100 Women We Love: Allison Tray

Allison Tray was a SoHo “shop girl” in the 1990s before opening Brooklyn-based Trés Belle Petite Medi Spa with her father. “I did not just open a business, I created an environment,” explains Tray. “Trés Belle Spa offers much more than just skincare and beauty. It's a place where people come to connect, feel taken care of and, quite frankly, to laugh.” As a business owner, she’s also involved with the local community. She has spoken to transgender teens about skin care, participated in the American Cancer Society’s Pink & Black Tie Gala and the Junior League of Brooklyn’s Belle of the Ball, and sponsored the YWCA of Brooklyn’s 125th Anniversary Celebration. True to her caretaking nature, Tray used her spa as a collection point for 90 bags of food in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, prom dresses for Brownsville teens, and toiletries for a domestic-violence shelter. But her activism doesn’t stop there. Tray is a prolific social-media master, sharing insights into healthy living, vegan issues and equal rights for both people and animals. She remains involved with the Brooklyn Greenway Initiative and has protested against the horse-carriage and circus industries. “I feel proud to have meshed my entrepreneurship with my activism,” says Tray. “I like to tell anyone who will listen that we can’t all do everything, but we can all do something.” –NHM