Riel

About Riel

I’m Riel (Lonny Ladouceur), a Métis author, entrepreneur and founder of the I Am Ready Movement, based in Kelowna, British Columbia. I call myself an Identity Revivalist because I care about helping people recognize the stories they inherited, reconnect with their worth and deliberately practice who they choose to become. My work grew from a journey I’m still living. Addiction took me into homelessness more than once. Getting sober gave me the opportunity to rebuild, but more than 20 years into sobriety, I was still creating success and tearing it down. I couldn’t understand why knowing better wasn’t translating into living differently. I searched through books, personal development, spiritual practices and many other resources, including 20 ketamine sessions. Those experiences brought awareness, but for me, awareness alone didn’t create the lasting change I needed. A hypnosis session brought a childhood belief into focus: “Nobody is going to notice anyway.” Recognizing its influence helped me explore the relationship between how I saw myself and the choices I kept making. Reconnecting with my Métis heritage has been another part of that work. My family’s roots are in Lac La Biche and Plamondon, Alberta. I grew up absorbing shame about being Indigenous. Learning about my ancestors—including my great-great-grandfather Augustin Ladouceur, a successful independent trader—has given me a family history in which I can recognize belonging, resourcefulness and my own entrepreneurial drive. Water connects my heritage with some of my deepest grief. Two of my siblings drowned in bathtubs, and I survived a suicide attempt in one. Yet water later became a place of quiet, prayer and healing. Discovering my ancestors’ lives along the waterways added another meaning to that connection. My book, I Am Ready, opens with “Water & Stone” and shares the experiences behind the movement. Shipwrecked explores the patterns that leave us feeling stranded and how we begin finding our way to shore. Commit is a 10-week, one-on-one voyage, with each lesson a leg toward putting a chosen identity into daily action. I also offer a free Sunday online workshop. I founded Oxford House Society of BC and am proud that it is an Indigenous-led nonprofit. Growing it continues to teach me about service, persistence and the challenges of building community. What drives me is remembering how exhausting it felt to keep searching and still feel stuck. I care about belonging, accountability, rebuilding trust and helping people find practical ways forward. I share my experience as someone still doing the work, with the hope that others will feel understood and more willing to take their next step.