Can Indigenous & Non-Indigenous REALLY work together? (Without Assimilation Rearing its Ugly Head)

Boy, do I have a show for you this week. I think I'm still in shock. Honestly. What I'm gonna do is give you a glimpse behind the scenes of what I do as part of running my company, reaching out to people and just give you an idea. Because the reality is the question is, can Indigenous and non Indigenous really work together, like respectfully as partners? And I 110% believe we can. I believe we need to learn how. I believe there's nuances and lessons to learn, but I do believe it's possible. It is actually why I created my new podcast, Walking the Talk. I want to introduce you to some amazing non indigenous people that I have crossed paths with and that's kind of what I'm going to do today. I'm going to go through a list of, I think eight people that I have crossed paths with over the last little while and many of them are going to end up being guests on the Walking the Talk podcast. So I would be very interested in hearing from you about which guest you would love to hear from. I think they all offer different things. I think you're going to be interested. So let's talk about it. Foreign. Hi everybody, my name is Andy Boucher. I'm Red Thunderbolt, woman of the Loon clan, a proud member of Seine River First Nation in Treaty 3 Territory in Northern Ontario. And as I mentioned in the opening, I'm going to introduce you to eight of the amazing people I have crossed paths with with over the last little while. But first I wanted to explain to you how that happens because I don't have that much time. So I by the way, handy dandy index cards Flashback. So I connected with a company called Impact for Leads. It's actually out of the UK and what they do so outside of First Nation communities. So First Nation engagement, empowerment, all of that I will always do and have always done. But when it comes to non indigenous entities, there are four groups that I tend to work with and I just looked at my history to determine this. 16 years gives you a lot of data. So colleges and universities is a huge one. They are trying to get bums in seats. Indigenous population is the only population that is growing and we have a young population. It's a perfect fit if they learn how to attract and retain indigenous students. So that's market number one. Second one, hospitals and clinics. Unfortunately the indigenous population tends to be an impoverished population and that brings with it a lot of health issues. Add to that the complications of different cultural values like showing up for appointments on time and it can become a frustrating relationship very quickly. So I work a lot in that sector. The next is municipalities, the Greenstone here in Northern Ontario, the city of Pickering, the city of Barrie. Usually there's an indigenous community close by and they've either always had a horrible relationship and want to change that or they've really never had a relationship and want to change that. So that's always an exciting option. And last but not least, small to medium sized enterprises, small business. This is one of my favorite groups because as a small business owner you create the culture in your organization, in your business, in your store, in your laundromat, whatever it is. If racism exists there, it's because your culture allows it. So and I love supporting that industry because they want to main remain viable, they want to grow and they don't really care what color you are, just as long as the money is green. And I'm that's not a shot. I'm a business owner. I get it, I absolutely get it. But they're willing to learn how to provide great quality service to indigenous peoples and that I am definitely, definitely going to support. So what I've done, I've hired this company Impact for leads and they reach out to people on LinkedIn, which is my favorite platform because it's business to business and anyone that's engaged in any one of those four industries and they send out one standard message. So here it is. I wanted to get the wording correct so you know what I'm up to. It says Sandy Boucher is looking to connect with those interested in learning the nuances and adjustments required to successfully engage with indigenous people. Would you be open to connecting? So that email, that message on LinkedIn, it's not an actual email, it's in LinkedIn goes out to all of these people. They send out a lot of connections and if the person responds with the yes, then it comes to me. From then on, the conversations with me and sometimes we've just agreed to connect on LinkedIn but often they want to have a zoom call. They want to learn more about my business and I want to learn more about their business. And that's where these eight people came from. That was the process of how our paths crossed. So this is who I've met so far and I think you're going to be as excited as me. Okay, let's get into it here. First, Michelle Bolton, small business owner and her company is called my 91 1. I want you to imagine kind of like your health card or your status card, just a card in your wallet, but it has your picture on it, it has your health number, it has health information you choose to show up on your card. So if you're diabetic you might want that front, right at the front. If you have a rare blood type, you might want that. If you have high blood pressure, things that could be life threatening, especially in cases where you're not able to respond or you're unconscious and your caregiver doesn't know the answers. On the back there is even more information and a QR code that links to the website where all of your health