We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Therés Amee. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Therés below.

Therés, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?

I feel many of my career choices have been underlined with risk. I grew up in a family that was very much wanting me to follow the societal rules of ‘success’. Go to school, get a degree, get a job, work your way up. That system never aligned with my vision, nor the avenues of impact I wanted to pursue. From a young age, I always knew I wanted to be a storyteller. I first discovered my love for acting when I played the lead role in our grade 7 play, ‘Eros and Psyche.’ I loved the stage and through theatre I began to come out of my shy shell and discover my voice. My high school years were filled with balancing athletics, academia, and art. When I was on set, I missed a lot of school, but somehow still managed to make the honour role straight through to graduation. Because of my GPA, I was granted scholarship money that my parents wanted me to use towards a degree program. Marine Biology was my second love, so I pursued the opposite of art – science.
My first year of college was miserable, and I became extremely anxious. Filled with stress, one day when I was driving back to school for a three hour physics lecture and it hit me. Who was making me do this..?
My parents? Sure, but they would support me if I told them I wanted to go to acting school, even though that is one of the riskiest conversations any parent dreads having with their child. I was adamant, and after lengthy convincing, my mother went with me to Vancouver, where I interviewed and auditioned for several art institutes, before deciding on Vancouver Acting School. From there I immersed myself in training, gaining set experience, and pursing the film industry from both in front of the camera, and behind the scenes in production.
My production company, Prowess Productions was birthed upon returning from my summer program in New York, at Esper Studio in 2016. Spending those three months in the City of art was life changing. I loved being back in class everyday learning and re-learning different techniques and methods. Because casting could never really place me, as I was always tall and read ‘like I was in my late thirties,’ even through I was in my twenties, I decided to take another risk in telling my own stories.
In December 2017, I incorporated Prowess along with the film option of the drama fiction novel, Backshadow. Backshadow is written by Canadian author, Julie Mann, and I adapted her second novel, Blessed Be, in 2019. Optioning these stories was another risk, but because the subject matter was about empowering women, and highlighting global traumas that women face in every culture, I knew it was a risk very worth taking.

Now modeling, was something I never wanted to do.
Because of my athletic background, I shied away from the modeling industry, as I knew my body type would not ‘be recognized,’ as high fashion standard, size 0-4. This was circa 2010, plus size models were just breaking down body diversity barriers which was amazing to see. However, because I am a ‘mid-size’ model, every agency that scouted me wanted me to either lose weight, lose my muscle mass (ya right) or gain weight. My average, toned, size 8/10 body was nowhere to be seen on the runway, or in commercial campaigns. Therefore, another risk was taken, to pave the way for my own category, ‘Fitcurve,’ which has finally been recognized as ‘Mid-size,’ or ‘Medium-models.’ I have worked in the Vancouver, Toronto, LA, and New York markets, and have recently tapped into the European markets. I walked in Paris Fashion week last September and just returned from London Fashion Week. Body Diversity and Body Inclusion still has a long way to go in every fashion market, which means I must continue taking this risk.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My business is built on the core ethics of supporting women. Both in my fashion work, film work, and advocacy. The stories Prowess decides to adapt or produce, are all to highlight female voices. When I decided to create impact through story telling, I wanted to do it on a global level. Many of my projects take place in different parts of the world, particularly India. Our latest short film, Blessed Be, is about human trafficking in India and the underground world of Organ and Orphan Trade. This was our second literary adaptation. Our first, Backshadow, is about three women, Aneeta (India), Kameko (Japan), and Gregory (America) who all meet in a creative writing class in San Francisco. Each woman has faced unfathomable traumas, and through their writing, they are able to connect, heal, and come out of their shadows. I also work with the non-profit organization, Beayoutiful, which is a Vancouver based Charity. Beayoutiful provides confidence classes and mentorship to young girls age 6-12. We offer 6-8 week programs, conferences, and workshops which allow these young girls to learn about healthy body image, media literacy, how to navigate the pressures of beauty standards, career planning, and goal setting. I love working with this Charity. Our founder, the incredible Taylor Hui, has taken the organization across Canada with future plans to continue this impact into the United States.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

In the world of Film and Fashion, everyday is a test of resilience. These career choices do not follow the same formula of ‘success’ that most other industries do. You can attend the top, elite schools, train with the best coaches, be the most talented in the room, and that still does not guarantee your success. Furthermore, these two mediums highlight youth, and as you begin aging, less and less work becomes available. Now, this is actively changing, more in Film than in Fashion, but the push for not only body diversity, but age diversity is a continuous, resilient pursuit.

I have been in both of these worlds for 10 years, and every fashion week season, every pilot season, or anytime I am independently producing a project, resilience is my foundation. It is resilience that has gotten me on every runway I have walked, in every room where I have pitched, on every big screen where my projects have screened. In anything you decide to do, especially as an entrepreneur, this core value will always push you, and help you continue your business, not matter how hard each step might be.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

The main lesson I had to unlearn was control. As humans we like to control as much as possible. The moment you decide to pursue a life as a business owner, let me tell you, control is something you no longer have.

…not that you really had it to begin with.

This has been the most difficult lesson I have had to unlearn. Everyday, regardless of how many hours you put in, you still have to give up control and allow divine timing to align. I actively struggle with this and still remind myself when something does not go according to plan, that the outcome is always out of my control. I know that can sound discouraging. What’s the point then? If your efforts will not generate success? They will. It just might not be on your exact timeline. And when it seems that nothing is going according to plan, you must surrender, let go, and trust.
Scary, I know.
But, the amount of learning and growth you receive from your entrepreneurial journey, will far surpass what any lecture room or textbook can provide.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.prowessproductions.ca
• Instagram: @TheresAmee
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theres.amee.7
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/therés-amee/
• Twitter: @TheresAmee
• Youtube: @Theres_Amee
• Other: I also have a Short Term Rental/ Co-Hosting Management company : https://www.travelstay.travel

Image Credits
Ethan Anonas @efurtography Alanna Gilbert @alannagilbertphotography @nyfw
Backshadow and Blessed Be Author, Julie Mann