My 2024 Year in Review - January to June

Hello, you super duper, double delicious person, you. 2024. I don't know about you, but I'm thinking that was some kind of year. And honestly, I am really, really hoping that for you it was a good year or a great year even. But I also understand that for many people it absolutely was not. And I do want to acknowledge that my office is closing on December 20th and my team is getting a really well deserved break. So what I wanted to do over the next couple of videos is just do a memory lane trip back through 2024. Not only do I want to acknowledge the amazing people I got to work with, but I want to highlight for you the width and depth of the work I do. It is very multifaceted with many different entities. So if anyone out there is interested in doing this kind of work, it'll give you an idea. And of course, if one of the entities I've worked with is something like your entity, well, then give me a call and maybe I can help you achieve those goals you've set. So welcome. Join me as I walk through 2024. Let's talk about it. You would have thought I would have learned from yesterday's video to put my phone on silence, but I didn't. So sorry about that. Like I said, the business keeps running even while I'm shooting videos. As mentioned in the opening, we're gonna do a memory lane trip through 2024. And I actually looked at my calendar back. It was actually a really cool process to go through the months and see the different opportunities I had. So first off, we're going to start January 2024. The first event was such like, even if I'm doing the same content, they're hiring me to do one of my seminars or workshops. The entities are always different. And the first people I got to work with in 2024 is, is this amazing nonprofit entity here in the city of Thunder Bay called Boots on the Ground. And what it is is support, mental and emotional support for frontline paramedics, firefighters, those type of people. So absolutely important work. Obviously, these people deal with trauma on a regular basis. When their paths cross with indigenous people. Well, anytime a paramedic or a firefighter meets someone, it's not on their best day. And when they interact with indigenous peoples, it's definitely not on our best days. So just helping them to understand what they see in their work and helping them to understand where it comes from that we're not out to be difficult or their nightmare people to work with. There's reasons for our challenges. So that was absolutely amazing. And anyone who knows me, my career and my work is super important to me. So what was hilarious is I believe I did the boots on the ground event. It was a virtual event because they're all over the place, the participants. I did that event on like a Saturday. And on Sunday I flew out to Cancun, Mexico for my very first ever southern vacation. I treated myself because I knew this year I was turning 60. It is something I've always wanted to do. So yes, I went by myself and it was absolutely amazing. A week on the sun. At one point, I remember I laid back in one of the lawn chairs that are down on the beach. Laid down to take, you know, just to relax in the sun. And I looked up and I was under a palm tree, which sounds like no big deal to anyone who's ever or who does southern vacations on a regular basis. I had to take a picture. I was like, I'm actually underneath a palm tree. That's a coconut. Like, it was phenomenal. So the year started off in an absolutely amazing way. And then when I got back, I had the chance to do a virtual event. So lunch and learn our virtual event, which makes it super easy to fit into even the busiest of schedules and the business busiest of entities. I got the chance to work with AMAP CEO Amapsio. Amapsio, that's how they pronounce it. Which used to be the association of Management and Men and Professional Crown Employees of Ontario. In this case, it's the whole pretendian descendian thing actually hurting Indigenous. Well, I mean, pretending descendants always heard indigenous, but these were professional indigenous employees that were getting called out and asked to prove who they were. So this, the fact that there are people out there pretending to be indigenous was now being weaponized against the actual indigenous people. So we had a really great conversation on like personally, I love it when someone asks me my back, look at me. You should be questioning my background. But I love when they ask because then that means they are protecting the jobs and they are protecting the funding and I'm definitely not going to fault that for them. And it's also why I identify myself in my first nation in every video. Did I do that in this video? I don't think so. Mishko Paganan, Queen Additiona Kasmando Dam. I'm Red Thunderbolt, woman of the Loon clan, a proud member of Seine River first nation in Treaty 3 territory in Northern Ontario. Yes, that means I'm a Stennis indigenous person and I am thrilled to be doing this work last but not least for January and this is definitely going to go over two videos. I can see the time already. I got the chance to work with Slifna and I just love it every time I get to say that. So that's the Sulacaut First Nation Health Authority in it's in my home turf. I went to high school in Silica. I live in a lived grew up in this small little tiny town 15 miles away from Sulaco. So any chance to support Slifner, the entities in Silica just warms my heart. And of course when I get to go back there, that's just bonus in this case I was not traveling. What I actually developed for them was a women's and a youth