Lemons To lemonade: Seizing Opportunities Out Of Adversity

ATB:  It was a lot of fun I have no memories of Jamaica from before I left because I was so young. I played in the snow happily on the streets of Montreal with the other kids. It was a very multicultural neighborhood. In fact, there was every nationality and racial group except mine. There weren’t any black families and there were not any Caribbean families at all.

DH: Did you feel out of place during those days?

ATB: No, up until pre-teen years, I played happily, I had lots of friends. It’s once you get to the stage of dating that you’re going to start to face rejection but that’s a whole other interview.

DH: Indeed. I know you ended up after your studies to become a therapist and a counselor.

ATB: Yes

DH: What inspired you to choose that career path?

ATB:  Well I originally wanted to be an actress or writer. My dad was a teacher. He studied at Mico Teachers’ College. He said, “OK if you want to be a teacher, you gotta pay your own University”. So I guess I was becoming more aware of social issues, racial issues and justice ’cause I was starting to experience racial discrimination. And I was more aware of poverty and the fact that we don’t have a level playing field. So I think that’s really what got me interested in social work. I wanted to make a difference.

DH: So you made that transition though from social work to training?

ATB: Yeah it was it was a very long transition. I was a social worker for seven and a half years. I actually went back to Jamaica and I worked at the University Hospital West Indies as a medical social worker then I moved to Toronto. I was a therapist and I worked and counseled families and I did my MBA part time and when I graduated I wanted to move into business because I had co-authored a book called “West Indians and Toronto: Implications for helping professionals. And that got me speaking, leading workshops– diversity workshops, before the term “diversity” was even invented and there wasn’t much opportunity to do that full-time in the social services. I wanted to move into business and people kept saying, “you don’t have any business experience. So I ran into a huge obstacle.”

DH: And so how did you get past those obstacles to get a foothold into the business world?

ATB: Since I had an MBA, I thought OK instead of focusing on where I want to be which is in training and development, let me focus on where my MBA can get me. At the time the banks were hiring people with MBAs for management development programs. We were trained to be commercial account managers. So I did that for two full years as a way of getting some business experience.

DH: Right.  That kind of launch you too that was a big inning of where you are now

ATB:  I would say yes.  By the way I actually hated the experience.

DH: It was the medicine you had to take, huh?

ATB: It wasn’t creative, you know. And I have an outgoing personality. In the bank you have to be really quiet and follow all the policy and procedures. But ever since I worked at the bank, no one’s ever said to me again you don’t have this experience. So I took some time of- I focus on my acting and when I ran out of money, I applied again for training and development position and guess what? I got in!

DH: Let’s talk about your acting briefly because I know of you appeared in Netflix series?

ATB: Yes. I have been really blessed. Last year I auditioned for Self Made, inspired by the life of Madame CJ Walker and actually the first day I auditioned was when they had the Raptors parade in Toronto and it was so much excitement in the air. I’m so pumped. So I went to the audition. They called me back I think four for more times and then I heard I got the part. So I play Anna Beth. And I’m in the first episode in three scenes and I have lines in one of them. I got on with Octavia Spencer and Blair Underwood who I found out just a few years ago, is married to my cousin.

DH: Oh wow, what a small world!

ATB: It is a small world.

DH: You’re now in the family business huh, acting?

ATB: Well yeah exactly I’m not the only one in the family who’s been in the entertainment business. I have a hip hop producing cousin named Focus Three Dot who has won multiplatinum Grammy Awards. So we’ve got a little bit of it in our blood and get this Bram Stoker. Yes the writer!

DH: I mentioned earlier in my introduction that you have experienced so many business setbacks. Primarily because of the global dynamics what was happening in the marketplace as opposed to how you were running your business. We’re going to explore those in a minute but I I’m kind of curious –is there an overall lesson that you have taken away from all those experiences?

ATB: The main thing I’ve taken from this is that number one, you really have to diversify. You have to have multiple streams of revenue and it’s extremely important not to just focus on one target market. I know a lot of the experts say, “yes become laser beam focused” but if you do that and that market gets hit, you really up the creek. So yes, you have to have a basket of skills and services but be ready to be flexible and deploy them in various areas as the economy and the world around you changes.

