October 14, 2025 • 27 mins
In this episode, I sit down with the incredible Cissy Gore-Birch, a proud a Jaru/Kija woman with connections to Balanggarra, Nyikina and Bunuba Country in the Kimberley, and the powerhouse behind Lulujaru — a fashion label that weaves together culture, conservation, and self-determination.
Cissy shares her story of growing up in Wyndham as the eldest of eight kids in a big, busy household full of laughter, hand-me-downs, and strong family values. From a long career in Native Title, conservation, and land management to stepping into the creative world of fashion in her fifties, Cissy talks about the power of backing yourself, reconnecting with your creative spirit, and redefining what success looks like for our mob.
We yarn about how Lulujaru began — inspired by species of cultural significance — and how every piece tells a story that celebrates Country, sustainability, and culture. Cissy also opens up about her passion for food security, self-sufficiency, and empowering the next generation through her Young Women on Country program and youth housing initiatives, funded directly through her fashion sales.
This is a powerful conversation about purpose, resilience, and the beauty of creating our own futures — on our own terms.
Resources & Links
Lulujaru website: www.lulujaru.com.au
Lulujaru Instagram: www.instagram.com/official_lulujaru
The Black Magic Woman Podcast is hosted by Mundanara Bayles and is an uplifting conversational style program featuring mainly Aboriginal guests and explores issues of importance to Aboriginal people and communities. Mundanara is guided by Aboriginal Terms of Reference and focusses more on who people are rather than on what they do.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Black Cast Unite our voices.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Welcome to the Black Magic Woman Podcast with Mandanara Bayon.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
My sister.
Speaker 3 (00:19):
Thank you for joining me on this beautiful day here
on Koby Kobe Country. I would love for you to
share with my listeners and our viewers on YouTube. Tell
us about your mob or tell us your name, your
mob and a little bit about where you grew up
because a lot of people when we mentioned our mob,
whether it's a language group or our tribes, people don't.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Know where that is. Yes, so tell us a bit
about Yeah, you're sure.
Speaker 4 (00:45):
My name is Sissy gor Birch.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
I am a jar Ugidja woman with connections to Balangara,
Baba and Yiggina up in the East Kimberly and the
Kimberly region. I grew up in Windham, a small community
up in the East Kimberly and you know, like you
know what families are like. We had my mom and
dad had eight of us us in the household and
they adopted so many other kids, so it was overcrowded,
(01:07):
but it was fun and we shared, you know, like
the way we were brought up, you know, we were poor,
you know, we shared everything with everybody else and you
got hand me down, so we got hand me down
that it was so deadly, like we just it was
like an awesome op shop, you know, like a lost
girls just digging three things.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
It was just nine.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
Ah yeah, well you'd know now, oh girls. Well we
had six girls up and then two boys came late.
So and by that time I left home. So there's
a nineteen year gap between myself as the eldest and
my youngest brother.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
So you are the eldest, yes, I am, sis, I'm
the six youngest I got I got five older sisters.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
So I'm number six and then three little sisters.
Speaker 4 (01:49):
Yeah, I had.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
No idea what it'd be like to be the eldest.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Yes, there's a lot of pressure, but I don't know.
I just you just need to go and do what
you have to do, you know, and trying to.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
Carry money, yeah, pretty younger ones.
Speaker 4 (02:00):
Yes, yes, it was.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
Like that a lot, you know. And it's nice too
with all the girls. You know, we grew up together
in the household.
Speaker 4 (02:07):
It was like sisters.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
There was a lot of fighting, arguing, you know, fighting
over clothes, our shoes, like where's my shoes, where's my clothes?
You know, So the girls were just always fighting all
the time and arguing. But it was pretty amazing, you know,
growing up in that household, the opportunity we had, Mom
and dad took us out fishing, camping, hunting. You know,
we just grew up on the land in the bush
and you know that's something that you know, we'll never
(02:30):
ever forget. And this is, you know, the things that
I try and grow up, you know with and instill
with my children. I've got five children and one little
grandchild and one more coming on in December, thank you.
I'm very happy about that and very excited. Like it's
just such a different love and it's amazing. Like I
heard my parents say that, you know, like being a
grandmother and a grandparent is so it's a different thing
(02:52):
to a parent. So I definitely agree, and it's just
such a lovely thing.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
So which way are you living now?
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Living in Kananara only one hundred k's away from Wyndham.
But you know, I had the opportunity to live in
Melbourne for four years and traveled around to Perth, Broom, Fitzroy,
so a number of places. So I ended up back
in Kannanara after traveling around and working and you know,
I had some great opportunities through my life, and I
must say, like just having that hardship growing up as
(03:21):
a young person, you sort of just try everything. An
opportunity is an opportunity and you just trial everything. And
I had this wonderful opportunity in growing up and living
on country and it's amazing what sort of brings you
back to that. I had the opportunity to work with
Bush Heritage Australia as a senior executive and of national
partnerships right across Australia, and it took me across overseas
(03:44):
and working in conservation and land management, and you know,
I sat on a lot of boards with Threatened Species
Scientific Committee and sitting on the committee at the moment
with ICEN the Indigenous Carbon Industry Network as a co chair,
but a number of other boards has really sort of
brought me in this space. And being down here with
Korena and the team, you know, and just having that
(04:05):
opportunity to facilitate and MC the event is pretty amazing.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
The Master of Ceremony, yes for this time.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
And I've been so fortunate Karina and her team have
called me back for the last three years. So I've
been m seeing the event for the last three years
and it's just nice to see the people and the
community and the growth behind this. And Karina and her
team have done a wonderful job, you know.
Speaker 4 (04:27):
And it's just.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
Grown from one hundred and fifty I think by memory
the first time we had it, you know, three years ago.
The second year was around three hundred and fifty. Now
up to four hundred and fifty people. So it's just growing,
you know, it's just growing on its own and it's evolving.