information is. And yes, you put the information in there so you'd. I don't know about you, but trying to remember the names of my medications that are always some ridiculously long not $15, $20 word that I can never pronounce if I'm stressed and in a merge or whatever, I'm not remembering that I might forget. I have forgotten that I'm taking a medication at all. And in case they prescribe something that is really important to know. So the idea is you carry this card and if you show up in a merge or whatever, you can just hand them the card. They scan the QR code and they have all the answers to their questions. And if they're resistant to doing that because they don't want to use their personal phone, you use your phone and scan it and just pass it to them. So nothing of importance in is forgotten. Now as always, the whole idea of walking the talk was I was vetting people for you, so I'm actually going to get one of these cards now. I'm my concern, I'll be upfront indigenous people in healthcare that's a problematic area. All you got to do is go hang out in the emerge room if you want to hear racial slurs to the nines. And sadly often it's the the nursing staff. Why they think those little areas that are surrounded by curtains are soundproof, I don't know. But I hate going there just because of what I know I'm going to overhear. And they weren't directing it at me. They were directing it at a darker skinned indigenous person who probably is just going to silently endure. So I'm wondering and I live in the city of Thunder Bay which is known for its anti indigenous racism. So I'm wondering what kind of backlash are they going to be willing to look at the card? Right. So I want to test it out. So I'm going to get a card. I haven't, I don't have mine yet because they're changing the platform, the Canadian platform. So Michelle's going to keep me posted and I will keep you posted. So that is guest option number one. If you would be interested in hearing more about the my911 card. Put it in the comments. Second one. Now this woman, I think I spearheaded the connecting again impact for leads put us together on LinkedIn. So her name is Lauren Stellard Wedderburn. Probably just murdered last name. Sorry Lauren. And when I always look on their LinkedIn profile to find out about them before we meet, do a little bit of research, I don't want to totally waste their time. She is now this is what got my attention. But then there was a second level. She is a marketing professor at Conestoga College. My entire, well a large portion of my work is helping non indigenous Canadians realize that the way they market to mainstream doesn't work in first nation communities and will actually burn bridges rather than build them. When I saw she was a marketing professor I was like holy moly's. Wouldn't that be amazing if I could connect with the marketing directors and or professors and be like a guest as part of one of the lessons we can nip that in the bud so that they don't go out in the workforce and start doing things that aren't going to work. They can understand why it doesn't work from the get go. So that got me really excited. And then I saw her second job, marketing professor for Fairings Organic Vegetables in Southern Ontario. Anyone that knows anything about our remote communities knows that fresh anything is next to impossible to get up there. They just don't have access. They get lectured that they got to eat healthy, they don't have access to healthy food. Which got us into a whole conversation about how we could do that. So that was exciting. So would you love to hear more from Lauren Stallard Wedderburn? Whether it's on her marketing professor for Conestoga College career or for McFerring's Organic Vegetables. That was number two. Number three. Now Catherine Sparrow and I again connected through LinkedIn. I am not sure if we'll be doing any work together. My guess is no, not because she doesn't have an amazing company. It's just not a fit for me. But it might be a fit for you. So she supports entrepreneurs and small business owners who have written a book and helps them promote that book as part of promoting and growing your own business. So helps things like branding and all of that branding your messages so they're consistent across social media, whatever. I might have been interested in having her promote one of the books, but my branding solid after almost 16 years, not anything I'm about to change, so. But if you'd be interested in hearing more about Catherine Sparrow and how she uses books to grow your brand and grow your business, put it in the comments. Okay. The next one was a very exciting, enthusiastic conversation. And actually in the beginning, I think it was more we were both shocked. Like you do. What really like it was such. It's like running into another puzzle piece that fits perfectly next to you next to you. And you didn't realize there was another puzzle piece that fit perfectly next to you. So if you look up Teresa Bailey's LinkedIn profile, all it says. Well, I think it says other things, but the first thing it says is I train adults with Play doh. I'm sorry, I do seminars and workshops. I have used puppets, magic wand and gaming. Gaming, whatever you call that thing. I don't even know what it's called in seminar I use props. As soon as I saw that, I was like, whoa, how do I get the option to do that? There is nothing I. And on top of that, first nations people as a general rule, or kinesthetic learners, hands on. The idea of going into a remote First Nation with Play DOH fills me with so much joy it's not even funny. And she owns the exclusive rights to it. So when