Pow Wow Pitch Podcast E48 - Live your passion with Dr. Shyra Barberstock

Discover the rich spirit of Indigenous tradition with Cabaniche, Coffee and Tea. I'm Dr. Shira Barber-Stock, Anishinaabe Kwey and proud member of Cabawick First Nation. At Cabaniche we bring you premium coffee and tea inspired by Indigenous values like Meenobemotsuin, Living the Good Life, and Gana Gorio, the Good Mind. Every sip connects you to the stories, cultures, and traditions of Indigenous communities. Our beautifully designed packaging features art from Indigenous creators celebrating their heritage while supporting cultural preservation and economic reconciliation. Order now at ProudlyIndigenous.com or find us at Select Retailers across Canada. Entrepreneurship and innovation have always been an integral part of Indigenous ways of life and today this is inspiring sustainable and transformational solutions. To learn more about how RBC supports Indigenous communities and businesses visit rbc.com/indigenous. Small businesses are the foundation of our communities. That's why Mastercard has invested in tools to support small business owners as they grow their business. With Mastercard tools and resources you can increase sales by shortening checkout time, broadening your customer base, and tapping into new opportunities to increase customer loyalty. So get started. Discover all the ways Mastercard can help guide, grow, and protect your business at mastercard.ca/smallbusiness. Kwe Kakinah, welcome to the PowwowPitch podcast, a show empowering Indigenous entrepreneurs. I'm your host Sunshine Quem-Tanasko from Kitagan Zibi Anishinaabeg, an entrepreneur at heart and the founder and chair of PowwowPitch. I got my entrepreneurial start on Dragon's Den selling baby moccasins and today I'm the creator of Herbrades, an author, a water protector, a mom of four beautiful children, and an advocate of Indigenous entrepreneurs. Each year PowwowPitch supports hundreds of Indigenous entrepreneurs in sharing their stories. I launched this podcast to expand the reach of our entrepreneurial community, creating a space to uplift voices, exchange ideas, and inspire others to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams while embracing the richness of their cultures and honoring their Indigenous roots. On this podcast I interview some of the most successful Indigenous entrepreneurs, experts, changemakers, creators, and shakers of our time. Together we'll dive into their stories and gain insight, knowledge, and valuable lessons to inspire us and uplift our entire PowwowPitch community. The PowwowPitch podcast is a production of PowwowPitch. Every month we drop a new episode so be sure to subscribe to the PowwowPitch podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud, and anywhere else you listen to the podcast. Also be sure to visit us at powwowpitch.org to sign up for our e-newsletter to get in the loop about supports, resources, funding, and opportunities for Indigenous entrepreneurs. We're so glad you're here, welcome to our show! Today we are thrilled to welcome a very special guest, Dr. Syrah Barberstok, the 2024 PowwowPitch first-place winner and a trailblazing Anishinaabe entrepreneur from Kibowak, First Nations, near Kibowak, Quebec. Syrah is the co- founder of both Kibonish Inc. and Aguajo Equal Source Inc. where she blends her academic expertise and entrepreneurial vision to champion Indigenous social innovation and economic development. With over a decade of experience as a professional Indigenous researcher and business leader, Syrah has spearheaded impactful initiatives like the Indigenous Climate Hub and the Kwebiz program for Indigenous women entrepreneurs. At Kibonish, she combines Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee teachings and Indigenous storytelling to craft coffee and tea products that honor culture and community. Today, Syrah is here to share her journey of creating an Indigenous and woman-led business, the importance of reconciliation and cultural teachings, and her vision for taking Kibonish global. So let's get started. Kwe Syrah, welcome! We're excited to have you here today. Thanks so much for having me. Yeah, so Syrah, you have been like the ultimate long-time powwow pitcher. You were at, I believe it was the first ever powwow pitch competition in 2015 at the Ottawa Summer Solstice Festival. So can you sort of tell us about how you got from that first pitch competition to now being the national winner, then the first place winner of 2024? Sure, thank you so much. I definitely was at the first pitch and there was another one as well. I pitched a couple times. I was, I believe, top 10 both times, but it was never the winner. So this is the first time I won. But I always think that good things come to people who wait and I think this was the right year with the right business and the right project. So I've been an entrepreneur for over a decade. I've come from the consulting world from a service-based business. I still have the consultancy and it's meaningful, but Kibonish is really special for me. I started to work on Kibonish back in 2022. That's when I incorporated it. I went after trademarks and I really wanted to, I wanted to have a new challenge and I have never had a product-based business before and I am so hugely passionate about coffee