Support Houston's Community Hub, Wonderlikewander

$2,100

pledged of$200,000 goal

62Days Left

Campaign Ends on August 1, 2023

Project Description

In honor of Small Business Month, here is your opportunity to support one of your favorite small businesses, Wonderlikewander. We are graciously asking for your consideration in financial support and advocacy to help us continue to expand and sustain our community-centered activation space. Wonderlikewander is black woman (of Ethiopian descent) owned , by Ruby Amare.

Wonderlikewander began in 2017, as an online boutique. In 2018, we opened our first storefront. Since the opening of our new space in 2021 (3250 sq.ft indoor space with over 1700 sq ft. outdoor space), our concept has expanded. Our heart has always been to amplify emerging creatives, from music to fashion, and everything between.

The space offers safety, resources, equipment, and support for the community to be well-serviced with opportunities and experiences to thrive in their unique ambitions. We have hosted a variety of events such as free financial literacy workshops, community garden meetups, open mic nights, creative mixers, and music events. We have also hosted art exhibits, artist talks, and many other experiences that support artists locally and those traveling to and from the city.

Event Residencies We Host

-Blkpplchrch, an iconic black woman-led experience created by Houston’s own WOMON, is hosted bi-monthly in our space.

-Monthly, we host yoga flow classes with Ali Michelle.

-We host free financial literacy workshops, where we provide free tacos and have professionals from different fields come in and give us important tools for our finances.

-Every Saturday morning, our Homie Grown community garden crew comes to our garden and cares for our plants.

-We host WLW Open Mic, which showcases local artists, and takes place monthly in our space.

-Playas Gon Play, a karaoke/game night, a musically educational event, hosted by DJ Grave Digga.

Some Events We Are Proud To Have Hosted In Our Space

- An all-woman photographer exhibit called Women In Photo curated by Open Door Gallery was hosted where over 40 artists’ work were shared.

-Crawfish & Brews, an annual community event hosted by Boo’s Burgers, took place in our space.

-An incredible ADIDAS ad campaign video featuring Deun Ivory, was filmed in our photography studio.

-The Oasis wellness retreat was hosted by The Oasis Retreat team.

-Shaping The Culture live podcast event was hosted in our space by Ebenezer Endiryas and his team.

-Women In Music hosted a mixer for female artists to be able to meet, mingle, and get connected to their network.

Our creative house is a 2-story space that functions as a coffee shop, photography studio, event venue, community garden, Airbnb, and co-working space.

In an effort to maximize the entirety of the space for community access, we strategically shifted our clothing boutique solely to our online shop. Once a quarter, we host unique shopping experiences where shoppers can browse our collection in person. We plan to open a physical boutique again nearby our hub in the near future.

As we grow in infrastructure and service, our need for funding is growing the same. Through the generosity of giving, your donation will help maintain the space, venue expenses, be able to cover buildout costs that we have accrued over the past year and a half, help us secure budgets for monthly programming in the space, and continue to curate amazing experiences for each of you to enjoy.

Wonderlikewander has grown from what once was our clothing boutique in EADO to a space in Midtown over 10x the size of our previous space. Once we are able to have our space operating at 100%, we will be able to obtain permitting for our outdoor sign to be designed and made. We currently have a midcentury beautiful blank sign outside that we haven't been able to use for the last 2 years, because of these areas still in progress. (Crazy, right?!)

Design & urban design are a few of the things you can be assured that we will be sharing more of.

STAGES OF EACH PART OF THE BUSINESS:
1. Our coffee shop that has yet to be open, due to waiting on certain permitting, and needing to purchase certain remaining equipment. It is an ode to the "motherland", a true passion project of both Ruby (the owner) and her mother. With their family being from Ethiopia and that being the birthplace of coffee, their passion to be able to share authentic coffee is great. The wait for the inspection needed to move forward (over 1.5 years) has truly put a strain on our business, because our buildout is complete. Once we are able to make a few more equipment purchases and our final inspection is complete, our coffee shop space will be ready to open.

