Tell Us Your Story. What motivated you to start your business? Why are you passionate about what you do?

My name is Taron Des Mazes, I am a disabled Métis 2 spirited person.​ I started my business when I was 17, moving on to Etsy when I was 18. In 2021 I acquired a Traumatic Brain Injury which caused me to no-longer be able to work a regular 9-5, so this has now become my full time job. Originally this business was just a way to explore my creativity and see what new skills I could learn. I soon realized that I could use the platform that I built to assist others, due to the lack of small artist support. I am striving to help others because I remember how hard it was for me to start and I come from a privileged background with many supports via friends and family. I am well aware that not everyone has access to that and that being marginalized only makes it so much more difficult.

Describe and demonstrate, including metrics, your community support. How do you support and uplift your community, and how do they show that support in return? Minimum 25 words, maximum 2500 characters.

I currently have fifteen artists a part of the collective that I am helping and two who have left to work on their own creative endeavours. Out of the fifteen artists I currently using the Ginkgoteeth platform, six of us are locals to the Okanagan. I welcome anyone who would like to join Ginkgoteeth and they are welcome to leave at any time. I have artists who have been with me from the beginning and others who have joined as recently as summer of 2024. I recently asked my current artists what it was like working with me and here are some of the responses back: “Taron has been a first before business, and even in business he has been my friend. Transparent, honest, caring but never coddling. Taron believed in me and lifted my art spirits up many times when I didn't believe in myself. I can see how hardworking he is for all of us artists, we have tried at least 3 business task assignment models, Taron has taken a business management class and now we finally have a website of our own that is finally coming to fruition after a year of talking about it! He makes me want to be a better business partner so I don't disappoint his care and enthusiasm and believe in myself more so I can help him help me!” “I am glad to have had Taron reach out to me with the opportunity to have a collaborative queer art hub. One of the things I lack the most is a sense of community when it comes to business and art in the online world. This gives me a stronger positive feedback loop in regards to creating and sharing work with new people. I also like the immediacy of contact, mutual understanding, and with workflow flexibility as a neurodivergent person. There is a strong sense of camaraderie that feels necessary and intrinsic for spaces like this to exist”. “Working with Taron as a part of Ginkgoteeth Designs has been wonderful! He has done a great job bringing together a community of artists, and is passionate and dedicated to art and to supporting artists. He is always looking for new opportunities to showcase art, and is a great leader for the shop”. “It has been a complete honour and joy working with Taron at Ginkgoteeth. He has been a huge help in getting not only my name but also my products to a wider scope in the community. He is super easy to work with and goes out of his way to do what he can to accommodate all the people working under him. It's been an amazing year so far and I hope to continue working with him for many to come”.

Why do you deserve to win the Business Impact award?

The collective that I’ve created is the only one in the Okanagan Region who support other small artists and creators by helping them with a stepping off platform into their future to learn about business, e-commerce, designing and creating.

Tell Us About Your Culture. How are you creating a sustainable and healthy workplace where everyone feels welcome? Provide examples of leadership you show in interactions with clients, vendors, contractors, staff and others.

Often disabled people face many barriers to entry in the art and business world, whether that be through general ignorance from others or the general ideal that we are lesser for various reasons. The goal of Ginkgoteeth Designs is to be a welcoming and accepting place where we can turn our art and passions into a way to make money and start our own brands and/or careers. Being a part of the Ginkgoteeth collective does have its own set of benefits, one of the biggest is that it's a lot cheaper. Etsy, for example, takes 40% of your profits on every sale you make, let alone the listing and any ad fees on top of that. There are also zero fees included with joining the collective, I will add a couple of dollars on top artist’s set price to go to myself however. Now I'd like to introduce you to one of our previous artists. Sage joined the shop in 20xx and started selling their own products. By the end of the year, they had left to start their own shop, Embersnail, which has been very successful as far as I'm aware. I messaged Sage and asked for a quote about how it was to work with me, and this is what they had to say, “Working with Taron and Ginkgoteeth Designs gave me the means and confidence to begin to sell my work, as well as later to start my own shop. Taron was able to manage my products efficiently so that I would be able to get into selling without worrying about all of the logistics at first. I now have the ability to run my own shop, which I could not have done without Taron’s help to start out. Overall I had a great experience being a part of Ginkgoteeth Designs and am very thankful for the opportunity to be a part of the collective”. I always encourage the shop's artists to branch off into their own storefronts as that is the intended purpose of Ginkgoteeth Designs, but most of our artists have either stayed with us or stopped selling entirely as they realise just how much work running your own business can be. I do recognize that I am also creating my own competition through how we operate and am OK with that. I am not here to make millions but just to make enough to live comfortably and be able to support others. Artists can also relate to me as I am in the exact same boat as many of them, just someone trying to make my own way in the business and art world. We also create a sense of community, where we can turn to others who have more experience for advice to help move forward and improve.

Why do you think you should win the Premier’s People’s Choice Award?

Our products have always been designed and made with the customers in mind. Yes, they are things that we are interested in making, but at the same time we do want to be making things that others will enjoy. We do listen to every single review and customer feedback to ensure that what we're making is what people are looking for. As well as be able to fix any mistakes or things that our customers don't necessarily enjoy. We offer a wide variety of products including our art, pins, key chains, jewellery and stickers. Every item was handmade or drawn with a passion and a hope for it to bring joy to someone's life.