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Alex Martin is Applying What He’s Learned to Help a Raleigh Fair Trade Store

Alex Martin’s business classes – which have included economics and environmental studies – along with his international studies courses piqued his interest in the relationship between the world’s population and global food supplies. Drawing on what he has learned through these programs as well as an internship and extensive research, he has been helping a Fair Trade store in Raleigh, N.C., to improve its marketing activities.

Martin, a senior in the NC State Poole College of Management, invited five other NC State students – with graphic design and computer science skills – to help. Together, they updated the store’s graphics, created an eBay storefront, and optimized its website for better search engine results. In the process, Martin has learned first-hand how micro-financing works in the fair trade and free trade environments, as well as how to recruit the talent needed to solve a real world problem.

Fair Trade

Martin’s work with Beleza, a fair trade store located in Cameron Village, has given him an opportunity to help with event marketing and insight into the fair trade world. Beleza gives buyers the opportunity to buy handcrafted jewelry, clothing, art and more through fair trade. “Fair trade is the idea that people in developing countries should be paid a fair salary for the things they make,” Martin said. “It helps build communities. You get people working together on collectives. With fair trade, you have am much closer connection with the artisans.”

The idea for the store evolved after Philip Dail offered to help the women of Soatanana, Madagascar, sell their handmade woven raw silk shawls and scarves.That first involvement led him to create a way for individuals and communities around the world to market their crafts as a means to support themselves more effectively. He and his wife Sara now sell the work of artisans from around the world through their store in Cameron Village, a shopping center near NC State University’s campus in Raleigh, N.C.

In the spring 2011 semester, Martin has been working on Beleza’s SEO, or search engine optimization. When searching for “fair trade” stores on a search engine, Beleza now shows up within the first few pages of results. Martin is also moving the store’s online catalog to EBay, making it easier for customers to find Beleza’s products and to cater to a larger audience.

Developing Marketable Job Skills

Martin and his five interns are volunteering their time for this project. “We’re not only trying to improve the store, but we’re also trying to cultivate the interns so they will have marketable job skills,” he said. “We’re all volunteers so what we’re getting out of this is the satisfaction and also some skills that can be helpful in the future.”

The idea of fair trade is important to Martin. “Time and again you can see what really works with people in developing countries. What really gets them ahead is when they play an active role in their success. You can go to the old adage – teach a man to fish, or give a man a fish. That is what this is all about.”

Hamilton Scholar, Caldwell Fellow

Martin’s involvement with Beleza is also helping him with his work as a student at NC State, where he is a Caldwell Fellow and a senior on the Hamilton Scholars program, which enables students complete a bachelor’s degree in accounting, business administration or economics in the Poole College of Management, along with a bachelor’s degree in international studies in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences.

“My research is going to try to show that maybe we can link these institutions together people who are getting microfinance loans have access to the international market. This is really tied into all of my studies. It’s the first time that I’ve had an external experience that combines with my majors.”

“The skills that I’ve learned in the business school are really coming into play here. I’ve had a lot of leadership development,” he said. “It’s putting into practice what I’ve learned. It’s been really good practice for an entrepreneurial setting.”

Along with his work with Beleza, Martin is very active within the Wolf Pack community. He has been involved with the Shelton Leadership center for five years, and volunteers with CSLEPS, NC State’s Center for Student Leadership, ethics and public service.

“I’ve found that I’m more effective in doing what I’ve done with Beleza – a place that has really great things about it, but is having a couple of difficulties – finding a way to change (and improve) their current processes, he said. “Throughout my entire time at State, I’ve been able to develop my leadership skills more. It’s all coming to be extremely useful with what I’m doing now and for the future.”

Read more

  • Check out the blog where Alex Martin and his team of interns are reporting on their work at Beleza
  • A New World Order – a feature on Alex Martin in the NC State University Bulletin