Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Karin Doolin. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Karin, appreciate you joining us today. To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard

Our products are Fair Trade and handmade by women in underserved communities across the globe. The women who make our goods are paid fairly (typically at least 3x the minimum wage) and are provided a safe working environment with access to health care and childcare. Our business puts people over profits. In a world where our main choices for shopping inevitably make CEOs richer, we’re working to enrich the lives of the people who make the goods we buy.

Karin, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My husband and I are wedding photographers from the St. Louis area (metro east) and in an effort to give back we created a nonprofit in 2013 where we put cameras in the hands of vulnerable individuals living in impoverished countries throughout the world and enabled them tell their story through the lens of photography. For the first time, their stories were told from their own perspective rather than a first-world’s point of view which often focuses on pity. We then sold their images as art and gave the proceeds back to the community to provide lifeline needs.

Throughout our projects on 4 different continents, we saw how the lifeblood of families and their economic well-being was their ability to attain dignified employment. There are entire villages of people who are crafting unique pieces of art using ancient traditions and techniques passed down from generation to generation who have the talent and drive, but no outlet to have their craftsmanship seen on an international stage.

We put the pieces together that the most powerful source of impact and the road to empowerment at the highest level comes from the economic security of work, along with the need for an opportunity to sell meaningful pieces that tell the stories of their heritage.

We shifted our focus from the traditional nonprofit model to a sustainable marketplace where our efforts to make a difference can have a lasting impact on a broader scale. With our fair trade shop, consumers are able to break the cycle of poverty by purchasing goods that empower the individuals who make them through sustainable employment and fair wages.

Put simply, every purchase supports the dreams of individuals across the globe.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

After creating a nonprofit, it was a very hard lesson to have your eyes opened to the ways that “handouts” can be demoralizing to a woman who simply wants to create an independent living for herself and her family. I had to have a serious reality check on how we were serving others. Even in the story of fair trade goods, often purchases can be procured under the pretense of pity, so I am constantly checking myself to make sure that everything we do is through the lens of empowerment and respect.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Once we realized we were not going to continue the model of the nonprofit as it was, we had to make a huge shift in how we did business. It was very hard to publicly admit that while what we did was beautiful in many ways, it didn’t truly “help” people in a sustainable way. It’s a weird feeling to be proud of what you did, but also admit it’s no longer working. Also,asking people to donate money sucks. My personality is not made for the never-ending treadmill of fundraising. Asking someone to purchase a product with a beautiful story was a much better fit.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.ooakgoods.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/OOAKGOODS/
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/ooakgoods

Image Credits
1st photo submitted of myself with coffee cup in store was taken by 1221 Photography