we started talking, she's non indigenous, so she humble humility builds bridges, ego burns them. Every single person I've connected with, their humility is beautiful. So Teresa understood that this would be an amazing option in First Nation communities. Communities, she also understood she wasn't the person to do it. But when she heard of my experience and my background, like, well, we haven't connected yet because. Well, as a second step, because it's summertime and she's enjoying time with her kids, as she should. But holy moly. I will tell you more about that and if you would love to hear more from Teresa Bailey on how I train adults with Play doh, how she trains adults with Play doh, let me know in the comments, thinking it's a pretty safe bet she's going to be a guest. Oh, and then the next one. I don't know about Lori, but I'm still giggling over this one. So Lori Harding, again, connected through impact for leads. Listen to this. Indigenous people watching. Listen to this. And if you're not indigenous, just for a second, try to walk a mile in my moccasins. Imagine me reading this So I went to her LinkedIn profile, the little header under her picture before you get into the main part, you know, this is the attention getting, how I'm going to sum up who I am kind of thing. This is what it says. First two words. White settler. Can you say self awareness? Can you say humility? Can you say woke? Can you say educated? Can you say. It can read the room like, I. I was blown away. So we continue. White settler answering the call from indigenous organizations. Indigenous Anti Racism coach facilitator at Insight. Indigenous Anti Racism Coaching Services. I swear, I was like a kid at Christmas counting the minutes until I got on the call on the Zoom call with Lori and Instant Connection. So this is going to sound interesting, but this is what I did. I shut down the Zoom call almost instantly, like within five, ten minutes after I explained what I was doing, because I knew what was going to happen. Lori was going to start explaining what she does. I was going to jump in with questions and be totally pumped. And then I was going to wish I had taped it for the podcast. And Lori agreed. She knew we were gonna. And it was gonna be phenomenal. So Lori is most depth. We're actually taping her episode this week. It's going to be phenomenal. This is. As an indigenous woman, this is what we need because there are still non indigenous Canadians. I can't even get in the room. They don't want to hear me. They're. A lot of them are scared stiff of me. They think they're going to be attacked. I have zero interest in attacking. That's not going to build any bridges. So they're going to listen to Lori because she's white and she knows that she carries that responsibility, not to speak for us, but to educate her own to fix that side of the feather, to help pass on the information they need. I just thought it was effing amazing, excuse the expression. And I cannot wait. So what do you think? Lori Harding? You want to hear from her in the comments? Now, the next one I included, I ran into or cross paths with this person in a totally different way. But I did want to mention them because they are going to be an upcoming guest and it's Kevin Marius. So I actually belong to a speakers network. Kevin is a member of that group. And, like, look up Powerhouse in the dictionary. There's Kevin's picture. He was from Haiti. He lost his father in a horrific storm. Absolute poverty. Like, I mean, to ridiculous extents. And then to hear what changed everything for him and where he is now is just One of the most inspiring stories I have ever heard. So I have already asked Kevin to be on the show, on the podcast. But if you would be interested in hearing from Kevin Marius and how he overcame so much, put it in the comments. So that's the first six. But at this point, I thought it'd be a really good idea to point out that not everyone is open to connecting. Not everyone is interested. I have seen some responses where it was just no, two letters, no, not no, not interested at this time or busy, whatever. Just no. And that really gives me the number of the person that typed that. Not someone I want to work with. Anyways, thank you very much. Some. Oh, and then there's the other group, that type. We work with everyone. Okay. That's the problem, that you honestly think you can do things in the exact same way and it's going to work the same for everyone. That is the same as a parent deciding to parent their first child exactly the same or their second child exactly the same as their first and realizing it doesn't work. Why the kids are different. So are the markets. So are indigenous peoples from each other and from Canadians. So. But if they're not open to learning, I'm not into talking to the wall. And then the one that inspired me to shoot this video, ghosting in a business arena, I think I'm still in shock. As I said, I'll talk about that more in a second because I want to end off this with two more cases, the best and the worst. And I mean, Lori's right up there, Teresa's right up there. But Ted and I, yeah, we're literally shaking our heads like, what just happened? How did we find each other and where is it going to lead? So Ted Briggs again connected with him on LinkedIn through Impact for leads, described as gaming for autistic and neurodivergence. So he is a game designer and one many, many contracts. His experience is ridiculous. Him and his team, like, I mean, it's a huge team, but one of their big projects was working with sick kids. Hospital and sick kids had identified that the kids that had to go in for surgery