Amanda Judge Interview (Part Two)

Amanda Judge Interview (Part Two)
by Jessica

In the second part of Shopping for a Change’s interview with Amanda Judge, the founder of the Faire Collection, you will learn about the business aspect of managing and expanding the organization.

Before interviewing Amanda, I had already done some research on the Faire Collection. Exploring its products and writing blurbs on various artisan groups had given me a fairly solid sense of what the organization was all about. Founded in 2008, the Faire Collection has come a long way. The organization now works with artisans in Vietnam, Peru, Swaziland and Ecuador, for a total of 225 artisans worldwide. The obvious question to ask was: how did the Faire Collection grow and reach such success so quickly?

To satisfy my curiosity, Amanda had given me some insight on what goes into the business aspect of managing the Faire Collection. Because the organization continues to grow and make new connections, the first task is deciding who to collaborate with next. Amanda chooses the next artisan group by “looking at a collection holistically and deciding what areas we feel are lacking in what our customers wants.” Then she goes looking for “countries and artisans that can produce the products to fill the holes.” In addition, Amanda enjoys taking inspiration from countries she has travelled to. “It’s really a combination of me traveling around the world as well as what’s right for the customers.” 

A stack of the Riverbed Tagua Bracelets by the Faire Collection.

After Amanda identifies with whom she wants to collaborate, she works to bring the first product into the market. This process can take from just 6 months to as long as 2 years. “It depends on if we’re working with artisans that can produce things pretty quickly.” Amanda then needs to determine what the artisans are paid for their work and what to charge the retailers. “We determine the retail price based on what we call “price to market.” Because the markets are always so different, Amanda looks at what similar products are being sold for and compares that price to what she would prefer to sell it for. As far as how she determines what a fair wage is, “all of it is listening to the artisans and respecting their ideas and what they have to say about their income.”

It’s no wonder that the Faire Collection is such a successful organization today. Amanda has done a great job in managing the organization – and it shows. If you want to know more about what goes on behind the scenes of the Faire Collections, read the rest of our interview with Amanda Judge.

Hey guys, my name is Jessica and I'm interning at Shopping for a Change over the summer. I enjoy writing these articles because it allows me to give my own take on conversations with people with fascinating backgrounds. I hope you guys enjoy reading my blog article and learn from it as much as I did!