But this space around climate, clean energy, Aboriginal people on
Native Title and this space is it's going to continue
(04:49):
to evolve. It's going to continue to grow. And this
is where I'm so passionate about it, not only just
a fashion, like fashion is just a side. And because
I had to get my head out of that Native
Title space. I was in Native Title for over twenty years.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
It's a lot.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
It's a lot, you know, and being a mother and
doing all these things over the years and saw a
lot of meetings and went to a lot of conferences
and being in a place now, you know, like over
fifty years old, and I just like, I'm not going
to spend the next twenty years doing this. I need
to try and do something for myself. So that's why
I went to fashion, but just to get my head
around being more creative. Like I was an artist back
(05:24):
in the day and sort of gave that away, you know,
for kids, and then gone out as a consultant and
doing consultancy work has been amazing. And this is something
that you know, I've experienced for the last probably eight
years as a consultant just doing this stuff and just
being in a different space and a different mindset.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
It's empowering, Oh my god, Like it's a wake up
when you want to wake up.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
No one telling you what to do, when to do,
whether you can have a lunch break, whether you can
go on leave, how much leave you can have, where
you can go to a funeral.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
You can that independence, yes, and you're sitting in your
own agenda, you know. And it's just like everything I
look at is an opportunity. And that's where my sort
of fashion started from. When I was sitting on the
Threatened Species Scientific Committee for the federal government. I was
the first Indigenous person to be seated on that committee.
And you know, it was always told that, oh, you
(06:14):
have to be a scientist to be able to sit
on here. It's like, no, I actually have an interest
in native title and traditional owners' rights, and I have
an interest in this space around species of cultural significance.
And through that journey, we were pushing the point of
the importance of species of cultural significance to be recognized,
to look at funding opportunities, and because threatened species they
(06:35):
get a lot of funding, where a species of cultural
significance to us as First Nations people is not even
heard about and there's not a lot of funding available.
So I had the opportunity to sit there and I
was like, what can I do in this space to
be able to just promote this, And that's why I
ended up doing screen printing on my shirts of all
the different totemic species and species of cultural significance. So
(06:57):
I just got my son, I said, I need you
to draw these designs up. I just want to get these,
you know, these animals species of cultural significance on our
shirts to promote and sell, just to get it out there.
And then that's how we started our fashion by this
whole inspiration of species of cultural significance, keeping that you know,
the conservation and land management sort of scene and setting
(07:22):
and looking at what's sustainable for us, you know, is
really where you know, I want to end up for us,
for my family, but also to promote the importance of
self sufficient, you know, being confident in that space, to
be able to share that knowledge and understanding. And now
we've started our fashion it's just only a side thing
at the moment, only still consulting.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
You're juggling consulting on boards, sitting on boards, consulting events,
being a mother.
Speaker 4 (07:48):
You know, and just looking after our little farm.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
And I mean, like just it's been an amazing journey,
like in the last four years, like living in a tent,
so I still I was living in a tent.
Speaker 4 (07:58):
On our property.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
We bought a little bush block and we live in
a sea container during the wet and growing our own
food where you know, we've got our own We've got
about twenty five headed sheep and we've got thirty chickens,
you know, and so we've got our own produce that
we are dealing with at home. But we want to
be able to expand on that and just share our knowledge.
Because my husband he's got a background in science, I've
(08:20):
got natural resource management, and we have this aspiration not
only for ourselves, but to help our people and others
who want to come on this journey about growing your
own food, becoming self sufficient, living off the land and
not becoming so reliant and dependent on the systems around us.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
Of course, and that there's massive issues around food security
in our communities, especially remote communities. What are some of
the challenges within that community that you want to share
with some of my listeners that.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
I've never heard of, Kananara, Yeah, I mean, like there's
so many issues. There's a lot of youth crime, there's
a lot of dysfunction in our communities. There's a lot
of poverty, as you say, food security. Everyone's so reliant
on the food and the shops.
Speaker 4 (09:03):
You know.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
And it's just the housing situation, you know, and they're
talking about this whole deal about climate change, Like all
our houses are tin, are made out of tin, and
it's just not appropriate. And the cost of living is ridiculous.
The rent is crazy, it's above three hundred and fifty
to five hundred dollars a week, and you know, this
is how are people supposed to live and survive in
(09:24):
that space? If you don't have a job, if you
don't have that security if you don't have the support.
And this is what I've noticed over the last probably
twenty five years, thirty years, is you know, our family
structures are breaking down because of all the distractions that
are happening around us, and the busyness of life is
just taken control of us. And this is I guess,
(09:45):
just on reflection of all these different things that are
happening in our communities. We need to take ownership of
this because we can't rely on the government to fix
our problems. We as a community need to come together
and help and support one family at a time matters,
you know at the end of the day, and working
with our young people, our families, building our families up again.
But you know, the systems have really failed us. And
(10:07):
this is where we need to think beyond the systems
and to be able to look at how do we
build those systems that we have once had in our communities.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
Are they going to work for us?
Speaker 4 (10:16):
Yes? You know what I mean, Like we just.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
Just different from each community.
Speaker 4 (10:20):
Exactly, you know.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
And this is where our people and our leaders need
to come together. And you know, there's a lot of jealousy,
there's a lot of pulling me down.
Speaker 3 (10:27):
And some people are doing well, some aren't. Some have
been through the education system, someone off to boarding school, yes,
you know, and come back educated, and they're even struggling
with you know, being educated, or how they talk, or
how they dress, what kind of job.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
What kind of car they drive.
Speaker 4 (10:44):
Yes, I see it.
Speaker 3 (10:45):
A lot within a lot of our communities. And sometimes
we are our.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
Own worst enemy. It is how do we I always.
Speaker 3 (10:51):
Think about, you know, getting out of bed every day
and just making sure that my children can see that
there's a lot that life has to offer us that
we have, you know, very when you think about the
challenges and the lives that our old people had to
(11:12):
live through. Yes, and we get to we've you know,
we're not living under those conditions anymore in terms of
those acts that controlled every aspects of our lives. But
we've been impacted by those acts. For a lot of
people that are thinking about supporting, you know, some of
our initiatives, some of our programs in our communities. I
(11:34):
think business and entrepreneurship has been the way that I
could create you know, economic wealth or whatever empowerment, but
just breaking the cycle of intergenerational poverty, breaking the cycle
of intergenerational trauma. These are some of the things that
we do with every day. But then we go and
(11:54):
we do our business and sit on these boards and
try and you know, be that voice for our people. Yeah,
because some of us have those privileges.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
Yes, I mean, like that's since coming out of that space,
So I've sort of stepped away from a lot of
boards and really picking and choosing what I sit on
and what I get involved with, you know, because I
just think I've spent so many years sitting on these
boards doing a lot of community development stuff for so
many other people, and you just sort of forget about yourself,
(12:27):
you know, and what's really important to you and your
family and you know, your family values and your community.
And what I've found is that since I've gone into
my own business, I feel a lot more freer from
the system.
