This Business is Personal

Trey Anthony on why health and harmony are crucial to success in business

“I always approach my business as an extension of myself.”

These words ring true when they are being spoken by a writer who draws from her own experiences to create touching and humorous plays, an actor who always empathizes with her audience, an entrepreneur who finances most of the budget for each show her company produces, and a producer whose motto is “How do I know it’s good? Because my name is on it.”

Trey Anthony’s two Toronto-based companies, Trey Anthony Productions and the Trey Anthony @One Centre (started in 2001 and 2008, respectively) are both thriving. The former is a production company for theatre, film, and television which brings in six figures annually; the latter is a wellness centre for women on Queen Street West which encourages them to focus on the core principles of Mind, Body, Spirit, Creativity, and Fun. When Anthony wakes up in the morning, “I say to myself, In order to do this I have to be physically and emotionally and spiritually in sync.” She runs on the treadmill, meditates, and does daily affirmations to focus and prepare for a day of work.

“You can ask my staff,” she laughs, “the days that I don’t exercise and the days I don’t meditate, they know. . . . If I’m not well physically or emotionally, my business isn’t well physically or emotionally. I cannot run on empty, because then my thoughts are running on empty, my creativity is running on empty. So I have to always take time for myself . . . in order to do really great work and do work that inspires others, I have to be at a place, emotionally and spiritually, where I’m taking care of myself.”

Anthony’s track record demonstrates that taking care of herself does equate taking care of her business – her reputation as an upstanding businesswoman is one carefully maintained with every creative, executive and financial decision she makes. Sloppiness and missed deadlines are two of her biggest pet peeves, and though she is fair and understanding, she runs a tight ship. “Anything that has my name on it,” she says, “it has to be the best and at the top of its game . . . people have to come out of there and say ‘that was a Trey Anthony experience.’ ”

Black Ink will have a more in-depth story on Trey Anthony in our Summer 2010 issue. It will cover her early years, her best and worst business moves, some of her proven methods of ensuring customer loyalty, and a review of her latest play, Secrets of a Black Boy, which she describes as “the male response to ‘Da Kink in My Hair‘.” www.secretsofablackboy.com

- D C Dolabaille