33-year-old Rina Akhtar, hailing from Dhaka, Bangladesh, found herself grappling with adversity when her husband deserted her, leaving her to raise their two daughters alone.

Undeterred by the daunting hurdles of poverty and societal judgment, Rina refused to be defeated by her circumstances. She took charge of her family's welfare by leveraging her sewing skills and household management expertise to start her own tailoring business. “I came to the decision that, if I start a small business, I’ll be able to take care of my two girls”, Rina explains.

Before embarking on her entrepreneurial journey, Rina worked as a domestic worker in other people’s homes, leaving her no time to take care of her children. According to Rina, after becoming a single parent, the struggle to balance her care responsibilities with her work, combined with the instability of domestic labour, pushed her to pursue her entrepreneurial aspirations. However, she lacked the business knowledge or resources to expand her business, and with only a sewing machine and determination in her possession, she faced countless challenges along the way.