and tea. I drink coffee and tea on a daily basis. I love the power of coffee and tea to bring people together. We always tell our best stories over coffee and tea and I really loved the opportunity to be able to work with Indigenous artists and really showcase the talent that we have and bring it to a larger audience. First in Canada, but all across Turtle Island and then eventually global. And what inspired you to start this, to start Kibonish specifically? Because you were, this is your first product-based business. Yeah, there's a whole bunch of things that culminated at once. I mean, during 2022, we are still going through the COVID-19 pandemic and I've actually found it really, I found it very isolating like a lot of people. I really missed having those connections with other people. So I think I started thinking about something that would, that would bring, that would bring people together and have that sense of community. I was also I think becoming a lot more reflective on my life and what sort of legacy do I want to leave? What sort of give-back do I want to have? I do have a really good give-back on the consultancy side. There's a lot of work we've done that I'm really proud of, but what's really exciting about product- based businesses is that, especially as an Indigenous social enterprise, I have a, I have a bigger opportunity to be able to do bigger give-backs because as we start to, to generate profits as a company, then we can actually use that to be able to support things like cultural revitalization, language, education in First Nation communities. So that's a big part of what inspired me, but I'm also a person as well that always loves to be challenged. And you know what I love about coffee and tea? It allows me to have incredible conversations with so many people. Probably, you know, over 90, 95% of the planet drinks coffee and tea. So it just opens up so many opportunities to have incredible conversations with people that I might not have had conversations with. Mm-hmm. Totally. So you founded Kebunish with your husband, Rai, which is wild. First of all, I, a long time ago used to work with Ryan many, many moons ago. And second of all, you know, they kind of always say, like, don't start a business with your friend because blah, blah, blah. And you were, you just decided to take it a step further and, and start a business with someone who you share a bedroom with. That is wild. So what's it like? Like, can you give us a, give us a story about how that, how that works out and all that good stuff? Yeah, you know, that's, that's funny. I get that a lot. I have a lot of people say, wow, you work with your, your partner. How could you do that? I'd be divorced if I worked with my partner. I have had that comment so many times. Rai and I, I think we're a strange anomaly. I think even if we weren't a married couple, I do think we'd make incredible business partners, even if we weren't a married couple. All of our, we have so many complimentary skills that are so, that are so different. I'm really social. I love to connect with people. I love to build connections. I enjoy public speaking. I like facilitation. I enjoy sales. And then Rai, he, he loves administration. He's also in a very intriguing public speaker, but he's quite happy to be working hard in the background. And he's got a very strong operation side. So he's really, he's really helpful. But I think for Rai and I, where we're unusual is we, we absolutely love working together. To us, it gives us a real sense of meaning purpose. We just feel like we're on this incredible journey together. We're like each other's rock. I mean, you know, the sunshine, there's so many ups and downs and businesses. I mean, sometimes you feel like you're on top of the world. It's the best thing you've ever done. Yeah. And there's some weeks where it's really tough where you're like, I'm not coming out of my comforter. Yeah. What am I doing? Why did I do this? Yeah. And every entrepreneur goes through that. That's part of the entrepreneurial experience, but it's, it's really about our, our persistence and keeping our eye on that longer term vision, right? And where we're headed. So you have, you co-founded Cabanich, but this isn't your only venture. You're also co-founders of Aguajo Equal Source. So maybe if you can tell us a little bit about that and how did the two intersect or do they intersect and how does that collaboration look like? They're actually two very different, two different businesses, but I do think that what we've learned through Aguajo has definitely helped to inform Cabanich. So Aguajo Equal Source is an indigenous consultancy. We're headquartered in Tyandinega Mohawk territory. So it's Cabanich because it's the same two, two co-founders working together. So we've got a nice, a nice office and community. For Aguajo Equal Source, Rai and I really wanted to find ways to be able to, to contribute back to community through doing meaningful projects. We've done a lot of really exciting work through Aguajo. We ended up being able to launch, not national, national platform for climate change called the Indigenous Climate Hub. That's been really, really exciting. That started in 2018 when our company was asked to put together a national gathering for indigenous communities and organizations that had