Indigenous women entrepreneurs motivate others
Shaina Lynden hopes telling how she helped build a thriving Saskatoon fitness business will influence other Indigenous women entrepreneurs to act on their dreams.
Lynden, a member of Yellow Quill First Nation, and Braidie Mustoe are co-owners of Ryde YXE Cycle Studios, which saw such success at its Broadway Avenue studio in its first two years in business that it opened a second location in City Park in January.
Fitness enthusiasts now fill 65 classes per week between the two locations.
“My goal is to share my story and hopefully provide that inspiration and opportunity for someone else to pursue what it is they’re looking to do,” Lynden said.
Lynden, who is also a Aboriginal Women’s Business Entrepreneurship Network (AWBEN) conference at the Saskatoon Inn this week.
This will be the first AWBEN conference for participants in Western Canada, after four years of easier access for those in Ontario and Quebec, said Heather Abbey, who organized the event for the Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC).
A new feature of the conference is a business pitch competition with prizes of iPads and $5,000 in startup capital for the winner.
Abbey introduced the “pitch party” to the event because such contests provided the capital for her first business.
“I come from Washington Park, north central Regina and there’s not exactly a lot of start-up capital floating around there,” she said.
Abbey’s ShopIndig.ca, an online marketplace for Indigenous artisans, was such a hit with women looking for unique Indigenous-created merchandise and with the sellers of same, that they overwhelmed her website.
She decided to temporarily shut down the website while a more powerful site is created.
Besides the annual conference, the AWBEN program includes a threemonth mentorship circle, in which 10 fledgling entrepreneurs per mentor get coaching and two-day business boot camps.
“It’s gruelling. At the end of two days, you’re exhausted mentally,” she said.