When young people are heard, they begin to recognize their own strength.
Sometimes, supporting a young person begins with something as simple as taking the time to listen. For Nikole Braun, founder of KreeMaican Cultivations, meaningful change does not always begin in a formal setting. It can happen while going for a drive, sharing a conversation, or giving a young person the space to speak honestly about what they are carrying.
“All it takes is just going for a ride or a drive with the youth,” Nikole says. “Talk, hearing their stories. When I drop them off, they’re different.”
That moment reflects the heart of Nikole’s work: meeting young people where they are, listening without judgment, and helping them recognize the strength and possibility they already carry.
Creating Space for Young People to Grow
Nikole is from Pimicikamak Cree Nation in Cross Lake, Manitoba. Raised in Northern Manitoba, she has spent much of her life working with marginalized youth. Her journey began as a summer camp coordinator. She fell in love with planning land-based experiences and events where young people could connect, build memories, and experience something meaningful together.
Over time, Nikole worked her way through frontline roles and became a trauma and crisis intervention practitioner and youth advocate. Those experiences deepened her understanding of what young people need, but they also showed her the limitations of working within strict agency standards.
Nikole knew she had creativity, ingenuity, and ideas that could help her reach more youth. She began imagining a different model, one that could provide young people with tools, resources, and skills to strengthen their mental and emotional wellbeing while allowing her programming to remain flexible and responsive.
That vision became the foundation of KreeMaican Cultivations. Through culturally grounded workshops, land-based experiences, online resources, and youth programming, Nikole is building spaces where young people can develop confidence, strengthen their identity, and recognize their own capacity to move forward. Her long-term vision includes reaching youth virtually and across different communities, creating greater access to tools and learning that support mental and emotional wellbeing.
Where Land, Wellness and Empowerment Meet
Nikole has always been passionate about using the land for healing practices and grounding techniques. Teaching others how to reconnect with Mother Earth became a natural extension of her work with youth and an important part of the business she is building.
For Nikole, land connection, mental health, and self-empowerment cannot be separated.
“There is no true health and empowerment without a connection to the land,” she says.
KreeMaican Cultivations brings these areas together through conversations and activities focused on emotional regulation, safety planning, breathwork, belief work, self-care, and land-based healing. The goal is to provide young people with practical tools while creating space for them to understand what they are feeling, recognize their strengths, and participate in shaping their own path forward.
Nikole describes this approach as a journey from survival to revival. It recognizes that supporting a young person is not only about responding to an immediate challenge. It is also about helping them develop the knowledge, relationships, and inner resources they need to keep moving forward.
The work is solution-focused, but it is also deeply relational. It begins with listening and recognizing that every young person carries different experiences, needs, and strengths. By taking the time to build trust, Nikole creates space for youth to speak honestly, feel supported, and know that what they have to say matters.
Finding Clarity Through Launchpad
When Nikole joined the Indigenous Launchpad for Entrepreneurs, she already carried years of experience supporting young people and a strong vision for what she wanted to create. Launchpad gave her an opportunity to examine how that experience could become the foundation of a sustainable business. Through self-paced business learning, mentorship, pitch preparation, and connections with other Indigenous entrepreneurs, she began strengthening how she communicated the purpose and potential of KreeMaican Cultivations.
The program also prepared Nikole to share her work on a national stage. On May 6, 2026, she joined four other Indigenous youth entrepreneurs at the inaugural Indigenous Launchpad Showcase during the NACCA Indigenous Prosperity Forum in Gatineau, Quebec. The Showcase became an important turning point, but not in the way she initially expected.
Nikole describes it as both an amazing and traumatic, eye-opening experience. It changed the trajectory of her business and helped her understand more clearly what she was capable of managing.
The experience taught her important lessons about being present in her body, staying true to herself, and prioritizing self-care during overwhelming and high-stress situations. It also showed her how stress can affect the nervous system, mental health, relationships, and the ability to show up fully in both life and business.
Rather than continuing with a plan that no longer felt right, Nikole gave herself permission to reconsider it. Her business plan changed more than once as she reflected on what she had learned. She is grateful for that process because the plan she ultimately landed on better reflects her needs, feels more aligned with who she is, and gives her greater confidence and clarity about the path ahead.
Building a Legacy With Her Son
One of Nikole’s proudest accomplishments has been creating a merchandise line and slime products for neurodivergent children alongside her son. For Nikole, this work is about more than developing products. Together, she and her son are building a unique legacy brand that can grow and evolve with them.
That relationship is also shaping how Nikole thinks about entrepreneurship. She does not view growth as following one fixed plan. She understands herself as someone who is continually evolving, healing, and learning. KreeMaican Cultivations must have the flexibility to evolve alongside her and her son.
This adaptability is not a lack of direction. It reflects Nikole’s commitment to building a business that is sustainable for her family, responsive to the people it serves, and aligned with her values.
Building Toward What Comes Next
Nikole is currently developing an online consulting business while also planning a summer youth program. Building both at the same time is a significant undertaking, and she is approaching this next stage with care.
For the remainder of 2026, her focus is on continuing her education and receiving mentorship through business incubator and startup accelerator programs. She is working toward launching the business in spring 2027. New products and services will become available in the coming months as KreeMaican Cultivations continues to take shape.
At the centre of this growth is relationship. Nikole’s conversations with young people help her understand what they are experiencing, what support they need, and what strengths they already carry. Her relationship with her son is also helping shape a business rooted in creativity, learning, and building something meaningful together. KreeMaican Cultivations is growing from those relationships and from Nikole’s willingness to listen to herself when a plan no longer feels aligned. She is creating a business that can respond to youth, honour her own wellbeing, and remain connected to the land and values at the heart of her work.
Its impact will be reflected not only in the programs, resources, and products it creates, but also in the relationships it strengthens and the young people it supports in recognizing their own value.
Connect with KreeMaican Cultivations
KreeMaican Cultivations is developing culturally grounded workshops, online consulting, youth programming, land-based experiences, and products designed to support wellbeing, creativity, and self-empowerment. Products and services will become available in the coming months. Follow KreeMaican Cultivations on Instagram for updates as Nikole works toward the business launch in spring 2027.
Instagram: @kree.maican.cultivations
Continue the Journey
Every entrepreneur has a story, and every story has the power to inspire the next.
🎥 Watch Nikole’s Founder Story and hear, in her own words, how her experience supporting youth, connection to the land and commitment to building alongside her son are shaping KreeMaican Cultivations.
📖 Read more Founder Stories on the IPF Blog and discover how Indigenous entrepreneurs acrossthe country are building businesses rooted in purpose, creativity, and
community.
🚀 Ready to begin your own entrepreneurial journey? Launchpad enters its national rollout at a time of growing interest from communities, Nations, and ecosystem partners. IPF is exploring new collaborations with organizations that share its commitment to strengthening Indigenous-led entrepreneurship.
Partnership inquiries may be directed to launchpad@indigenousfoundation.ca