Training with Annie Omar of Maison Blanche Vintage Paint

Training with Annie Omar, an ultra-talented artist and creator of Maison Banche Vintage Paint, at the headquarters studio in Texas, was an experience that far exceeded my expectations. Her story of how she emerged as an entrepreneur is too inspirational not to share! With incredible talent, flat out determination, old-fashioned hard work mixed with a positive attitude, Annie has developed an amazing product line that is a cut above the rest. 

Credit to (www.attagirlsays.com) interview/ Atta Girl Says is the online lifestyle magazine for women who share passion for living homemade.

Annie Omar's story will speak to a lot of women who have found a voice and a purpose through creativity. She is a mother of 4 children, two boys and two girls. Annie is living proof that when you pursue a passion, your life can be more fulfilling and more balanced, with more time for family, creativity and those things that nourish your spirit. It struck a cord with me since I am at the beginning of such a journey to find balance. 

The daughter of two artists, Annie was born into an environment where creativity was encouraged and nurtured. Growing up, she never aspired to be an artist but recalls a childhood filled with memories accompanying her parents to work.  During training, Annie spoke to us about the importance of involving your children in all that you do, as it has a huge impact on their future, sometimes without realizing it. Now as a mother herself, she does the same with her children….I really enjoyed seeing photos of her daughter "on-site" at high end faux finishing jobs! 

After college at Northwestern State University, Annie entered the high-information technology field, working for a Fortune 500 telecom companies. She helped train their salespeople to sell their wide-area networks. 

Annie’s career was on the fast-track, and she was climbing the corporate ladder fast. The money was great — definitely not “starving artist wages” — but “the quality of life was terrible,” and 

“I was working like a dog,” she said. 

Her time with her young children was limited, only a few harried moments in the morning and in the evening, before and after work. The grind was exhausting, and the work unfulfilling.

~Lesson Learned: Life for Successful Women is a Balancing Act:
One of the key characteristics of successful women entrepreneurs is the ability to balance their acts between family and business responsibilities. It’s really quite a challenge building a business alongside raising a family; and to succeed, women entrepreneurs have to overcome this challenge. How do they overcome this challenge? How do they balance their acts? They do it by mastering the art of delegation and time management.~

Annie realized that she was an artist at heart, as her parents always believed. But she chose functional surfaces as her canvas, namely walls and furnishings. For awhile, she juggled her corporate job and a sideline paint contracting business, but finally made the decision to pursue her creative business full time in 2009. The decision has made her happier and more fulfilled, and she’s finally found that balance that allows her time to do what’s important to her and also spend time with the people who are important to her. “My family comes first,” she said. “The whole feeling in the household has changed.”

~Lesson Learned: Have Faith & Go Beyond your "Comfort Zone": When starting a business; success is never guaranteed, compared to climbing the corporate ladder. If you lack faith, you won’t have the drive to press on even when there’s no sign of progress.  Annie left the comfort of her home and security of her job to face life squarely and paid the price for success.~

Giving seminar to group of bloggers/ see attagirl.com

When Annie started her decorative painting business, Dallas Faux Finishing, she had talent, but not a lot of formal training in faux finishing. She put herself out there as a pro, long before she ever felt like one. In Annie’s case, that meant taking on a designer job when it came her way, grabbing an opportunity for which she felt probably wasn’t qualified.

It’s a funny story, actually…. One day, Annie was reading an architectural magazine and saw an ad for a plaster she wanted to use in her bathroom. She called the company and asked about purchasing it, but they said they only sold to authorized faux finishers and decorative painters.

Annie hung up the phone without ordering the plaster. But she called back the next day, disguised her voice and when asked about her credentials confidently said she was a pro. In reality, “I had never held a trowel in my life.”

When the plaster arrived,  Annie had no idea how to apply it. And she made a mess of her bathroom.

A funny thing happened out of that experience, though. A few weeks later, Annie got a call from a local interior designer who’d been referred to her by the plaster company. The designer wanted to hire a decorative painter for a plaster job.

“It took me about 10 seconds to realize someone was willing to pay me to put this on their walls,” she said.

Annie bid on the job, and she won it!  And don’t worry, before she wrecked the client’s walls, she took some classes to learn how to apply the plaster the right way, eventually  earning her credentials as decorative painter and faux finisher. In fact, for many years, she’s been training others in the field, while also performing paint magic on clients’ walls and furnishings. 

The photos of her amazing interior work that she shared with us are breath taking! Its all that I can do to stop myself from going nuts on my house! 

