Today we’d like to introduce you to Ann Ueno.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Ann. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
16 years ago, by happenstance, my friend’s sister asked me to interview at a company called Preferred Hotels and Resorts. Brand Marketing Coordinator. Ahhhhh! Marketing and branding and travel and hotels. YES! The decision to take a $20k pay cut at the time led me to my 16-year career in hotel marketing and I have to say, hotels have my heart. I went on to Starwood Hotels in New York City and eventually met my now husband in Chicago. Through a series of moments and life decisions, I am not necessarily proud of, I was led to church and became a Christian in 2007. Best decision of my life. Shortly thereafter, Rick proposed and we eloped on a chilly fall day in Chicago, spent the weekend at the Peninsula and went to work on Monday. Best decision of my life, take 2. Rick and I tried to have a baby for 3 years and experienced 4 miscarriages… a heartbreaking and trying season. We decided it was time for a changed, surrendered it all to God and we were led to Miami 4 years ago. A week after my husband accepted his job (GM at the W South Beach Hotel) and we started planning our move, I found out I was pregnant. We forged ahead with the move, leaving our friends and family and life in Chicago. After a 5-day road trip, we arrived on South Beach, I was 3 months pregnant and probably had a few “oh $h!t” moments along the way. Sweet Zoey entered the world in November of 2014 and man oh man is she a blessing! God is a God of miracles, that’s for sure. Rick and I have planted in Miami and adore this crazy city (especially for a midwest, white farm girl, and a Seattle-raised Japanese dude). We call Vous Church our home and Rick continues to crush it at the W and I am running my Interior Design business (side hustle!) and VP of social media at BCV, a hotel social media vendor HQ’d in Chicago, but we have a small office here that I help lead. MIAMI IS A DREAM! I am so thankful to be here and cannot wait for what God has in store. Xo
Has it been a smooth road?
It has been said to me on many occasions that an easy life is not the best life. I couldn’t agree more. While my life and my career path certainly hasn’t been terrible or overtly traumatic, I have had my fair share of bumps in the road. It used to discourage me and even bring me shame or fear when I faced trials. Now, as a 38-year-old, I say BRING THEM ON! I have learned throughout the years that the phrase no pain, no gain is spot on. From divorce to moves across the country to miscarriages to constantly questioning if I am living out God’s calling in my life, the journey has been equal parts hard and equal parts epic. And it would not be epic without the hard. I remember many conversations with my former boss in Chicago about wanting to be promoted and feel I was MORE THAN ready for XYZ position. And I wasn’t. And she knew it. And so, I learned patience and it made me work that much harder. And I earned it. And eventually, got the promotion. The struggles of going through deeply painful and hard personal seasons (divorce, then miscarriage, health, etc.) while trying to stay afloat as a mom and as a leader and as a small business owner have been very tough but God has gotten me through EACH AND EVERY SEASON. And I have come out a better person, a stronger person, a more faith-filled person as God delivered the miracles. If there is one piece of advice that I would offer the readers behind the screen right now it would be this – be your authentic self. For you and for those around you. I have learned that when I am my true self, I am my best self, NAMELY for those around me. I share my pain, I show my vulnerable side. I am not afraid of the process of being my whole true self – in person/in real life and on social media. While this has been a journey, it is one that I believe if we all went on, especially as women, the world could actually change for the better. I am far more concerned about real, authentic relationships and growth and healing than I am about showing “perfection” to be admired or looked up to. Women should look up to and be inspired by women who narrate the whole story, not just a few perfect chapters.
We’d love to hear more about Ann Ueno Interior Design.