Speaker 4 (12:40):
You're not relying on the system.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
You're not waiting for a payroll from a system that's
set up to fail and to create dependency. It's about
creating your own destiny. I Mean it's hard yaka ye,
you know, having to find the dollars, but that's part
of life, you know, and it actually drives me so
much more where I can think a lot more innovatively
in regards to what can I do next and trying
(13:01):
to bring people onto that journey with me, you know,
And it's been such an amazing journey for so many
of us women you know, around and I just get so,
I don't know, full of joy to see so many
Indigenous women around Australia like yourself, absolutely kicking ass, you
know what I mean. And this, this is what we
need to celebrate, and we need to wrap ourselves around
(13:24):
this and celebrate this because too many times we're pulled
down by our own people in our own communities and
just being valued and appreciated and to know that we
are doing something we have to do and we're creating
the space for others to come on board, of course,
it's amazing.
Speaker 3 (13:40):
I was with sister Chantelle Thompson and she was talking
about another podcast partnership around mental fitness, yeah, suicide prevention conversations.
She was talking about we are not our trauma. You know,
this trauma is only two hundred and thirty years old.
You know, we are a people of one hundred thousand
(14:03):
years plus of knowledge and wisdom.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
That's who we are.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
And it just was so empowering, just to remind ourselves
that we're not victims. You know, we don't all need help.
We are you know, we are the drivers of our destiny.
We're the ones that have to take control of the
lives that we want to live and create the opportunities
and the future that we want our children to prosper
(14:28):
and to benefit from. Nothing's going to come easy, especially
for anyone starting off in business. It's not easy. And
you do not get any handouts. You don't get government funding.
For all your non Indigenous people that think if you're
successful that you must have got a government grant, that
is really it's far from the truth, because you can't
get a grant if you are for profit.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
We're not charities, yes.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
Right, we are pty LTDs and some of us have got.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
Trust as well.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (15:04):
So with your new fashion business, how has it been,
especially as a Aboriginal woman navigating the fashion industry.
Speaker 4 (15:13):
I mean, like it's been interesting.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
As I said, you know, it's understanding the fashion world.
By thinking that I thought I'd come out of the politics,
you know, and from native title and dealing with the
federal government and state and everybody else it all, I.
Speaker 4 (15:27):
Thought I've seen it all.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
I was like, yes, I'm going into a creative space,
you know something that I want to do. I'm really
passionate about doing art. And next minute, you know, I
just go in there. And it's just like you have
to know certain people to be able to get certain
things done, to open the doors, to open doors, and
it's just like I am just so thankful that we
had DAFF the Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair, the IFP program,
(15:49):
the Indigenous Fashion Program, and we've also got a program
through the Kimberley called the Kimberly Aboriginal Fashion Textiles Association,
and that's only a newly built organization to help women
to be able to get through and understand fashion. And
I mean, like it's been an amazing journey. I've only
been in it for the second this is my second year.
(16:10):
But I've always had this passion to look at creating
my own like my own stuff, my own clothing, and
my own brand. But I never thought at fifty years old,
it's never too late to.
Speaker 4 (16:20):
Go into something completely new.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
And it's just been such an amazing journey for me
and for my family, Like it's just sort of like
a family business. I try and get my kids to
draw the pitches and designs and have feed you know,
give me feedback in regards to some of the clothing
and the styles, and it's just been That's one of
my best things that I really get joyful about and
it brings a lot of joy to me and it
(16:44):
just sort of levels things out, like it's not too political,
but it's enough. But I'm not too involved with that
because I'm doing things on my own and just involving
people that I want to get involved with. So yeah,
and it's been nice, but it's been hard like this,
I've been able to get this my first fashion, my
first lot out stop this year.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
So how can we purchase your fashion? Tell the listeners?
Speaker 2 (17:08):
Yes, So to purchase my fashion, you have to go
on to Lulujaru so on that. We've got a website www.
Dot l U l u j a r u dot
com dot au. And I've got a Instagram page Official
Underscore Lulujaru l U l e u j.
Speaker 3 (17:26):
A r U on Instagram on Instagram, yes, dadlet Yes,
And what has it been like You've got your website,
you're on Instagram. What has it been in terms of
how have you been perceived. Are you getting sales, are
you finding you know, Migler women, Wadulo women buying your fashion?
Speaker 1 (17:44):
Is it just for black women?
Speaker 3 (17:46):
Like who's who's your Well, it's if you want customers.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
Like I've been amazed, like the stuff that I'm wearing,
like it's made out of hemp and I do embroidery
and it's not too busy and it's just really simple
and sort of sophisticated and sort of I want to
try and keep that elegance but smart look because I
travel a lot and I was like, what am I
going to wear when I go traveling and when I'm
going to go into a conference. And I've been so surprised,
Like we just had a dar and we had daw
(18:10):
and Averaginal Art Fair last week. We had a stall
and we actually had stock on the ground this time,
and we actually made some really good sales and we
had people from all over come in and purchase because
we've got the T shirts with the animals on it,
the species of Cultural Significance, and then we've got the
other women's line with the jackets and the hemp clothing,
(18:31):
and we've actually got a new men's line out also
and it's pretty amazing.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
You've got a men's line. Yes, I've got an accist
because of my babies. Do you have.
Speaker 4 (18:40):
Children, Yes, we do have children. Yes.
Speaker 3 (18:42):
I love the fact that every T shirt tells a story. Yes,
it's connected to culture, it's ethical, it's got integrity, it's educational. Yes,
and you want more people to know about these species,
and hopefully the industry of the sector, the government, people
that are legislating, policymakers for them to understand these species
(19:06):
as well. Clothing the gaps launched to fund health promotion
programs and their T shirts around fashion starting conversations through fashion.
That's exactly how I see this clothing, you know. And
there's so many black fellows now, I'm so proud when
I see all these different mob whether it's the Daft
(19:30):
or whether it's the Cans, and it's just art fair.
We are so deadly with what we want to do
and the creativity, but we don't have the resources so
financially to be able to back ourselves to put a
product out in the market. How have you been able
to navigate that?
