The Cycle Breakers Podcast

Darion Ducharme is the founder and Owner of Teqare, a proudly Indigenous-owned education company based in Treaty 1 Territory (Winnipeg, Manitoba). Through Teqare, Darion empowers communities across Canada with engaging workshops on cyber safety, financial literacy, and city life skills, bridging the digital divide for youth, adults, and elders in both urban and remote communities. A recognized national speaker and Mastercard Game Changer Award recipient, his work has been featured by Global News, CBC, The Globe and Mail, and SAY Magazine. With over 70 First Nations and hundreds of schools trained in the 2024–2025 school year alone, Darion continues to inspire digital confidence, safety, and opportunity for the next generation of Indigenous leaders.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Darion's journey to entrepreneurship
• from making to stewarding money
• 2 key financial literacy tips we all need
• why cyber security for First Nations communities is needed
• the latest scams to watch out for
• the future of tech & AI

LINKS

Darion's Instagram

Darion's LinkedIn

Teqare's Instagram

Teqare's YouTube

Teqare's TikTok

Rachael's Website

Rachael's Instagram

Rachael's LinkedIn

Private Mentorship for Indigenous Leaders

Indigenous Employee Empowerment Program

This week's episode is inspired by a recent conversation with a client who is in the thick of building her movement - she feels like she's not just growing her business but changing an industry. This is legacy work, and I know this season she is in all too well. As I shared with her my business pivot and the journey of building the Cycle Breakers Movement, I knew that there was medicine in it for others as well. This is what I wish I had heard 2.5 years ago when I was starting over from scratch. If you take anything away from this episode, let it be to stay persistent & consistent.

In this episode, I riff on:

• how to reframe setbacks as setups
• overcoming victimhood to stand in your power
• what the gestation period in business growth looks like
• why remembering the challenges will serve you
• holding the vision through low moments

LINKS

Rachael's Website

Rachael's Instagram

Rachael's LinkedIn

Private Mentorship for Indigenous Leaders

Indigenous Employee Empowerment Program

In this episode, I'm diving into a topic that can feel heavy, painful, and all too familiar for many of us - lateral violence. We'll talk about the deep roots of this cycle in colonization, residential schools, and intergenerational trauma - and why understanding this helps us see it's not about you, but about the wounds others carry. Most importantly, I'll share how to hold yourself powerfully, protect your energy, and keep showing up in your truth and authentic expression.

If you've ever been on the receiving end of judgment, criticism, or sideways energy from your own community, this episode will give you the perspective and tools to rise above it with grace, strength, and clarity.

In this episode, I riff on:

• what lateral violence is
• why it's so prevalent
• examples of how it shows up
• how to navigate without perpetuating more harm
• a solutions-forward approach to lateral violence

LINKS

Rachael's Website

Rachael's Instagram

Rachael's LinkedIn

Private Mentorship for Indigenous Leaders

Indigenous Employee Empowerment Program

Join the fall cohort of the Freedom Method™️ Certification - a science-backed, trauma-informed and Indigenous-led program. Get 6 certifications in 3 months. Enrol here.

This week, I'm diving into a truth I've been sitting with: success has less to do with hustle or strategy, and everything to do with how safe we feel in our bodies. Success lives in the nervous system. In this episode, I share my own journey with nervous system healing and why it's not just about breathing or meditating more - especially when you're carrying complex, intergenerational, or early developmental trauma.

In this episode, I riff on:

• Why safety shapes your capacity for success

• How old patterns keep us looping in survival

• The window of tolerance & holding more with ease

• The vagus nerve as a key to regulation + resilience

• How the Freedom Method Certification helps you embody and share this work

LINKS

Rachael's Website

Rachael's Instagram

Rachael's LinkedIn

The Freedom Method™️ Certification (we start October 1st)

Private Mentorship for Indigenous Leaders

Indigenous Employee Empowerment Program

Join the fall cohort of the Freedom Method™️ Certification - a science-backed, trauma-informed and Indigenous-led program. Get 6 certifications in 3 months. Enrol here.

This week we have a special guest joining us. Tupaarnaq Kopeck is an Inuk woman from Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland), and she's passionate about supporting Inuit and Indigenous communities with personal finance and investing. Her background is in banking, and she also studied business and psychology, so she loves combining practical financial tools with an understanding of how our experiences and emotions shape money decisions. Her mission is to help people heal, feel empowered, and build long-term financial strength in ways that are culturally meaningful and accessible.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Tupaarnaq's experience growing up Inuk while navigating two worlds
• navigating financial shame and how to reconcile with the past
• a transparent look at building a business & community from scratch
• how to keep holding the vision when results aren't coming in
• her mission and what keeps driving her forward

LINKS

Tupaarnaq's Instagram

Tupaarnaq's TikTok

Tupaarnaq's Website

Rachael's Website

Rachael's Instagram

Rachael's LinkedIn

The Freedom Method™️ Certification

Indigenous Employee Empowerment Program

Join the fall cohort of the Freedom Method™️ Certification - a science-backed, trauma-informed and Indigenous-led program. Get 6 certifications in 3 months. Enrol here.

