The Ultimate Decolonization - Indigenous Success! (And Why it is KEY to Reconciliation!)

Now, obviously. Well, maybe not obviously, but I think everyone has a different definition of success. And that's personal to you and all the power to you. And I hope you know what success looks like for you. That's important. You can't hit a target if you don't know what you're aiming at. But what's even more important is do you believe you can be successful? Now, as Anishinaabe Kwe, as an Indigenous woman raised within Canadian borders, that can be incredibly challenging. It's challenging for any marginalized or racialized person because the overpowering message, the oppressive messages say that you can't be. So how do you succeed in an environment that says you can't, in an environment that expects you to fail, in an environment that often treats you like you already are a failure? That's what I wanted to focus on today. Obviously. I just got back from Mexico, my dream vacation. Success is on my mind. But how did I succeed with all those barriers? Let's talk about it. Sam. Foreign. Hi, everybody. My name is Sandy 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 if you're new here, welcome to my channel. This is where we discuss all things Indigenous Canadian reconciliation. Because the reality is, if I could wave a magic wand, I would want every single person residing within Canadian borders to believe this is an amazing country to live within. Now, why is that important to me? Because I know what it's like to believe it isn't. We're not there yet, but the conversations and the topics that we discuss on this channel are going to help us get there. So thank you for showing up today. Now, as I mentioned in the opener, I wanted to talk about success today and how I went from poverty to profitability because I'm in business. So that's an appropriate term. And come to think of it, this was a couple days ago. I don't know what's social media platform I was on, but I'm going to get and I have a social media manager that posts for me. So in whatever post it was, it referenced my experience with poverty and this individual felt the need to comment. And all he said, yes, in this case, it was a guy. All he said was, what would you know about poverty? Honey, I could write a book. And I'm pretty sure I have written a book about poverty. I know what it's like to hide from the landlord. I know what it's like to sell furniture, to feed your children. I know what it's like to have to choose between food and paying the bills. I know what it's like to be made homeless time and time again because your partner knew they had the power to do that. I know what it's like to have what I call survival sex and that you have to keep this person in your good books or you got to stay in theirs so. So you don't end up homeless with your children. Do I know poverty? I absolutely do. But you know what else I know? Success. And to me now, I guess here's a question for you. If you had to pick one other word to explain to me what success means to you, what would that word be? For me, it's really super easy. Success for me is freedom. Success is freedom from stress about worrying about how I'm going to pay a bill. It is freedom from the stress of wondering if I'm going to be homeless because I know the rent is paid. It is freedom from worrying about an unexpected bill because I know I have the extra cash to cover is the freedom to enjoy a be vacation or my Mustang. It is freedom to live my life. It is freedom to run my business in line with my indigenous teachings and values. And that's why I think indigenous success is so important. I think on one side, the professional side, I think it's the biggest act of decolonization. And I know some people would argue with me because they would say, well, making money in capitalism is colonization. But with having that money comes the freedom to live your life your way in line with your teachings. I had a non indigenous summer student one year and I didn't realize how indigenous my office culture is until a non indigenous person tried to exist within it. Now you know what it feels like for us trying to exist within a non indigenous entity. On the other side, maybe the less professional side, I think success for an indigenous person is the biggest fu to anyone who ever tried to oppress us. And I'm sorry if that offends you, but seriously, I smile and you know what? Total honesty here. Truth. Everyone knows. Anyone who's watched this channel, if you knew here you wouldn't know this. But for the people that. Sorry, I picked up a cough in Mexico and it's better but not there yet. I knew I was going to get passionate and I was going to start coughing. So I'll try to keep that under control. But if you have followed my work, read my books, watched any of my videos, there's a really good chance, you know, I'm a 10 year domestic abuse survivor. I had a past partner who convinced me and I believed that, that if I had the nerve to leave him, my children would starve to death. That I was not intelligent enough to earn the money to feed them. And that kept me there for the longest time because it, it was the belief. And that's why I asked, do you believe