Women’s Lifestyle Exhibition: The ‘X’ factor

Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry remains steadfast in promoting female entrepreneurs.

LAHORE:

While many in Pakistan paid lip service to women’s day, it was heartening to note that the Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry (WCCI) have remained steadfast in promoting female entrepreneurs and held their 9th Women’s Lifestyle Exhibition over the weekend at Lahore’s famed Royal Palm Golf Club.

It was commendable that the exhibition had no entry fee and was open to public. Describing her motivation behind organising this event, President-elect of WCCI Dr Shehla Akram said: “The women’s chamber tries to cater to women-owned businesses at all levels,” she said. “And the aim of this exhibition is to specifically cater to women entrepreneurs who have succeeded in turning their products into a brand. We are proud to be hosting such well-known and successful brands such as Karma Princess, Honeybeez and Luscious Cosmetics.”

An incredibly well-organised event, with numerous stalls on two levels, there was a range of talents showcased from education to cooking to beauty to clothing, floral decoration, jewellery and furniture design. ‘Allenora’ had a grand corner to recreate the salon experience, offering 50 per cent off on services that many women indulged in. Naveen Nooruddin of ‘The Box and The Choclatier’  offered free samples of her delectable floral motif chocolates and tiny cupcakes. ‘Gymboree’ displayed their products to expose women and children to their philosophy of learning through play. ‘Karma Princess’ by Maheen Kardar took centre space with a lovely display celebrating girlhood in all glory, replete with princess tiaras. And child prodigy Muzeezae Khalid gave away free recipes to her mouth watering cupcakes while conducting a live tutorial on how to ice and decorate a cake.

Each corner of the exhibit had something enticing to offer, although truth be told the jewels sparkled bright and allured women the most, like bees to honey. The diversity amongst the jewellery designers such as ‘Pukhraj’ and Farah Ali presenting that day, stood out for their individuality and inventiveness.

The exhibition provided a unique point of convergence for women entrepreneurs to come together, discuss strategies and observe how one can start up their own enterprise. Madiha Abrar, one of the designers of Milli Madiha, says such initiatives are needed to help women get to the next level as entrepreneurs. “We don’t have any exclusive networking options to exhibit products to a huge audience and to promote our brands. This is why an initiative like this was badly needed.” Stay-at -home mothers such as Sobia and Aqsa, for instance, utilised their years of experience in doing their own children’s birthdays to realising what a hassle it really is and launched their own birthday event company, ‘Bounce A lot’. Such women serve as an inspiration to others who may not be talented in the conventional ways of designing and cooking but can operate their own business with great managerial skills.

It wasn’t all about commerce, albeit a small stall, ‘Pharmeco’ was situated bang opposite the staircase so women had no excuses for getting their cholesterol, sugar and body mass index checked. The stall wasn’t as grand as the others but demonstrated a key feature on basic health that women usually ignore. As homemakers and care-takers, women are typically the last one’s to take themselves seriously. “I don’t even remember when I had last gotten my full medical checkup,” said Sabila, a lady who lined up next to the model and Gymboree instructor Cybil Choudhry to see if her vital statistics were in place. On the whole, the Women’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry did a laudable job with an exhibition that tried to holistically look at women as individuals with myriad talents and needs — providing them a platform for unknown faces and talents to come forth.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 15^th, 2011.