles that come with that. Especially during covid and being locked up together while dealing with our own lives but also each other, Siren has been a true labor of love in times that have brought about some uncertainty. 

Clara: I won’t deny that we definitely have our ups and downs, just like all siblings. Even so, Siren has overall brought us closer together and has forced us to mature in the sense of pushing aside our trivial arguments, for the sake of getting work done. I am definitely still so grateful to be working with my sister - it’s so much fun and an awesome bonding experience!

What have been some obstacles you guys have run into? How did you get through them?

Brenda: Wow soooo many! We genuinely thought we were going to launch pre-covid, then late 2020 — I was convinced at some point that we we’re just never going to launch. I do think a lot of the obstacles we faced were due to impatience and lack of trust in the process, I set a lot of expectations for myself that weren’t totally attainable, especially given our world’s climate, and that made me feel inadequate for not reaching certain goals. What really got us through it was taking a step back and trusting that we were on the right path and not to push things that were unnatural for us. We want to grow organically and focusing on the process over only the result has allowed us to redefine what we considered obstacles or opportunities to learn and for growth. 

Clara: I think we tried too hard to force things into movement, and to launch as soon as we could — obviously, that backfired, considering we weren’t ready to go live until many months after planned. Like Brenda said, we just needed to let go and trust that things would work out the way they were supposed to, which also allowed us to better enjoy the whole process. It’s also been difficult for us to align our schedules, since we both are still in school and have a lot of work to do outside of Siren. On my end, it was definitely a struggle to balance everything I had on my plate, but I’ve become much better at managing my time, and despite the stress, it has been SO worth it to be able to work on Siren.

What is the overall goal with Siren?

Brenda: To create elevated basics that highlight everyone’s divine individualities and inspire them to do their thing. We’re so young and always working with other young peers — it’s definitely super communal based so we have this simultaneous mission to not only create affordable, quality basics but also that space for our friends and peers to have fun and just mess around. Siren is a space for everyone so we’re always experimenting as that’s really how we started as well.

Clara: I agree with Brenda! I want people to feel like they are at their best, whether that be internally or externally in their Sirens :). We want to not only create underwear, but to also create a space for people to express their own passions. Before Siren Basics, I never had the chance to explore my creative interests — our goal is to allow others to get the same opportunities that Siren opened for me.

What is something you'd say to yourself when you just started working on Siren?

Brenda: So many affirmations. Ex.) I radiate confidence and hold unlimited power to bring about my desires, stuff like that. It really works — I’m still working on my self-confidence and assurance to make it happen and have developed this mindset of “perceive and receive.” 

Clara: To not stress and to take it slow!! That everything takes time and that it’s better to release something later by the means of making it the absolute best it can possibly be. I would (and still do) say to myself that everything will end up working out the way it should, that I have to simply trust the process, and that hard work will truly pay off (it’s still definitely reallyyyy hard to actually believe this though lol).

Who are some people that inspire you?

Brenda: My parents, my sister, our lovely teammates, friends and loved ones, just SO MANY PEOPLE! It’s exciting to be in a ripe stage of life where everyone is young and finding their way and just down to have fun and mess around with it. The overall community inspires me endlessly. Also our teammate Marlo who is the epitome of Ms.Birdy from Webkinz. Marlo is this beautiful brainstorm blob, she is magnificent and brings the highest energy to our team. She’s the one who reminds us of what our purpose is when we get caught up in our inevitable frustrations. 

Clara: Omg where do I even begin... basically EVERYONE I choose to surround myself around inspires me, like Brenda, my family, teammates, and network of friends!!! Liv Casey, my whole queen, is also a huge inspo to me. Her incredible perseverance and determination in life is beyond my understanding! Marlo is also someone that I absolutely adore; she has this incredibly kind and caring personality and always has such positive energy!

8. Where can people find you?!

Brenda: Digitally, instagram…physically, nowhere b/c we’re home due to covid. 

Clara: Yea…same for me; Instagram or quarantining with the fam :~)