2. Our photography studio, better known as Bloom Studios, has been open and active now for 15 months. We have most of the photography equipment we would like to have, but are looking to have some funding allotted towards more equipment and marketing budget for the studio.

3. Our event venue is our main bread maker, as we have events throughout each week. In order to maintain the highest level of excellence within the space, as well as the exterior, a part of these funds would need to go towards landscaping, cleaning crew before/after events, hiring staff, purchasing a software that would help manage all of our bookings, inquiries, and tours.

4. Our creative co-working space is in the process of being completed upstairs. This particular space will be an extension of our event space after business hours. We have storage and equipment necessary for this shift to be possible, as needed. The co-working space consists of workspaces in multiple rooms, as well as a kitchen and common area. It will be a space for people to come, work at desks, have meetings, and more. We hope to have setup and minor renovations completed by end of this month, to open up the coworking space by June 2023. These funds would help us in being able to make sure we have necessary protections in being able to facilitate such a concept. It would also assist us to be able to purchase monitors, secure access systems, and other resources we would like to have available for those who will be members in our space.

5. Our community garden is maintained weekly by our community garden volunteer crew. We are looking to be able to re-install our sprinkler system, as well as get more equipment for storing our garden materials in our storage shed (shelves, containers, etc).

6. Our clothing boutique is currently online only. We are looking to curate an entirely new collection, and be able to begin production on our own unisex line. We have new homegoods items, clothing, and accessories we will be introducing. Your contribution would help us be able to manage those expenses, and be able to continue to provide quality service and merchandise.

7. Our Airbnb is fully complete, and has been in operation for over 1 year and a half. We have had guests from all over the world stay in our space, and they absolutely adore the diversity in the experiences and people they meet.

Our Challenge: There are hundreds of creative spaces that provide space and resources, but not many that create safe spaces for POC in more ways than one. There are many spaces that provide space for experiences, and many that provide space to create, but not many that provide both. We know we are the answer to that. However, in order for us to continue to grow and support our community, we must have the support (both financially and through various efforts) from our community to be able to continue to build these concepts and fund the growth of these businesses.
Our Vision: We know the need for safe spaces for artists and creative professionals to be able to create and grow in community. We know that we have been that answer for so many in this city, and even beyond. We have physical workspaces and our global social media community that we serve. We want to continue to be able to support our community by providing space, tools, connections, and even one day soon be able to provide microgrants to creatives in our city.

We also have different give-back initiatives we lead every year in giving back to our city and supporting our community during natural disasters & times of need.
During Winter Storm Uri in 2021, we were able to provide over 900 people in Houston with essential goods by hosting donation drives and distribution events.
We plan to start a 501 c3 in the near future that would support creatives with space, programming, resources, and funding in our community.

With our space having several different businesses, our market pool is a rather large one. We have a diverse demographic that attends and books our space. We are unlike any other creative space in the city, by providing all of these different services in 1 large space. With the proper funding and marketing, our business model/concept has potential to gross $500,000 in its first year of functioning at 100% operation.

We have a team of 7 volunteers who help us make the space and community what it is. We would like to provide more incentives,

and be able to hire staff necessary for operations in all areas mentioned above, as well.

Our goal is to be able to continue to build a space that is self-sufficient, and will constantly build up the community surrounding us.

We hope to reach $50,000 by the end of May, and our overall goal of $200,000 by August.

Our 3 year plan is to be able to expand on our current programming, be able to introduce new concepts efficiently, and provide resources & tools to see people walk in their purpose with confidence.

Whether you are able to give financially big or small, share our story, or cover us in prayer, we greatly appreciate your support.

We have been able to grow with you all for over 5 years, and we look forward to continuing on this journey together.

