Anna McCusker
Even as a little girl, event designer Anna McCusker appreciated life’s little details, a trait she attributes to her European upbringing. “At the market, the first place we would stop at was the floral stand,” she says. “My mom or dad would ask me, `What colors do you want for the dining room?'”
After receiving a business degree from Ryerson Polytechnic College (now University) in Toronto and completing some floral design courses, McCusker parlayed her design savvy into her own company, McCusker Floral Concepts, in 1983. Originally a flower and gift shop serving the corporate client in downtown Toronto, the company has gone through many stages, she says.
Her hard work paid off in 1994 when McCusker won a Gala Award from Special Events Magazine for theme decor. “It gave me the strength and the desire to move forward and work harder and be more innovative and better-educated.”
Last January, McCusker changed the company name to McCusker2 & Team when her daughter Natalie joined as full partner. Rounding out the mother-daughter team is one full-time employee. “Now we solely design and produce special events,” McCusker says. “We focus on the corporate market and a lot of social events tied into [that] market.”
Anna has advised the Mercanti family since the creation of Carmens Banquet Centre in 1985.