Photograph by Tracy Shea.
How do you move from entertainer to entrepreneur? Many have tried – and many have failed. So we asked Toni Senecal – who pivoted from a career as an Emmy Award-winning broadcast journalist and producer and host of CBS 2’s “Toni On! New York” show for more than 10 years to full-on entrepreneurship — for some valuable tips.
Senecal and her husband, Tracy Shea, an award-winning former TV journalist and filmmaker, live in Cortlandt Manor with their two sons but own and operate two businesses in Croton-on-Hudson — The Croton Tapsmith, a regional craft beer taproom that is sponsoring “Hey Hudson Valley,” its first country hoedown, on Saturday, May 17 — and CKO Croton, a kickboxing gym.
They also spearhead the Croton Business Council, whose mission is “to foster a vibrant and thriving local economy by creating diverse opportunities for businesses to participate in events that not only drive revenue but also enrich the fabric of our community.”
So, one busy couple. They opened the Tapsmith in 2019 as a bar that would reflect their shared vision — “all craft beer sourced from within two hours of our front door,” as Senecal explained it. One of the biggest challenges in shifting from the world of media to the hospitality and fitness industries was that both required an entirely different kind of stamina, structure and adaptability.
“In television, deadlines are tight but predictable. In hospitality, the unpredictability is constant,” she said. “You’re dealing with supply chains, staffing, fluctuating foot traffic, health codes and, of course, the ever-changing tastes of your customers, all in real time.”
She described how supporting the New York beer renaissance had become both a business and a fascinating deep dive into regional brewing.
“As someone who had spent years covering food and beverage on camera, I had a unique perspective on what makes a hospitality concept. Paired with my husband’s expertise in advertising and marketing” – a career, she said, he had grown weary of – “it was a strong foundation for success.”
During the Covid pandemic, Senecal’s business career took what she calls another unexpected turn when she purchased CKO Kickboxing, the local gym that she and her husband had belonged to for years. She had always loved the gym and has now completely transformed it, “both the space,” as she put it, “and myself.” That’s quite a story of its own. She lost 50 pounds, became a certified trainer and nutritionist and began helping others achieve sustainable, healthy change.
Asked about her qualifications for starting disparate new businesses essentially from scratch, Senecal said that writing a smart business plan and sticking to it was key.
“You have to know what you are and what you’re not,” she said. “There are plenty of people who will say, ‘You should do (insert random business idea)’ and if you aren’t careful, you can find yourself lost in ideas that try to please everyone yet no one. We refer to that as becoming a ‘Frankenbusiness,’ with random bolted-on parts and ideas that become a monster.”
Senecal offered some further good advice to would-be bar and restaurant owners: “Don’t romanticize it. The best venues don’t succeed, because they have great cocktails or clever décor alone. They succeed, because they’re operationally sound, consistently executed and deeply connected to their community.
“Do your research. Know your numbers. And be present. People want to feel like they’re walking into something that’s both cared for and cared about. If you’re not ready to be all-in, it’s not the right time.”
She also stressed that reinvention is not only inevitable; it’s necessary. “The market, the neighborhood, even your own role will evolve. Build with flexibility in mind, and leave room to grow.”
And she concluded, “I thrive on reinvention and challenge. It’s what has defined every chapter of my career so far. My favorite saying has to be, ‘Why not?’”
The Croton Tapsmith is inaugurating “Hey Hudson Valley,” a country music hoedown, at noon Saturday, May 17, on Grand Street in Croton-on-Hudson.
