The All Women Market supports women in business and community

All Women’s Market Featured Woman, a women’s market run by women of all ages, allows women to come together once a month for four hours to sell in-house or wholesale.

What started as a small idea for a girls’ night out during the pandemic has become an official public marketplace with over 6,400 followers on Instagram and nearly 50 vendors at each event.

Two years ago, Notable Woman founder and Orem native Lauren Wen hosted a women’s night at her home and continued at other random places. As her team grew, she said she was motivated to expand.

Wen said she wanted to create an event where people could come to share their work, but also a place to support the community outside of their business. “We want to show women and their stories,” she said.

According to Wen, her time as a photographer allowed her to work with other mothers, students and working women. These women also started their own businesses. She wanted a place to highlight and support their work. “We have to make an arrangement,” she said.

Wen’s vision helped featured woman Christina Olsen, a local yeast baker, mother of four, and owner of the bakery O Burka. Olson applied to Lover’s after a friend told her about it while working at a farmers market. “I started because I wanted to make bread, and I wanted to let people know that it’s okay to eat bread,” Olsen said.

Featured women also help first-time business owners. Jess Lowe, single mother and owner of Basil’s Village, started her business of naturally infused dolls as a structured woman. “I make toys because they bring joy to people and they’re fun. I love learning about nature and sharing that with the world,” Law said.

Law says it’s important for first-time business startups to believe in themselves. “To women who want to pursue business, believe in yourself,” shared Law. “What’s worse? If you have something special to share with the world, people will respond to it.”

There are also young sellers at the Featured Female market, like Hayley Johnson, the 19-year-old owner of Handmade by Hayley. She is taking a break from college and hopes to build her jewelry business. “I worked a semester at Salt Lake Community College, but now I’m focusing on my jewelry and building my career,” Johnson said. “My goal is to be able to support myself.”

Wen said her startup was something she did on the side.

“Of course I’m realistic. That’s my full-time job,” Wen said. “I’ve always been more of an entrepreneur. I always wanted to be my own boss.

Wen says creating is a big part of her life. “It’s always been my goal to be able to put something beautiful and fun into the world. It’s great to be able to do that here at Featured Female,” she says.

According to Wen, Lovely Woman is hoping to expand the market next year by holding a two-day event every month to accommodate the growing number of vendors and customers. Their next market event is Saturday, October 22, from 10 a.m. to noon.