Chasing Miracles

The Insightful Tea: Reflections on my Conversation With Jonathan Rosenthal

I arrived to café cakes a few minutes past 2:30 p.m. after turning a few circles amidst the traffic in Watertown Square. I was about to meet with Jonathan Rosenthal, one of the three founders of Equal Exchange. I have to admit that this meeting felt like a gem within a busy networking calendar.  Over the past couple of months I have turned networking into a sport and any way you look at it networking is like blind-dating: you never know how fruitful or awkward it will turn out to be. However, I knew this meeting would be interesting- particularly because in my eyes Equal Exchange helped pave the way for fair trade in the US, educating consumers on the importance of trade transparency and fair compensation for farmers and growers. This is the same transparency that Proxy strives to bring to the apparel industry.

After brief introductions, Jonathan patiently listened to my “how I got to where I am” pitch. He did something that in the back of my mind I always hope for, and came right out to ask me about what I was hoping to learn from our conversation. I explained to him that I was interested in the Equal Exchange story, particularly from the perspective of point of view of what it was like to start a business that sold “fair trade” product. Did consumers care? Was it easy to find investment? What about quality control issues?

Jonathan started his story by recounting his younger years living outside of Baltimore, and his awareness of the racial tensions among the white and black populations. As a child he was deeply affected by racism and did not feel comfortable playing with the white kids, often playing on the black team. It is so rare in life that people will start at the heart of their motivations- in fact most people either find this too personal or perhaps irrelevant to mention. But Jonathan started at this point. His touching introduction sparked my attention and from that point I absorbed several gems of wisdom:

Intention

It is critical to stay in touch with your intentions and motivations as an entrepreneur- because at times- this is all that you have. Whether your intention is to promote social justice and fight inequality or to solve the energy crisis without this direct relationship with your intention, I am not sure how you would get out of bed in the morning. It reminds me of something that Scott Leonard of Indigenous Designs said to me in our first phone conversation, “always keep the vision on the table.”

 Jonathan’s story included his short stint at Colby College in Maine and his experiences working for Food Co-ops in Boston. It was there that he met his two partners that helped found Equal Exchange, one of whom, Rink is still the executive director today. The first manifestation of the Equal Exchange focused on the importation of coffee. and the bulk of their initial financing came primarily from nuns.

Know What You Stand For 

Equal Exchange was born within the controversy and political battles of the 1980’s and under the guidance of the Reagan Administration: the rise of the Nicaraguan Sandinistas and the El Salvadoran civil war, and the Mayan genocide that occurred throughout Guatemala. In fact, Equal Exchange began its operations by importing Nicaraguan coffee; this expressed solidarity with the Sandinistas. In 1986 Reagan imposed a trade embargo on Nicaragua that Equal Exchange worked around by importing the beans through a Dutch company and having it roasted in Montreal. From the onset Equal Exchange stood for solidarity and political and social justice.

Necessary Chaos

Despite the complicated political back-drop of this time compounded with other major issues such as the global fluctuation of currencies in relation to the dollar, Equal Exchange used ingenuity and passion to persevere. While the issues plaguing the 1980s and those of present day greatly differ, another lesson revealed itself. Perhaps tumultuous conditions allow social entrepreneurs to thrive. The world needs social entrepreneurship now more than ever.

Relationships

 Jonathan’s story doesn’t end with Equal Exchange. He must recently ran a fair-trade banana company here in the U.S. and is searching for his next great endeavor. Based on his heartfelt delivery I felt comfortable enough to ask him a question that has been looming on my own mind. How did he navigate between his passion/the mission of Equal Exchange, and the business side of things? At the end of the day Equal Exchange is in the business of commerce – of selling coffee and tea products. His response: “Relationships. Relationships with the farmers, the activists and even the consumers.” His response reminded me of something that my mentor said to me recently: “ at the end of the day business is about relationships.”  You have to be fed by your relationships.

Jonathan left me with words that reminded me of why I am doing all of this.

“To me fair trade is truly about healing the world,” he said. I have to agree, fair trade is about creating a platform of transparency between the supplier and the consumer. Fair trade deems that suppliers are fairly compensated, nurturing a more just system. Fair Trade gifts consumers the opportunity to rest assured that their consumption is not causing unnecessary harm, and that their purchase is supporting an equitable system of trade. It is within this platform that healing happens. 

Chasing Miracles

The name of this blog was inspired by the most recent conversation I had with my mentor Sharon. After reacting from a week’s worth of advice along the lines of, “its really not a good time based on the economic climate” & “you should hold off and get a job in the fashion industry for a few years,” I was again re-questioning my stubborn insanity to find a way to launch my brain child, Proxy Apparel. Sharon reminded me that I knew when I embarked on this journey that I was chasing miracles. 

The only bullet on my current resume reads: 

CEO, Chasing Miracles, Proxy Apparel

MBA in hand.

The past year I have been chasing a miracle to find the resources necessary to manifest a little dream that grew from my time working with women’s groups in Honduras to my trek around the highlands of Peru: a fashion-forward apparel company that would be fueled by the fair trade labor of Latin American women struggling to make livelihood. 

This dream pushed me through business school, inspired the writing of an extensive business plan. Proxy has been incubating for some time now- and I have reached the point that many entrepreneurs reach, the point where there is only one thing holding me back: CASH. As the say, cash is king. 

Oh, and In addition to the lack of start-up capital, the global economy is crumbling around me.

and the apparel industry is exponentially shrinking.  

Did I mention that my experience in the fashion industry is, limited? 

Is any of this stopping me? 

Of course not. I can’t think of anything I’d rather be doing than:

Chasing Miracles.