Chronicle 2020

OLD GIRLS AWARDS

“Let’s focus on health first. Let’s focus on cheering each other on – stop comparing – start appreciating. Stop tearing down... and focus on building up.”

By Danielle Bennett

W e often hear about difficult situations making us stronger. When Anne Matthews was in Grade 12, she had her right ovary and fallopian tube removed in an emergency surgery and was told that, as a result, she would never be able to conceive without fertility treatments. She decided to turn this devastating news into positive action by lifting the taboo surrounding infertility and by supporting women who face reproductive challenges. Along the way, she was able to defy her own prognosis and bring four (soon to be five) healthy babies into the world. After graduating from Havergal, Anne continued her undergraduate education at Trinity College (University of Toronto), and then continued with four years of graduate studies at the International College of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Vancouver and Pacific Rim College in Victoria, BC. After losing her father to leukemia in 2005, Anne financed her studies by working as first a fitness manager and then a district manager for Steve Nash Fitness World in Vancouver, B.C. She graduated with honours while running the company’s top district in the country. Anne is a personal training specialist, accredited by the National Academy of Sports Medicine, a registered acupuncturist (R.Ac.) and Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioner (T.C.M.P). In 2018, she became one of five fellows in Ontario of the American Board of Oriental Reproductive Medicine. In 2009, motivated by her patients who were looking for an exercise program that could be done at home, Anne founded Your Energy Makeover, a proprietary system that aims to maintain optimal metabolic health through exercise, nutrition, lifestyle challenges and, most importantly, a supportive group.

In 2015, after finishing her graduate studies and moving home to Toronto, she opened Energy Tree Studios, and today is the proud sole owner of a beautiful 1,200-square-foot storefront clinic at Yonge and Summerhill. Anne is passionate about women’s reproductive health, body image, safe levels of exercise, sensible nutrition and community. Her clients and patients feel deeply indebted to her for helping them through their challenges, many of which relate to infertility. “Her clinic is a reprieve from daily life, where her group format draws from our collective good energy,” says Sonia Agrawal 2002. “Her online ‘Energy Makeover’ inspires women (and men) to take charge of their physical health, which positively affects their mental health and general well-being. This forum is unlike anything I’ve seen before, where everyone is supportive and personally invested in one another’s success, with Anne being the goofiest, funniest and most relatable leader.” Anne inspires courage, both in person and on social media, where she is very forthcoming. “I’m going to share my struggles - open up - because I know that you, my community, won’t let me struggle alone,” she writes on Facebook. “Let’s focus on health first. Let’s focus on cheering each other on – stop comparing – start appreciating. Stop tearing down... and focus on building up. Define yourself by what you CAN do. You are limitless – it’s all a question of finding a new way to do the things you think you can’t. Fun fact about You: You can do anything, have anything, be anyone. Do it. Have it. Be it.” Anne exemplifies a unique kind of leadership, one that is based on authenticity, vulnerability and unfailing positivity in the face of adversity.

PHOTO: JAY CREWS

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