Speaker 2 (19:49):
Well, it's such an expensive space and I didn't realize
that when I went into it, but I'm so, I
guess blessed to have a job as in my consultancy
and our teas, we sell our T shirts because that
covers actually the cost of making my stuff and for
our stock. This year, I've had to take a loan
(20:10):
of fifty thousand dollars. There's no grants available to do this,
you know, And I was, you'd be great if there
was some help to be able to do it. But
this is my business and I know that it's my
responsibility and if I want it to be successful, I
need to drive that. And so I've taken a loan
of fifty thousand dollars to get the stock out and
I've finally got stock, and I just need to make
the sales now. So you know, for everybody out there,
(20:32):
you know our sales. So ten percent of our sales
actually goes back to our youth program. So we're developing
a young women's on Country program, so we take young
women out teach them about conservation and land management matters
and looking at leadership and building young women's voices up
in this space, and also looking at entrepreneurship. So because
(20:53):
I you know, as a kid growing up, we always
learned about entrepreneurship because we were selling cakes, you know,
at the local card games. We were selling stew and
rice down at the reserve, hard games too hard.
Speaker 4 (21:04):
Games, you know, like we had an up there.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
This is the thing, like we saw those opportunities and
we actually made cash by selling cupcakes and jelly jelly
bowls and toffees and you know, all of that stuff.
So we learned at a very early age. And now
this is the stuff I want to bring back to
young kids that you can actually make some money and
some cash because a lot of our young kids don't
(21:26):
have that opportunity to have pocket money, you know, instead
of humbugging your mother and father, go out and do
something for yourself. So through through our young women's program,
this is what we're doing, and we're fortunate to get
some funding available last year and this year to run
our next Young women's Working on Country program. And we're
also ten percent of our sales actually goes back into
(21:49):
a youth housing project because I've worked in the youth
industry for a very long time and we're wanting to
develop a housing project for our young people on the
streets that don't have a stable home, that are wanting
to go and look for a job and to be
able to look at providing nutritional programs and also money making,
money saving sort of program and to get them into
(22:10):
a trade or a traineeship so that they have some
stability and you know, at least for that first.
Speaker 4 (22:14):
Part of their life.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
So our sales, whatever sales goes, goes back into our
youth program, so our housing program and also our youth
on country program.
Speaker 3 (22:23):
My sister, this is just too deadly because we don't
talk about all the deadly things that we do for
our communities. Just being you know, blackfellows, Aboriginal people. We're
taught to be humble, to be grounded, not to big
nat yourself.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
Yes, and this is a platform where we can talk.
Speaker 3 (22:40):
About what we're doing in our communities because a lot
of non Aboriginal people really they don't know. They've been
taught and lied to through mainstream media.
Speaker 1 (22:53):
It's the deficit model.
Speaker 3 (22:54):
Yes, and here we are is too quite capable business
owners and entrepreneurs that are still raising families, holding communities together,
holding fans together, growing up our babies and our young
people to be strong in culture, and then teaching them
about investing and entrepreneurship. And looking after country. So I
(23:15):
can't wait to come through Kananara.
Speaker 4 (23:18):
You have to come.
Speaker 3 (23:19):
I'm coming back not just for twenty four hours, no,
but also all of the networks and people and clients
that I work with with Black Counter Training, I deliver
to a lot of people, especially philanthropists, people that have
money but don't know where to put the money. So
these communities, these initiatives, and even the clothing. I can't
(23:41):
wait to buy one of your carrots. I'll be representing
please and letting people know where they can go to buy.
But for your mob listening, I hope you do look
in the show notes and get online and purchase a
T shirt, even.
Speaker 1 (23:54):
For a gift.
Speaker 3 (23:55):
For every one dollar you spend with a black business,
the social impact equals four dollars forty one. We are
one hundred times more likely to imp ploy our people,
according to a recent study, and I'll put that study
in the show notes as well. One hundred times, not
ten times, a hundred times more likely to employ our
own people. So how about that in terms of closing
(24:18):
the gap when it comes to unemployment rates, back indigenous
businesses because that's where the change is going to happen,
not in one hundred years. It can happen within our lifetime.
So my sister, thank you, thank you for being here,
jumping on this podcast and sharing the amazing work that
you do within your community, within your family, and hopefully
(24:39):
we'll see your garments on the runway.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
Yes next year, next year, next year. Yes, I'm a
part of the IFP program. So we got in and
to showcase our collections in twenty twenty six at the
Australian Fashion Week.
Speaker 1 (24:53):
I'm coming.
Speaker 3 (24:54):
There are so many people doing deadly things in this space.
I can't wait for people to start engaging more and
thinking about how can you reach some of these startups
that initiatives happening in our community.
Speaker 1 (25:07):
So, my sister, I don't need to say good luck.
Speaker 3 (25:10):
There's a lot of deadly things already happening. But I
hope I can come to the community and figure out
how do we get more support, some funding to some
of these programs that not just relying on sales of
a T shirt. There's some wealthy families in this country, yes,
that really want to give back, and these programs are
(25:31):
already set up.
Speaker 1 (25:32):
We just need some more resourcing.
Speaker 4 (25:34):
That would be fabulous without all the red tape. Ah,
that would be amazing.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
I mean, like because I have been so blessed around
the philanthropy that has supported me for the young Women's
camp for the last two years, and if we can
have that, like one camp a year is not enough,
we want to do five moly.
Speaker 4 (25:51):
You know, it'd be amazing.
Speaker 2 (25:52):
Because it's that consistency that our young people could grow
and develop and that exposure. So we want to bring
in women like yourself, you know, professional, you know, black
strong women to come in to be able to share
this is in their gurney, because that's where we're going
to learn from.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
So you can't be what you can't see.
Speaker 4 (26:07):
Yes, exactly that.
Speaker 2 (26:09):
You know, this is the stuff that we need to
do and expose our kids, and this is what the
schools need to start learning about and teaching our kids
about business, about entrepreneurship. You know, like our kids are
going to school learning about things that is not even
necessary for future. I know, we need to be thinking
about how do we embed these projects and programs into
the school system so that our kids are thinking outside
the box.
Speaker 3 (26:28):
Of course, my sister go and enjoy the rest of
the what's left of this deadly conference. Yes, and I
hope I can see you very soon. I'll be wearing
one of these dadly coats.
Speaker 4 (26:38):
Awesome. Thank you and thank you so much for inviting
me on the show.
Speaker 1 (26:41):
Appreciate it. Can't wait. We're going to be doing business. Please,
let's do this. Let's do it.
Speaker 2 (26:47):
So.
Speaker 3 (26:48):
This is where business happens, where the magic happens, not
just on the podcast, but when black fellows get together.
Can't wait to see what the future holds for us
as more black women think about business and entrepreneurship as
an in terms of being employed by other people.
Speaker 1 (27:06):
You know, we need to be in charge of our own.
Speaker 3 (27:08):
Destinies and there's a lot of people that have been
able to do it.
Speaker 1 (27:12):
It's never too late.
