I am in beautiful Santa Fe, staying with friends who happen to be successful businesswomen, creative entrepreneurs, rockstar curators and consultants, and self-made success stories. They’re all Native American or First Nations individuals, and they probably wouldn’t label themselves the way I have above. Sometimes we just see what we do as… well, what we do. The disconnect between not labeling and labeling ourselves impacts us when opportunities arise, like business competitions or entrepreneurship programs.During one of our events last week for Santa Fe Indian Market, I met representatives from Creative-Startups – a new program aimed to accelerate the success of creative entrepreneurs. I think that I know a lot of creative entrepreneurs (heck, every artist who I work with for the Boutique is one), but I don’t think of myself as one. They corrected me. While accepting myself as a businesswoman and entrepreneur is a scary thought (I’m no Donald Trump!), it is also an interesting idea to be able to navigate multiple worlds – academia, fashion, business, art, and more! Heck, why not?!
So I looked into Creative-Startups more, and found that they have amazing opportunities for individuals like myself and those who I work with on Beyond Buckskin – they offer crash courses in entrepreneurship, mentorship, and even investment money. These are magical words for creative Native entrepreneurs with limited access to these resources. So I’m applying, and I think you should too. The application deadline is in just 2 days (yea that’s how I roll) – but it can be done, and it can have fantastic results. Apply with me, let’s do this together and take over. We need more Native entrepreneurs who think outside of the box, who are connected to their communities, who want to see more options for our youth when they come of age: let’s pave a new path. Let’s be mentored and become mentors. Let’s learn and teach. Let’s earn investment money that we can then in turn pass on to others.
You can click here to learn more about Creative-Startups, and you can click here to apply - it's easy! They are accepting applications from individuals in fields that range from advertising, craft, culinary, digital design, fashion, film, music, performing arts, photography, and more. Applications are due August 31, 2014.