you can succeed? Because it's our beliefs that either empower us or limit us. It's not the actual events. It's what we believe that event means. So for so many years, I don't do it anymore. But for years I did. Every single time I went grocery shopping and I was at the cash register and I pulled out my bank card or cash or whatever to pay for it. I smiled. And in my mind it was like, you were wrong. And that's what I mean about the biggest fu. So being successful. I'm also old enough because I'm coming up on my 60th birthday now. I'm old enough to have been raised in a time where I believed if I didn't have a partner that I would starve to death. Then it took two incomes to have a comfortable life. Like, I'm not talking a million dollars in the bank. Do you need a million dollars in the bank? I. I would love to have a million dollars in the bank, but if all my bills are paid and there's nothing I have to say no to can afford it, then I'm good. I'm totally good. And that may not necessarily be that million dollar number. Where was I going with that point? I have no idea where I was going with that part. I lost my train of thought trying not to cough. The reality is. Oh, I know what it was. I'm old enough to believe or have been taught that it takes two. My parents survived so much because they had each other and I watched my mom really super struggle after my dad passed away. Maybe that's what reinforced my belief. The reality is I don't have a partner now, but I am more financially secure than I ever have been. I have more extras in my life and I don't have extravagances. Well, compared to some people, I would if they saw my clothes collection or my thousand dollar purse. And yes, I did do that once. You gotta. In my mind. But I am more financially secure now than I was with any of my past partners. So be careful the beliefs you hang on to. And that's what I wanted to talk about today. So one belief that I think you absolutely need to succeed. And this is something you should probably write down is the past doesn't equal the future. Like I said, I'm a 10 year domestic abuse survivor. My past did not dictate my present or future unless you let it. So the path doesn't eat the past doesn't equal the future. But hand in hand with that, and we're going to talk about that. Remember, two sides to the feather. So half the feather is the past is not the future, the other half is. But if nothing changes, nothing changes. So you know how to create the life you have right now. Keep making the decisions you're making right now. Spend your money the way you're doing it right now. Earn your money the way you're doing it right now. You know what it gets you? The life you have. If you don't like that change that. I was in my mid-40s, I'm gonna guess I think I was right around 45. I had made it to the top of the food chain. Of my past career, I was at the highest. Started as a secretary, ended up executive director of a 4.4.2 million dollar company. And I was so done. I was so done with someone else deciding my hourly rate. I was so done with asking someone else if I could spend the afternoon with my kids. I was so done with someone else deciding the hours I worked. By the way, I get up earlier and go to work earlier now than I ever did before. But I'm feeding my bank account now, not someone else's. I was just done. So I didn't want that life anymore. I was making really good money. I also slept with my BlackBerry on my pillow. And yes, I'm old enough to have used a BlackBerry for years. And that was the expectation of my employers. For the money they paid me, I was basically on call. They didn't care if it was 2am I wanted my life back. So I made a change that was over well over 14 years ago. I'm in my 15th year, so I believe I am such a big believer in balance. And there are two sides to the eagle feather. You hear me talking about this all the time with the reconciliation conversation. Indigenous, non indigenous. There's work on both sides of the feather that needs to be done. That feather has been damaged on both sides of the feather. When it comes to success, I believe there's two sides to the feather. And again, you need to do both for that feather to allow you to fly. So on one side, for lack of a better way of putting it, but I think it's a pretty good way to Put it is the grind. Consistent hard work. Contrary to popular belief, it's not the big huge steps you take once in a blue moon. It is the little single steps you take every single day that is going to add up to your success. If you take a huge leap to get across the room, you jump as far as you can, but you only do that once a year. But you take a baby step every single day you're getting across that room, right? You might hurt yourself trying to do a big leap, but consistent steps. There are things that I do every single day that I have done every single day since I started my business. And funny, true story, when I started my business, I have no idea why I did this, but I love that I did it. I used to shoot a YouTube video every single day. I would just turn on my camera and imagine I was talking to the quote unquote woman that would watch my video one day. That was before reconciliation. That