This week's episode is an ode to the resilience, tenacity, personal growth and trust that it takes to build a movement. Rachael shares exactly how she layed the foundation for the Freedom Method™️ - brick-by-brick - throughout the past 7 years derived from lived experiences and divine guidance. You know how they say, "until you've walked a mile in these shoes..." rings so true as we explore how the greatest medicine we will ever gain is through life itself.

In this epsiode, Rachael riffs on:

• what Iggy Azalea has to do with this episode
• taking pressure off yourself
• how each pillar of The Cycle Breakers Movement evolved from personal hardship
• how to recognize life's burdens as blessings
• how you can bring challenges into your work powerfully

LINKS

Rachael's Website

Rachael's Instagram

Rachael's LinkedIn

The Freedom Method™️ Certification (cohort starts October 1)

Private Mentorship for Indigenous Leaders

Indigenous Employee Empowerment Program

Join the fall cohort of the Freedom Method™️ Certification - a science-backed, trauma-informed and Indigenous-led program. Get 6 certifications in 3 months. Enrol here.

Just a few days late, but worth the wait! This week's episode is a recap of my time in Yellowknife for a speaking engagement for a group of Indigenous entrepreneurs. I am feeling so grateful for the opportunity and after a few days of reflection, I wanted to share my takeaways with a motivational and empowering flare! Bottom line: don't give up on the vision - good things come to those who persist!

In this episode, we discuss:

• the highlights of my week in Yellowknife
• lessons I've learned in the past 2 years
• why holding your own vision is the most important job
• how to surround yourself with like-minded folks
• how to navigate rejections

LINKS

Rachael's Website

Rachael's Instagram

Rachael's LinkedIn

The Freedom Method™️ Certification (starts Oct 1)

Registration for The Freedom Method™️ Info Session (Sept 11)

Join the fall cohort of the Freedom Method™️ Certification - a science-backed, trauma-informed and Indigenous-led program. Get 6 certifications in 3 months. Enrol here.

A weekend visit with one of Rach's best friends resulted in a cathartic trip down memory lane and a handful of lessons, realizations, and appreciations for the beautiful journey we call life. This episode serves as a reminder of the good medicine it is to reflect on how far we've come. It invites listeners to consider the cycles and seasons of their own life, as benchmarkers of personal growth and evolution.

In this episode, Rach discusses:

• her multi-faceted 7-year entrepreneurial journey
• what each business iteration taught her
• starting over from scratch as evolution
• reflecting on the past as healing
• using past successes and fuel for future wins

LINKS

Rachael's Website

Rachael's Instagram

Rachael's LinkedIn

The Freedom Method™️ Certification

Registration for Cycle Breakers Movement Info Session (Sept 11)

Indigenous Employee Empowerment Program

This episode is deeply personal, but its intention is one filled with hope. One year ago I left a toxic relationship that became one of my greatest gifts and teachers. I am celebrating this milestone because even though it may have been the obvious decision, it was not an easy one. I know this is not a unique situation but I know it is a challenging one, so I hope that my story can empower someone else to walk away.

In this episode I share:

• my personal experience with narcissistic abuse
• the difference between overt and covert personality disorders
• a reflection on my life then and now
• words of encouragement and support for anyone who needs it (my DMs are always open)

LINKS

Rachael's Website

Rachael's Instagram

Rachael's LinkedIn

The Freedom Method™️ Certification (fall cohort now enrolling)

Private Mentorship for Indigenous Leaders

Indigenous Employee Empowerment Program

Chyana Marie Sage is a Cree, Métis, and Salish memoirist, journalist, essayist, poet, model, screenwriter, and public speaker from amiskwaciy-wâskahikan (Edmonton). She holds an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from Columbia University - where she was the first Indigenous graduate - and later taught as an adjunct professor. After living in New York City, she returned to Canada and now lives in Toronto, working as Storyteller and Content Writer for Indspire. Her debut memoir, Soft as Bones (House of Anansi, May 2025), became an instant national bestseller. She is the founder of the Soft as Bones Storytelling Foundation, alongside her sister Chayla Delaney Rain, dedicated to healing through the arts.

In this episode, we discuss:

• definining moments that shaped her life path
• how cultural healing helps break generational cycles
• the medicine her debut memoir, Soft as Bones, offers her readers
• turning rock bottoms into rebirths

LINKS

Chyana's Instagram

Chyana's Youtube

Chyana's Website

Rachael's Website

Rachael's Instagram

Rachael's LinkedIn

The Freedom Method™️ Certification

Private Mentorship for Indigenous Leaders

Indigenous Employee Empowerment Program