received climate change funding from the, from the federal government. When the, when the federal government was doing modernization of indigenous procurement, we were a big part of that. We helped to lead several of the facilitation sessions. We did roundtable discussions because of our PhDs. We did some very influential research papers that helped to contribute. And we worked really closely with, with, with NIOs like, like CCAB and NACA. So that was really exciting. We've, we've been in First Nation communities helping them with economic development plans. And we also led the Quabus Program for Indigenous Women Entrepreneurs for three years in partnership with Queens University and worked and supported with over 90 indigenous women entrepreneurs through, through an accelerator, mentorship, workshop series. And that's just a sampling of some of the projects that we've done. We've done indigenous relations training as well. And so I think on the Cabanich side, that's a very different, it's a very different business model because it's coffee, it's tea, it's product based, the way it's set up is different. But I really do believe that in the consulting world, I've met so many incredible people and continue to meet incredible people. And it's definitely helped to inform how we've set up the philosophy of Cabanich. And then the other thing that, that I think is a big part of it, and it goes back to your first question too, is I was also part of the 60 scoop and I was adopted. And so I've been going through a lifelong journey on what does it mean to be an Anishinaabekway. And so on the Cabanich side, Cabanich is a word that I made up. It's actually inspired by two words, Cablewick, that's the name of my community, which means River Narrows or the place where you disembark in the niche in Anishinaabe, original peoples. And so Cabanich has such a deep meaning to me. It's that feeling you get when you come home. And it goes way deeper than a place because I think we can be anywhere on the entire planet having good coffee or tea with somebody that we love, and we can get that feeling of being home anywhere. What the heck, Shira, I didn't know that. That's so cool. I love that. Thank you for sharing that. Yeah, that kind of just blew my mind and put me, put me on a different track than the question I was going to ask. But the first question I wanted to, that I'm just sort of curious about is, you have a service-based business and a product-based business. Which one, number one, do you enjoy more of doing the work if you had to choose? That's a really tough one. It depends on what the work is. I can't say that I prefer one business over the other. But I can tell you that when I'm working in Cabanich or Guajo, I'm happiest when I'm with people and developing relationships. And I love that business, whether it's a Guajo or Cabanich, I love that it gives me a platform. And it gives me the opportunity to be able to promote the things that mean a lot to me. Over the years, I've had the opportunity to do a lot of public speaking. I've advocated for everything for more support for Indigenous procurement, to Indigenous entrepreneurs, to supporting First Nation communities, to women in tech. And I am most passionate when I feel like I'm making a difference. Totally. Do you think that one takes more work than the other? At the moment, I would say probably Cabanich because it's still in the startup phase. We've been selling for just over a year now because we started doing sales back in November 2023. So there's a lot of moving parts. But the good thing with Cabanich is as it grows, I'm having the opportunity to be able to contract people to help offset some of the tasks. So I do have a team with me. But it really depends on the time of year. Consulting can be very busy if we're juggling several projects. But I could say the same thing about Cabanich. So it ebbs and flows. Right. Right. Okay. So Cabanich incorporates both Anishinaabemowin and Haudenosaunee, which is Ryan's nation, right? The language is into your packaging. So why is it important for you to highlight these languages and how has the response been in communities and in Canadians' perspective? We've had a lot of really good support. And a lot of people have been very excited about Cabanich on the Indigenous side and the non-Indigenous side. I really feel like I've had people rooting for us. I've had my First Nation community promote what we're doing and also Thai and Denega rice community has also promoted what we're doing. We've had a lot of really nice messages through social media and people saying congratulations and buying the product and sharing it and recommending it. And to answer your question about language, I think language is so important. We need to keep our languages alive. And the only way to keep them alive is to be able to use them. So I think one of the exciting things with Cabanich is having the actual language on the package. It brings it to people's attention, whether they're Indigenous or non-Indigenous and just reminds people that that's right. There is Anishinaabemowin. There is the Ganyakgeha as well, right? The Mohawk language. And for me, again, it's also really meaningful because as I have this lifelong journey on what it is to be on Anishinaabekwe, it's so incredibly meaningful for me to