Founded in 2010 by anne LECOURT SOUFFLET, anAI is an Interior Design agency specialized in private projects.
WHY anAI?
You’ve understood that my first name is Anne. What about my last name? I chose not to focus on it, as my work is dedicated to your home life and living quarters and that I intend to create a space that fits and reflects who you are. I hope that you will call me Anne and trust me enough to deliver your wishes and dreams. In order to achieve a personalized project, I need to get to know and understand you well.
MY PATH
At the age of 18, with a scientific high school diploma, as many young people, I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I thought about doing something artistic, or even in medical, legal and languages. I felt lost as those fields seemed so different from each other. I had to wait for 30 years to realize that, in fact, I chose them all.
- Save the world:
What attracted me in medical was helping others, easing them and contributing to making them happier.
- Make the world more beautiful:
It was clear that I had natural artistic skills; I was immersed in Art since childhood, stemming from my mother having been knowledgeable in this domaine. From museums to flea markets, from movie theaters to fashion shows, without realizing, she gave me the meaning of what was “beautiful”, the importance of colors’ harmony, balance, in short the sense of taste.
- A fairer world:
My father was an accountant in his youth and became, later, an internal auditor, which is what he enjoyed; I got from him my professional rigour, my sense of responsibility and fairness.
- Communicate with the world:
At home, there was always music and although quiet in society, I was very talkative with my relatives. It was therefore logical that I had an appetite for languages, especially English.
What happened ?
I took a year off to stand back and think of all this and went to the USA and I enrolled in courses on drawing, English and Spanish.
I told myself that languages were useful whatever job I may choose ; same conclusion regarding my moral values (fairness, honesty, justice). What remained was medical, especially psychology, and artistic, a field which offered a lot of possibilities.
At this stage, I went to all the « open houses» of Art schools. Astonished by the work of the students of the Atelier Met de Penninghen, renamed later ESAG (École Supérieure des Arts Graphiques), I tried the entry exam and succeeded.L ots of students didn’t pass the first year, but I made it, with little sleep and a huge amount of work.
At the end of the second year, I had to select between Graphics and Interior Design & Architecture. I chose the second one and learnt a lot about materials, their implementation, the different craftsmen, the prices and many other fields.
3 years later after getting the best marks of all students (I discovered on the way that, in addition to being a perfectionist, I was also eager to be loved through my work; at this time, my clients were my teachers and I bent over backwards to be congratulated and get the best marks), the jury members, all professionals, gave me my diploma with “high honors” with distinction.
One of the members offered me a job in his agency, in the conception team, and I accepted it with joy.
My professional life before anAI
After a couple of years, I integrated an office dedicated to shopping centers’ projects; this sector didn’t really interest me, but I was working with my best friend: we had hundreds of ideas a minute and this emulation was a fantastic experience.
Then, I was headhunted by LOUIS VUITTON and I joined the Shop Direction. I was in charge of renovations and openings of shops in Europe. I loved it! Not only did I have more responsibility but I was also accessing a universe that corresponded to me much better: luxury, that means quality and detail consciousness, and Fashion.
After 5 years, a team in charge and two children, the fates carried me to the HERMÈS House. The family atmosphere and love of handicraft was even more convenient to me.
At this step of my career, my husband took action. While I was working for Louis Vuitton, I presented him an English Architect I knew and whose company was specialized in shops’ execution (opposite of conception); my partner finally opened the Paris office of this company which became a well-known group in all of Europe. He needed to reinforce his team and offered me to join the company. He had huge responsibilities and a very tight schedule. I became his right arm, off-loaded him of a part of the office management and financial monitoring.
The creation of my company
Around forty, I reviewed past events and realized that I had moved away from what I really wanted to do: residential. A born entrepreneur, I set up my own company alongside my paid work. A few years later, our youngest child entering secondary school, all planets seemed aligned for me to spend all my time for my company. I quit my job and did it.
WHY CHOOSE anAI FOR YOUR PROJECT?
Today, even if I have to deal with the uncertainty of the future, as any business person would, I feel at the right place; I have finally succeeded in reconciling all the fields that have always interested me:
- Medical, and especially psychology: having chosen to dedicate myself to residential, my clients are private individuals with whom I use my quality of listening to others, of patience and understanding and a certain “sixth sense” to help them give birth to their project.
- Artistic, of course, with the Conception aspect of that kind of project. I use skills as imagination, sense of proportions, colors and harmony.
- Justice, as, when necessary, I am a kind of legal consultant for my clients in front of the companies; I am also the one who verifies the estimates and invoices before payment and makes sure that quality and time schedules are in agreement are respected. My thoroughness allows me to create functional spaces, which I think is essential, and manage work sites with efficiency.
- To end, my English level helps me to communicate with foreign clients.
Throughout my mission, either complete or partial, this is like if I were undertaking your project, polishing it until its end.
My personal satisfaction, besides the financial aspect which makes me live like anyone else, is that you are really pleased with the result. This is what makes me keep going on, even if this is very difficult work that keeps evolving as well as materials, technics and regulations.
