By Lahari Tammera ’23

A couple of years ago, I was joking around with my sister about how it’d be cool to own my own cafe and how we could create a fun menu and start a business from the ground up. I wanted it to be an establishment with South Asian fusion menu items with the look and aesthetic of a French cafe. I didn’t realize it then, but that idea would continue to stick with me for the years to come. As time passed, I began to realize exactly how much I wanted that random idea to actually come to life and become a reality.

But then came the doubt. I wasn’t sure if it was a career path that I could see for myself and I wasn’t sure if I would end up being able to enact the type of social change I wanted to see through my cafe. I found myself doing research here and there, trying to make my idea into something with a solid foundation. But the thought that I could fail and that it wouldn’t end up being as amazing as I wanted it to kept nagging at me.

Through my research, I stumbled upon a UMD alumna that was doing some amazing work through her own cafe. I was shocked to see that there was someone who had graduated from the same exact university that I was attending, who chose to go into a similar path. Her name is Kanchan Singh and she is the CEO and founder of Crumbs & Whiskers.

Her idea is a very innovative one and her cat cafe was one of the first few in the entire United States. It was a concept that wasn’t seen as common here but is very popular in other countries. As said on the Crumbs & Whiskers website, they partner with rescues that save homeless cats at risk of euthanasia and house them in their different cafe locations. They let people come in and play with these cats and keep them in their cafes until they’re adopted! All their menu items aren’t made in-house.

I was so surprised and elated to see a South Asian woman from UMD create a cafe that works to help in a social cause. It made me believe that I too could maybe create something great that would be helpful to people in my community.

Kanchan’s business flourished from having one central location in Washington DC, to having another storefront in Los Angeles. The importance and impact that social entrepreneurship can create are seen here in a real-life example. According to their website, 1612 cats have been adopted, 3311 cats have been saved from euthanasia, and $392000 has been donated to charity through all the hard work that was done at Crumbs & Whiskers.

If you want to learn more about Kanchan and her journey, you can check out the Crumbs & Whiskers website (they have merch!) or you can listen to her podcast episode on the Dingman Center’s Bootstrapped show!

By Anna Kaplan ’21

Whitney Wolfe Herd has not just become a symbol for female entrepreneurs, but for
females around the world. Wolfe Herd, a Forbes 30 under 30 recipient with a net worth of over $575 million, first jumped into the entrepreneur spotlight while in college with The Help Us Get Cleaned Up Project.

After graduating from Southern Methodist University, Wolfe Herd spent time volunteering in Asia, and then went to work at an incubator in Los Angeles. While working at an incubator, Wolfe Herd spent her evenings and weekends working with a group seeking to build a
dating app, this app idea would later become Tinder. However, while Wolfe Herd was pivotal to Tinder’s early growth, she left on bad terms after 2 years. After leaving Tinder, she sued the company for “alleged sexual harassment and discrimination.”

Following her departure from Tinder, Wolfe Herd did not allow her career to get derailed, instead she let her experiences at Tinder empower her. In 2014 Wolfe Herd started Bumble, a dating app that gives the power to women as they have to message the guy first. As described on Bumble’s site, Wolfe Herd was inspired to start Bumble because, “so many of the smart, wonderful women in my life were still waiting around for men to ask them out, to take their numbers, or to start up a conversation on a dating app.”

This differs from the majority of other dating apps, by requiring the female to message first. However, the female first angle is not the only feature that sets Bumble apart. Bumble has redefined the swiping game by creating Bumble BFF, to foster friendships, and Bumble BIZZ to foster networking. It is not just the multitude of offerings and features that sets Bumble apart, but the attitude that Wolfe Herd leads with. Her leadership most recently led to Bumble instituting a zero tolerance policy on body shaming.

The rapid success of Bumble is sure to continue into the future, after recently filing for IPO. With the current IPO filing, Wolfe Herd is set to “become one of the youngest female CEOs in tech to take her company public.

Wolfe Herd, a mom, wife, and entrepreneur, has not only paved the way for other female entrepreneurs, but she also serves as a consistent inspiration for women around the world. In a society wrought with sexism and patriarchal ideology, Wolfe Herd has given back some of that power to women. Her constant mission to inspire and empower women is a powerful message to women that they can overcome challenges and sexism to achieve success.

Ladies First Founders is the Dingman Center’s one-credit Spring semester course for female and non-binary entrepreneurs working on businesses at the University of Maryland. Taught by Sara Herald, champion of our Ladies First Initiative, the course helps students build soft-skills for overcoming gender biases in entrepreneurship. The cohort learns about entrepreneurship, grows their business ideas, and supports each other’s entrepreneurial journeys. The syllabus includes a blend of skill-building workshops and networking events. Topics include the how to’s of networking and mentorship, finding balance as a founder/student/human, overcoming imposter syndrome, startup pitching and body language, funding and how to get it, and more.

Read on to learn more about this cohort’s exciting student founders and their businesses!

Cloud Closet – Vera Andreeva ’22
The Cloud Closet is designed to significantly decrease the amount of time it takes to get dressed. It simultaneously increases the number of outfits through recommendations while keeping your closet the same size. Based on your style, it will recommend items that will keep you feeling stylish and on-trend.

Cosmicals Cards – Dani Feng ’23
Cosmicals Cardsis a line of humorous cartoon space-themed greetings cards.

Degree – Lahari Tammera ’23
Degree will be an Indian and French fusion cafe with traditional Indian recipes reimagined as different concepts. Tammera plans for the cafe to be a social enterprise with some of the profits either being donated to different causes or using the profits for community building in the local area surrounding the cafe.

F3S Professional Bridge – Ed-love Lesley Aidoo ’21
F3S Professional Bridge is a social venture that provides visa and international college students with professional development such as externships, internships, part-time and full-time positions.

Heart2Starr – Ileana Y. Lozano ’22
Since 2013, writer and poet Ileana Lozano has shared her thoughts, poetry, and artwork with her community under the social media handle @Heart2Starr.

Heed – Anna Kaplan ’21
Heed is a platform that provides self-care ideas and inspiration for women in their 20’s.

Hi Monkey Co. – Yasmin Molkara ’22
Hi Monkey Co. is devoted to helping others hone their unique style and promoting sustainable shopping through our favorite handpicked second-hand pieces.

Lace Bar – Maliha Bukhari ‘22

Pop Shop – Ananya Ramkumar ’21
Pop shop aims to connect college students with restaurants and retailers through pop-up shop experiences. Our mission is to allow students to dine and shop from the convenience of their campus by converting unused classrooms and trailers into restaurants and stores.