First Nation entrepreneur delivers powerful message of having purpose at Toronto forum

By Sam Laskaris

TORONTO – Money isn’t everything.

That’s a message that Mark Marsolais-Nahwegahbow, the founder and CEO of Birch Bark Coffee Company, delivered at the Canadian Council for Indigenous Business (CCIB) forum held Feb. 26 at the Westin Harbour Castle in Toronto.

Marsolais-Nahwegahbow, a member of Whitefish River First Nation on Manitoulin Island, was a speaker during the CCIB’s Lightning Talks segment at the forum.

The portion of the event featured five speakers. They were each allotted seven minutes to speak on the forum theme: Rooted in Purpose. Growing through Connection.

Marsolais-Nahwegahbow’s presentation was titled You Don’t Always Have the Money — But You Always Have the Purpose.

Marsolais-Nahwegahbow started Birch Bark Coffee Company in 2018. It offers various coffee blends that are sold online, at various stores and also wholesale across Canada.

“I didn’t start my company with capital,” he said. “I started with conviction. When you don’t come from money, something interesting really happens.”

Marsolais-Nahwegahbow said entrepreneurs thinking of launching a business should not be afraid of looking foolish, even if funding to commence might not be cemented.

“You just start,” he said. “And over time, I learned something that guides almost every decision I made: you don’t always have the money but you always have the purpose.”

Marsolais-Nahwegahbow also brought up an analogy of what entrepreneurship resembles.

“At the end, you see business like a tree,” he said. “The part everyone sees is the trunk and the branches – the revenue, the growth, the headlines. But none of that matters if the roots are weak.”

He also said this approach to building a company does not make a financial dent in one’s pockets.

“And here’s the part that most people miss,” Marsolais-Nahwegahbow added. “Building the roots doesn’t cost money. Building the roots, it costs clarity. It costs knowing why you’re building. It costs choosing long-term over short-term. You can build the strongest part of your business before ever raising one dollar.”

And that’s what happened with his business.

“When I built Birch Bark Coffee, the opportunities came,” he said. “Some would have grown their company faster but that would have cost them ownership or control or integrity.”

Even after his business was launched, Marsolais-Nahwegahbow said he maintained his original line of thinking.

“Every decision became a simple question: does this respect why I started?” he said. “Because I realized some things are very hard. If I lose the purpose, the business might grow. But I would shrink. Purpose is not just the roots. Purpose is also the fuel. A car, without gas, doesn’t go anywhere. The business with no purpose doesn’t last.”

Marsolais-Nahwegahbow also said an entrepreneur’s purpose can go a long way to determining eventual success.

“When the money is tight, when the stress is high, and we’ve all felt this, when doubt shows up, purpose is what keeps you going,” he said. “So, here’s the seed that I leave you with. If you’re waiting for money to begin, you might be waiting forever. But if you begin by building the roots, the relationships, the clarity, the integrity, you create something strong enough to grow…And over time, the money finds its place. You don’t always have the money. But if you’re lucky, you’ll always have the purpose and that’s enough to start.”