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From left to right: Michelle Collins, Business Advisor for SUNY Canton Small Business Development Center, Carrie Hill, owner of Chill Baskets, and Jeffrey Boyce, Albany Branch Manager for the US Small Business Administration.
For Carrie Hill, award-winning artist and owner of Chill Baskets in Akwesasne, N.Y., business and creativity didn’t always seem compatible.
Hill, a Haudenosaunee member from the Akwesasne Mohawk Territory, started making baskets after her second daughter was born in 2006 as a creative outlet. With the help of friends and a trusted business advisor, Hill turned her passion into a successful small business that has not only earned her worldwide recognition but also helped her through difficult times.
“I was resistant at first … going legit was a little scary,” said Hill. “But I wouldn’t have been able to tap into [pandemic relief funds] otherwise, which were absolutely essential in keeping me afloat.”
Accessing local small business support for startup and growth
As part of the Haudenosaunee community with the strongest continuous tradition of the craft, basket making has been in Hill’s family for generations. Hill credits her aunt for teaching her traditional weaving techniques and encouraging her experimentation with new ideas.
After securing her own materials and building a studio next to her house, friends encouraged Hill to consider selling her work, which now includes jewelry, purses and even face masks. Hill decided to officially launch the business after meeting Michelle Collins, Business Advisor at the SUNY Canton Small Business Development Center.
Along with the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe’s Office of Economic Development, Collins guided Hill through startup with bookkeeping and tax basics and, in 2018, Akwesasne Travel brought her in to help as Chill Baskets expanded to educational tours and workshops though the tribe’s Destination Marketing and Management Organization. Hill then began traveling to teach and present around the country.
But when the pandemic hit, all the events and workshops she had booked through fall 2020 were cancelled, along with the checks she had received in advance.
Building resilience with recovery resources
“Everything was gone… March 2020 was a scary time for me as a small business owner who was still catching up to the word business,” said Hill.
Fortunately, Collins remained in touch with her clients to share information about the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) pandemic relief programs, the Paycheck Protection Program and COVID Economic Injury Disaster Loan. Hill worked with her advisor to apply for the funds, which kept her open and helped her pivot to online programming and new platforms like Airbnb experiences.
“I’m like a porcupine, standoffish, but glad I gave her a chance,” said Hill. “I can’t even imagine what would have happened.”
Though the Small Business Development Center is based in Canton, Collins visits the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe every week to meet with entrepreneurs in the Office of Economic Development’s business center. The SBA funds Small Business Development Centers across the country, with several locations throughout Upstate New York, to provide free business consulting and other low-cost technical assistance to small businesses.
Inspiring the next generation of artists
Since she started Chill Baskets, Hill’s work has been featured in the New York Public Library, the Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair & Market, and at the U.S. Embassy in Swaziland, Africa with an entire collection representing the Haudenosaunee people. She has been recognized with a number of grants and honors, including a New York Foundation of the Arts grant and a grant announced in June 2022 to partner with the Akwesasne Boys and Girls Club for two years from Creatives Rebuild New York.
Hill shared that pursuing her creative goals is not only important to her personally but also a great way to set an example for her children. She enjoys being able to show them that Chill Baskets creations generate income her family uses to pay for life essentials, and her youngest daughter is even pursuing her own art with graphic design, painting and drawing.
Though Hill said she still wears “one hundred hats” as a small business owner, artist, and mom, she hopes to soon hire an assistant who can help her expand the business while Hill focuses on the artwork.
“If you have a drive to do something creative, you should,” she said. “Pick what makes you happy, and do more of that.”
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