DH: So are you saying that when somebody is starting out or even if they have been in business for a while…..been in the marketplace for a while they should look to develop other skills, other than their core skills so that when we have a crisis they can fall back on those skills?

ATB: Exactly! So it’s a question of, in my case yes, I’m running my own business but I also had my acting going and some writing so that all that helped. And also don’t just focus on one industry. It is one mistake I made very early on. I was really focused on high tech and telcos and after the NASDAQ tanked in February of 2001, all of a sudden the phone stopped ringing. My focus was too narrow.

DH: Right so let’s talk about some of those down turns in the market. The NASDAQ, the terrorists attack in 2011 as well, the SARS outbreak, of course the financial meltdown in 2008 and we are now in the middle of the coronavirus crisis. All those incidents from back in the past, in what way did it impact your business, your revenue stream and let’s talk a little bit afterwards about how you were able to make that transition.

ATB:  OK let’s start with when the dot com bubble burst. Now I can remember in February 2001 driving along the Don Valley Parkway and hearing that the stock markets were going higher and higher and I thought oh maybe I should invest.  At the time I had about 50 grand in the bank, right? Well before I could do anything, everything fell apart and the phone stopped ringing in in the Toronto area. I just wasn’t getting any calls. Fortunately, in January 2001, a month before this, I had started doing work in Asia and that year I went to Asia I think something like four times. It was really quite lucrative, I did well.

DH: I’m sorry were all those training and team development workshops?

ATB: Yeah workshops. I was doing workshops in places like Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Singapore….. that year I also went to India at the end of the year so that helps……. all of that helps.

DH: Right, so that’s the NASDAQ. Of course we had the financial meltdown. Let’s talk about 2001 because I think that was such an impactful, event let’s say. People were scared to travel, companies were cutting back significantly, was there a particular way in which that event impacted your business?

ATB: Well it’s interesting because my business was just picking up locally from February and how that happened was I contacted every executive I knew and I was also mailing out these promotional postcards.

It was actually a photo I had taken in Jamaica and I used it as a metaphor for the company. The original company was the Training Oasis. Anyway, what happened was, I had gone to a Film Festival party and the next day I was driving downtown to deliver a gift bag to an actress who was supposed to be at the party but who came after I left. I turned on the news and the first thing I heard was this is going to destroy the economy for many years and I went, “oh, oh”. They said they were evacuating buildings in downtown Toronto so I went home, turned on the TV and I saw the plane crash in the building.

So yeah….. North America, business was just dead. For a while, planes weren’t even flying. But eventually the planes started again and I was able to fly out and do more business in Asia. And really, the Asian business sustained me until things started to pick up again in North America.

DH: And then in 2008, I know you were doing some luxury kind of training …..

ATB: OK how that came about.  We had SARS. SARS hit Toronto and Asia, right? So I left on what was supposed to be my biggest tour ever. I was supposed to go to Beijing. I was supposed to go to Indonesia, Thailand. I was supposed to go to Dhubai…… all these places I was supposed to go and then Bush was talking about having a war so Dhubai fell off and then Beijing got cancelled. I still flew via Beijing ended up doing work in Kuala Lumpar, Malaysia also Thailand, Bangkok, India. When I was getting on the plane to go to India, I was told that the Singapore workshop had been cancelled because most of the people who were coming from Tibet and the Maoist were demonstrating so they couldn’t get to the airport. By the time I got back to Toronto everything was dead, dead, dead, dead. Nothing was shooting so I couldn’t make any money off acting. Nothing was happening in Asia, nothing was happening in Toronto.

I was terrified. So I met with a coach and he helped me to really rethink my business offer and my branding. And I launched a new brand, new website, I made it very luxurious and then I started attracting luxury companies to do everything from facilitating team building, to executive retreats, to also doing corporate events for them which is something I’ve never even thought of doing.

DH: Interesting, so you go from kinda just training to becoming a meeting planner?

ATB: Yeah, because what happened was I was doing team building and executive retreats and I would plan the whole thing from start to finish for the company and I guess because of the Jamaican in me, I always made it fun and colorful and there’s music and activities, so companies would have me in to facilitate their executive retreats and when they wanted to do just something just for fun they said you know, we had a great time, we want you back but this time we don’t want to learn anything we just want you to plan something just for fun. So that’s how I kind of fell into it. I didn’t even search for it. My client started to ask for it.