leadership course. So a video course that had its own manual, different modules that they could work through and it's something Slifner is going to be able to use for as long as they want to use it. So that was how my year started and it was off to an amazing start. And in February, I know you're surprised to hear me say this, the awesomeness continued and I had the chance to work with the municipality of Greenstone. So I don't know how long ago, several years ago small towns were forced to amalgamate and Greenstone amalgamated. Many, many Geraldton, Long Lac, many different small towns. Kudos to the town council, to the mayor and the councilors because I've actually had the chance to work with them several times. They've, they've put in the work and they're asking the questions. I cannot verify or confirm whether they're implying what they've learned in their day to day lives. But I love they always engaging, always interested, asking good questions that show that they're considering the information. It was a joy, absolute joy. And Carmen Gagno who helps the facilitate that, who set it up. Miguet girl. Love you. Next. So twice a year Ashkey Windjack, which is an indigenous educational facility and Nan which is Nishna B Aski Nation which is the political body, the, the regional body for Nan territory, which is the most, what is it? 42, 49. Most northern first Nation communities in Ontario, the remotes we talk about. So twice a year Ashkee and NAN collaborate and do an on call worker training session, usually four days long and they are training the support staff that is going to keep the youth safe when they're far away from home in the city, going to school. So the. What could be more important than that? Work. And I have the honor and the privilege of emceeing that event. I started emceeing it during lockdown. We were doing it virtually and they usually have the same elder Lucy Kakagammik. Love you. She knows I love her. I tell her on a regular basis. And so we met virtually. It was probably the fourth time I was emceeing that we were finally out. In the beginning it was hybrid but we were in a room together and I got to meet Lucy for the first time. She was surprised at how tall I am. I'm quite a bit taller than Lucy. It was just awesome. So I love, love, love doing that session. That's one of my, I have a few events that I do on an ongoing basis and that's one of them. And another entity that I had the joy and the privilege of working with in 2024 is London Health Sciences Center. In this case in February they purchased my all exclusive membership program for their 15,000 staff. So the opportunity for those people to bop in and access information out of any different course or blog or even my books are in there now to be able to give the get the information they need to understand whatever challenge they're facing. So that was absolutely exciting. It made February an amazing month. So March comes in and the first one I get to work with is IPMA Ontario and they, their main focus is certification for HR professionals. So again their focus was recruitment and retention, how best to support, how to engage with and hire indigenous people and how to support them on the job to ensure that you retain them. Because hiring and training and then losing the person and have to do it again is incredibly expensive. It's one of the areas I'm really passionate about. So that was awesome. Great way to start. It was a great event. Then I got to go to London Health Sciences center and do a full day seminar with them which was absolutely awesome. Chantel and Colleen, I love, love, love you too. I've met so many amazing people there. Yeah, London holds a warm place in my heart. Chris, Chris the elder Chris. George. Um, amazing, amazing. A friend I didn't, I hadn't met yet, but that was awesome. And then in March, I love it when my phone rings or I can get an email out of the blue because you never know what the opportunity is going to be. And in March I had the challenge to work or the challenge the opportunity to work one on one with a young man who had just accepted the job. Actually my first nation and just help with business planning, strategic planning. So I got to walk in one on one through the process I think we met over four afternoons. It was awesome. It was to be able to pass on my knowledge and help this young man succeed on his path. Phenomenal. So worth it. And then we get into April, which is, of course my birthday month. April always has a warm place in my heart. I got to go back to London, London Health Sciences center again. So that was absolutely amazing. And then this event was phenomenal because I did the one day with London, which was awesome, and I took my Mustang for this trip because I knew I was going to bop around down there and I wanted to be able to see some friends that I made when I used to live in the gta. So I drove from London into Toronto, and that's where I was part of the Chiefs of Ontario Women's entrepreneurship event, which 100% is my passion. You have heard me say that for the empowerment of indigenous women. I think entrepreneurship is the key because by being an entrepreneur and running your own business, you don't need to do it the mainstream way. You can follow. I follow all my First Nation teachings and I'm successful. It's a beauty. It will force you to dance with all your ghosts. And you think I have this confidence by accident now? That's because I had to face those demons if I wanted to stay in business and work through that baloney of colonization and assimilation and the whole nine yards. So it was so phenomenal to be able