RECOGNIZING EXCELLENCE ANGIE SALTMAN

Angie Saltman

Firstly introduce yourself and tell us where your home place is. Describe your job/jobs in just under four sentences. Please also provide your title and profession.

Hello, my name is Angie Saltman, and I am located on Treaty 8 Territory, on the homeland of many Metis in the hub of Albertas north, Grande Prairie.

I am president and founder of Saltmedia Inc, a marketing firm that specializes in websites, graphic design, and marketing. I am also partner in IT Horizons Inc, a managed service provider that looks after all technology solutions for business and organizations that want their cyber security, backups, software, servers and computers all running smoothing 24/7. Both businesses are majority Indigenous owned by me, and my life & business partner Alex Saltman. My primary roles in the companies are relationships, visionary, culture, marketing, and sales.

What sparked your interest to work in this industry?

I fell in love with the internet when I was in my early 20s. I didn’t have access to technology growing up, and it was incredible to be connected to a global community. My first computer, ran windows ME, and it was always breaking down. When I brought it in to get fixed at a local computer shop, I was stunned by how much I was paying. When I asked that computer nerd what all these charges were about, I think he was speaking English… but I couldn’t understand a word he was saying. It was then and there that I decided, if he could do it.. I can do it, and Ill even be able to use words people understand. Plain language has always been important to me.

What do you enjoy most about your profession?

I thrive in change, I love problem solving by bringing new concepts and ideas forth.  I love being able to help people solve complex problems, and being a small part of why organizations succeed. Everyday we face new challenges, and it gives me the opportunity to learn and grow personally as well.

What educational preparation would you recommend for someone who wants to advance in this field?

There are lots of jobs in tech, marketing and graphics for us all. You can get an education in it, or gain knowledge through work experience or volunteering. If you work for a small business, ask if they need help marketing or ask a not-for-profit if you can help out as a volunteer. There are a ton of great training videos on paid platform of LinkedIn. For a career as a computer tech, or technologist, you need official training. At my IT company we require a minimum of CompTIA A+ certification to know computer fundamentals. 

Where at Saltmedia we prefer a bachelor’s degree we also accept equal work experience. As we grow however, entry level positions start to open. There are lots of great colleges and universities to choose from! 

What does success look like to you for Indigenous youth?

I think success means showing up, being flexible, open to learning and being flexible and self determined.

How has a failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success?

I call failure resilience training. life has a funny way of opening doors when you least expect them. Like, I never expected in 1,000,000 years that I would be attending university for a degree! I had a lot of failures to open up this space, my business expansion to my home city didn’t work out, I lost three great big project and opportunities and I was feeling down on myself for not being good enough to deserve these big opportunities. But it was because the creator/universe was creating space for me to attend University to gain my Indigenous Business Leadership Executive Masters of Business Administration. I needed more training to level up my businesses… so be patient with yourself and trust that a failure or loss just means life is making space for your true purpose. Also, I just want to mention that I lived street level in my teenage years, and was a high school dropout but over the years, slowly working towards self improvement (trying to be a tiny bit better than I was yesterday) I have been able to overcome many obstacles.

What are one to three books that have greatly influenced your life?

I’m not much of a book reader, more of song listener. But a couple of books that have opened my mind are; 

  1. Who moved my cheese? (read it in a couple hours)
    1. A great self reflection story, I learned not to take myself so seriously
  2. Indigenomics 
    1. Growing the Indigenous economy

Songs that have influenced me in the last couple years

  1. Deconstruct Reconstruct – Dash Remix by DKD Dancers/Dash
    1. This is about not being afraid to practice my culture
  2. The Power is here now – Alexia Chellun 
    1. This is about staying in the present moment. Find gratidue.

Do you volunteer? If so, where and why is that important to you?

Yes, I have volunteered for the Canadian Mental Health Association, Alberta Northwest Region since 2010. I lost my dad, and cousin to suicide and I want to be part of positive change in my community to accept and have conversations about how we feel. I also volunteer for my own mental health, it makes me feel good.

In the last year, what new belief, behaviour, or habit has most improved your life?

Meditation, and gratitude are power tools I have used this year a lot to help keep me calm, and feeling confident. We all go though tough times, that’s life. We do have control on how our mindset stays and how we deal with hard things.

What are some challenges you think the next Indigenous generation will face in your industry/profession?

I think the hardest challenge will be to separate the false information from the truthful information on the internet. What’s real? What isn’t? Don’t believe what you read on social media and online platforms, these are full of opinions and anyone can put anything on the internet.

Cyber security is also a challenge, the dark web is full of organized criminals without borders. If something is to go to be true, it is. 

Staying connected to nature is a challenge too, if you love tech (like I do) its easy to spend all day on screens! Growing a garden and taking my dog for a walk to disconnect are so important. My best ideas and solutions come to me when I disconnect.

What advice would you give to a smart, driven student about to enter the “real world”? What advice should they ignore?

Hmm…. I think the best advice is even if you do have college or university training (or if you don’t) stay open to learning, there will be much to learn on the job. Technology is always changing, and if you don’t love change and learning this isn’t the right field for you. Making mistakes is going to happen, so learn from them mistakes! Mistakes have always given me the most profound teachings! Sit with it, analyze it, learn from it and let it go

Connect with Angie on Social Media:

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