LOUISVILLE, Ky. — It’s a tour that features all of the woman-owned businesses in the Nulu area. Owner of Woman-Owned Wallet and WOW Factor Collective Amanda Dare says she originally wanted to do guided tours but due to the pandemic she had to change it to a self-guided tour.
“Through owning five businesses and realizing that I loved working with women, I loved connecting with women. I wanted to make sure that their businesses were really celebrated and that we were putting that money back into our community,” said Dare.
Starting with 30 women-owned businesses, the experience has grown to include over 40. Owner of Six Sisters Boutique and President of the Nulu Business Association Katie Meinhart says not many people realize that downtown has this many woman-owned businesses, which speaks to the diversity and growth of the Nulu neighborhood.
“I think women have worked really hard to get where we are, to have our freedom to do whatever we want and to be able to run a business and support my family. Doing that is really important. So I think highlighting those women in business who work day in and day out, especially those who have kids and families, and so they’re pulling double duty across the board on it is really important,” said Meinhart.
Both Meinhart and Dare say it is all about supporting the sisterhood of women's businesses and putting money into the women in our community.
“I think that like looking through and understanding that you can do a lot of shopping in the NuLu area, you can visit restaurants, you can have different experiences, and you can go to art galleries. It just feels like there’s not a limit to what women can do. And the fact that we can do that all in this neighborhood, all in one day, even if you want to do, is incredible,” said Dare.
Dare hopes to see the WOW walking tours continue to expand and give more woman entrepreneurs the support they need.
There are maps of the WOW tour in over 100 different locations and online.