Wander Ventures on a weekend

Wander Woman arranged its one of a kind entrepreneurial event -- Wander Ventures 2020 -- a showcase of unique talent, products and services by Wander Woman community members. The event consisted of 25 entrepreneurs, who are also travel enthusiasts, as participants in this fresh platform to display their expertise. The event was a new step for Wander Woman as, for the first time ever, the travel community branched out from their regular tourism related events to an entrepreneurial one.

With a wide array of stalls offering items from food, fashion, travel, books, and accessories, the event attracted over 500 visitors throughout the whole day. Despite the pandemic, the turnout was surprisingly good and people were supportive, and every visitor was provided with hand sanitizers at the door l, courtesy of Wander Woman. The stall owners at Wander Ventures consisted of women from all walks of life, from young girls who are still in school to housewives with school-going children. Some of them were experienced and some were given the opportunity to launch their business through Wander Ventures 2020. 

Samiha Tahsin from Painted Thoughts shares: “My sister is an A levels student and I am a second year engineering student. We really appreciate it when people encourage youngsters like us to pursue our dreams. We thank Wander Woman for arranging such an amazing event where amateurs like us were able to share our passion.” Another such brave individual, Rafia Lora, who is a housewife turned entrepreneur, stepped out of the virtual operations of Shundori Komola and its beautiful accessories and participated in a fair for the first time. Rumana Huque, the owner of FitEat did not even have online presence before she joined Wander Venture. “I am absolutely speechless at the wonderful response from the people. I always feel healthy foods do not have to be tasteless and boring, so I really admire how people appreciated my quick recipes and meal plans!” Nazia Rasha Khan shares that she has been travelling since even before she could walk, and with the support of her family she has transformed her passion for travel into a business opportunity, and founded Nova Travels. Anusua Chowdhury, the founder of Shavaya takes humble pride in her natural and organic ingredients that have helped hundreds of users take care of their skin and scalp issues. Taar -- Connecting Stories -- use their revenue to fund livelihoods for madrasah graduate females. The story behind each brand was quite heartwarming and inspiring. There were also their male counterparts such as friends, family and partners who were present to support their respected ladies. All in all, the day was spent with fun, food and laughter. 

The 25 entrepreneurs were interviewed individually to talk about their ideas, source of inspiration and future plans. It could be deduced that most of the girls and women started their venture to solve their own problems and found the solution on behalf of others. Their drive and ambition is truly admirable. The participating brands were Aakon, Craftwali, The Beautiful, Pop’s Sweet Treat, Disha’s Road Block, Alkananda, Painted Thoughts, Shundori Komola, Maeve, Shape, Fashion Tunnel, Tehzeeb, Cakewala, Shavaya, Litmosphere, Numinous, The Purple Box, FitEat, Praava Health, Nova Travels, Hulo Craft, Taar, Payera, The Velvet Box, and Polish Me Splendid.

The event media partner for Wander Ventures 2020 was Dhaka Tribune, radio partner was Radio Today, photography partner was The Duo Photo and décor partner was DIY-ish BD.

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