to. I gave a keynote speech. I gave a workshop. And the day in between, I met one on one with different women that were interested in entrepreneurship so they could ask me questions. It was such a phenomenal opportunity. I loved it. Loved, love, loved. Oh, and then I see what's next on the list. Humility teaching. I may be 60 years old. Doesn't mean I don't make mistakes. And in April of this year, I accepted an event that I never should have accepted. Bottom line, there is no other way to put it. I was asked to speak in front of the Grand River Metis Council. It was a virtual event. I am not Metis. I have no. I am First Nations. And it just so many different. The backgrounds were different. Like those people that think all Indigenous are the same were not. And so I went into it sharing a First Nation perspective, which may or may not leaning on the. May not. May not have worked for them. So I won't be doing that again, that's for sure. And in April, the other exciting news was, for the very first time in the 15 years of my business, I hired a dedicated salesperson to promote my work. So Tara McPhail came on in April and that was an amazing relationship. She's no longer with the team, but it was a learning curve and I learned so much from her. Very good at the work she does, that's for sure. May was a busy month, but before I go into the work for May, something exciting happened in May as well. And that is when my older brother joined my team as my general manager and holy mollies, was that the best decision I ever made. He is the detail person, he is the behind the scenes person. I no longer have to do that admin stuff and I love it. It frees me up to do this. It frees me up to do videos and, and to write and be inventive and creative and to focus my passions on the events I'm doing. Just perfect. Perfect. In May, I returned to Confederation College here in Thunder Bay. So I've done the missing pieces full day training with Khan College several times as they with different faculty in different departments and, and it's awesome. So helping them to be able to support Indigenous students in a more knowledgeable way. So awesome. I did a lunch and learn with Teleco which is obviously like communications, right? And I was trying to think of the word that's kind of communications. Couldn't think of the word. Anyways, and just to give them a little insight on Indigenous engagement and then another repeating event. Nuja Mawing Sukhothe Guyain Ontario Health Team is a collection of all. They do this event twice a year for all the Indigenous frontline healthcare providers and just supporting each other, collaborating, sharing resources. It's amazing. And they asked me to emcee. I believe at this point that was the third event we did. Second, Third, not sure. Then I got to emcee an event for Canoe Mazewin education body. So that was the Indigenous education providers, many of them language speakers. I just love sitting in on that vent. And yes, it was an honor to emcee. Remember IPMA Ontario? Well now I got to do an event for IPMA Canada which was exciting. And then Bingway Niyashi Anishinaabek, one of our First Nation communities. This was the first of a series of events that I did on lateral violence this year. It turned out to be a very popular topic which I don't think that's a negative. I think that's growth. That's acknowledging the problems in the First Nation communities and actively trying to do something about it, which I think is amazing. And then I ended with a virtual lunch and learn session with a Mafra, the Ministry of Agriculture. So again, public service and Indigenous engagement, reconciliation, interpreting what they see in the day to day. Exciting stuff. We're gonna finish off today with June. I'll do the rest of the months in tomorrow's video in June. No surprise. Well, you've heard me say it before is what I mean. I went back to London Health Sciences Center. That true, huh? Just love them. And then so way back when we're memory lane tripping. Remember way back when in my early 20s I had a chance to work for Indigenous Services Canada, which was Indian affairs back then. And as an employee you belong to psac, the Public Service alliance of Canada Union. I got to take part in a PSAC local event and it was awesome. I was part of a panel. So we had local people there and these people were there to do from all over Ontario to do their part of their training as P SEC reps and they got to ask us questions and it was phenomenal. I love nothing I love more than the Q and A sessions of my events or dialogue like this where it's just ask me questions. Let's talk about what, what you need to hear rather than some, you know, already figured out program of a seminar. Love it. Then I went back to Bingway, Nashi and the to do a follow up on the lateral violence. So again, very practical. We sat around, had lunch, they asked questions. It was absolutely phenomenal. This is the perfect place to leave this because then just to make life fun. June is when I moved and if you look at the videos you can see the different background. It's when I moved into this home. I absolutely loved the place I was at the last time, but it was in an intercity area, inner city area. And yeah, the. The area is getting scarier by the day and I know that is a surprise to no one, but that is 2024 from January to June. Did any of that surprise you? Did you know I kind of work. Were you surprised who I worked with? I'd love to hear your feedback and tomorrow I will tell you how the rest of the year went. It was some kind of year. Like I said, until tomorrow. I love you. Take care. Bye bye.