She has come happily home, bringing all she has learned along the way with her.
A S岣祑x瘫wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation) development corporation appointed a female marketing lead last month, who is also a Nation member, to use not only her professional expertise, but her cultural values to implement plans for long-term prosperity.
Brandi Halls has over two decades of brand-building expertise. She previously worked across North America as brand director and chief ethics officer at Lush Cosmetics, and has now been appointed executive vice-president of brand, marketing and community engagement for the housing sector at, the Nation’s procurement arm based in West Vancouver, that was established in 2018.
Nch’岣礱y虛’s ‘mandate’ is to manage business separately from politics and governance, all the while continuing to uphold traditional values and cultural teachings.
Specializing in finance and real estate, Nch’岣礱y虛 strives for holistic economic impact on Indigenous as well as non-Indigenous communities. Their projects involve transforming Vancouver’s skylines, such as, as well as developing facilities such as gas bars and RV parks. Squamish Valley Gas Bar is a Nch’岣礱y虛 business.
Mindy Wight, CEO of Nch’岣礱y虛 , said of Halls’ appointment: “Brandi’s leadership will be instrumental in strengthening our brand and market presence, [her] deep connection to our values makes her the perfect fit to help us achieve our goals in alignment with the Nation’s guiding principles.”
The 小蓝视频 spoke to Halls last week to discuss her new role and professional journey.
What follows is a version of that conversation edited for length and clarity.
Q: Though your roots are with the Nation, you have worked across North America for prior work. What was it that brought you back home?
A: I always knew I wanted to bring 20 years of experience in the corporate world back to my Nation. I just really didn't see a pathway there until Nch’岣礱y虛 was formed, and I haven't looked back. It's been a tremendous welcoming back home.
In my new role, I really get to bring my whole self to work every day. I get to lean into my S岣祑x瘫wú7mesh teachings and my passion around Indigenous sovereignty. The cherry on top of all that is that I get to do this with my own community.
I'm following in the footsteps of those who walk before me. My grandfather, the late Chief Simon Baker, was an ambassador of Indigenous culture. He was on council for the Nation, and spent his career working for the Nation. My mom, Faye Halls, followed in his footsteps. And now my sisters are both Indigenous educators, so it feels like I found my way back to where I’m meant to be. I don't think I'm alone in that. There are other S岣祑x瘫wú7meshh people that [with] the formation of Nch’岣礱y虛 [have benefited] their community.
Q: At Nch’岣礱y虛, you will be supporting business separately from the Nation’s politics. How important do you feel it may be to keep business and politics separate in the marketing sphere whilst upholding cultural teachings and values, or do you feel it is viable to have business and politics constructively interwoven in some instances?
A: We [are] 100% owned by the Nation, so that means everything we do we [is] always going to be rooted in values and teachings. That's where that inevitable crossover is really natural and feels like the right approach.
The separation of business and politics is intentional. It's standard practice for Indigenous economic development arms now, and it really does allow Nch’岣礱y虛 to operate at the speed of commercial businesses, and most importantly, allows our council and our Nation to focus on governing its 4,100 people. It works for us. We've got some really standard governance practices in place to ensure that the separation of business and politics [is maintained], but that the foundation of everything we do is the S岣祑x瘫wú7mesh way.
Q: Your focus is to create long-term prosperity for the Nation; can you describe an example of a short-term vision for implementing a long-term strategy? What kind of project, if any, do you currently have in the works that you’re excited to kick-start?
A: 厂别苍虚&补补肠耻迟别;岣祑 is a brilliant example of short-term strategy for long-term gain. Right now, we have three towers rising from the ground at the foot of the Burrard Street Bridge on our traditional 厂别苍虚&补补肠耻迟别;岣祑 lands. The short-term plan there, of course, is to welcome over 1,000 residents over the next 24 months into our purpose-built rental towers. But the long-term goal here is building that generational wealth for the Nation.
That project is enormous in scale for the Nation. Specifically, I am very excited about bringing that story to life. We want folks who choose to live there to feel connected to the land and to the S岣祑x瘫wú7mesh people.
