Celebrating NAIDOC Week: A yarn with Tiarne
In celebration of NAIDOC week, I sat down for a yarn with Tiarne Shutt, Worimi woman and Associate Director of Business Advisory of First Australians Capital.
Tiarne is an experienced strategist and storyteller; she loves to push boundaries, shift mindsets and use her storytelling skills to affect social change. Her current mission is to increase financial literacy, investment readiness and business acceleration for First Nations businesses across all areas of the local and global economy.
In this interview, Tiarne shares - in line with this year's NAIDOC Week theme of Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up! – the importance of allyship, power shifts within the finance sector, and the opportunity that we all must move beyond good intentions and have conversations focused on action.
Stolen wages, land and seas…
I come from a family of business owners; my mum, sisters, and cousins have all run businesses. Growing up, I saw how entrepreneurship created freedom and choices for our family and the broader community.
I never saw myself working in finance; when I got my first 'professional' job, I didn't know what a 'P and L, balance sheet, WHALES, ROI…" were – I was too afraid to ask, also, no one bothered to explain it to me. That might sound like a little thing, but if you think about the power dynamics at play within finance, you overlay historical injustices and sprinkle in racism, and a pinch of misogyny and ageism – you get a very tough environment to learn and thrive. It sounds harsh, but this is why I'm in awe of Indigenous entrepreneurs. Indigenous people experienced (and still do) economic exclusion, stolen land, wages and seas. The playing field is unequal for Indigenous people, and I continually see governments and corporations put the burden to fix the injustices back onto Indigenous people.
The systems, structures, companies, processes etc., have all been designed by privileged men from another era; they have over-complicated our world, particularly finance. They have made it out of reach and shame anyone who doesn't understand. This isn't unique to Indigenous people; women, young people, people with English as their second language, etc., all face this injustice. There’s no place for guilt by those in power, but there is responsibility to take action and change these systems.
BUT, the future is stunningly bright
This past year, I have been astounded by the breadth of creativity from the Indigenous business sector. Indigenous people have been operating businesses with Community and Country at the heart of our trades for generation, this is because, in our minds, there is no other way to do business. We are social entrepreneurs – our success must be shared with our communities. This is what drives me.
For most Indigenous people, our businesses go beyond wealth creation for ourselves; it is about our ability to contribute back to our community. I've never met an Indigenous person who says, "I started my business so I can become rich" you just won't hear that. I recently watched "The Drop Out", the story of Theranos and Elizabeth Holmes. They depict her story as a child, and she says she wants to be a billionaire when she grows up and THEN help the world. That mentality isn't unique to Western capitalism, but completely foreign to the Indigenous worldview. But it doesn't make sense to me; I can't see a future where I'm doing my own thing for me, myself and I. If my work doesn't benefit my community, I'm not being my true self.
The importance of allyship
Right now, allyship is crucial for economic injustice to be healed. We cannot do this alone; this NAIDOC theme drives home the importance of non-Indigenous people to get comfortable with truth-telling and acknowledge the historical and current injustice toward First Nations people. But don't stay there, don't just acknowledge – make action happen. In your family, your local parent's group, your child's school, work, your bank – anywhere. Get Up, Stand Up and Show Up.
We need allies to get comfortable with having tough conversations; the burden shouldn't sit just with Mob. This isn't about feeling guilty; it's about listening with intent and moving towards action.
Good intentions won't address over 200 years of injustice.
Relationships built on reciprocity
My community is about sharing, Indigenous people share. We give our time, resources, spare bedrooms, food – anything. However, alarmingly, I have seen non-Indigenous people take this for granted.
An opportunity exists for all Australians to find their part in doing something tangible that will make a difference, it's time to step up. Step up with intention, embrace the messy conversations, and commit yourself to learning and listening.
Most importantly, work with us for the long haul, not just for NAIDOC week.
About Tiarne
Tiarne is a Worimi woman from Foster NSW. She is a member of the Gathang language group, born on Awaba Country, raised on Darkinyung Country and lives on Yuggera Country.
She is currently the Associate Director of Business Advisory for First Australians Capital. First Australians Capital is about supporting the growth of a thriving Indigenous business sector, and they walk alongside businesses to assist them in becoming investment ready. They then look at investing in the businesses through our patient capital fund.