Pity Isn't Power! (A Message To and For Indigenous Entrepreneurs)

Oh, today we got to talk. And this is another one of those videos or blog posts that's going to get me crucified by certain people. And I don't care, because we need to talk about pity. What it is and what it isn't. Let's talk about it. Hi, everybody. My name is Sandy Boucher. I'm Red Thunderbolt, woman of the Loon clan and a proud member of Seine River first nation in Treaty 3 territory in Northern Ontario. And if you've been following my work even for a little while, you probably saw my video and blog post on entrepreneurship. Being in business for myself, being an entrepreneur has literally been not only the most empowering journey I've ever been on, but easily the most important, because entrepreneurship forces you to dance with all your ghosts. Those insecurities. Yeah, we're going to have to deal with those. The. The training that you received growing up in poverty and all that bad financial management that you got in the habit of doing because you had no money. Yeah, you're going to have to address that. And people that don't believe in you, you're going to have to get over that. And I just. I had mentioned in this blog post how I still want to grab a magic wand and wave it, and instantly all Indigenous people living within Canadian borders become entrepreneurs. Because it is such, like I said, an empowering journey, a healing journey. It forces you to unpack, and it just. If you keep at it, it allows you to become the strongest, wisest, most beautiful version of you. There's a disclaimer, though, and that's what I want to talk about today, because there are many. Do not get me wrong, there are so many amazing Indigenous business owners out there, entrepreneurs. They are rocking it. They offer quality services, quality products. If you can support any single one of them, do business with them. Please, please do. That will help yet another Indigenous person heal and grow. What I'm speaking about today, I just see way too many ads by Indigenous corporations, businesses, entities, whatever that are. Some variation of, you should buy from me because I'm Indigenous and think of everything that happened to us. I don't like that other phrase, but I am going to say they're playing the pity card, and pity is not empowering. It drives me nuts. Every time I see one of those ads, I want to, like, scream out, don't do that. Don't. Nobody owes you. Like, we. We need Canada to acknowledge what happened and what is still happening. We need Canada to change what they're doing so. So they can quit marginalizing us and oppressing us. But I don't need anyone buying from me out of pity. You buy from me because my books rock. You buy from me because my seminars are amazing and done in indigenous style, which is so new and so empowering to so many people, but not out of pity. And I mentioned in the blog post how I've never because of this mindset of mine, I've never been a fan of indigenous business awards. And I understand that to be an excess a successful business indigenous business person, you have to climb a lot of mountains that non indigenous people don't have to. But I've never wanted to be the indigenous business person of the year. Even though I was. I wanted to be business person of the year and I was that too. So enough with the pity. Enough with the pity. We don't need it. We don't. You know what happens when someone pities you? It means they're looking down on you. It means they're thinking, oh, poor person. No hard pass. No. Do not speak of the trauma without speaking of the resilience. I want you to be an amazing business success speaking to the indigenous entrepreneurs because you offer a unique product, an amazing quality product. You offer amazing service. Your customer service game is epic. Everyone feels amazing when they walk into your store or visit your website. That's why I want you to be successful. Because pitying you, I don't care how much money's in their wallet. That's not the kind of business we need so we can all do better. Because you know what? If you want to get the most out of your entrepreneurship journey as an indigenous person, do it from a place of strength. Even when you're still doubting. If you can do it, do it anyways. Because I guarantee you, you're going to prove to yourself you can and not because you need other people to pity you. My rant is now over. Thanks for coming out. I will see you tomorrow. I love you. Take care. Bye. Bye.