BUILD NATIVE - Shopify’s Digital Indigenous Entrepreneurship Community
Overview of BUILD NATIVE
BUILD NATIVE, is an Indigenous led and built initiative to proudly provide support to entrepreneurs and Shopify merchants who identify as First Nations, Métis, Inuit, Native American, Alaskan Native, Native Hawaiian, Māori, and Pasifika located in Turtle Island (Canada & United States) looking to start, build, or grow their business. The Shopify Indigenous Community provides a space to connect, learn from and build with fellow creatives, get exclusive offers, and Build together.
According to Shopify, their platform helps people achieve independence by making it easier to start, run, and grow a business. Creators use Shopify to design, set up, and manage their shop across multiple sales channels, including mobile, web, social media, marketplaces, brick-and-mortar locations, and pop-up shops. The platform also provides merchants with a powerful back-office and a single view of their business, from payments to shipping. Shopify was engineered for reliability and scale, making enterprise-level technology available to everyone,
Founded in Ottawa, Canada, Shopify currently powers over millions of businesses around the world and is trusted by Indigenous Entrepreneurs such as Aaniin Shop, Cheekbone Beauty, Indigenous Box, SECTION35, Sisters Sage, and many many more.
“I didn’t understand the value of selling my products online until the pandemic hit. Shopify Indigenous was there to help guide me and create a beautiful website I am proud of.”
Featured Stories
Beginning of BUILD NATIVE
As featured in Tribal Business News, the beginning of BUILD NATIVE started during the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic. Kyle St-Amour-Brennan (Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg First Nation) saw Indigenous artists and entrepreneurs in his community lose their income overnight while business shut down across North America. As Indigenous peoples’ who relied on selling at markets lost big portions of their income, St-Amour-Brennan started helping the people he knew. At the time, St-Amour-Brennan worked as a commerce equity strategist at Shopify. He began helping entrepreneurs set up websites and establish a digital presence to sell their wares online.
The idea of helping Indigenous entrepreneurs reduce the hardship grew into a larger program that helps Native-owned businesses across Canada and the US. Today, St-Amour-Brennan manages the program, along with Tracy Ridler (Kitsumkalum First Nation), Inez White (Māori), and Hepa Te Moana (Māori).
There is immense earning potential for merchants on Shopify. According to Tribal Business News, In 2021, the platform processed $75.9 billion in orders through 1.7 million merchants. In the United States, it has cornered an 8.6% share of the market, trailing only Amazon and ahead of both Walmart (5.8%) and eBay (4.9%).
Prior to launching BUILD NATIVE in 2020, few Indigenous sellers used Shopify. According to St-Amour, they were engaging with the platform’s support less than merchants in other groups, but he knew that investing in community and relationships would shift that.
“There is a hierarchy of roadblocks for Native entrepreneurs. There are programs targeting access to capital and building technological infrastructure, but there isn’t anything that gets to the core issue: the self. It’s the imposter syndrome, the feeling of not belonging, fear of failure, the intergenerational trauma. That is the component that we are hyper fixating on with BUILD Native.”
-St-Amour-Brennan to Tribal Business News,
Totem Design House
Erin Brillon, owner of Totem Design House. Photo: Tribal Business News
Totem Design House was featured in the Tribal Business News article as Erin Brillon was one of the first Indigenous merchants on Shopify to join BUILD NATIVE.
Totem Design House is an Indigenous lifestyle and clothing brand that is 100% Indigenous woman owned and operated by Erin Brillon (Haida & Cree). Totem Design House is an award winning social enterprise and certified eco-friendly business recognized as a leader in the field of on-reserve TDH emphasizes giving back, with 10% of their annual profits going to Copper Legacy Indigenous Empowerment Society.
Monday May Jewelry
Monday May Jewelry is featured on the BUILD NATIVE webpage. Modeste (Monday) Zankpe learned to embrace a new way of being because of the pandemic and the sudden onset of an autoimmune disorder. In 2021, she founded her jewelry line Monday May Jewelry as a hobby to stay on top of her mental health. Her striking earring designs quickly became a hit. Monday’s Afro-Indigenous jewelry brand creates heirloom pieces for collectors excited to incorporate rich culture with sustainable slow fashion. She is forever inspired by both of her Indigenous cultures - the Ewe and Secwépemc People.
Monday's journey into entrepreneurship started in 2013. She has a passion for studying and teaching low-overhead, low-barrier entrepreneurship, as it directly contributes to the sovereignty and liberation of marginalized communities.
These Designers Are Showcasing Underrepresented Communities to Change Fashion
The Shopify blog titled These Designers Are Showcasing Underrepresented Communities to Change Fashion says “everyone’s motivation for starting a business is different, but there’s one factor that comes up more often than most when talking with Indigenous founders: community.” This blog features the stories of Birch Bark Coffee, HerBraids, SheNative, and Sage Paul.
Overdraft: How One Founder Is Changing Lives—Including Her Own—Through a $500 Start-up
The Shopify blog titled Overdraft: How One Founder Is Changing Lives—Including Her Own—Through a $500 Start-up says “for years, Jenn Harper battled addiction and was once on the brink of losing everything. Then, she rebuilt her life, focusing her energy on creating Cheekbone Beauty—a sustainable brand that gives back to her Indigenous community. Here, Jenn explains how she overcame alcoholism, generational trauma, and the challenges of starting her business with just $500.” This blog features the story of Cheekbone Beauty.
View more stories and featured businesses on the BUILD NATIVE webpage and the CoP site.