was when I was all about empowering women and indigenous women specifically. And I would look, I would literally be working, going around my office and suddenly like, oh my God, I have to say this to them. And I would sit down, turn on my camera and shoot the video and upload it. Had no idea how to edit, no idea how to put in little intros or whatever. Just shot the video knowing no one was going to watch it, but knowing if it stayed up there long enough, someone might see it. And creator's amazing, so he's going to make sure the person needs to see it, is going to see it. So the grind is set. If you are going into business for yourself because you think it's going to be easy, go get a job. It is way easier to let someone else have all the headaches and just earn a salary. But if you want freedom, if you want self determination, if you want to be in charge of your life, then you should seriously consider it. The other half of the feather. Now this might get me in trouble with a lot of people, but it so works in my life. And we're talking about my story here. You gotta manifest, which means you gotta dream big. You gotta have that crazy vision in your head. Now the first time it happened for me was I was just like toying around with running my own company. Had other revenue streams, other jobs I was doing on the side while I was building my business and in the area of the city I live in, where I in the area I happen to live in. Then there was this huge school definition of intimidating and had the really huge stairs going up to it anyone in Thunder Bay. I'm talking about a Hillcrest High School here, which has changed a lot now that it's condos. At the time, the school had. They weren't using it anymore. It was shut down. They were looking for a buyer. And I used to walk by the school every night on my walk out to get some exercise. I have no idea why I did not graduate from that school. I had never stepped foot inside that school. But I wanted that building. And every single night, I would walk by and think, I want that building. I have no idea how that would happen, but I want that freaking building. And there was one window. There was used to be this big ornamental horse outside, you know, over the vestibule, and there was, like, the window beside it. And I thought, that's where my office is going to be. I want this building. I am not even kidding. Six months later, I had partnered with a land developer here in town. We opened up the school as an incubator for businesses. I was running what was called the center of change. In my office was that window. Did I know any of that was going to happen as I walked by every single day saying I wanted that school? No, absolutely not. And eventually I left because that wasn't where I wanted to be. But it worked. The other thing. You saw my video, my success video that I watch every single day. I have dreamed of owning a Mustang since I was 12 years old. I was in my late 40s, early 50s, before I even touched a Mustang. I had a friend that allowed me to drive his Mustang. And I was terrified because I didn't want to hurt the Mustang. I didn't want to damage it in any way, because this was just my ideal. Last year, I bought my Mustang, even, excuse me, lunchtime again. Even if you don't know how you're going to do it. And that's what people get bogged down. They think they have to know all the steps. No, you don't. Tell Crater what you want and let them show you how it's going to happen. Just keep envisioning it. The steps will come to you. Keep doing the grind. Keep working every single day, but know where you want to end up. I have a picture of my dream house right here over my computer monitor. And if you think a picture of the outside is good enough, I have the floor plan right next to it. And to say it's huge would be an understatement. But that's my goal now. For the people, specifically. Well, I guess chasing a goal can be scary. But I know people going into business get like absolutely terrified of being an entrepreneur. So I definitely have to eat something. Sorry, sorry, sorry. It's early in the morning too. Anyways, I have been asked a million times, what do you do when you, when you got scared? You know when. And I knew what they're talking about when that fear seemed to freeze you in your tracks. So there was two things, again, not kidding, that I used to do when that fear would try to take over. So the first thing was I would do something. I would send an email. I would post one more time on social media about my seminars. I would send out another email to my email list. I would reach out to someone to see if they are interested in hiring me. I would do something that might generate revenue because the way I looked at it, if I had enough time to be scared, then I had enough time to work. And as soon as I got involved and focused on whatever I had decided to do, I was no longer focusing on the fear and I was grinding. So I was actually moving forward. The second one's a little bit weirder and this is definitely personal, but if you can find something that works personally for you, I think it's powerful. Every single time I doubted whether I could do this, that you know, could I ever be