United Tribes Tribal Leaders Summit | Small Business Resources

I am here at the United Tribes Tribal Leaders Summit in Bismarck, ND. I'm sitting here, in our Beyond Buckskin booth, typing this post, in between meeting and greeting new and old friends. I love this particular conference because it draws leaders from this region into one space that is simultaneously big, but also intimate. It is a great chance to meet up with the people who are - to put it frankly - leaders. They are leading programs, initiatives, policies, and businesses focused on health, cultural consulting, economic development, media, education, and more.

Beyond Online: Announcing a New Retail and Studio Space

We are so excited to announce that as a part of our overall mission and goals, Beyond Buckskin will be launching our first storefront and studio space! It will be located in Belcourt, North Dakota, on the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation. This space is set to open with a celebration on May 7th, which will coincide with Beyond Buckskin’s annual online Anniversary Sale - a blazing 24-hour storewide sales event with amazing deals to thank customers for their year-long support. Please mark your calendars to join us in this in-person and online event!

Hitting the D Spot: Customers and Delight

I have officially started my Creative Startups program - so get ready for some posts about business! Beyond Buckskin was selected as one of nine small businesses to participate in the Creative Startups business accelerator and I couldn’t be more pumped. Their mission is to accelerate the success of creative entrepreneurs and economies, and they believe in the power of arts businesses to create dynamic and prosperous communities. Yes!

Beyond Buckskin RES14 Recap

I had just arrived in Las Vegas for the 2014 Reservation Economic Summit. I was coming in from my homelands in North Dakota- a place now known for the oil boom. I was not there to promote the economic development of our natural resources, instead, I was there to promote the financial backing and support of our Indigenous creatives. When the oil has been sucked dry from Mother Earth, unfortunately / fortunately we will still be here (whether or not we will be with clean water is still up in the air), and after our leaders are done relishing the measly scraps thrown to us by big oil companies, our artists will still be creating.

Beyond Business: Entreprenative Interview

Last week I had the great opportunity to do what I rarely get to do: talk about the business side of Beyond Buckskin. Most interviews that I do are focused on the mission behind Beyond Buckskin, or about Native American fashion in general, or about issues of cultural appropriation.

I (digitally) sat down with Collin Price, a Ho-Chunk tribal member and the founder of a new website called Entreprenative. The mission of this site is to create a forum for Native American entrepreneurs to share tips, inspire one another, and propel Native-run businesses forward.

Is Manitobah Mukluks Indian Enough?

I got an "anonymous tip" last week that Manitobah Mukluks are now made in China. Another 'tipper' wrote on the Facebook fan page for Manitobah Mukluks, claiming "made in china, assembled in canada. nothing authentic about these."

Nothing authentic about them! Well, this claim seems like an important avenue to pursue, so let's look into this. If you go to the Manitobah Mukluks website, they actually address this issue on their FAQs page:

Buy Native

As promised, I am officially launching this campaign to Buy Native this holiday season. I've written about this campaign here and here (and the idea began last year with this post), and I'm reaching out to you all to join me in this mission. 

I am personally going to try to buy only Native-made products for gifts, and over the next 5 weeks I'll be writing about my challenges and findings. Now, you can just bookmark this link, and all your Native dreams will come true (ok, maybe that's an exaggeration). 

Beyond Business | Buying Native

So as I mentioned on Facebook the other day, this coming Holiday Season, I'm going to be writing about my personal goal to buy only Native-made gifts, or items bought from Native-owned companies, etc, with the goal of maximizing the amount of money going to Native businesses.

I would love it if any of you guys out there would join me and take on this challenge as a economic growth movement/plan.

I got the idea a while back (remember last winter when I did the Etsy Holiday Gift Guide?), and when the idea developed more in the spring (after the holidays I had more time to think of how to improve the push to more adequately express ideas of economic development and empowerment), I also watched and was inspired by this video on PBS, titled, "One Family's Effort to Buy Black for a Year."

Beyond Business: Marketing Your Art

If you have a few spare minutes (like, while you're shining your shoes, or whatever you do) - play this video and learn 6 tips and myths on marketing your art.

CanvasPop co-founder Adrain Salamunovic talks about how up and coming artists can market their works and still maintain their artistic integrity.

Beyond Business: Entrepreneurial Spirit

Get inspired. Be inspiring. (Watch this vid and just replace the cakes with fashion..!)

Beyond Business: Top 10 Business Tips

Whether you're running a t-shirt company, jewelry line, or personal couture boutique, here are ten easy things to remember to start and maintain an awesome business:

Beyond Business: Cover Letter & Résumé

Here are some tips from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising Career Center on how to put together a strong cover letter and résumé. Remember, Market Yourself:

Every job on the planet will require a résumé. Every résumé should be accompanied by a proper cover letter. Preparing, proofing, and perfecting your cover letter and résumé is time well spent when it comes to a successful job hunt.

Beyond Business: The Portfolio

Continuing with some profesh advice for anyone pursuing a career in fashion design - here's some tips on the ever-important portfolio.

A professional portfolio is a collection of your best work. It should also contain written information, such as your name and the title of each work. Keep in mind that the overall design of a portfolio presents an important visual image to the viewer. The portfolio itself is a presentation of your design and organizational skills.

Beyond Business: FIDM

One excellent resource for young designers is the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising.

FIDM offers several top-of-line fashion programs, including Fashion Design, Merchandise Product Development, Merchandise Marketing, Apparel Industry Management, and Beauty Industry Merchandising & Marketing.

Beyond Business: According to Tyra

This business post is actually a condensed repost of one put out by Tyra Banks (yes, that's her jumping to the left).

Now, I’m not really a big fan of Tyra (I mean, she’s cool), but the tips that she gives below are pretty spot on. They give advice on how to become 'CEO of your own life.' It’s cheesy, but it's actually a pretty cool concept. It’s about taking control of your life, your ‘business,’ and setting out steps for the success of you.

She breaks it down, “Whether you’re just gettin’ started, or makin’ your way up the career ladder, the first step to your success is to become CEO of your own life."

Beyond Business

In preparation for the launch of the Beyond Buckskin Boutique site, I’m going to be reaching out to professionals to write guest posts on tips for gaining success in business (in fashion and in the arts), including tips on the following:

• Small business start-up
• E-commerce
• Grant-writing, grant opportunities and deadlines
• Branding
• Networking
• Web presence development
• Trademark and copyright
• Thinking globally
• Targeting your market
• Budgeting

We hope to provide a space for Native designers and artists to look beyond the regular business model, and take into consideration creativity and concepts of Native community to create successful ventures.

If you, or anyone you know, would like to give some formal helpful advice to artists and designers on how to take the professional aspects of their art to new levels, contact me at beyondbuckskin@gmail.com.