b'TAMMY MAKIRaven RisingWhen Tammy Maki began working in a pizza shop as a teenager, building a career as a chef didnt feel like an optionprofessional chefs lived in France. But even after getting into another trade, she never stopped baking for everyone around her. As Maki approached her 40s, she decided to make a career change, enrolling in a baking and pastry arts course. Since then, she hasnt stopped. When the pandemic put a halt to her wedding cake and special catering business, Maki started research on opening up an incorporated business. I really wanted to have the face of a larger company, she says. I wanted to shoot for the moon this time. This was the start of Raven Rising, a Sudbury-based chocolate shop focused on sustainable, ethically sourced and fair-trade ingredients sourced from Indigenous businesses. After opening rather quietly in mid-October 2020, the business blew up. When it comes to running your own business, Maki emphasizes two things: Dont count on anyone but yourself, number one. Number two, educate yourself. If you have a question, dont expect answers from other people. Find out yourself, do the research, do thelegwork. This work, she says, needs to be constantno takingChef Maki is now in the midst of expanding, with plans a month off and coming back expecting everythingunderway to open a tangible storefront in the downtown to be the same. If youre going to open a business, beSudbury core this April. She has also started a schol-prepared to work harder than youve ever worked inarship through George Brown College for Indigenous your life, she warns. Understand that youre workingstudents in the pastry arts. Were inherently artisticwe for yourself and everything youre doing is to build ahave artistic souls, and I think expression of that can be solid foundation.in any medium, Maki says.PATRICK HUNTERPatrick Hunter Art & DesignPatrick Hunter, a two-spirited Ojibway Woodland artist from Red Lake, Ontario, launched Patrick Hunter Art & Design in 2015, specializing in artwork and designs inspired by his cultural background. Hunter first began selling paintings in high school. After moving to Toronto and working as a line cook for a year, he began promoting himself on social media, letting people know that they could make weekly or bi-monthly payments for an original piece. One of the challenges was that I just hadnt seen it [business operations] before, he says. There was no blueprint or anyone to really look to for help.Patrick Hunter partnered with the Chicago Blackhawks to design a new mask for their goalie, Marc-Andr Fleury.www.shi.coFORWARD MAGAZINE | VOLUME 1 2022 21'