Perhaps dissimilar to others, I view my work and what I am known for as a compilation of my 6 am – 10 pm self. Not by my 9 am – 6 pm self. In fact, as you will read a bit more in the next question, I believe whole-heartedly on this idea that life must be lived across all hours of the day, all days of the week. So, for me, what do I do? I first am a follower of Jesus and He takes precedence in my life. I am wife to Rick and we will be celebrating 8 years of marriage this year. It has been quite the journey and it is NOT A JOKE OR A MYTH FOR ALL YOU SINGLE PEEPS OUT THERE, marriage takes work and focus and intentional time and humility and and and! I am a step-mom to Zach and mom to Zoey. I am a Vice President of a hotel social media company. I am the owner of my own interior design business. I am a servant leader at Vous Church. I am a dinner party fanatic, foodie, I love to write and create content. Reading is a critical part of my life journey – from the bible to non-fiction to design magazines, bring it all on! I thrive leading people and helping make people better – be it at work, as a mom or as a bible study leader. I go to therapy, love watching HGTV and believe we are all meant to be creators. If God was THE creator and we were made in His image, then, we are all, inevitably creators at our core. Thus, for me, I am a creator of a life I want to live, led by God and walked out in faith. I create atmospheres for intimate and deep conversations with women. I create meals for friends, for my family. I create homes that are meant to be lived in and an expression of the owner, bringing joy to their souls. I create content for hotels. I create environments at church whereby someone may encounter Jesus on what they thought would be a normal Sunday. I create and build teams that fail together, thrive together, love each other. I create because it’s what we are meant to do. It’s what you were meant to do. That’s all of our specialty, isn’t it?
What’s the most important piece of advice you could give to a young woman just starting her career?
Some have called me one of the most productive people they’ve met…and “ANN HOW DO YOU DO IT ALL?!” I used to be flattered by this, taking the credit. But I have learned I am this way partly because God designed me this way, partly because of past wounds that have me desiring to achieve to have someone applaud and recognize me and partly because I don’t want to waste one minute of this life. How’s that trifecta?! Haha. It is in my DNA to maximize all the minutes of my day, all the days of the week. I have had my side hustle interior design business for about 7 years on top of my full-time hotel marketing career on top of being a mom, a wife, a friend, a leader at my church, a leader within several other organizations and the list goes on. Now that we are all exhausted, there is something critically important I learned years ago the hard way… making your day job your idol, end-all-be-all of your joy and putting all your eggs in that career basket will ALMOST ALWAYS leave you disappointed. I strongly believe in the importance of having a well-rounded life from morning to night. Once I had this revelation and released the pressure of having to have my day job fulfill my deepest longings and for my boss to be perfect and my team to perform at perfection, I was free! I fell in love with my job again, ironically, (important to note I had been with Starwood for 10 years when I had this revelation) and then began the journey of rounding out my life more with things I loved, my passions and my side business. It’s a choice to do this. It takes work. It takes discipline. It isn’t about quantity but it’s about quality, for a season. And the payoff is far beyond what you can imagine. Do you love to cook? Cook once a week. Join a cooking club. Do you want to read more? Start a book club. Always wanted to paint? Take a class at a local college or art school. Want to write and inspire people? Start a blog and commit to posting 2 times a month to start. You get the point. And I share this with you because I think this is what sets me apart from many. I am right and left brained. I have always been active and involved in many things since I was a teeny human. From choir to a captain of the volleyball team. Advertising major, economics minor. Leading people and designing homes. A deep desire to be at home in intimate settings and oh wait, let me jump on a plane to Italy without my husband or daughter for 10 days. You get the point. All of these life experiences and risks have molded and shaped me. I have failed and succeeded along the way. I have questioned my decisions, made some wrong decisions and also have had God affirm my decisions. I’ve been on winning teams and losing teams. One day, I am insecure as a designer, the next I land a big new client. I host dinner parties with incredible food and wine and the next day I throw in a frozen pizza for my girlfriends. And I love Jesus and serve and lead at Vous Church. And I am forever grateful for it all. We all have one life to live. LIVE IT. Your career is incredibly important but some of your best and most intimate life-changing moments can – and will – happen outside of your day job.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.annueno.com
- Email: annuenointeriordesign@gmail.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/ann_ueno
Image Credit:
Jackie Knabben
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