A day for women entrepreneurs

From organic body-bath products to eco-friendly stationeries, the open market gave women a platform to showcase their entrepreneurial skills

The first edition of Women Entrepreneurs’ Market by The Courtyard was organised on Sunday at its premises. This event focused on showcasing the talents of women entrepreneurs, homemakers, and business owners and giving them a platform to display their creations.

There were about 11 stalls with items varying from organic bath and body products, textiles and eco-friendly stationery products to jewellery made from dried flower petals, home decor items and crochet items.

Entrepreneur Radhika Chabria, founder, Shakti, conducted sessions on spreading awareness and breaking the myths about menstrual cups.

It was a day-long event about socialising, shopping, food and drinks.

A few brands run by women who showcased their products at the market were Wild

Lillies, Something Sketchy, Bodhi Maram Paper Fantasies, Reseda Life Sciences, Stringtieray, Bumpadum, Inkmeo, Shakti, Hobby it and OrganiQ.

While local entrepreneurs exhibited their creations, a few established women leaders from legal, digital marketing, consulting, and educational backgrounds took the opportunity to share their stories with the assembled crowd.

As a part of the market, a TEDx-styled talk and panel discussions were conducted.

Aninidita Bhateja (founder, Afrikan Adventure), Rashmi Closepet (founder, Itsy Bitsy, a craft supplies platform), Helen Issar (co-founder, Papagoya, a pre-school based on Norwegian
educational principles), Divya Ravi (bharatanatyam artiste), Schonali Rebello (head of creative Content at JobsForHer) and Alexie Seller (co-founder and CEO, Pollinate Energy, a social enterprise), shared their experiences. They also imparted valuable advice to aspiring entrepreneurs.

The key qualities that they spoke about included being multi-taskers, having requisite knowledge not just about your product, but also marketing, accounts, and event management
skills.

They also stressed on the need to adopt a never ‘give-up’ attitude, learn the local language, not be afraid to seek support and take a few extra steps to make your passion come true.

After the discussions, the forum was open to networking opportunities with some great food and drinks.