Entrepreneurship is something of a noble pursuit. It requires vision, passion, grit, and perseverance. If 2020 and the uncertainty of the pandemic have taught us anything, it is the importance of entrepreneurship – of being inventive and taking your future into your own hands. And indeed, many people embarked on their own journeys of entrepreneurship in 2020, be it out of necessity or because they spotted an opportunity in the new normal that just couldn’t be passed up.
Becoming an entrepreneur though is not easy, and honestly, when you’re just starting out your own as a businessperson, you need all the help you can get to get your name out there and build a brand for yourself. This can be even harder when you’re a woman because in addition to trying to build a business mid-pandemic, you also have other expectations, responsibilities, and disadvantages that come with being a woman.
HERstory – “Alone We Stand” is an online platform that aims to help young women entrepreneurs grow their businesses online and help them build viable brands out of their unique ideas. Conceptualised by the Leos of Sri Lanka, HERstory is a long-term project hosted by the Leo Club of Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology (SLIIT) with the support and patronage of 16 other Leo Clubs from around Sri Lanka.
The other Leo Clubs lending their valued support to the Leo Club of SLIIT on the HERstory project are the Leo Club of Moratuwa, the Leo Club of Unawatuna Diamond Starts, the Leo Club of Piliyandala, the Leo Club of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, the Leo Club of Wayamba Golden Gateway, the Leo Club of Pamunugama Ja-Ela, the Leo Club of Biyagama North, the Leo Club of the University of Kelaniya, the Leo Club of Kandy, the Leo Club of Trincomalee Heroes, The Leo Club of Achievers Lanka, the Leo Club of Avissawella, the Leo Club of Colombo Knights, the Leo Club of NSBM, and the Leo Club of Royal College.
Speaking to Brunch, SLIIT Leo Club President Kulith Witaana shared that HERstory is all about creating a space for young women entrepreneurs to promote themselves online and grow their businesses. “We have women who have registered for this project from all around the island,” Witaana shared, adding that HERstory is currently limited to young women entrepreneurs between the ages of 18-30. “We focused on online promotion as a first phase, uploading videos once a week to our Facebook and Instagram and giving these businesses publicity. The second phase is a workshop which took place on 18 April, and the third phase is the HERstory exhibition, with all 150 of our applicants exhibiting their business at the Diyatha Uyana.”
Leo Club of SLIIT Immediate Past Club President and Club Director Lakshitha Dananjaya shared that the HERstory project has been in the pipeline for some time. “We’ve had this idea since last year, and we have a huge plan for the project,” Dananjaya said, adding that HERstory is meant to be a long-term project. “During the pandemic, we saw many startups built up on online platforms, but we realised that since these entrepreneurs are doing their own thing, they sometimes have less corporate knowledge. We wanted to give these entrepreneurs the ability to get physical exposure.”
As part of HERstory’s first phase, the HERsotory curated edited videos using footage provided by each entrepreneur to create promotional videos for social media in a bid to support this young business with getting exposure online.
Speaking on the second phase of the project, Dananjaya explained that the second phase is a specialised symposium-type workshop for some of the women entrepreneurs who are a part of HERstory, where the entrepreneurs will engage with five different corporate speakers covering topics like merchandising, marketing, branding, and balancing work life with other commitments.
HERstory’s third phase, the HERStory Young Women Entrepreneurs exhibition of all 150 participants, is where the HERstory team hopes to provide a platform for these entrepreneurs to physically get the word of their brand out and engage with customers directly.
While today marks a momentous point in HERstory’s journey, Dananjaya shared that in the future, the team hopes to keep growing the HERstory platform and opening up to newcomers and take both the platform and the businesses they promote to a larger scale.
The HERstory Young Women Entrepreneurs takes place today, 19 April from 11 a.m. onwards at Diyatha Uyana. For more information on HERstory, please check out their Facebook and Instagram Pages.
Facebook @Official.HERstory
Instagram @official.herstory
