Next month, two Saskatchewan Aboriginal entrepreneurs will be rubbing shoulders with other like-minded business minds in Istanbul, Turkey.
Devon Fiddler and Heather Abbey were selected to represent Canada by Futurpreneur Canada through a lengthy selection process.
The women had to fill out an application with lots of questions, do a video interview and answer more questions.
The work paid off as Fiddler and Abbey are the only two from Saskatchewan and the only two Aboriginal selections to make the cut.
Abbey says they will be very busy during the summit attending three days of workshops and seminars.
“The part that I’m most excited about is finding out how people empower the youth in their own communities,” she says. “What practices they developed for working with entrepreneurs that are facing more barriers such as Aboriginal people.”
Abbey owns and operates a website that helps Indigenous artists market their work to a global marketplace.
She says she grew up in poverty and entered business competitions to help finance her ShopIndig website.
Abbey credits winning the competitions helped her stand out when Futurepreneur Canada selected her entry.
Abbey says a lack of money and good credit are huge barriers to overcome for Aboriginal entrepreneurs.
“So many of our people face barriers accessing loans, accessing grants,” says Abbey. “Unfortunately, there’s something that’s the ‘crabs in the bucket’ syndrome. A lot of people don’t want to see one of their own succeed if they’re not, so they tear them down.”
Fiddler owns SheNative Goods that designs handbags and accessories.