for whatever reason, variety of reasons, the anxiety, the fear, right, was horrific in those seconds, those minutes before they go in for surgery. So what Ted and his team did, they actually designed a game and it involves wearing a headset. So it silences hospital sounds that are adding to their anxiety. And actually, believe it or not, I found this really interesting. The game is stressful, which you would think you would want. And so many of us. You can listen to calm music. It doesn't help, but it's a stress. They're comfy with gaming their kids, so they get involved with that stress and the stress of what's about to happen fades away. Isn't that amazing? And then there was another project. I don't believe it was the same one, but they actually discovered if they get, I think it was calming anxiety before going to like a counseling appointment. And they discovered if they get the kids to play the game every day for five days before the appointment, then the anxiety is so much less. So we got off on a tangent. Not even it was right on point, but talking about mental health services in First Nation communities, and we all know how lacking that is. If you don't Google it, it's ridiculous. And where it ended up is not only has this team been so interested in supporting First Nation communities and youth for so long, but again, humble enough to understand they didn't have the worldview to do that. But what they want to do when it is determined what kind of app they need, they actually want to work in community with the youth to design the game. So think about this from the indigenous youth perspective. Not only do they get the joy and purpose of knowing that their work is going to help other indigenous youth like themselves, but they're introduced in to one of the most amazing careers that could be out there. So are you as blown away as me? Can you hear those sirens in the background? I don't know what's happening, but something's definitely happening. So, Ted Briggs, gaming for Autistic and Neurodivergent, Would you be interested in hearing from Ted? I'm thinking you might be. Comments below Then, last but not least. Yeah, we're going to call him Andre the Ghost. So I'm just going to walk you through what happened and you can tell me how weird you think this is in the comments. So, again, connected to with through Impact for Leads, and it was AI to support resiliency and healing and mental health. So again, it was a mental health aspect. It went so well with ted. So I was looking, I was very interested in speaking to Andre, so we decided to do a zoom meeting. I actually used his link to book the meeting and all was good. The day before that meeting, Andre messaged me on LinkedIn and said something came up and he had to go out of town and he was so apologetic, but could we please reschedule? Of course. 100% life happens. I'm Anishinaabe Kwei. I totally support that. I am not driven by the clock. So we agreed to reschedule. He rescheduled right away. To his credit, he picked another date. I had sent him my link and everything was amazing. And then it comes to the date that we had scheduled the second meeting. And anyone who knows anything about Zoom in the calendar invite is the link to get into the Zoom room. And as I was preparing for our meeting, I realized that his meeting invite. Oh no, he had used his. But there was no link, right? So it was like, well, I don't understand. So I messaged him on LinkedIn and said, there's no link, Like I need to get in. So right away, almost right away, like within minutes, he sent me the link. So I was like, awesome. So now we're all good. And the meeting was in about an hour after that, so came time for the meeting. I went into the Zoom room and I waited and I waited and I waited. I didn't want to be rude, wanted to be patient, waiting, waiting. So after 10 minutes, I sent him a polite message on LinkedIn and said, Are you able to join me or do you need to reschedule again? I know things were kind of upside down for you. Very apologetically, he came back. Oh my God, I am so sorry. Five. I'm paraphrasing, by the way, but five minutes. Can I have five minutes? Absolutely you can. So I wait another 10 minutes. What? So I go back to LinkedIn to message him again and are you ready for it? His LinkedIn profile is gone. I couldn't figure out why. I couldn't see his little icon, his little avatar, his face by his name anymore and why instead of his name it just said LinkedIn user. And then the words, this profile no longer exists. So because I had looked up his information to prepare for the meeting, I went and looked for his website. And it's just the Holder website coming soon. So they that may have always been like that. I didn't look at it before then, but no website, no LinkedIn profile. And then, by the way, there is one other thing that happened after we had scheduled, no, rescheduled, so we had booked the second meeting but hadn't had it yet. I got a random email from him sending me an NDA, a non Disclosure Agreement Confidentiality agreement, that before the meeting he wanted me to sign this. So I messaged him and said, why? We're just having a. Hi, who are you? What do you do? I don't want industry secrets. So he apologized and said, just ignore it. But after his LinkedIn profile disappeared. I got the email that the NDA had been canceled. WTF? So Andre is not an option. He's not going to be a guest. So there you have it, guys. That's the behind the scenes. That's a whole bunch of index cards. What do you think? Aren't you excited about upcoming events? And who do you want to see first? Let me know. I'll see you next time. I love you. Bye. Bye.