have the, for example, like our teas, which are inspired by the seven grandfather teachings of the Anishinaabe and then having the language right on the packaging. There's a lot of pride in that. And it's also exciting for me because now I'm thinking, these are my products. I better know how to pronounce all of this. So it's a good motivation to learn the language, right? Right. Like just as soon as you were talking, I was like, got the hashtag in my mind still here. Like it's a visual representation of that daily, you know? So that's like super impactful. How do you see Indigenous philosophies like Mino-Modswin helping to create a better world? The world that we live in is kind of wild right now. And how do you see Kebunish playing and fostering reconciliation through that? That's a really good question. Yeah, there's actually two philosophies that were a huge inspiration for Kebunish. And one of them is, of course, Mino-Modswin on the Anishinaabe side, which means living a good life. And then on the Haudenosaunee side, a very complimentary philosophy is Ghana-Gurio, which is having a good mind. And so I do think that those philosophies are incredibly important. And I love that we've weaved it throughout Kebunish so that Indigenous, even a non-Indigenous people can really think deeply about that. What is it to have a good life? What is it to have a good mind? What does that look like in terms of my actions? What does that look like in terms of my heart? What does that look like in terms of my relationships and how I see the world and present myself? So I do think it can contribute to reconciliation because you think about this. Well, how do I follow Mino-Modswin? Well, one of the things I can do is I can follow the Seven Grandfather teachings and what are those, right? People can learn about that through Kebunish. You know, it's things like trust, respect, you know, bravery. What do you love? What do all these things really mean? I also love that they're all universal concepts. That's one of the reasons why we had that as an inspiration because it started with the inspiration of the Seven Grandfather teachings. But anyone all over the world, those words have a meaning to them. There's stories behind them. I could go all over the world and say, tell me, I can ask them, tell me about love, tell me about bravery, tell me about truth, tell me about respect, tell me a story about that. And they'll be able to tell me an incredible story. Totally. We had one of our mentors for the powwow in Manitwabi in Winnipeg. He is Indian, Indian. And he came and he was like, oh my gosh, like this dance is exactly like our dance. And then the next dancers came out and he was like, this dance is exactly like this dance in our culture. And then we sort of got deeper and deeper into conversation. And obviously the, you know, some people call them the Seven Sacred teachings. Some people call them the Seven Grandfather teachings. Obviously, they came up and they had similar beliefs too. And it was just like, you know, the more we have these conversations, the more we realize how similar we are to so many people and that we all just want to be connected and seen and cared for and loved and all of that stuff. So I think, you know, us sharing our stories just sort of gives ourselves the, we're giving ourselves permission to be seen and celebrated too. And, you know, being able to see a product like, oh my god, Shira, I would love to see your product on all of the grocery stores and, you know, be represented in such a positive and good way. And I know that you have dreams of going global as well. And I'd love to hear some of your, you know, the steps that you're taking to expand internationally. And how do you hope to share these Indigenous teachings with a global audience? Yeah, thank you so much for the question. Well, I think it's important to to sort of prove products first in a local market. So we're mostly focused on Canada right now. We are currently shipping into the United States. That is happening. We have had people order on the website and we have shipped to the US. There's actually been a couple of universities that have ordered our gift boxes, which has been really nice. And so I'm going to start also reaching out just to get to learn more about what we need to do to be able to expand globally, because I do think there's going to be some really good interest from other countries, especially countries that are really intrigued by Indigenous products. So I think it'll definitely be a very special product that could be introduced into other countries. So we're starting with Canada first, but I definitely have my sights on global. I want to be able to prove to Turtle Island and the world that Indigenous companies can compete with the larger brands. But we just definitely have to build sustainably as a company and just make sure that when we do launch globally, we're ready for it. Totally. Yeah. Growing too fast is a lesson I learned the hard way. And so you're very smart for thinking that way already. So what advice would you give other Indigenous women and business partners looking to start their own business, especially when it comes to balancing your cultural values and entrepreneurship? That's a really good question. Well, I have a lot of advice. But I would say to really take