Forty-year-old Fupu Tenjing Sherpa, the vice president of Beauty Pageant Association of Nepal (BPAN), is a talented event planner who has consistently conducted successful events, especially beauty pageants. Having 12 years of experience in the industry, Sherpa has a proven track record of creating unique and memorable experiences for clients in the fashion industry. With a keen eye for detail and an ability to think outside the box, he has quickly become one of the most sought-after event planners in the country. Born in Taplejung of Province 1, he completed his schooling from Patan High School in Lalitpur. Soon after, he enrolled in one of the contemporary arts and fashion training centers in Kathmandu, where he received a diploma course in fashion design which, he says, was a turning point in his career. “I developed an interest in event management while doing the fashion designing course,” says Sherpa. He mentions that although his involvement in the fashion industry back then was minimal, it provided him the opportunity to learn more about the business side of the industry, including marketing, branding, and financial management. Sherpa’s foray into event management happened in 2003 when he organized ‘Kid Queen Pokhara’. “I was nervous as it was my first event. But I got to learn a lot from the experience,” he says. He then went on to organize the same pageant in Dharan, Biratnagar, Chitwan, and Kathmandu. In the meantime, he was also the organizer for ‘Miss Teen Sherpa-2004’, and ‘Miss Newa-2005’, which have since then become a yearly event. “I wanted to bring beauty pageants to every ethnic group, ages, communities, and caste, in order to showcase their ethnicity and culture,” he says, adding it was why he started planning those pageants.

Although Sherpa was successful in managing all of these events, he says it was quite challenging for him to seamlessly execute each and every aspect of a beauty pageant. “Back then, the fashion industry wasn’t the thriving business it is today,” he adds. There weren’t enough designers and that posed a huge challenge. “But I didn’t want to give up. I just felt these pageants were necessary to sort of revolutionize the fashion industry in Nepal,” he says.

Sherpa is dubbed the ‘Event King’ in Nepal, and not without reason. In two decades, he has organized more than 300 events, including but not limited to ‘Miss Nepal World’, ‘Mr Nepal’, ‘Miss Mangol’, ‘Miss Indigenous Heritage Nepal’, and ‘Miss Teen Nepal’. He is also involved in reality shows like Voice of Nepal, Voice of Nepal Kids, Nepal Idol, as well as several music videos and films. Sherpa has also appeared in several Nepali music videos and also acted in a movie titled ‘Rahadani’ that was released in 2020. “Acting had always been my hobby, so this was a fulfilling experience,” he says. He believes that everyone has their own unique talent when it comes to acting, modeling or singing. “It never hurts to give things a shot,” he says. Now, Sherpa is teaching fashion designing, though he is still actively involved in event planning and management. He teaches at the IIFT Kathmandu - School of Fashion and Interior Design. He is also the managing director at the institute.  He says he is happy to see youths interested in fashion. The institute has managed to train over 1,000 students in fashion designing. They are also encouraged to be involved in event management along with Sherpa. The institute is listed as one of the best fashion institutes in the city, and has received several excellence awards, one of them being the ‘Best Fashion Academy Award’ in 2020. Sherpa received the ‘Corporate Business Excellence Award’ through IIFT in 2022. There are plans of expansion in the pipeline, with a branch in Pokhara among other places. “Fashion designing, event planning, and other such creative fields weren’t viable options back when I started my career. But that’s slowly changing as people are keen on exploring these options,” he says. He believes the Nepali fashion industry is slowly working its way up in the global landscape with designers and creative minds coming up with new ideas and thus opening new avenues. Sherpa credits his mentor Basana Chhetri and his family for his success. He claims they have paved the way and eased the hurdles for him. “I’m lucky to have found such a supportive family who has assisted me in every possible way,” he says. But he feels he has prioritized his work over family and wants to change that. “I have realized you mustn’t let your work consume you, that there needs to be a healthy work-life balance,” he says.