Exit
trepreneurs working to better the
world through the business of fair
trade. But Edmundson takes that
trend one step further – he hasn’t
pocketed a dime in eight years.
After the dot-com bubble burst
in the mid- 1990s, Edmundson
wanted to start a business on his
own terms. Ten years after his selfimposed exile from the corporate
world, Edmundson spends his days
designing handbags while sipping
coffee and overseeing stock orders
from his phone, before picking up
his daughter from school.
“I was just burned out,” Edmundson said. “I was exhausted
— I wanted to do my own thing
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and I wanted to stay in the Internet space, and I needed something
that was portable.”
His answer was Earth Divas, a
fair trade business that imports
handmade, natural fiber accessories “made by women for women”
mostly from Nepal.
Fair trade businesses foster better working conditions and promote job sustainability for workers in developing countries. The
movement aims to pay workers
real wages for the back-breaking
labor they often do. Fair trade
products will often be more expensive, but customers can feel
good about spending the extra
HUFFINGTON
07.22.12
Earth Divas
imports
handmade,
natural fiber
accessories
made by
women in
Nepal.