Cherine Anderson – The Powerhouse

CHERINE Anderson has never been one to sit comfortably in a box and wait for things to happen for her, and this won’t be the year she starts doing so. So while others are watching and waiting to see if this year will be a better one than the last, the actress, musician and CEO of Power Living Realty Limited is walking by faith into 2021.

“The year 2020 was a year of uncertainty on many levels, yet I experienced growth both professionally and personally,” she began as she shared her ambitions for the new year with All Woman. “The year 2021 in our minds is a continuation of 2020. Times are still uncertain, but it’s about walking in faith, seeing the opportunities and taking action.”

Anderson reflected on the hardships she faced in 2020, as opportunities for growth.

“On a personal level, I continued to assess my life, addressing certain bad habits and making improvements where necessary. I’ve continued to learn to separate the distractions from the things that are truly important, like time with family and friends and health,” she said positively. “Professionally, I realised that it’s important to have solid people on your team. As a team, we got really clear on the direction we wanted to take Power Living Realty in, as well as how we could better serve our clients during the time of uncertainty.”

Having been performing professionally since the age of 12, Anderson made her film début as a teenager starring as Tanya in Dancehall Queen. In the decades that followed, she blossomed not only as an actress, but as one of the most soulful voices of Jamaican popular music. But even with a successful career in entertainment, Anderson never confined herself to one dream.

“As a little girl I wanted to be many things because people gave me positive reinforcements in many areas,” she reflected. “I loved reading and could always be found somewhere teaching and leading my peers and cousins, and when they weren’t around, I would teach my dolls.”

Anderson saw endless possibilities for herself, and as she excelled nationally in singing, acting and debating, she imagined that she would someday become an entertainer, a business owner and a professor.

“I wasn’t afraid of being different, and I wasn’t afraid to challenge popular opinions, even if those opinions came from adults,” she said brazenly. “I wanted to be so many things, but the one thing I knew for sure, even at a young age, was that I needed to be able to support myself financially.”

By 2003 Anderson had starred in the award-winning film One Love, and at the time she was a college student at Middlebury College in Vermont, USA pursuing a degree in film & media and Japanese. She then spent a year studying Japanese language and literature at Keio University in Tokyo, Japan, on a full scholarship.

In the years that followed, until 2012, she toured the globe extensively, both on her own and with global superstars, and would become the first Jamaican female artist to hit the Billboard Rock Charts, through her feature on the song Say Hey, I Love You with Michael Franti & Spearhead. While she was globetrotting, however, she never forgot her other ambitions —to start a business and to be an educator.

“Actually, the plan was always to leverage my entertainment career into other entrepreneurial ventures,” she shared. “In Christmas of 2014 I had written an overall ‘life’ plan explaining to my Entertainment Manager Patrick Lindsay where I wanted to go professionally. For some reason I had titled the proposal Power Living.”

So when Anderson decided that real estate — an area that she had always been passionate about — was the industry in which she would launch, Power Living Realty Limited was the name chosen. Power Living is not only a licensed real estate broker, but Anderson, who is designated a certified international property specialist by the National Association of Realtors in the United States, simultaneously uses her platform to educate the public about the industry. She hosts Power Living and Power Tips, a weekly real estate show in which she uses her multiple platforms to inspire and empower her clients worldwide.

“I am passionate about seeing people win with real estate. I really enjoy the industry,” she said about why she chose that field. “If Cherine Anderson is the house, entertainment and real estate are simply different rooms. I am one person, and entertainment and real estate are simply things that I do. God has been good to me and has blessed me with multiple talents in different areas to serve different types of people.”

She added that both these outlets allow her to accomplish the same goal.

“The ability to write and perform a song that motivates someone to fulfil their dream is similar to matching an individual with the right home or business, which also fulfils a dream,” she explained.

With roughly half a decade of matching people with homes under her belt, Anderson admitted that 2020 was challenging, but not devastating for her business.

“We are still living with the pandemic and there are economic challenges, but 2020 was a better year for our business than the previous year,” she said gratefully. “We were truly blessed to actually expand our operations at the start of the pandemic, adding the sales and leasing department to our real estate marketing and education company. It has not been perfect, but I give God thanks. With every business decision, we hope to be able to better assess the potential risks, especially since predicting client behaviour has become more difficult.”

And the two biggest lessons she is taking with her into 2021 are: “To focus on the opportunity and mute the noise, and to not make major decisions when one is emotional.”

In her daily routine, Anderson is practising discipline in how she balances business and self-care. One day of each week is completely personal, and on that day she enjoys reading, going to the beach, cooking and sleeping.

The activities of other days are largely dictated by what needs to be done for her careers, but they all begin at 6:00 am with a glass of water, devotion and reading the Bible, and they usually end with her writing and composing songs.

As she looks to the rest of this year and beyond, she knows there is always more for her to do, so she is never complacent in celebrating what she has already achieved.

“When you get content, you die a slow death in life and in business,” she said. “I’ve learnt that we experience growth right on the edge of our discomfort. Ultimately, purpose for me is found when we trust and stay obedient to God. All my talents and gifts couldn’t have been given to me to just have fun, make money and make the world happy. God, the Creator, has a manual for me, his creation, and everyday something more is revealed to me.”