Speaker 3 (27:13):
So I hope you've got a lot out of this podcast,
and I hope you've enjoyed this Deadly So until next time.
Speaker 1 (27:19):
By for now.
Speaker 3 (27:20):
If you'd like any more on today's guest, please visit
our show notes in the episode description.
Speaker 1 (27:28):
A big shout out to all.
Speaker 3 (27:29):
You Deadly Mob and allies who continue to listen, watch,
and support our podcast.
Speaker 1 (27:34):
Your feedback means the world.
Speaker 3 (27:36):
You can rate and review the podcast on Apple and Spotify,
or even head to our socials and YouTube channel and
drop us a line we'd love to hear from you.
The Black Magic Woman podcast is produced by Clint Curtis
Black Cast Unite our voices.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Welcome to the Black Magic Woman Podcast with Mandanara Bayon.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
My sister.
Speaker 3 (00:19):
Thank you for joining me on this beautiful day here
on Koby Kobe Country. I would love for you to
share with my listeners and our viewers on YouTube. Tell
us about your mob or tell us your name, your
mob and a little bit about where you grew up
because a lot of people when we mentioned our mob,
whether it's a language group or our tribes, people don't.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Know where that is. Yes, so tell us a bit
about Yeah, you're sure.
Speaker 4 (00:45):
My name is Sissy gor Birch.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
I am a jar Ugidja woman with connections to Balangara,
Baba and Yiggina up in the East Kimberly and the
Kimberly region. I grew up in Windham, a small community
up in the East Kimberly and you know, like you
know what families are like. We had my mom and
dad had eight of us us in the household and
they adopted so many other kids, so it was overcrowded,
(01:07):
but it was fun and we shared, you know, like
the way we were brought up, you know, we were poor,
you know, we shared everything with everybody else and you
got hand me down, so we got hand me down
that it was so deadly, like we just it was
like an awesome op shop, you know, like a lost
girls just digging three things.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
It was just nine.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
Ah yeah, well you'd know now, oh girls. Well we
had six girls up and then two boys came late.
So and by that time I left home. So there's
a nineteen year gap between myself as the eldest and
my youngest brother.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
So you are the eldest, yes, I am, sis, I'm
the six youngest I got I got five older sisters.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
So I'm number six and then three little sisters.
Speaker 4 (01:49):
Yeah, I had.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
No idea what it'd be like to be the eldest.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Yes, there's a lot of pressure, but I don't know.
I just you just need to go and do what
you have to do, you know, and trying to.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
Carry money, yeah, pretty younger ones.
Speaker 4 (02:00):
Yes, yes, it was.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
Like that a lot, you know. And it's nice too
with all the girls. You know, we grew up together
in the household.
Speaker 4 (02:07):
It was like sisters.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
There was a lot of fighting, arguing, you know, fighting
over clothes, our shoes, like where's my shoes, where's my clothes?
You know, So the girls were just always fighting all
the time and arguing. But it was pretty amazing, you know,
growing up in that household, the opportunity we had, Mom
and dad took us out fishing, camping, hunting. You know,
we just grew up on the land in the bush
and you know that's something that you know, we'll never
(02:30):
ever forget. And this is, you know, the things that
I try and grow up, you know with and instill
with my children. I've got five children and one little
grandchild and one more coming on in December, thank you.
I'm very happy about that and very excited. Like it's
just such a different love and it's amazing. Like I
heard my parents say that, you know, like being a
grandmother and a grandparent is so it's a different thing
(02:52):
to a parent. So I definitely agree, and it's just
such a lovely thing.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
So which way are you living now?
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Living in Kananara only one hundred k's away from Wyndham.
But you know, I had the opportunity to live in
Melbourne for four years and traveled around to Perth, Broom, Fitzroy,
so a number of places. So I ended up back
in Kannanara after traveling around and working and you know,
I had some great opportunities through my life, and I
must say, like just having that hardship growing up as
(03:21):
a young person, you sort of just try everything. An
opportunity is an opportunity and you just trial everything. And
I had this wonderful opportunity in growing up and living
on country and it's amazing what sort of brings you
back to that. I had the opportunity to work with
Bush Heritage Australia as a senior executive and of national
partnerships right across Australia, and it took me across overseas
(03:44):
and working in conservation and land management, and you know,
I sat on a lot of boards with Threatened Species
Scientific Committee and sitting on the committee at the moment
with ICEN the Indigenous Carbon Industry Network as a co chair,
but a number of other boards has really sort of
brought me in this space. And being down here with
Korena and the team, you know, and just having that
(04:05):
opportunity to facilitate and MC the event is pretty amazing.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
The Master of Ceremony, yes for this time.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
And I've been so fortunate Karina and her team have
called me back for the last three years. So I've
been m seeing the event for the last three years
and it's just nice to see the people and the
community and the growth behind this. And Karina and her
team have done a wonderful job, you know.
Speaker 4 (04:27):
And it's just.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
Grown from one hundred and fifty I think by memory
the first time we had it, you know, three years ago.
The second year was around three hundred and fifty. Now
up to four hundred and fifty people. So it's just growing,
you know, it's just growing on its own and it's evolving.
But this space around climate, clean energy, Aboriginal people on
Native Title and this space is it's going to continue
(04:49):
to evolve. It's going to continue to grow. And this
is where I'm so passionate about it, not only just
a fashion, like fashion is just a side. And because
I had to get my head out of that Native
Title space. I was in Native Title for over twenty years.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
It's a lot.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
It's a lot, you know, and being a mother and
doing all these things over the years and saw a
lot of meetings and went to a lot of conferences
and being in a place now, you know, like over
fifty years old, and I just like, I'm not going
to spend the next twenty years doing this. I need
to try and do something for myself. So that's why
I went to fashion, but just to get my head
around being more creative. Like I was an artist back
(05:24):
in the day and sort of gave that away, you know,
for kids, and then gone out as a consultant and
doing consultancy work has been amazing. And this is something
that you know, I've experienced for the last probably eight
years as a consultant just doing this stuff and just
being in a different space and a different mindset.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
It's empowering, Oh my god, Like it's a wake up
when you want to wake up.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
No one telling you what to do, when to do,
whether you can have a lunch break, whether you can
go on leave, how much leave you can have, where
you can go to a funeral.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
You can that independence, yes, and you're sitting in your
own agenda, you know. And it's just like everything I
look at is an opportunity. And that's where my sort
of fashion started from. When I was sitting on the
Threatened Species Scientific Committee for the federal government. I was
the first Indigenous person to be seated on that committee.
