As Heart Berry's 10th Anniversary approaches we are reflecting on the lessons of entrepreneurship. We are so honored to be asked to share about this journey and this past week headed to Mille Lacs Corporate Ventures Alumni Event to co-keynote with our friend Adrienne Benjamin. Alumni entrepreneurs have engaged in training and mentorship to build their vision and plan for their entrepreneurial journey. We shared lessons learned, struggles, and triumphs and wrapped with a poem making art project led by Adrienne. We hope our endless problem solving journey can inspired and make a path for others to make their own way. Miigwech Mille Lacs and Adrienne for this great evening. Miigwech also to the Initiative Foundation for supporting this event!...
As we all continue to learn and grow we were thrilled to be invited to share about the cultural teachings of the ode'imin or heart berry with the Fond du Lac Public Health Program. We invited our Auntie Roxanne Delille as she taught us so much about the lessons of the Heart. It's rare and beautiful to be able to gather across generations with our teachers and babies. Auntie Roxanne shared about her teachings of the strawberry and Giizh shared about how these have impacted the work of Heart Berry. Taking the time to identify a plant we feel a reciprocity and connection to we took time to create our own original piece of art. In our fast paced lives...
We know how life is as a busy entrepreneur. We are often so busy solving problems, creating new pathways, and running our day to day we don't get to pause and reflect often. In our effort to build community and role model collaboration over competition we are gathering other Native entrepreneurs together to share together. What if we created a space FOR US? A space to share things we are learning, a place to talk about how our values drive our business? At Heart Berry we are in a constant state of learning and growth. No two days are the same and we have to be endlessly flexible as small businesses. We can learn from each other! We think we...
How Native businesses can and are doing it our way The message around business is so often "competition competition competition" which drives a lot of Native aspiring business owners and dreamers away. Because we come from a value system that prioritizes the whole over the individual this tension can prove too hard to bear. The notion of competition is built on a scarcity mindset and when we come from communities that suffer the greatest scarcity, this can feel daunting. Collaboration comes from an abundance mindset and says "we all do better when we all do better." As tribal people, it is oppositional to our way to see others as our competition, our enemy, and where we are trying to always run...
What can we do when our art is stolen?
An unfortunate reality is that our work as artists is often taken, sold, and misused. The insult doubles when we feel powerless to fight back. After a recent misappropriation we took it up a notch and decided to provide a resource for artists. What can we do?
Read this great article by Mary Pember of Indian Country Today
Some steps you can take:
If you have a success story please share with others!