the time to really look at whatever industry that somebody's looking at getting into and just make sure to do their homework before they get into it, I think that's incredibly important. Knowledge is power. And so being a founder or a co-founder, I do think it's important to make sure to understand that. I have seen people be incredibly successful going into industries that they were unfamiliar with, but they took the time to be able to do that research. So start with that. Number two, make sure that what someone is looking at for a business is feasible and that there's a market for it. I've seen a lot of people come out with some really novel and exciting ideas, but it's not necessarily what the market needs and what the market wants. So that's incredibly important. The other one too, I think it's really common for new entrepreneurs to have imposter syndrome. So I have to speak to that. If there's anybody that's listening, that's been thinking of starting a business, but they've been nervous and they think, "I can't do this." I want anybody listening to know that they absolutely can. And I can say that as people build with experience over time and develop that support network, and they learn and they grow, that sense of imposter syndrome starts to disappear and it starts to be replaced with confidence. And so I just think that we always need to up our game, educate ourselves, take workshops, have mentors. Mentorship is incredibly important. I've had mentors the entire way through my entrepreneurship journey and mentors change over time. The perfect mentor for you at the beginning of your startup might be different than when you're 10 years in and you think, "Well, maybe you don't need a mentor 10 years in," but it just gets more high level. And so mentors are always really helpful and there's so many supports out there. I think sometimes new entrepreneurs aren't aware of them, but always look out and look online. There's tons of supports for entrepreneurs out there, but just go for it is my main message. You can be shy, you can be nervous. I believe anybody can do it, but it does take a lot of work, perseverance, not giving up and making sure that you're passionate about what you do because on those hard days or there's hard weeks or hard months, if you're passionate about what you do and it gives you deeper meaning in your life, you're more likely to continue. So always lead with passion. I love that. That is great advice. Where can we find you? I can be found in several different places for cabanishproudlyindigenous.com. I'm active on social media. People can also follow me on LinkedIn. I'm quite active there. And if people are interested in learning more about a Guajo equal source, that one's at aguajo.com. That's O-K-W-A-H. Oh, I just got lost there. O-K-W-A-H-O.com. There we go. Thank you. And any last words, anything else you'd like to share? I think I've shared a lot. Actually, I do have something I would love to share. I would love to see more Indigenous entrepreneurs. I think there are so many incredible opportunities out there for Indigenous entrepreneurs right now. There's funding that can help to support Indigenous entrepreneurs, but I also want to see our stories get out there more. We can use the profits from our companies to be able to give back to community and to the causes that are important. And as I mentioned earlier, when you're an entrepreneur, you also, in a sense, become your own platform. And so if there are things that people are really, really passionate about, this will give you that platform to be able to do that. I want to hear more Indigenous voices. I think that is so powerful and it's so needed right now for so many different reasons, whether it's climate change or supporting our communities or being able to contribute to the world's Mino Bematsoin. We need those voices. I love that. Shaira, you're such, you're just so amazing. You're such an inspiration. You have follow through and you create all of these amazing things and doing it in a good way. I'm so happy that you are a 2024 winner. And just to see you come back again and again, that's sort of like my favorite, you know, is the people who just keep showing up and maybe it changes, maybe it's, you know, maybe it's the same, but it's, it's actually beautiful to watch. And I've been cheering for you for a very long time. And I think you have amazing advice. So Miigwech for joining us today. Shima Gwech, thank you so much for having me. Miigwech, thank you for joining us today on the Powowpitch podcast, dedicated to empowering Indigenous entrepreneurs. The Powowpitch podcast is recorded at Powowpitch Headquarters on Anishinaabe, Algonquin Territory in the Adalue Indigenous Business Hub Studio, powered by NACA. Thank you to our partners, to our team, Keely Thompson Cook and Naomi Sarazen, to our creative producer, a Cyprian Shallen Kavech, and to everyone who makes Powowpitch possible. Be sure to visit us at powowpitch.org to explore how we can support you to start your business and sign up to our newsletter to learn more about the Powowpitch competition, the Indigenous Entrepreneur Award, the Indigenous Startup Program, the Powowpitch Box, the Powow Market, and other opportunities from our community. Until next time, I'm your host, Sunshine Tinasco. Miigwech. (upbeat music)