And you know, it was always told that, oh, you
(06:14):
have to be a scientist to be able to sit
on here. It's like, no, I actually have an interest
in native title and traditional owners' rights, and I have
an interest in this space around species of cultural significance.
And through that journey, we were pushing the point of
the importance of species of cultural significance to be recognized,
to look at funding opportunities, and because threatened species they
(06:35):
get a lot of funding, where a species of cultural
significance to us as First Nations people is not even
heard about and there's not a lot of funding available.
So I had the opportunity to sit there and I
was like, what can I do in this space to
be able to just promote this, And that's why I
ended up doing screen printing on my shirts of all
the different totemic species and species of cultural significance. So
(06:57):
I just got my son, I said, I need you
to draw these designs up. I just want to get these,
you know, these animals species of cultural significance on our
shirts to promote and sell, just to get it out there.
And then that's how we started our fashion by this
whole inspiration of species of cultural significance, keeping that you know,
the conservation and land management sort of scene and setting
(07:22):
and looking at what's sustainable for us, you know, is
really where you know, I want to end up for us,
for my family, but also to promote the importance of
self sufficient, you know, being confident in that space, to
be able to share that knowledge and understanding. And now
we've started our fashion it's just only a side thing
at the moment, only still consulting.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
You're juggling consulting on boards, sitting on boards, consulting events,
being a mother.
Speaker 4 (07:48):
You know, and just looking after our little farm.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
And I mean, like just it's been an amazing journey,
like in the last four years, like living in a tent,
so I still I was living in a tent.
Speaker 4 (07:58):
On our property.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
We bought a little bush block and we live in
a sea container during the wet and growing our own
food where you know, we've got our own We've got
about twenty five headed sheep and we've got thirty chickens,
you know, and so we've got our own produce that
we are dealing with at home. But we want to
be able to expand on that and just share our knowledge.
Because my husband he's got a background in science, I've
(08:20):
got natural resource management, and we have this aspiration not
only for ourselves, but to help our people and others
who want to come on this journey about growing your
own food, becoming self sufficient, living off the land and
not becoming so reliant and dependent on the systems around us.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
Of course, and that there's massive issues around food security
in our communities, especially remote communities. What are some of
the challenges within that community that you want to share
with some of my listeners that.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
I've never heard of, Kananara, Yeah, I mean, like there's
so many issues. There's a lot of youth crime, there's
a lot of dysfunction in our communities. There's a lot
of poverty, as you say, food security. Everyone's so reliant
on the food and the shops.
Speaker 4 (09:03):
You know.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
And it's just the housing situation, you know, and they're
talking about this whole deal about climate change, Like all
our houses are tin, are made out of tin, and
it's just not appropriate. And the cost of living is ridiculous.
The rent is crazy, it's above three hundred and fifty
to five hundred dollars a week, and you know, this
is how are people supposed to live and survive in
(09:24):
that space? If you don't have a job, if you
don't have that security if you don't have the support.
And this is what I've noticed over the last probably
twenty five years, thirty years, is you know, our family
structures are breaking down because of all the distractions that
are happening around us, and the busyness of life is
just taken control of us. And this is I guess,
(09:45):
just on reflection of all these different things that are
happening in our communities. We need to take ownership of
this because we can't rely on the government to fix
our problems. We as a community need to come together
and help and support one family at a time matters,
you know at the end of the day, and working
with our young people, our families, building our families up again.
But you know, the systems have really failed us. And
(10:07):
this is where we need to think beyond the systems
and to be able to look at how do we
build those systems that we have once had in our communities.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
Are they going to work for us?
Speaker 4 (10:16):
Yes? You know what I mean, Like we just.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
Just different from each community.
Speaker 4 (10:20):
Exactly, you know.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
And this is where our people and our leaders need
to come together. And you know, there's a lot of jealousy,
there's a lot of pulling me down.
Speaker 3 (10:27):
And some people are doing well, some aren't. Some have
been through the education system, someone off to boarding school, yes,
you know, and come back educated, and they're even struggling
with you know, being educated, or how they talk, or
how they dress, what kind of job.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
What kind of car they drive.
Speaker 4 (10:44):
Yes, I see it.
Speaker 3 (10:45):
A lot within a lot of our communities. And sometimes
we are our.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
Own worst enemy. It is how do we I always.
Speaker 3 (10:51):
Think about, you know, getting out of bed every day
and just making sure that my children can see that
there's a lot that life has to offer us that
we have, you know, very when you think about the
challenges and the lives that our old people had to
(11:12):
live through. Yes, and we get to we've you know,
we're not living under those conditions anymore in terms of
those acts that controlled every aspects of our lives. But
we've been impacted by those acts. For a lot of
people that are thinking about supporting, you know, some of
our initiatives, some of our programs in our communities. I
(11:34):
think business and entrepreneurship has been the way that I
could create you know, economic wealth or whatever empowerment, but
just breaking the cycle of intergenerational poverty, breaking the cycle
of intergenerational trauma. These are some of the things that
we do with every day. But then we go and
(11:54):
we do our business and sit on these boards and
try and you know, be that voice for our people. Yeah,
because some of us have those privileges.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
Yes, I mean, like that's since coming out of that space,
So I've sort of stepped away from a lot of
boards and really picking and choosing what I sit on
and what I get involved with, you know, because I
just think I've spent so many years sitting on these
boards doing a lot of community development stuff for so
many other people, and you just sort of forget about yourself,
(12:27):
you know, and what's really important to you and your
family and you know, your family values and your community.
And what I've found is that since I've gone into
my own business, I feel a lot more freer from
the system.
Speaker 4 (12:40):
You're not relying on the system.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
You're not waiting for a payroll from a system that's
set up to fail and to create dependency. It's about
creating your own destiny. I Mean it's hard yaka ye,
you know, having to find the dollars, but that's part
of life, you know, and it actually drives me so
much more where I can think a lot more innovatively
in regards to what can I do next and trying
(13:01):
to bring people onto that journey with me, you know,
And it's been such an amazing journey for so many
of us women you know, around and I just get so,
I don't know, full of joy to see so many
Indigenous women around Australia like yourself, absolutely kicking ass, you
know what I mean. And this, this is what we
need to celebrate, and we need to wrap ourselves around
(13:24):
this and celebrate this because too many times we're pulled
down by our own people in our own communities and
just being valued and appreciated and to know that we
are doing something we have to do and we're creating
the space for others to come on board, of course,
it's amazing.
