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We know you’re passionate about your work… but sometimes the shop can be a stressful place. Allowing yourself time to decompress and find balance is important for you, your staff, and your business.

How do you recharge your batteries? Let us know and you could be featured in our latest monthly column, Down Time.

The business of toys

By Sarah Voigt

At the helm of All About Imports in Mississauga, Ont., Lou Trottier doesn’t play around.

A few years ago, Lou found a business opportunity through his second passion, music. With clients like Marvel, Nickelodeon, and Disney, his music can be heard in almost 30 audio toys for children.

“A friend and customer of mine called me one day and asked if I could help him get out of jam,” Lou explains. “He knew I had a home studio, and he asked if I could help create some music for a Dora the Explorer toy.”

After writing seven different versions, Disney picked up Lou’s song and produced his first toy. Now Lou is all over the toy aisle. His songs are found in Spiderman, SpongeBob, and Star Wars toys, just to name a few.

 Lou says the toy business quickly became a second career – and a very demanding one at that.

“I worked with production companies in China and we’d collaborate over Skype. It was fun, but it was a lot of work! They’re very particular about what they want to hear.”

Lou says he still gets some requests for toy work, but he now spends most of his creative energy on his band, Stephen’s Garage.

“When I was 17, I had aspirations of becoming a rock star, but we all know how that goes. With Stephen’s Garage, we rock out at the clubs, weddings and the occasional car show.”

Lou also creates music videos for Stephen’s Garage, some of which were filmed in his Mississauga shop.

“For the most part I try to keep the business and my music separate, but they quite often overlap. A lot of my customers are musicians too.”