DH: As I’m listening to you, Ann, it just seems like all these incidents have taken place and you have had to reinvent yourself a number of times because of business setbacks. What advice would you have for someone who maybe they’re just starting out….perhaps…. all of us right now are a little bit in a quandary, uncertain about what’s on the horizon and we may in fact need to reinvent ourselves. What advice do you have for them?

ATB:  Well the first thing is if you have any services that you can take virtual do it. It is something I’ve been resisting myself because you know the technology, I hate to charge somebody for something and something goes wrong but we’re at the point now where we all kind of have to do that so that’s the first thing go virtual. Secondly use your network. So, every executive you know, call them. Every colleague you know, call them. And I also want to put it in word of caution: don’t expect everyone’s gonna come through for you.  ‘Cause in 2008, everything was dead we know that, right?  And I contacted some people who I had referred a lot of business to. They ended up in Asia because of me and one of them, instead of saying yeah you know what let’s work together you know what he said to me? He said, Anne, it’s OK to be hungry but never let people know you’re hungry. That’s how we reacted. I didn’t react like that when he approached me a few years earlier and asked me for referrals to Asia. So reach out to your network but understand that some people are going to disappoint you and you know what it’s a blessing. It’s better to know who you have in your corner and who you need to cut out of your orbit. So that would be my advice and then the other piece that I’d say extremely important as you take time now to self-isolate and pause and reflect, start to come up with other streams of revenue. Could be based on your hobbies or your passions but never allow yourself to have all your eggs in one basket.

DH: You know, the athlete in me sees crisis as preparation….. training. When we go to a competition, the stress and the challenge of that competition is preparing you for the next one. I kinda see life’s crisis as preparing us for the next one that’s about to hit.  We’ve had all of these over the last number of years, as we’ve been discussing, that has prepared us for this one right. People will say, Devon, this is unprecedented, this is earth shattering and I’ll say yeah but in a way we have been prepared and you kind of touched on a couple of nuggets that I think as I ask about reinventing yourself…….. but I think they apply even if you’re not really reinventing yourself…. you’re trying to navigate this challenging time…..right? Self-reflection, you just spoke about that….. how important is that….. just kind of taking time out during this slowdown period to re-evaluate your life and get in touch with you?

ATB:: It’s extremely important and it’s important whether you’re going through an economic crisis or health crisis. Three years ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I don’t know if you know that?

DH: No I didn’t actually.

ATB: Yeah I didn’t tell many people at first because I was devastated. I didn’t see it coming right? I knew there were certain illnesses in my family but I did not know that my grandmother had had cancer and so did her sister. I was not prepared and I needed to really take that time when I was healing ,for self-reflection and to really figure out what legacy do I want to leave in the world? What do I want to do? And I started as a result of that doing some writing. I had been researching my family tree from I was 18, around the same time I started training for social work and wanted to know more about my roots. It took a long time for the tools to be available for me to trace my grandfather’s family. Once I did that and I connected with family members, I uncovered so much about my family and all my cousin started saying are you going to write a book? Are you going to write a play, are you going to write a script? So while I was recovering from cancer, my calendar was clear and I was able to write.  I wrote a pilot for TV series and a novel. So you know, dig deep within you and figure out what are your talents?  What are your skills?  What are the things you’ve been wanting to do for a long time and you haven’t had time to do it? Now is the time! See it as an opportunity and seize it.

DH: I couldn’t agree with you more. You have more time on your hands and it’s not just about what you’re doing physically whether you’re planning a meeting, or booking flights or whatever.  It is…. you use the word “legacy” and I and I usually say hey “what impact do you want to make in the world”…. that’s beyond yourself? Just being able to slow down and think about those things in a slower time period really adds more meaning to your life.

ATB: It does. It really does.  And once you see that as an overarching umbrella, then you can zero in on…. OK what are some of my options for earning an income?

DH: And that’s perhaps where you so wisely sought a coach at one point.

ATB: Yes, I’ve done that a couple of times, actually. Yeah when you’re stuck…well you’re an athlete, I don’t even have to tell you, you know more about this than I do When you’re stuck and you’re not making progress that coach can help you keep on pushing as you put.  Right?

