Baking pie helped Daria Chechenina find a new sense of purpose and security in life.

“One day, I realized that I should open a pie shop so every working mother in Tashkent could stop spending time baking and instead enjoy time with their families without giving up on family traditions,” says the young baker from Uzbekistan. “So, I took a risk, but I do not regret it.”

It has been five years now since Daria left behind a stable salary and job in the pharmaceutical field and opened her bakery, Pirogovaya. Despite knowing the challenges, she was determined to build her business.

“It’s very difficult for a woman in business surrounded by men, but us women have our own entrepreneurial visions,” she says. “I was inspired by the thought of being a woman entrepreneur myself and by the fact that I can join forces with other businesswomen and help teach and train other women too.”

Today, Pirogovaya is a popular place to buy a wide variety of handmade and ornately designed sweet and savoury pies and pastries in all shapes and sizes.

“Opening a bakery changed my life and my family’s lives too,” says Daria, who happily calls herself the ‘Pie Master of Tashkent’. “I’m growing and learning as a person and entrepreneur while bringing happiness and goodness to people through pie.”

Daria is one of almost 100 women who decided to take control of their fates, start a business, and apply for the ‘Digital Breakthrough’ programme. The seven-week OSCE course is designed to help women entrepreneurs in Central Asia enhance their digital and business skills with the help of InkubasiaLAB, a local NGO specialized in digital upskilling.

“Programmes like ours help to stimulate local economies and development while also promoting gender equality,” says Olena Dobrunik, one of the OSCE organizers of Digital Breakthrough. “And why does the world’s largest regional security organization care about that? Because when women are empowered to bring positive change to their lives, it fuels progress and creates a greater sense of security, which, in turn, leads to more stability. When you do that often enough on a local level, it creates a ripple effect of more security and stability on a national level, then a regional level, and, ultimately, internationally.”

Better lives for families and communities

Each of the 21 women accepted into Digital Breakthrough became entrepreneurs so they could pursue their passions and improve their lives. For many, bettering the lives of their families and communities has also been a major motivation.

“For me, balancing priority areas like health, family, self-realization and motherhood are important, but so is benefiting society,” says Zhanar Pshenova, creator of Qaitadan, a zero-waste store based in Astana, Kazakhstan. “Travelling around Kazakhstan and its beautiful landscapes, I saw garbage waste. And I saw a need. A need for more eco-conscious lifestyles.” 

Zhanar began researching the concepts of zero-waste, eco-literacy, and eco-friendly products. She quickly learned that Kazakhstan has few sources of eco-lifestyle expertise and the kinds of home goods she wanted for herself.

“I was searching and searching for more eco-friendly products, and when I didn’t find the toothpaste I wanted, I finally thought: ‘Why not open my own store?’ ‘Why not try?’ That’s where it all started,” she says.  

Along with selling a few products online, Zhanar began talking about eco-conscious and zero-waste lifestyles on Instagram. When that gained traction, she won two small grants that helped her expand her product range and stay afloat. She then heard about Digital Breakthrough and decided to apply because she needed help scaling her business.

“Thanks to Digital Breakthrough, I was able to go offline,” she says, describing how the business skills she learned and the inspiration she took from the other women in the programme gave her the knowledge and courage to make the leap to opening a brick-and-mortar store. Now Qaitadan is one of the few shops in Kazakhstan dedicated to eco-friendly and zero-waste products.

“In the future, I see my store becoming a modern space for people who lead an eco-friendly lifestyle, for people who care about quality, and for people to meet other people who share the same lifestyle,” Zhanar says.

On an entrepreneurial journey

While the women who participated in Digital Breakthrough have each made great strides on their entrepreneurial journeys, launching their businesses has not been without its challenges.

“From financial constraints to logistical difficulties and climate change around the world, I have faced them all,” says Nilufar Ukumatshoeva, founder of Arichoko Bouquet, a flower and food florist service based in Kharok, Tajikistan. “But through perseverance and lessons learned from each obstacle, I came out of them stronger and more resilient.”

Nilufar says Digital Breakthrough’s mentors, trainers, and speakers opened her eyes to new practical and theoretical ways of doing business and building a fulfilled life as a woman entrepreneur, and even helped her to better understand herself as a businessperson.

“I realized that I am my business. I saw what I need to develop, where I have weaknesses and where I have strengths,” she says. “I also learned about the Canvas business model that really allowed me to grow my business, improve my digital skills and content, and develop my work processes. The result is that I have more and that my clients have more.”

Today, Arichoko Bouquet is the only flower and food florist to serve the Pamir region, a mountain range in the Western Himalayas boasting some of the world’s highest peaks. For Nilufar, that reach to the people and community around her matters.

“What inspired me to start my own business was a combination of my love of creativity, desire, independence, and my dream of making a positive impact on my community,” she says. “Now my family is economically fulfilled. Employment opportunities have been created in my community. Our unique products help to carry on cultural traditions. And it has brought happiness to our clients. Seeing the joy and fulfilment on their faces fuels my passion every day.”

Nilufar says she wants to keep expanding her business into new markets and to never stop innovating. “Professionally, I see endless opportunities through digital advances and digital technology. And, personally, I aspire to inspire more women and make a lasting impact on my communities.”

Learn more about the OSCE’s Central Asian Women’s Entrepreneurship Programme and its project on digitalization.