We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Michelle Runns a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Michelle, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

My mission is to create a legacy that’s like Nike except with th Indigenous style/representation to it I want our ppl to know we are here there’s lots of us who are doing great things and to inspire them to connect with their passions to run with their dreams by any means necessary Sometimes you gotta build in the dark it’s a longevity thing

Michelle, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

At Native By Nature, we are more than just a clothing brand – we are a celebration of culture, creativity, and individuality. Founded by Michelle Runns (MzShellz), who has collaborated with her partner Sino General (Chief Rock), who helps her out with many aspects of the brand. The brand is a fusion of urban hip hop style and Indigenous heritage,
mzshellz love for hip-hop music has integrated herself into fashion. Native by Nature was a verse from one of her main stream song “Get That Money” It’s been On ever since we created more than a clothing line we created a Wave Of Proud indigenous people across turtle Island

Any fun sales or marketing stories?

I watch alot of documentaries and one day I was watching nipsey hussle doc. He sold his album for 100$ and JayZ bought 100 of em he initially sold out first day. Boom idea popped in my head what if I make a tote bag filled with Over 100$ in items and sold it for 100$ ea. I SOLD 45 in one day I was shocked n amazed I actually had to go out and buy more stock due to the demand it was AMAZING I was like woahhhhhhhh n now I have better items and leveled up on everything so I may do it again and actually tap into big celebration days like mother’s day etc.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

When the postal strike happened I tapped into my Local Deliveries I focused on when I couldn’t get anything out I blessed my locals with free shipping etc it was a down fall for some companies but it was a pivot for us

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.mzshellz.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mzshellz/profilecard/?igsh=MTV3YTRrbGljdGR1ZA==
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1A1PkAP6Hj/
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@mzshellzmusic2696?si=zVGDeXJ1E9WyFWmj
• Other: https://www.nativebynature.ca/pages/about-nbn

Image Credits

Sino general
MzShellz