Starting out as a small online business run by a young mother, Lina's Thousand Things turned into a successful clothing brand in the country in the span of just a few years.

Shahrukh Chowdhury Lina, Founder and Owner of Lina's Thousand Things, began her career as a banker. Soon after her son's birth, she left the job to be a stay-at-home mom. Passionate about clothes and fashion since childhood, Lina started an online clothing business in 2012.

Clothes from the Puja collection of Lina's Thousand Things.

By 2018, Lina's Thousand Things established two branches – one at Police Plaza and another at Pink City in Gulshan. They had another branch at Dhanmondi as well, but unfortunately, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it was shut down.

With 30 dedicated employees, Lina personally oversees the purchases and chooses the designs, according to the requirements of her customers.  "We prefer to be the trendsetters in the industry and our main objective has always been to introduce people to the latest trends from the fashion world," shares Lina. "We give our best efforts to serve our customers, with quality and unique products."

Till now, Lina's business has been focused on imports. However, she plans to launch her own clothing line and designer house. "We want to create our own line of clothing by Bangladeshi designers using traditional resources," shares Lina. "We want to work with rural women, who are skilled in hand embroidery. We plan to collaborate with them after the pandemic subsides."

"We are launching our own designer clothes for Puja this year," shares Lina. "We will introduce a new cotton collection and a muslin collection, keeping the current humid weather in mind."

As an entrepreneur, Lina works with several young women. The online sales and promotional activities of the store are all managed by young students who are part-time employees. Lina encourages them to garner new experiences and skills along the way.

 "People used to look down upon the jobs I gave to help out young graduates, but now as the brand is successful, they appreciate it all," says Lina. She further adds that she received tremendous support from all her family members throughout her career.

The clothing brand will soon open their doors to customers in Chattogram, Sylhet, Cumilla, Barishal and Khulna.

 "Keep dreaming and working hard, as you must overcome all the obstacles to move forward," concludes Lina, as her advice to young, female entrepreneurs everywhere.