She is a woman of the world and doesn’t work only for her own gain. Ratri Maria believes in business with a purpose, and with her company The Nomadic Trails, she hopes to intertwine social advocacies with business for a good cause. Find out about Ratri’s entrepreneurial adventures in this exclusive spotlight interview.

The Bigger Purpose
What is The Nomadic Trail and how did this come about?

The Nomadic Trails is an online multi-brands concept store for incredible products and stories that uses the power of creativity and originality to create sustainable change. The Nomadic Trails aims to connect artisans with mindful customers who seek to make a difference through each purchase. Our online platform gives designers access to larger markets, thus allowing them to provide sustainable income for the local community they are working with.

When I was still working as a marketing consultant, my work involved a lot of travel. During those travels I would constantly come across various high quality and purposeful items made by local artists. I couldn’t help but be continuously impressed by these pieces. Sadly though, I also found that the traditions and cultural heritage deeply embedded within a community were often undervalued.

At the same time, the not-so-glamorous realities of fashion industry weighed on me. The most startling of these were many of the unsafe and unethical practices involved in the production of my favorite garments, accessories, and jewelry.

I no longer wanted to shop to support these unethical practices. But without an obvious alternative solution, I felt powerless. That’s when I realized that there was great potential to use the power of business to make positive change within our world (read: makes me feel good when I shop).

So early this year, I took the plunge to see if I could bring the vision to create a socially conscious marketplace for conscious consumers to life.

Inspired Connections
What is your inspiration behind your company?

It’s all about connecting, person-to-person, community-to-community, nation-to-nation, heart-to-heart.

Personally, I didn’t intend to be in the fashion business, but instead wanted to use our business as a vehicle for change and empowerment across many sectors. As fashion is very important to so many people globally, I saw it as the perfect channel through which we could make a difference in the sphere of sustainable development.

International Reach
It seems like there a lot of social advocacies behind your business, why did you chose this?

I have a thing for culture and every time I travel and spend my days with local community, I notice what people could do for themselves with just a little bit of opportunity. That’s when I realized that entrepreneurship is a sustainable solution to poverty.

Our bottom-up approach provides opportunities for independent artisans and designers to expand their reach to an international market. This step that brings them from local to international recognition empowers people and communities in the developing world, both financially and socially.

Global Empowerment
What do you hope to bring to the world through The Nomadic Trails?

We want to continue our quest of full-circle empowerment, whether that is expressed through new creations, new experiences, or many other things! We have always been big dreamers and are always excited to delivering the style you have come to trust and a story you can truly connect to.

People For Communities
What are your beliefs when it comes to good business?

We believe that through our success, we help our designer partners feel stronger, more confident and in control of their lives through the expansion of their craft; so they can take great care of themselves, their families, and their communities.

It feels very natural to run a business with a mission to create a substantial impact on people’s lives while serving our customers with something really unique and purposeful.

Hustle Over Convenience
Were there any challenges when you were just starting this?

When I first started out, such a mission sounded quite idealistic and the whole journey felt like searching for a needle in a haystack. At the time, we were limited to only one product and one artisan located in a remote area of Indonesia. Just to give you an idea, the country has more than 17,000 islands and our first artisan resided in its eastern part, an easy 10 hours of flight to get to!

Though it was an ordeal to start out with this distance and location, I believed that there was a much deeper story behind the products and artists who made them than if I had chosen to work with a more accessible, factory-like establishment.

Close Ties For Business
What are your day-to-day efforts that help move both your company and your cause forward?

Staying in close contact with our artisans and our mindful customers. I believe this is a very beneficial way of working both for us and for them.

Working closely with artisans allows us to gain a better understanding of every item created. They all have such undeniable authenticity. To us, this completes the story that we seek to share with people around the world.

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