New cohort of Navajo and Hopi entrepreneurs breaks away to follow their own path
Change Labs rings in the new year with a new cohort of Indigenous entrepreneurs who want to change how business is done.
We welcomed 12 Navajo and Hopi entrepreneurs into our Business Incubator program for Native American entrepreneurs and nonprofit leaders working on the reservation.
"I am immensely proud of the caliber of ideas represented in this new cohort of Native business owners," says Ceceilia Tso, Director of Business Incubation for Change Labs. "We are always on the lookout for strong business owners who are up for solving problems and building our tribal economy by providing critical services and products for Navajo and Hopi Nation."
Albert Haskie (credit Raymond Chee)
Sasha Begay (credit Raymond Chee)
Ira Vandever (credit Raymond Chee)
Albert Haskie, creator of Nyzhon Studios, describes his business as a developer start-up working to create an innovative way to blend the Navajo language and cultural teachings with technology.
He started the business a year ago in Lukachukai, Arizona, a rural town on the Navajo Nation with two of his high school classmates.
“I’ve always seen the need for next generation technology and new ways to lead our people into teaching our own language and culture through technology,” he said.
Haskie’s target audience is a younger generation of Navajos and he plans to offer his program on an app that would be accessible by phone or computer.
Through his program, he wants to offer an online Navajo dictionary, Navajo language learning videos, as well as a game to help people figure out what clan they are and if they are related to other Navajos on the app.
“I’ve always been fascinated in learning the language myself, I’ve always found challenges along the way with there not being as much resources available. I just want to provide that service to people who are on that same journey of learning the language,” Haskie said.
Through the cohort program, Haskie hopes to build a stronger foundation for his business and to be able to provide excellent service to his customers. When he decided to take on the task of creating his own business, he did it hoping that he could be a role model.
“We really want to incorporate our teachings into this app. We’re not trying to make money or try to pollute you with this application. We’re trying to have you find someone at the end of the day,” he said. “We’re incorporating our Navajo teachings into everything we do. Coding, programming, application, even customer service.”
Delphina Begay (credit Raymond Chee)
Deedra Dallas (credit Raymond Chee)
Leander Thomas (credit Raymond Chee)
While Haskie works to bring the Navajo language and technology together, another entrepreneur is working on sharing the Navajo culture through her art.
Sasha Begay, the owner of Twin Warrior Designs located in Sweetwater, Arizona, specializes in mugs and creating them with Navajo scenery, stories and phrases.
“I’ve always been interested in art. I grew up with a lot of artists in my family and I’ve been taking art classes since elementary,” she said.
The biggest challenge for Begay is finding a design and getting designs to fit on the mugs. She’s wasted a few mugs figuring out how to make the design work but its pushed her creativity, she said.
“In the beginning, my goal was to incorporate the Diné language. So, I used common coffee quotes and translated that into Navajo but I still felt that there was something missing and I wasn’t approaching my idea the way I wanted to,” she said.
After some research, she decided to expand from the common coffee quotes to Navajo Coyote Stories. She wanted to tap into a part of Navajo culture that she enjoyed but wasn’t seeing.
“That’s when I knew the direction that my business had to go and that’s adding that Diné language, stories and sharing the culture of being Navajo,” she said. “The cool thing about it is that I actually get to share stories that teach others about our culture and the lessons provided from those stories.”
For Begay, joining the Change Labs cohort has been a great motivator.
“I have more drive in doing what I’m doing now and they give me a brighter idea of how I can expand from the small room that I’m in now and that there are possibilities in succeeding in something, even though it seems so little,” she said. “So far with Change Labs, they give me hope.”
Mackenzi Navema (credit Raymond Chee)
Marco Arviso (credit Raymond Chee)
Nathaniel Brown (credit Raymond Chee)
The ability to work with different businesses at different levels is what drew Ira Vandever to Change Labs.
Vandever is working with Change Labs to bring his businesses under one name, Vandever Holding Company LLC, to take care of all the moving parts and to protect his businesses and future. One of Vandever’s first businesses is Falling Clouds, a company that houses a trading post as well as a catering company. He also owns Turquoise Indigo Fibers, which produces natural dyes along with weaving and saddle blankets. The latter has participated in high fashion shows in New York City and Vandever is planning a pop-up show during Paris fashion week this year.
His ventures are inspired by Vandver’s late grandmother, Bessie Vandever, who raised nine kids with her husband, Joe Vandever, Sr., a late Navajo Code Talker.
“What I’m trying to create is an Indigenous standard to how we do everything,” Vandever said. “An Indigenous standard means that we use as little electricity as possible, as little water as possible. Zero waste, zero duplication of services and then afterwards the carbon footprint is very low.”
“There’s something about turning your work into something you love or a lifestyle and if you love what you do, you really do find ways,” he said.
Sahar Khadjenoury (credit Raymond Chee)
Sasha Begay (credit Raymond Chee)
Shania Roanhorse (credit Raymond Chee)
The entrepreneurs accepted into the 2023 program also include: Marco Arviso, Delphina Begay, Nathaniel Brown, Deedra Dallas, Roddell Denetso, Sahar Khadjenoury, Mackenzi Navenma, Shaina Roanhorse, and Leander Thomas. To learn more about our incubator program, visit this webpage.