Native Business Podcast host Mika Leonard moderates a panel discussion with Greg Guedel (left), attorney at Hobbs Straus Dean & Walker LLP; Vincent Logan, Chief Financial Officer/Chief Investment Officer of the Native American Agriculture Fund; Aaron Fournier (holding the microphone), Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Native American Hemp; Coby Smith, Principal at Salt Plains Hemp, LLC; and G. Blake Jackson, J.D., Policy Officer and Staff Attorney for the Indigenous Food and Agriculture Initiative at the University of Arkansas. (Photo by Henry Wei for Native Business Magazine)
On stage in front of a live audience, the Native Business Podcast launched today at the Native Business Summit. The inaugural event and tradeshow devoted to driving economic development and entrepreneurship across Indian Country is happening now at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Tulsa, Oklahoma, from May 13-15th.
The live podcasts are being recorded at the Summit to be aired at a later date through Stitcher, iTunes, Spotify, Google Play — wherever you get your podcasts. Beyond the Summit, Native Business will continue to interview new and incredible voices from Indian Country, delivering an ongoing roster of enlightening and engaging episodes. This audible library will serve as a great asset for business in Indian Country.
Native Business chose to capitalize on the unique opportunity to debut the Native Business Podcast in front of a live audience at the Native Business Summit, given the top-tier slate of speakers, presenters and panelists at the three-day event.
“I’m not sure that I’ve seen a live podcast done at any event or conference in Indian Country,” said Gary Davis (Cherokee), founder and Publisher of Native Business Magazine. “It’s one more way that we want to innovate through the Native Business Summit, that we want to drive the conversation forward, making it more interactive and more engaging.”
Joy Huntington (left), founder and CEO of Uqaqti Consulting; Linda Sacks (middle), Director of Strategy and Public Affairs for Native American Action; and Carmen Davis, founder and Publisher of Native Business Magazine (right) at the live podcast session “Professional Development” about tips for charting your career trajectory. (Photo by Henry Wei for Native Business Magazine)
Introducing the First Host of the Native Business Podcast: Mika Leonard
While there will be several hosts of the Native Business Podcast, the first host is Mika Leonard, a member of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma, who is facilitating and moderating six panels at the Native Business Summit.
Leonard has amassed substantial experience in the finance and federal contracting sectors, as chief operating officer for the Native American Financial Services Association, at Native American Bank in Denver, and working for various federal contractors, including for her own Tribe as the the Director of Business Development for Miami Technology Solutions, LLC.
“Mika is vibrant, she is spontaneous, and she has seen in her own life through business the opportunity scope that exists for Indian Country,” said Carmen Davis (Makah), founder, Publisher and Executive Editor of Native Business Magazine. “She is such a fun and energetic person, who I think breathes life into the Native Business Podcast. Sometimes we get into pretty heavy business conversations and topics. She does an amazing job of keeping it light, exciting, entertaining and engaging.”
Mika Leonard stepped up to the plate. “It’s exciting to host the Native Business Podcast at the Native Business Summit in front of a live audience,” she said. “Podcasts are great in that you can reach a very wide audience, who is able to digest the content from the comfort of their own home, car, or literally wherever.”
Host Mika Leonard engaged the panel with questions about how to get your resume noticed, and the importance of managing financial well-being as you move up the career ladder. (Photo by Henry Wei for Native Business Magazine)
6 Native Business Podcasts Recorded Live at the Native Business Summit
Six Native Business Podcasts are being recorded in front of a live audience at the Native Business Summit, and will soon be available on every platform people access podcasts, including iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify and Google Play. The first six podcasts focus on industrial hemp, professional development, small business marketing, entrepreneurship — specifically Native cuisine and brewers, e-commerce, and the private sector.
“These six sessions are especially exciting in their diversity of the material,” Leonard said. “I have the opportunity to dig deep with professionals across an array of sectors, who not only have a chance to tell their own unique story, but offer advice to new and emerging business owners, or even those who are interested in launching a business.”
Just as Native Business Magazine takes critical business insights and stories that are often bucketed or siloed in Indian Country and shares them with readers worldwide, so everyone can do better; the Native Business Summit unites Tribal business leaders, Native entrepreneurs, and people interested in doing business with Indian Country through the Native Business Summit; and the Native Business Podcast takes the exciting, information-rich conversations from the Summit and delivers them to the masses.
“Everything that we do in the magazine, we’re bringing that home, here, live, at the Native Business Summit,” Gary said. “And we’re not holding that information hostage at the Summit. We’re not just doing what we’re doing here, and not letting it escape the Summit. We’re sharing it through the Native Business Podcast. We want to help. You’re not going to get the total impact of the Summit by these podcasts. You have to be at the Summit to get the full energy and impact of the Summit. But it does let you get vital information, as well as the feel and the vibe.”
Native Business wants to make content as accessible as possible. For instance, while people are on their way to work, they can gain value through the Native Business Podcast. “You can get that inspiration, that motivation, those insights, and that business knowledge that’s transferred from one Native Business entrepreneur over to another Native entrepreneur, or from one Tribal leader over to another Tribal leader. We want to be that conduit to facilitate the transfer of that information,” Gary said.
