Roberto Milk, NOVICA: Growing Globally

CHIEF TALK BUSINESS LEADERS share KEY LESSONS THEY’VE LEARNED

INTERVIEWS BY LEE LUSARDI CONNOR

Roberto Milk was sitting in a Portuguese class at Stanford University in 1995 when his idea hit. The professor was saying that many artisans in Brazil’s rich handicraft tradition could no longer make a living. What if, Milk thought, artisans in developing countries could connect directly with buyers through the Internet? “Artisans could charge the price they wanted to charge, with no middleman and with a platform to tell their story,” Milk says. “And customers around the world could purchase incredibly intricate and beautiful items at prices they hadn’t seen before.”

The idea for the business was, in a way, in his blood: one of his grandmothers was an artisan in Peru, another was an American missionary, and Milk himself loved to travel and collect handmade items. With his girlfriend (now wife), Mina Olivera and a handful of family members and longtime friends, Milk launched the international marketplace NOVICA in 1999.

ROBERTO MILK, NOVICA: GROWING GLOBALLY

Understanding the local culture and norms is crucial.

—ROBERTO MILK

By the time of its fifteenth anniversary in June 2014, the company had eight regional offices, counted 75,000 people in its “impact group” (artisans, their family members and community members) and had sent $50 million to artisans around the world. The company’s goal: to benefit at least one million people. “We’ve been cash flow-positive for the last seven years, but whatever we make, we’re recycling right back into the company. We are still in growth mode,” Milk says. That growth should accelerate as NOVICA begins to power the marketplace for the United

States Fund for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) this fall. The NOVICA CEO talked with SOLVE about some of the lessons he’s learned while managing a global workforce.

19 Communicate and Set Clear Goals. When I think about workers in our regional centers, I say, okay, what’s the CONTINUED ON PAGE 20 >>

19 Fall 2014