Speaker 3 (13:40):
I was with sister Chantelle Thompson and she was talking
about another podcast partnership around mental fitness, yeah, suicide prevention conversations.
She was talking about we are not our trauma. You know,
this trauma is only two hundred and thirty years old.
You know, we are a people of one hundred thousand
(14:03):
years plus of knowledge and wisdom.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
That's who we are.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
And it just was so empowering, just to remind ourselves
that we're not victims. You know, we don't all need help.
We are you know, we are the drivers of our destiny.
We're the ones that have to take control of the
lives that we want to live and create the opportunities
and the future that we want our children to prosper
(14:28):
and to benefit from. Nothing's going to come easy, especially
for anyone starting off in business. It's not easy. And
you do not get any handouts. You don't get government funding.
For all your non Indigenous people that think if you're
successful that you must have got a government grant, that
is really it's far from the truth, because you can't
get a grant if you are for profit.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
We're not charities, yes.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
Right, we are pty LTDs and some of us have got.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
Trust as well.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (15:04):
So with your new fashion business, how has it been,
especially as a Aboriginal woman navigating the fashion industry.
Speaker 4 (15:13):
I mean, like it's been interesting.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
As I said, you know, it's understanding the fashion world.
By thinking that I thought I'd come out of the politics,
you know, and from native title and dealing with the
federal government and state and everybody else it all, I.
Speaker 4 (15:27):
Thought I've seen it all.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
I was like, yes, I'm going into a creative space,
you know something that I want to do. I'm really
passionate about doing art. And next minute, you know, I
just go in there. And it's just like you have
to know certain people to be able to get certain
things done, to open the doors, to open doors, and
it's just like I am just so thankful that we
had DAFF the Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair, the IFP program,
(15:49):
the Indigenous Fashion Program, and we've also got a program
through the Kimberley called the Kimberly Aboriginal Fashion Textiles Association,
and that's only a newly built organization to help women
to be able to get through and understand fashion. And
I mean, like it's been an amazing journey. I've only
been in it for the second this is my second year.
(16:10):
But I've always had this passion to look at creating
my own like my own stuff, my own clothing, and
my own brand. But I never thought at fifty years old,
it's never too late to.
Speaker 4 (16:20):
Go into something completely new.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
And it's just been such an amazing journey for me
and for my family, Like it's just sort of like
a family business. I try and get my kids to
draw the pitches and designs and have feed you know,
give me feedback in regards to some of the clothing
and the styles, and it's just been That's one of
my best things that I really get joyful about and
it brings a lot of joy to me and it
(16:44):
just sort of levels things out, like it's not too political,
but it's enough. But I'm not too involved with that
because I'm doing things on my own and just involving
people that I want to get involved with. So yeah,
and it's been nice, but it's been hard like this,
I've been able to get this my first fashion, my
first lot out stop this year.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
So how can we purchase your fashion? Tell the listeners?
Speaker 2 (17:08):
Yes, So to purchase my fashion, you have to go
on to Lulujaru so on that. We've got a website www.
Dot l U l u j a r u dot
com dot au. And I've got a Instagram page Official
Underscore Lulujaru l U l e u j.
Speaker 3 (17:26):
A r U on Instagram on Instagram, yes, dadlet Yes,
And what has it been like You've got your website,
you're on Instagram. What has it been in terms of
how have you been perceived. Are you getting sales, are
you finding you know, Migler women, Wadulo women buying your fashion?
Speaker 1 (17:44):
Is it just for black women?
Speaker 3 (17:46):
Like who's who's your Well, it's if you want customers.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
Like I've been amazed, like the stuff that I'm wearing,
like it's made out of hemp and I do embroidery
and it's not too busy and it's just really simple
and sort of sophisticated and sort of I want to
try and keep that elegance but smart look because I
travel a lot and I was like, what am I
going to wear when I go traveling and when I'm
going to go into a conference. And I've been so surprised,
Like we just had a dar and we had daw
(18:10):
and Averaginal Art Fair last week. We had a stall
and we actually had stock on the ground this time,
and we actually made some really good sales and we
had people from all over come in and purchase because
we've got the T shirts with the animals on it,
the species of Cultural Significance, and then we've got the
other women's line with the jackets and the hemp clothing,
(18:31):
and we've actually got a new men's line out also
and it's pretty amazing.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
You've got a men's line. Yes, I've got an accist
because of my babies. Do you have.
Speaker 4 (18:40):
Children, Yes, we do have children. Yes.
Speaker 3 (18:42):
I love the fact that every T shirt tells a story. Yes,
it's connected to culture, it's ethical, it's got integrity, it's educational. Yes,
and you want more people to know about these species,
and hopefully the industry of the sector, the government, people
that are legislating, policymakers for them to understand these species
(19:06):
as well. Clothing the gaps launched to fund health promotion
programs and their T shirts around fashion starting conversations through fashion.
That's exactly how I see this clothing, you know. And
there's so many black fellows now, I'm so proud when
I see all these different mob whether it's the Daft
(19:30):
or whether it's the Cans, and it's just art fair.
We are so deadly with what we want to do
and the creativity, but we don't have the resources so
financially to be able to back ourselves to put a
product out in the market. How have you been able
to navigate that?
Speaker 2 (19:49):
Well, it's such an expensive space and I didn't realize
that when I went into it, but I'm so, I
guess blessed to have a job as in my consultancy
and our teas, we sell our T shirts because that
covers actually the cost of making my stuff and for
our stock. This year, I've had to take a loan
(20:10):
of fifty thousand dollars. There's no grants available to do this,
you know, And I was, you'd be great if there
was some help to be able to do it. But
this is my business and I know that it's my
responsibility and if I want it to be successful, I
need to drive that. And so I've taken a loan
of fifty thousand dollars to get the stock out and
I've finally got stock, and I just need to make
the sales now. So you know, for everybody out there,
(20:32):
you know our sales. So ten percent of our sales
actually goes back to our youth program. So we're developing
a young women's on Country program, so we take young
women out teach them about conservation and land management matters
and looking at leadership and building young women's voices up
in this space, and also looking at entrepreneurship. So because
(20:53):
I you know, as a kid growing up, we always
learned about entrepreneurship because we were selling cakes, you know,
at the local card games. We were selling stew and
rice down at the reserve, hard games too hard.
Speaker 4 (21:04):
Games, you know, like we had an up there.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
This is the thing, like we saw those opportunities and
we actually made cash by selling cupcakes and jelly jelly
bowls and toffees and you know, all of that stuff.
