This KY Boutique Puts Money BACK in Women’s Wallets
Louisville, Kentucky's Woman-Owned Wallet offers vibrant gifts, apparel, home decor, and more — sourced exclusively from woman-owned brands. But the W.O.W. empire is steadily growing beyond its retail presence. Check it out!
Louisville, Kentucky-based Woman-Owned Wallet is Amanda Dare’s sixth business. After spending several years working in fashion design, the longtime entrepreneur fell in love with the idea of helping other women-owned businesses.
“I recognized the financial differences between men and women,” says Amanda, “and wanted to … have basically a kind of activism [that I could] scream from the rooftops.”
Anyone who has seen Woman-Owned Wallet (W.O.W.) in Louisville’s NuLu neighborhood can attest that the store is loud. With bright pink paint on the outside and more vibrant hues visible through the windows, it’s hard to miss while driving down East Market Street.
A marketplace for dozens of woman-owned brands, the shop is filled with a variety of fun items, from books and buttons to apparel, drinkware, magnets, and more. The mission behind the shop is clear — every purchase puts money into the wallets of women.
In 2023, the shop helped put $76,199 into the wallets of 64 vendors.
“What we do is focus on financial feminism,” Amanda explains, “By allowing people to understand that when they put money into the wallet of a woman, it benefits the entire community.”
She adds that the store is more than just a place to shop. “We have all types of conversations in there,” she says, “from joking conversations and surface-level things to deep stories. … We’ve talked about every kind of topic that a woman deals with on a daily or lifelong basis.”
Everyone is welcome into the W.O.W. space, and Amanda says that when customers look around, they experience what she calls ‘glimmers.’
“It’s the opposite of a trigger. A trigger is a very negative response. A glimmer is a very positive response,” she explains. “We can give you a little bit of glimmer, a little hope, a little life, and a little bit of wow all at the same time in our 400-square-foot store.”
In addition to creating a space for shoppers to browse gifts strictly from woman-owned businesses, Amanda created the W.O.W. Tour, a self-guided walking tour of female-founded locales in the neighborhood. In 2024, the tour is sponsored by Derby City’s women’s soccer team, Racing Louisville FC, and maps are available in more than 100 locations.
“I just wanted to hang out with the girlies all day long and make sure that we could keep the money in our community,” Amanda says of founding the tour, adding that the W.O.W. Tour map actually came before the store itself. “I wanted to make sure people were recognizing that the whole NuLu area already had over 30 women-owned businesses at the time,” she says.
(Today, that number has grown to over 40!)
She recently started offering guided W.O.W. Tour Experiences, in which she brings participants to select women-owned spots in the area to enjoy food, drinks, and shopping, all while hearing stories from some of the business owners themselves.
Another recent addition to Amanda’s growing empire is the revival of Woman-Owned Wallet: The Podcast. “I started it on my niece’s birthday,” Amanda says. “I wanted her to know that as she grew up, there was always someone in her corner talking about … topics that are so taboo.”
The podcast features money memoirs from Amanda and other entrepreneurs, as well as valuable information and actionable strategies that every female can utilize to help get more money into their wallets. She also offers mini-episodes with a money mindset coach.
As Amanda explains, it’s presented in a fun and approachable way — like just a couple of gals chatting — so the listener feels like they’re not alone in difficult financial situations.
“We’ve had people go from [discussing] bankruptcy to unlimited margaritas in the same episode,” Amanda says. She adds that it’s essential to talk about a myriad of money stories because women’s backgrounds and experiences can significantly affect how they deal with finances.
“If we can actually deal with … the potential trauma that comes along with something so powerful as the tool that money is in our lives, then we’re able to move forward in a more productive way,” Amanda says. She adds that keeping the idea of money as a neutral tool, rather than letting it be driven by emotion, helps women utilize their funds in a more beneficial way.
When it comes to the store, the W.O.W. Tour, and the podcast, Amanda emphasizes that all are welcome — but women are celebrated. “Women really fund the future,” she says. “So if we fund women, we are funding the future.”
All images courtesy of Woman-Owned Wallet.
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Lennie Omalza
Originally from Hawaii, Lennie Omalza is a Louisville-based freelance writer of over 18 years. Lennie is a yoga-loving foodie who travels as often as she can and enjoys writing about food, homes, and weddings. You can find more of Lennie's work at Eater, Hawaii Home & Remodeling, and The Louisville Courier-Journal.