S&F Wins 2018 Powwow Pitch Business Competition

I can’t begin to express my gratitude for this win this past weekend. Jesse & I entered the 2018 Powwow Pitch competition at the Summer Solstice Indigenous Festival in Ottawa. S&F was in business as a hobby for us 4 years ago, then after I gave birth to my son and Jesse had her daughter we had to ask ourselves, “what is this? Is this a hobby or a career?” We took the plunge. 1 year ago we went full time, rented a store front and upscaled our website. Sales went up, and then they peaked. Why? Because we could not meet the scale of production required for our customers, and wholesale requests began piling up on our office desk. We couldn’t wholesale at competitive pricing because we had to outsource production to manufacturers in Toronto even though we possess the in-house skills to do it ourselves. We needed to upgrade our production. With this $5000, we will now be able to invest in production grade equipment that will make our silver, gold & wampum jewelry available at wholesale, to be available to our customers at retail locations Canada-wide and soon to be USA-wide! We can’t underscore our gratitude. This relatively small investment was needed. It will be transformative to our business scale, and to other artists in our community who would like to see their designs go into real production at reduced costs. With this investment in our company, artists will produce locally and affordably, they can upscale their own productions and support their families with their increased revenues. Everyone wins. We’d like to thank @rbc @shopify @ottawasolstice @pow_wow_pitch and all the mentors, pitchers and entrepreneurs for showing up for your communities and providing this venue that will create some real, immediate, and meaningful economic development for First Nations people. Nyá:wen sewakwé:kon! ~ Jesse & Dakota