The Creative Isle, in collaboration with The Foundation of Goodness are relaunching the CAN Market at a brand-new Venue this October! Having reached a very successful one-year milestone, the founder of this meaningful initiative Keshini Suraweera decided to expand the CAN Market to Colombo’s hottest lifestyle venue, the One Galle Face Mall with the hope of creating opportunities for a larger community of entrepreneurs.

A fascination with gemstones and how they interacted with light led Monica Rau to forge a career in designing and making jewellery. Launching her brand Svelte in 2013 Monica has built a steady stream of loyal clients who love to sport her statement pieces with pride.

‘Your Community’ is a series that hopes to bring recognition and business to the amazing entrepreneurs of our country, to appreciate the wealth of talent and sheer resilience of spirit that exists among our people. When spoken to, the majority of the SME’s indicate that their challenges are similar.

Personal Finance in your 20’s are a complete rollercoaster. One minute you are 19 and fresh out of school, never having heard the word ‘personal finance’ and suddenly you are somewhere in your 20’s, torn between living your best life and experiencing the anxieties of saving for your future and that very, very distant retirement.

In a bid to increase awareness and raise funds for research into its cause, prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and cure, Breast Cancer Awareness Month (BCAM) is an annual global health campaign organised annually in the month of October.

Desserts have always been at the apex of gifting due to their wide appeal, and small businesses are now upping the ante, creating desserts that are visually stunning. Cocobox.lk is one such venture, with a wide array of strawberries, cakes and dessert enveloped in chocolate.

The Brown Girl Bakes began their operations in 2019, with Leann Eleena Jayawardena taking the reins of the home-based baking business. The 19-year-old home-baker is known for her DIY cookie kit collections inspired by a variety of themes, from the hit-game ‘Among Us’ to astronomy to ocean life.

A baker for many years, Shynaz Thajudeen has been in the baking business since 2015, having started her craft at the young age of 18. “It all started with a few leftover cuppies at home. The moment I had a bite, I wanted to try baking them myself and the business just grew from there!”.

Marian was born and raised in Bahrain to a large, loving Sri Lankan family. Her family eventually settled in Toronto and she recently relocated to Ottawa, Ont., with her husband and seven-year-old daughter. Marian is bursting with the creative talents she honed as a clothing and product designer. Having stepped back from full-time work to be a stay-at-home mom, Marian now uses baking as an outlet to express her extraordinary artistic talent.

Wedding photographers by profession, husband and wife duo Dinesh Wanigarathna and Ruwanthi Perera love their food as much as they love a good photo! While exploring different cuisines and foods is a passion they both share, desserts, in particular, has a special place in their hearts – reflected by their newly launched dessert venture ‘Artisan Diletto’.