DH: And even when you are stuck or confused or just uncertain as many of us are in this time you, that person is going to see something in you that you perhaps didn’t see in yourself.

ATB: That’s right!

DH: You also spoke earlier about….. and I think it’s important so I’m bringing it up again …..just improving your skills and I encourage people to do that.  Learning technical skills and adding to your repertoire is important but also those soft skills are gonna come in handy aren’t they?

ATB: They are. They are extremely important and they will help you navigate and getting stuff from the crisis. The other thing we haven’t touched on is really getting the support you need. And for me it’s been prayer. It’s been support from my church community. They have been there for me every step of the way and in fact once I had the problem with cancer and I had a couple of other issues, I started going really regularly for prayer. I even saw a priest pretending and I’m not even Catholic right? He did something with me called the contemplated retreat in daily life. Father Carl. I was in Montreal at the time, temporarily and it made a huge difference. It was a game changer for me. Another thing I did which some people might find helpful… I finally had the time to do The Artist Way by Julia Cameron. It is a wonderful book. So development and coaching and helps you really tap into your creativity.

DH: I think you touched on two important points here. One is tapping into support that’s around you. Everybody needs a team right?…to help them to succeed and the other is this whole business or self-care. So you were taking time out to pray. Folks may not pray but they may practice yoga, they may practice meditation. It is really important to kind of connect and quiet our minds and become more mindful because that’s just the stress of the crisis. And you’re absolutely right, I mean we’re kind of focusing on the coronavirus crisis but then there are other crises that hit us …… whether it’s a health or relationship or financial crisis and I think the principles and the strategies that we have been sharing of the last half an hour or so, I think applies to all of them.

ATB: They do, because when there is a crisis it’s almost like we’re really distracted…… our mind gets cluttered and we’re focusing on all of the obstacles and we really have to find a way to quieten ourselves down and listening to that small voice within.

For me getting into nature and going for walks. Bodies of water work for me a lot. I guess because…. I didn’t even remember it but at my grandmother’s house there was a river that ran right behind her house so maybe there’s something there for me so when I go to Jamaica for example I always go to places with waterfalls and it just clears my head you know and in Canada of course I’m more going to ponds and lakes. Places like them they’re very soothing and can relax you and help you to refocus and then don’t know.

DH: Everything that we spoke about in terms of self-care and reaching out to others, developing your skills , obviously helps to improve you the person, which is important. That’s what you bring to the world right? As you are reinventing yourself and as we find ourselves in the midst of this particular crisis and with the uncertainty….as a trainer, and I know you have as a true Jamaican these other irons in the fire, but as a trainer, I think about the hospitality industry that is so wide…from meetings, conferences and transportation workers and so on and so forth, meeting planners…… any advice for them, Anne, in terms of how they big navigate this?

ATB: Well, try and do some virtual meetings. Get in touch with your clients and find out how you can help. For example, you and I are both from Jamaica and we know the hotel. Right now the borders are closed right?  So the hotels are losing revenue…. everybody in the tourist industry is losing room revenue so one of the things I’m doing is I’m reaching out to venues and hotels initially in Jamaica and the Toronto area and I’m coming up with some co-marketing for the fall. In fact I’ve already launched a spring into fall promotion that if people book their executive retreats or team building now, OK?….. that I’ll be giving them certain bonuses for their team and I’m also giving away 10% of all the revenue I generate from that to help other people who have been impacted by this. The other thing I’m doing is ebook sales and that’s something I think a lot of people can do in the hospitality and event planning industry. Find out what your skill set is and package it up. Whether it’s a webinar or whether it’s a podcast or ebook and you can generate revenue that way and help other people. So that’s what I’m doing. And I already have a whole collection of E books and there to do with marketing training and development and businesses. I have some on launching a career in training or event planning and anybody who purchases these, they’re going to get several benefits, first of all, normally I bundled this with 20 minutes of telephone coaching or zoom coaching. I’ve upped that to a full hour. So all these people who are calling me for free coaching, you know what? Buy an ebook you gonna get one hour of company coaching and 25% of everything that I bring in, I’m going to give it to somebody in need. I have a couple of families I’ve adopted in Jamaica. We all need to do our small part. Some people can give their services away for free. I’m not in a position to do that but I’m in a position to generate revenue and take some of it and give it away to help people.

