NextGenRadio comes to me at a critical time in this period of life. I left my employer and was willing to bet on myself to grow and work at my own pace. I chose not to stay in a secure, well paying job because I was unhappy. NextGenRadio has renewed the confidence I had in myself, working with such great mentors, editors, animators, audio engineers and anyone else that has been involved with this entire process. I have loved the week as challenging as it is. Monday and Tuesday had me quite intimidated but the incredible team involved with NextGenRadio.
When I entered the media world, I wanted nothing more than to tell the stories of Indigenous people like myself in a positive light. We saw too many stories that revolved around poverty, tragedy, and #MMIWG, we need positivity for all our people on Turtle Island. I feel like this NextGenRadio Indigenous group feels the same way that I do. It fills me with such hope. This responsibility is something I take very seriously because my Indigenous community in Winnipeg and in Manitoba desperately needs positivity as 12% of Winnipeg’s population is Indigenous, the highest population per capita in Canada. Our community needs beautiful, positive stories. Not only mine but other communities across Turtle Island are looking for the same creatives, writers and journalists to do the same.
Doing such work, I did not expect to come into this week having to profile myself and my own story but I’m sure it will be something that I can look back on fondly. It was a difficult process being so vulnerable and then having to revisit and rewrite deeply personal stories was one that I wasn’t prepared for honestly. Now, that it is over,
Cristela was such a magnificent help. I can’t even begin to explain how comfortable that Cristela made me feel when I was nervous on Monday, stressed on Tuesday, overwhelmed on Wednesday and back to confident on Thursday. Good on you, Cristela.