Ruby Amare, CEO & visionary of Wonderlikewander. Born and raised in Houston, Ruby attended school in Dallas & earned a Bachelors in Theology & a Bachelors in Communications. She went on to work briefly in HR, and soon after launched her business in late 2017 as an online e-commerce shop. She would go on to host and vend at pop-up markets. In late 2018, she opened up her first storefront. She would then have her boutique in EADO for about 3 years, and her business moved into their large creative house in Midtown in 2021. Ruby & her team have worked tirelessly to build this creative hub into one that continues to pour back into the community, the city. When not working, she is a daughter, dog mom, girlfriend, & a friend to many.

It is a grand goal, but we know and believe we will hit it. We are leaning on our community to support us during this time.

Thank you for your continued support.

For helping Wonderlikewander build this space, we have some really dope rewards on our campaign page!

Thank you so much for your support in helping Wonderlikewander kick off this initiative!

photos by: Josef Pierre & Troy Montes

Updates

The Campaign FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions:

Will we be updated on the updates happening at Wonderlikewander? Yes, we will be sure to send monthly updates to all of our campaign supporters.

When will our incentives be ready to retrieve? Within 3-5 business days after your contribution is received.

Hulu

05/27/2023

Tote-lly!

$100

Tsehai and Tesfaye

05/23/2023

Tote-lly!

$200

unanimous

05/23/2023

Show Love!

$30

S.O.U.L.A.S.P.H.E.R.E

05/21/2023

Monetary Contribution

$20

Zinash

05/19/2023

Tote-lly!

$100

Asmara Jimma

05/18/2023

Support Goodies!

$250

Joel

05/18/2023

Tote-lly!

$100

Josef

05/18/2023

Tote-lly!

$100

Deneke and Abeba

05/17/2023

Tote-lly!, Tote-lly!

$200

Fray

05/16/2023

Monetary Contribution

$100

Featured reward

100.00 USD

Tote-lly!

Wonderlikewander 'growth' tote bag, 10% off studio booking, & shoutout on our IG page

12 Left

8 Supporters

Select this reward

Monetary Contribution

Just Because I Care

4 Supporters

Select this reward

25.00 USD

Show Love!

We will shoutout you out on our page, 10% off studio booking (for photoshoots)

29 Left

1 Supporter

Select this reward

250.00 USD

Support Goodies!

free 2 hour photoshoot studio session, tote bag, 10% off studio booking, and shoutout on our page!

19 Left

1 Supporter

Select this reward

500.00 USD

Big Support!

$100 voucher to shop WLW clothing collection, Free 2 hour photoshoot studio session, tote bag & shoutout on our page, + 10% off studio booking (for photoshoots)

19 Left

1 Supporter

Select this reward

1,000.00 USD

A Thousand Hugs!

1 month free in coworking space, $100 voucher to shop WLW clothing collection, Free 2 hour photoshoot studio session, tote bag & shoutout on our page, + 10% off studio booking (for photoshoots)

20 Left

0 Supporters

Select this reward

About the Entrepreneur

by Wonderlikewander

Houston, TX

Created 1 Campaign

http://www.wonderlikewander.com

Art + Music

Modern Media

Social Good

Rewards

Featured reward

100.00 USD

Tote-lly!

Wonderlikewander 'growth' tote bag, 10% off studio booking, & shoutout on our IG page

12 Left

8 Supporters

Select this reward

Monetary Contribution

Just Because I Care

4 Supporters

Select this reward

25.00 USD

Show Love!

We will shoutout you out on our page, 10% off studio booking (for photoshoots)

29 Left

1 Supporter

Select this reward

250.00 USD

Support Goodies!

free 2 hour photoshoot studio session, tote bag, 10% off studio booking, and shoutout on our page!

19 Left

1 Supporter

Select this reward

500.00 USD

Big Support!

$100 voucher to shop WLW clothing collection, Free 2 hour photoshoot studio session, tote bag & shoutout on our page, + 10% off studio booking (for photoshoots)

19 Left

1 Supporter

Select this reward

1,000.00 USD

A Thousand Hugs!

1 month free in coworking space, $100 voucher to shop WLW clothing collection, Free 2 hour photoshoot studio session, tote bag & shoutout on our page, + 10% off studio booking (for photoshoots)

20 Left

0 Supporters

Select this reward