I am Lynn-Marie. Before my sister and I started our business in 2018, we were both struggling in life. I was having to deal with discrimination daily during my job at a high-rise construction site. My sister, Melissa-Rae Angus was facing homelessness while being pregnant with her first child. We both needed to change our situation, so together, we founded Sisters Sage — an Indigenous wellness brand that creates modern wellness products using our traditional culture and ingredients.

We faced a lot of challenges along the way with education and money being our biggest barriers. I signed up for the free Community Entrepreneur Program offered through the UBC Learning Exchange in Vancouver, where I learned the basics of starting and running a business. At the end of the program, I presented my first ever pitch and won $200! This was my first achievement. Since then, I have graduated from several business programs and won a few more pitches.

Indigenous people don't often come from generational wealth, which can make it difficult to start and grow a business, so we become resilient in our means of getting there. After having gathered enough experience, we now aspire to take our knowledge and successes and inspire other Indigenous women. We want them to know that they don't need to stay in their toxic relationships, work or otherwise, and can achieve safety and independence through entrepreneurship.

Recently, we bagged the Indigenous Business of the Year awarded via BC Achievement Awards and Business of the Year category Best Community Impact via Small Business BC. Our platform is a safe space to talk about issues that Indigenous communities face and we aim to promote Indigenous culture, people, and businesses. Besides this, we make some pretty stellar soap.