Spirit animals have always been an interest for our family. Through their totem identity, our children learned to value one another's difference, take pride in their strengths, and also see areas in their lives that would require hard work to find a balance. A few years ago, our three boys began selling handmade totem animal necklaces at the Saturday Market. The jewelry creation process also served as a way to connect with their Native American culture and study art techniques. People loved the jewelry and my children enjoyed fattening their wallets, but we had not anticipated the reality that few of our customers were in touch with their identities. While totems were a new concept for most people, that didn't stop them from wanting to learn more about themselves. We developed a simple set of questions to help customers find a totem, and seeing their faces light up after my children would reveal a match was fun! We weren't ready to let go of the fun of totem jewelry when Summer ended. We wanted EVERYONE to dig deeper into their identity and discover their potential and felt that totems could be an important part of self-discovery. We had the idea of creating these unique stackable totem beads and spent the next 2 years working on our vision. My Totem Tribe is a woman and Native American owned business. Our children are not only the inspiration to the business, but they also help make key decisions in the look of each jewelry piece or adding details to the final designs.