successful, could I ever have money in the bank, could I ever really leave poverty behind? I would walk down the hallway of the apartment I was in then and true story, not even kidding, I would flush the toilet. And the reason I did that was because I was raised in a house that didn't have running water. My parents worked super hard. Both of them worked in the sawmill. My mom piled eight foot two by fours for seven hour shifts every day. I mean they worked hard. But raising kids isn't expensive and our house didn't have indoor plumbing. Why I flushed the toilet is to remind myself that I already had more than what my parents had in their entire lifetime. So maybe I should quit worrying about what I was going to achieve. So there you have it. Now another thing, I mentioned this in the Live on the weekend way back when. Can you see it on the shelf? Honorary Indian. My first book is right there. I had written all these stories in that book from an indigenous lens and when it was released out into the universe, I realized one, and a lot of non indigenous people were reading it, which is amazing. But two, that they were reading it at such a superficial level. They weren't going deep the way we are taught to go deep when we hear someone sharing their truth. And I went to an elder, Frida McDonald Love that woman, offered her tobacco and said, what do I do? Like, like they're, they're not getting as much out of it as they can. They're not going deep. And in true elder style, be careful when you ask an elder a question because you may not like the answer and it's probably going to involve work. She just grinned and looked at me and said, I guess you're gonna have to teach them. So what I realized while I was away on vacation, laying on a beach, enjoying my truth, my new, my new truths, I realized I have to get better at painting the picture in these videos that people may not always understand how the video has anything to do with reconciliation. So in the case of today's video for Indigenous people, I believe nothing is more important than financial security and self determination. As long as we are dependent on someone else determining our value, then we are not standing as strong as we can. To be crystal clear, no one is coming to save us. We cannot be dependent on anything except ourselves and creator. And worse, for any ally that is thinking, I would love to help. It doesn't help us when someone saves us because then we're not believing in ourselves and our determination and our resilience and our abilities. We're believing that we needed to be saved to survive. So I've always said it is just as important for Indigenous people to remember we know how to stand back up as the actual standing back up. So no one's going to save us and we don't need anyone to save us if we ever want to be strong enough. Remember that image I shared ages ago about what reconciliation could look like with the bridge half red and half white. I'll insert the picture. If we're going to be the strong Anishinaabe, strong Indigenous people meeting non Indigenous in the middle of the bridge, we need to get there. That's our healing, that's our resilience, that's learning our languages and our customs and our teachings and remembering who we were before the others came and realizing, defining our success and achieving it. So we got to meet them in the middle of the bridge, what we have to stop doing. And I see way too many Indigenous people doing this. I haven't spent. Someone asked me a while ago how much time and effort I put in to helping the Canadian government advance reconciliation. And my answer was zero. Because the government's going to be the last people to get this. This is led by the people and I have all the time in the world for the Indigenous who want to stand strong and learn how and the non Indigenous who want to learn how to be a good ally and fixing what's on their side of the bridge, their side of the feather. So that's what I want to say. As Indigenous people, we got to quit worrying about what Canadians doing or should be doing and focus a lot more on what we need to be doing to stand strong. It is the exact same scenario as when I got out of the abusive situations. If my healing had been dependent on my ex getting it together and suddenly becoming a nice person, I would still be struggling. My healing, my strength, my standing strong was not dependent on his opinion of me. It doesn't matter. If Canada thinks we shall succeed, we have to show them we will. Does that make sense? And I know you can, because we have survived a heck of a lot worse than this. And if not, you personally, your ancestors definitely have. We got this. We owe this to ourselves, our children and our grandchildren. So that is why I am the biggest advocate for Indigenous success. And I hope that made sense. I hope you enjoyed painting the picture. That part of this video. Let me know. This video is a longer one. I wonder if that's the sign of the times of what's coming. I have no idea. Let me know what you think of the longer video and what I shared today. Do you agree Indigenous success is going to help with reconciliation? Let me know in the comments below. I love you. Take care. Bye Bye.