To see and be seen: Why Kim Blackburde Moore started Makade Migizi Clothing and Apparel

Here’s How It’s Done: First-hand Stories From Enterprising Women In Manitoba

What do you think of when you hear the term ‘side hustle?’ The first thing that might come to mind is someone who has a 9 to 5 job and starts an enterprise in their spare time, with the aim of making the leap to full-time business as soon as possible. But there are lots of other reasons that people start a side hustle -- to test out a business idea to see if it has legs, make some money on the side, or simply because there’s something they really want to have but no one is selling it.

“For me it was something I wanted to be seen in, and I wanted it to be seen,” says Kim Blackburde Moore. Kim has always loved clothing that had ‘Mama Bear’ on it. “And I think that kind of comes from me being from the Bear Clan. And I said something to my daughter, who at the time would have been 11 years old. She said, “You should really get a Mama Bear hoodie done up but in Ojibwe…and get me a baby bear one.”

Instead of getting two sweatshirts made, Kim invested in a whole lot of products, and then had to figure out how to sell them! That’s how Makade Migizi Clothing and Apparel got started.

Find out how starting this side hustle led Kim to fulfill a lifelong dream of learning her mother tongue. And get inspired to take your passion project to the next level!

Here's How It's Done is hosted by Cate Friesen of The Story Source and sponsored by the Women's Enterprise Centre of Manitoba.