We are deep in the creative process of bringing the 厂别苍虚&补补肠耻迟别;岣祑 brands to life, imagining ‘what is that ad going to look like on the side of buses in the weeks to come?’ We're working really closely with Nation artists and to ensure that the representation of 厂别苍虚&补补肠耻迟别;岣祑 is authentic and true.
I can honestly say that it feels like a once-in-a-lifetime project that I'm really honoured to be part of. [I] get to stretch my creative muscles and lean into the branding work, [and] stay super true to who I am as a S岣祑x瘫wú7mesh woman.
Q: I’m inclined to think there’s some push and pull in making traditional art contemporary, whilst acknowledging the need for preservation of tradition itself. How do you find a medium?
A: It's a super fine balance [but] our traditional knowledge-keepers can ensure the history we're showing [is] up on our screens, and [that] our mock-ups are accurate.
Bringing in young Indigenous artists is another way [to retain that balance]. They've got a more contemporary, modern flair to their work. We're pairing them with knowledge-keepers, other art workers, and designers, so you do really get this beautiful collaboration. We are learning as we're doing. And so far, the process has been really beautiful. Every time we see another version of the artwork that's about to go live externally, we kind of gasp. There have been some tears, and I think we are doing a beautiful job of honouring the past, whilst also celebrating the future.
Q: How do you find working in this business as a woman when the housing sector is usually male-dominated?
A: The beauty industry that I came from was heavily female, but] the leadership team in the North American entity of Lush was more male-dominated. I certainly make note of this shift, but also worth drawing attention to is just how lucky I am to work for Nch’岣礱y虛, because this organization is led by strong, experienced women in an industry that is typically led by men.
Our CEO is Mindy White, our chief development officer who looks after our real estate is Jennifer Podmore Russell, and our board chair is Joy MacPhail. These are all incredibly accomplished women who are really well-known in the industry, and our executive team, which I am a part of; the majority are women as well. Despite the greater housing and real estate industry being more male-dominated, I feel we've done a really great job of lifting women up in our space. 50% of the staff [at Nch’岣礱y虛] are also S岣祑x瘫wú7mesh people, and 61% of our staff are Indigenous. I’ve never felt more at home anywhere else, being amongst my people, my community.
Q: What are your key takeaways from your experiences further afield, which you feel you can implement at Nch’岣礱y虛?
A: I spent seven years in New York, in Manhattan; I was kind of in the heartbeat of all things brand marketing. The greatest lesson I learned from that time, that I will be bringing into Nch’岣礱y虛, is this concept of growing your brand through a really organic grassroots approach. Stepping out of my office door in Manhattan, I was experiencing brand activations in all forms every single day. Niche community building is what I saw, and that's all the way across the West Coast now.
You don't need big budgets to have a big impact. What you really need is a team and a community who are super passionate about purpose, and there's definitely no shortage of that passion at Nch’岣礱y虛.
Being able to nurture this human-to-human approach, building relationships and rapport, that's what’s going to result in growing your brand. You just have to lean heavily into building community connection, which transfers beautifully to a brand like Nch’岣礱y虛 where our sole purpose is to serve, and build wealth and prosperity for the community of the S岣祑x瘫wú7mesh people.
Everything we do in our team is around connection to our community, and informing [them.] It means that engagement and communications are central to our strategy. We need to ensure, within the way we're operating our businesses and within the way we're marketing them, that our people feel seen and heard. I'm excited to grow the enterprise brand, and the business brands within it.
Q: I think a lot of it is confidence as well, having the courage to start something. What advice would you give to someone who wants to take the leap into business and start putting a vision to life?
A: You have to have a good product, and you have to have good people, and you have to have purpose. It's really easy to come into a place like Nch’岣礱y虛 that is so rounded in purpose, filled with people who are passionate about the work and community.
Now all we’ve got to do is tell the stories, and we need to tell them in a real and authentic way. That's going to be a really powerful marketing tool, but also a community-building tool.
Ina Pace is The 小蓝视频's Local Journalism Initiative (LJI) Reporter.
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