DH: So in those strategies, you have practically touched and all of the things that we’ve been discussing

…. reinventing yourself, figuring out what your core skill sets are and then finding a way to monetize that, going beyond yourself and helping others……making an impact and that is so important.

ATB: It’s not just about us. When I was going through a really rough period, that same priest who advised me said, “You know what?Helping isn’t just when you’re doing well. When you’re not doing well, you need to find who you can help.” And I started to volunteer every Friday night at a program that served meals and gave clothing to the homeless. I think I got more out of it than they did. It was a tremendous breath of fresh air. I even got to practice my French! This is in Montreal.

DH: I always say that when you help others or when you encourage others, it is the most altruistic and at the same time selfish thing you could ever do.

ATB: Absolutely. It is so rewarding!

DH: You’re helping somebody but it’s impossible to help others without at the same time help yourself in some way shape or form. So Anne, I mean this has been enlightening. You know that when two Jamaicans get together they can chat forever but tell me ……

and I’m gonna share a number of links here no when we post this but if someone wanted to find you for your books and your coaching or to book one of your training programs, how would they find you?

ATB: You can get me in a number of places:

My website is www.executiveoasis.com and that’s for team building executive retreats, virtual meetings and keynote,…. www.executive oasis.com. If someone’s interested in training and development programs, I have that with my original company, www.thetraining oasis.com, www.thetraining oasis.com. I post on LinkedIn every day. In fact, I increased my posting and I will continue to do that and I’ve actually launched a brand new virtual simulation called “Lemons to lemonade: seizing opportunities out of adversity when business goes sour”, so I’ll be posting about that on LinkedIn and on my executive races website.

So that’s a simulation it’s for associations or companies that want to really reinvent themselves. There’s an ebook that’s going to go along with that and I will be posting on LinkedIn and anybody who wants to connect with me just pop me a connection request.

DH: Lemons to lemonade! Such an appropriate title.

ATB: When I used to go visit my grandma in Jamaica, I got introduced to something called lime squash. Do you know it?

DH: Of course!

ATB: It’s really cool

DH: It is really limeade

ATB: “Cause we more have lime in Jamaica, right?

I got to thinking about that whole metaphor about when life gives you lemons, make lemonade and heck, there are so many things you can do….. you can make a lime squash, I’ve been to India- fresh line soda, you can make alcoholic beverages is the hard lemonade and there’s just so many things you can do with lemonade and it’s a perfect metaphor, for really transforming yourself as the world around revolves.

DH: I absolutely agree. It really epitomizes everything that you’ve been through….you’ve experiences . Where you’ve come through it Definitely you know I keep on pushing moment or a few keep on pushing absolutely

ATB: Absolutely and your bobsledding I mean that’s such a powerful metaphor for what people are going through. ‘Cause you know, when I watched footage of you guys it’s just, it’s so fast! I mean to me, it’s terrifying to watch. It’s so fast and it’s moving and you gotta keep up with it.  Remember that time the sled flipped over? Annd you guys, you know what? You got up and you carried that sled across the finish line. My gosh that’s a Jamaican inspiration right there.

DH: Thank you! The speed is terrifying for me personally but  it’s more it’s more terrifying for me watch, it than to be in the middle of it because I’m driving…..

ATB: Which position where you on the sled?

DH: Well, on the four man, I was the number two guy but then I became a driver and I drove in ‘92 and ‘98 and that that’s just so much fun

ATB:  I’m terrified of roller coasters. I can’t even imagine! Now some of you guys did a helicopter business, right?

DH: Yeah, Dudley Stokes did a helicopter business.

ATB: You were doing helicopter tours of Jamaica?  I think it’s so exciting! There’s so many ways to reinvent yourself!

DH: Always! And I think you know that that’s why your contribution to this show is so valuable, especially in a time like this actually. So, again thank you for figuring out how to turn lemons into lemonade, by reinventing yourself because I think it really ties in nicely with this philosophy of Keep On Pushing!

ATB: Thank you and thank you for having me on as I guess. Keep On Pushing!

DH: I plan to! Absolutely!