Share Your Spark: Esteemed A&S alumni talk entrepreneurship in the entertainment industry

Know your strengths. Identify your limitations and how to work around them. And find your spark — the idea you feel compelled to bring to life.

Those are some of the entrepreneurial words of wisdom imparted at the latest offering of the Share Your Spark speaker series hosted by the Centre for Entrepreneurship at A&S.

The illuminating conversation, highlighting entrepreneurship in the arts and entertainment industry, featured A&S alumni Linda Schuyler, co-creator of the award-winning Degrassi television franchise, and Asha Daniere, a strategic and legal advisor to companies in the media and technology industries.

“To be a successful entrepreneur, you need something you can’t bear not to do — where it feels like you’ll cease to exist if you’re not doing it,” says Daniere, who earned her bachelor of arts in 1990 as a member of Innis College. “You can be struck with that ‘spark’ when you’re 12 or when you’re 57.”

“Entrepreneurism is a spirit of taking calculated risks,” says Schuyler, who earned her bachelor of arts in 1974 as a member of Innis College and an honorary Doctor of Laws from the University of Toronto in 2016. “It’s a belief that you can make the world a better place.”

Schuyler is executive producer and co-creator of more than 500 Degrassi episodes. Her entrepreneurial journey began with a big risk — leaving her job as a schoolteacher to chase her dreams.

“I wanted to give young people a voice,” Schuyler says. “I wanted to celebrate their differences and reassure them they were not alone.”

Daniere’s plunge into entrepreneurship came after 25 years serving as general counsel to global media companies. She co-founded Serial Maven Studios in 2023 and, with her business partner, built the foundation for a successful production and distribution business.

The idea of being her own boss became Daniere’s spark. She realized using her skill set as a lawyer for her own ventures was energizing in a way that working for others was not.

“The key is to stay open to opportunities and never feel like you’re stuck in a prison of your own making,” Daniere says.

Schuyler and Daniere also discussed the importance of knowing your strengths and limitations, and how best to work around them. The common theme was trust and building a team that buys into the same principles.

“Understand your vision and make sure you can communicate it to your team,” Schuyler says. “Then take a leap of faith and give them space.”

“Entrepreneurs have humility and understand they need partners — people who make up for their weaknesses and play to their strengths,” Daniere says.

Share Your Spark was created at the Faculty of Arts & Science’s Centre for Entrepreneurship as a way for participants to help unlock their potential, explore new ideas, build skills and discover how successful entrepreneurs ignited their passions.

The speaker series supports the centre’s goal of promoting entrepreneurship education as well as commercialization activities within Arts & Science. Events are kept informal with questions from the audience and a networking session afterwards.

“We created this platform specifically so our community members, from students to alumni, could feel inspired by and connected to our network of established entrepreneurs,” says Tara Etherington, the centre’s executive director. “This event successfully brings the whole, wonderfully diverse Arts & Science community together in a welcoming environment, empowering every individual, no matter where they are on their entrepreneurial journey.”

With the first Share Your Spark highlighting careers in finance, it was important for the second edition to represent the arts, says Etherington. The centre partnered with Innis College — home to the Cinema Studies Institute, which just celebrated its 50th anniversary — and brought back two esteemed college alumni in Daniere and Schuyler.

“We were thrilled that Asha Daniere and Linda Schuyler were willing to share their entrepreneurship story with our community,” says Stephen Wright, interim dean of the Faculty of Arts & Science. “They are two incredibly inspiring alumni with a passion for business, creative ambition and critical thinking, and we’re proud to have played a role in their journey.”

“Linda and Asha are two phenomenally gifted individuals and inspiring entrepreneurs,” Etherington says. “It’s incredible to hear their stories and takeaways about the importance of networking, building resilience and thinking about what motivates some to find their spark.”