So we learned at a very early age. And now
this is the stuff I want to bring back to
young kids that you can actually make some money and
some cash because a lot of our young kids don't
(21:26):
have that opportunity to have pocket money, you know, instead
of humbugging your mother and father, go out and do
something for yourself. So through through our young women's program,
this is what we're doing, and we're fortunate to get
some funding available last year and this year to run
our next Young women's Working on Country program. And we're
also ten percent of our sales actually goes back into
(21:49):
a youth housing project because I've worked in the youth
industry for a very long time and we're wanting to
develop a housing project for our young people on the
streets that don't have a stable home, that are wanting
to go and look for a job and to be
able to look at providing nutritional programs and also money making,
money saving sort of program and to get them into
(22:10):
a trade or a traineeship so that they have some
stability and you know, at least for that first.
Speaker 4 (22:14):
Part of their life.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
So our sales, whatever sales goes, goes back into our
youth program, so our housing program and also our youth
on country program.
Speaker 3 (22:23):
My sister, this is just too deadly because we don't
talk about all the deadly things that we do for
our communities. Just being you know, blackfellows, Aboriginal people. We're
taught to be humble, to be grounded, not to big
nat yourself.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
Yes, and this is a platform where we can talk.
Speaker 3 (22:40):
About what we're doing in our communities because a lot
of non Aboriginal people really they don't know. They've been
taught and lied to through mainstream media.
Speaker 1 (22:53):
It's the deficit model.
Speaker 3 (22:54):
Yes, and here we are is too quite capable business
owners and entrepreneurs that are still raising families, holding communities together,
holding fans together, growing up our babies and our young
people to be strong in culture, and then teaching them
about investing and entrepreneurship. And looking after country. So I
(23:15):
can't wait to come through Kananara.
Speaker 4 (23:18):
You have to come.
Speaker 3 (23:19):
I'm coming back not just for twenty four hours, no,
but also all of the networks and people and clients
that I work with with Black Counter Training, I deliver
to a lot of people, especially philanthropists, people that have
money but don't know where to put the money. So
these communities, these initiatives, and even the clothing. I can't
(23:41):
wait to buy one of your carrots. I'll be representing
please and letting people know where they can go to buy.
But for your mob listening, I hope you do look
in the show notes and get online and purchase a
T shirt, even.
Speaker 1 (23:54):
For a gift.
Speaker 3 (23:55):
For every one dollar you spend with a black business,
the social impact equals four dollars forty one. We are
one hundred times more likely to imp ploy our people,
according to a recent study, and I'll put that study
in the show notes as well. One hundred times, not
ten times, a hundred times more likely to employ our
own people. So how about that in terms of closing
(24:18):
the gap when it comes to unemployment rates, back indigenous
businesses because that's where the change is going to happen,
not in one hundred years. It can happen within our lifetime.
So my sister, thank you, thank you for being here,
jumping on this podcast and sharing the amazing work that
you do within your community, within your family, and hopefully
(24:39):
we'll see your garments on the runway.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
Yes next year, next year, next year. Yes, I'm a
part of the IFP program. So we got in and
to showcase our collections in twenty twenty six at the
Australian Fashion Week.
Speaker 1 (24:53):
I'm coming.
Speaker 3 (24:54):
There are so many people doing deadly things in this space.
I can't wait for people to start engaging more and
thinking about how can you reach some of these startups
that initiatives happening in our community.
Speaker 1 (25:07):
So, my sister, I don't need to say good luck.
Speaker 3 (25:10):
There's a lot of deadly things already happening. But I
hope I can come to the community and figure out
how do we get more support, some funding to some
of these programs that not just relying on sales of
a T shirt. There's some wealthy families in this country, yes,
that really want to give back, and these programs are
(25:31):
already set up.
Speaker 1 (25:32):
We just need some more resourcing.
Speaker 4 (25:34):
That would be fabulous without all the red tape. Ah,
that would be amazing.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
I mean, like because I have been so blessed around
the philanthropy that has supported me for the young Women's
camp for the last two years, and if we can
have that, like one camp a year is not enough,
we want to do five moly.
Speaker 4 (25:51):
You know, it'd be amazing.
Speaker 2 (25:52):
Because it's that consistency that our young people could grow
and develop and that exposure. So we want to bring
in women like yourself, you know, professional, you know, black
strong women to come in to be able to share
this is in their gurney, because that's where we're going
to learn from.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
So you can't be what you can't see.
Speaker 4 (26:07):
Yes, exactly that.
Speaker 2 (26:09):
You know, this is the stuff that we need to
do and expose our kids, and this is what the
schools need to start learning about and teaching our kids
about business, about entrepreneurship. You know, like our kids are
going to school learning about things that is not even
necessary for future. I know, we need to be thinking
about how do we embed these projects and programs into
the school system so that our kids are thinking outside
the box.
Speaker 3 (26:28):
Of course, my sister go and enjoy the rest of
the what's left of this deadly conference. Yes, and I
hope I can see you very soon. I'll be wearing
one of these dadly coats.
Speaker 4 (26:38):
Awesome. Thank you and thank you so much for inviting
me on the show.
Speaker 1 (26:41):
Appreciate it. Can't wait. We're going to be doing business. Please,
let's do this. Let's do it.
Speaker 2 (26:47):
So.
Speaker 3 (26:48):
This is where business happens, where the magic happens, not
just on the podcast, but when black fellows get together.
Can't wait to see what the future holds for us
as more black women think about business and entrepreneurship as
an in terms of being employed by other people.
Speaker 1 (27:06):
You know, we need to be in charge of our own.
Speaker 3 (27:08):
Destinies and there's a lot of people that have been
able to do it.
Speaker 1 (27:12):
It's never too late.
Speaker 3 (27:13):
So I hope you've got a lot out of this podcast,
and I hope you've enjoyed this Deadly So until next time.
Speaker 1 (27:19):
By for now.
Speaker 3 (27:20):
If you'd like any more on today's guest, please visit
our show notes in the episode description.
Speaker 1 (27:28):
A big shout out to all.
Speaker 3 (27:29):
You Deadly Mob and allies who continue to listen, watch,
and support our podcast.
Speaker 1 (27:34):
Your feedback means the world.
Speaker 3 (27:36):
You can rate and review the podcast on Apple and Spotify,
or even head to our socials and YouTube channel and
drop us a line we'd love to hear from you.
The Black Magic Woman podcast is produced by Clint Curtis
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