Faux Croc detailing requested by her client

~Lesson Learned: Be Passionate & Dream Big: Passion propels you forward. Believe in it, strive to be the best, and you will emerge success and achieve beyond mediocrity.~

As her business grew, Annie held onto a dream to have her own line of paint. That has finally become a reality with the launch of Maison Blanche Paint Company in partnership with the paint manufacturer, Autentico.

Maison Blanche Vintage Furniture Paint is an eco-friendly, ultra- creamy, luxury paint in 36 (and growing) gorgeous colors, inspired by Annie’s Cajun Southern Louisiana heritage. In addition to the paint, is an amazing line of Maison Blanche complimentary products (Le Dirt, Organza, Glacage, Translucide, Le Craque, Waxes, Varnishes, Stencils, and more), to take your projects to a whole new level of upscale design.

While quickly being discovered by passionate do-it-yourselfers and changing the non do-it yourselfers,  Maison Blanche's product line gives furniture, cabinetry, and trim designer looks….Not to mention the added benefit of being less toxic (low VOCs) than other paints and the ability to eliminate the need for stripping, sanding and other prep work because it is durable and sticks well to surfaces.

This has evolutionized the whole industry, allowing amateurs to achieve high-end designer looks without all the work that has traditionally been involved in furniture refinishing. “The process involved in just repainting a piece of furniture — scraping, using hazardous chemicals, stripping, sanding — a normal homeowner in the past would never have been able to do all the steps properly. Because besides being multiple steps, they were hard to do.”

~Lesson Learned- Being Humble & Ready to Learn: Things change so fast in the business world; you could be an innovation today and become obsolete tomorrow. To stay on course and adapt swiftly to the ever changing trend, successful women entrepreneurs keep studying and learning.

In addition to introducing us to her beautiful paint line, Annie shared her tricks of the trade that she’s learned through her years as an exclusive decorative painter and faux finisher. I, myself, would have been so innovative to use garbage bags, onion sacs, and lace to add texture to surfaces! She's constantly evolving, thinking forward and adding to her luxury line of products. 

She's a forward thinker….. we all know that gone are the days of time wasted prepping & priming or using difficult waxes. Annie takes it to the next level by continually growing her complimentary line of incredibly developed  products that also make achieving an upscale look "easy" ! For example, antiquing techniques include (but are not limited to), 4 colors of easy to use penetrating Belgian wax, Le Dirt, and even coffee!  Annie's on the cutting edge of the trends and is always anticipating the changing needs of her customers. Her extensive line provides user friendly products and endless possibilities. My favorite technique learned was the application of Organza- it easily transforms colors into the equivalent of the highest end finishes by top furniture companies.

Sample created using Cerise w/ Antique Gold Organza, creating an entirely new tone and look
www.DearlyLovedDarling.com

Samples created using Glacage with MB new exclusive stencil line
www.DearlyLovedDarling.com

All of her 36 gorgeous colors are all named for people, places and things that are special to her and her deep Southern Louisiana Roots.  Maison Blanche, means "white house" in the feminine form. A "white home" is a blank canvas for her to add her flare! 

The color Jolie Blonde means "pretty blonde" and reminds her of a folk song, sang to her as a child. Saint Anne is her favorite saint and represents motherhood. Franciscan Gray is a tribute to her brother, a Franciscan priest. The gray is the color of the cording on his robes. Bayou Blue is the color of southern Louisiana’s bayous, and French Blue reflects the French influence in New Orleans and throughout the state. Cayenne evokes the spicy Creole cuisine, and Wrought Iron and Cobblestone can be seen on when you stroll the historic neighborhoods of Annie’s home state and resemble the rich heritage in Southern Louisiana. Chicory Spice will remind you of coffee at Cafe Du Monde. Voodoo and Creole Orange reflect the diverse culture of Louisiana. La Bonne Terre means "the good earth" and the color Hurricane will remind you of nature’s dangerous and powerful beauty.

Not only does she stay true to her "grass roots marketing campaign" philosophy but remains a "down to earth girl" . With a great sense of humor, she jokes "if you ask me for advise, I'd love to decorate your whole world in rhinestones!".  Each and every distributer is known by all of the staff at the Maison Blanche Studio and is made to feel like a member of their family. 

See my newest packaged shipment below...

Mindy & Annie @ MB Studio

Who knew that not only would I represent the best product but also meet exceptional women along the way?

Each member of the entire Maison Blanche team takes great pride in their product and plays an integral role in the brand.  From hand labeling each individual can to personally packing our shipments, these ladies (plus one guy) are hard to come by! I had an amazing time with them in Texas and am so proud to retail the best!

And, yes, I loved Texas! It was an experience to remember!