LAKE MARY. Fla. – A local designer is getting the chance of a lifetime. Lake Mary's Anne Rue will showcase home makeover skills on cable television's HGTV Star.
Rue will compete against 9 others for the chance to win her own permanent reality television show.
After 12 years of building up her business, Rue says her hard work is paying off.
"Being able to be on this show it's such a blessing. You can't pay for this type of media and this type of publicity," said Rue.
Rue opened up about her road to success as she followed her passion.
She began her career designing for a luxury motor coach company. And she says it wasn't always easy.
"I will say I got fired. I got fired from the bus company, and I was like what am I going to do," said Rue, "I was pregnant with my first son when I started my own business. And I had great support from my husband and he says go for it. And I did and it grew."
But even though Rue turned her obstacle into an opportunity, she says other women don't necessarily have to lose their current job to start a new career, at least not at first.
"You don't want to just want to quit your career and go into that. You want to bring it in small. If you want to be a caterer or an event planner start doing that on the side, start doing that small. Build your clientele. So when you're ready to make that jump, you can do it securely," advised Rue.
And she couldn't stress enough how important ‘on the job training' can be when you're following your dream.
"Go to work for someone you really admire and you can learn from and go from there. Find that company find that business that will help you grow and learn," she said.
After all the sacrifices and success along the way, Rue says she's not surprised to hear that women are now the breadwinner in 40 percent of American households.
"Women are really coming a long way. Woman are tough. We don't give up. We've got a family. We've got a career we gotta make sure lunches are packed. We know how to multitask. We can do it. It's exhausting, but we can do it," she said.
No matter what, whether it's decor drama on an HGTV Star episode or a career challenge, Rue wants women to remember these words, "Always believe you can do it. And if you fail, just get up and do it again. Failure is a lesson on how you're gonna win the next time."
You can see how Anne Rue does on HGTV Star starting Sunday on HGTV. And if she is on a winning streak, Rue will appear in late July with a few of the finalists on 'The Talk' which airs every afternoon on WKMG Local 6 at 2 p.m.
If you want to vote for a local to win the contest, you can click here to choose her as "fan favorite".