Today we’d like to introduce you to Ana Coeur.
Ana, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I didn’t choose furniture – furniture chose me! My journey started about ten years ago. At the time, I was in a different industry feeling unfulfilled with my work. It was during this time that the universe had other plans for me. I started to channel psychic visions of furniture, interior design, architecture, hotels and homes every night when I tried to sleep. The visions would keep me up for hours, as if I was flipping through issue after issue of Architectural Digest. At first, I resisted and ignored what I received. But as I began to undergo a deep spiritual awakening, over the years I realized this was my true path and purpose. About three years ago, I decided to chase my dreams and make these furniture visions real. My search for the perfect manufacturer led me from Houston to North Carolina to Italy and finally to France. My furniture designs require meticulous handcraftsmanship and a very skilled technical interpretation and I found just one manufacturer that met all of my needs: Henryot & Cie of France.
As I was pursuing furniture, a second huge door opened! While on a business trip to Paris, something magical happened which turned my life upside down and changed it forever. That experience propelled me into exploring a path of radical self-love and discovering how to live as a goddess on earth and bringing “heaven on earth”. My outer life and inner world started to become very magical, intuitive and synchronistic, and I started discovering another gift: the stories that I would make up and write down played out in real life. The universe began urging me incessantly about writing professionally.
This led me to create Coeur the Cupid, a fictional character based on myself which I am currently monetizing into an entertainment franchise business.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
There were many struggles along the way, most of which were internal conflicts. When you decide to chase a dream, every fear you’ve ever had shows up to say hello and wants to hang out with you 24/7! I had to confront feelings of not feeling good enough, feeling unworthy, feeling that the universe didn’t love me or that all of these visions were simply ‘tricks’ so that the universe could watch me fail for fun. There is also the issue of vulnerability, the fear of being judged and the fear that if your dream failed, it would feel like there would be nothing else left, which causes a lot of resistance. Of course, there are also internal conflicts about not feeling powerful enough to manifest such a beautiful vision into physical reality and there is also facing the lack of support amongst family and who I thought were friends. Sometimes, the lack of support isn’t intentional but the more you heal and wake up, the less you’ll be able to connect with people who aren’t there yet. Because of this, I learned to develop a very strong and intimate relationship to myself and along the way, had to become my own cheerleader, parent and best friend.
Besides the internal struggles, there were also business struggles in trying to secure funding for prototyping and manufacturing, and also finding and connecting to my target audience.
So, as you know, we’re impressed – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
What I am most proud of is having the opportunity to create beauty in the world daily and to provide the world with more romance and imagination. My furniture, which is very high-end, high fashion furniture, is all chiefly inspired by love stories and fairy tales. Every piece has romantic, spiritual or symbolic significance. People will ooh and ah at the design, but will truly fall in love on the soul level because it stirs their heart.
For example, currently prototyping in France is my sofa named “Le Baiser” (The Kiss) which marks the occasion of a secret kiss or a first kiss. My winter wonderland sofa, inspired by Santa’s sleigh, was on display at Salone del Mobile in Milan this year, manufactured by Sentta in Portugal and to be sold to four and five star hotels around the world. There are so many functional chairs in the world and what I am here to create is not just function, but story, imagination and inspiration. I am here to bring heaven on Earth.
My fictional character, Coeur the Cupid, is my biggest pride and joy because she is the cartoon version of me. Cupid is a love angel that traveled to Earth from her home galaxy of Teacup Star System. Not content on merely serving human beings and living vicariously through them, Cupid escaped to Paris to experience her own adventures: finding true love, forming her own business empire, and enjoying the exquisite pleasures of Parisian life. As an angel–human, Cupid embarks on rescue missions wherever she goes, helping people believe in true love, magic and dreams.
I am incredibly proud of Cupid because of the way it touches her fans. My chief aim was to teach women and girls a more evolved, conscious approach to unconditionally loving herself and others, building spiritual character, feminine power, elegance, grace, soulful prayers, following your heart, self-confidence, courage, inner beauty, expression, joy, friendship and facing fears. As I began connecting with Cupid’s fans, I realized that a second audience showed up, which is men who are shy about love, are recovering from heartbreak or need emotional healing. They turn to Cupid for advice. In my real life, I have always been a facilitator of men to heal and it turned out to be the same for Cupid.
The tone of Cupid’s brand is very joyful, lighthearted, whimsical and full of love. Before I started Cupid, I tried my hand at coaching clients on femininity, weight loss and healing, but I was feeling boxed in creatively and also felt pushed by the universe to try something new. I decided to combine my talents in art and storytelling and teach from fiction – which is what fairy tales and fables do. Cupid’s stories are available for free online and her life and art are followed by thousands on Instagram. If you visit Cupid’s Instagram, you’ll see that all of her posts are art-based – there is not a single photograph, in keeping with the fictional, magical, fairy tale spirit.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
There are lots of exciting things happening in the works! Cupid’s story will become a major novel and along with that, I will also be publishing a series of shorter books or novellas that take readers on Cupid’s many adventures and love rescue missions.
Additionally, I intend to turn Cupid’s novel into an animated film and animated television series. We will be selling Cupid merchandise all designed by me, from clothing to jewelry, furniture, stationery, art prints, dolls, toys, apps and more.
There is also a spinoff in the works based on two talking animals in Cupid’s story: Coeur Bear, the baby bear adopted by Cupid, and Faith, a French bulldog, who is Coeur Bear’s best friend and next door neighbor.
Together, the two little animals run Little Heart Foundation, which is a fictional nonprofit organization where children help children. It is a way for me to reach young children and help them feel safe and loved in the world through the power of stories and imagination.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://coeurthecupid.com, http://anacoeur.com
Getting in touch: VoyageHouston is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
