Photos by Iris Manning
Family Life

Anissa Coleman

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As the founder and lead designer at Elegance by Ace, Anissa Coleman masterfully balances her bustling luxury event and wedding planning career with her busy family life. As a dedicated mom and wife, Anissa starts her day juggling school drop-offs, client meetings, and creative projects. Yet, despite her packed schedule, she always makes time for family dinners and self-care. Anissa’s passion for creating unforgettable events extends beyond her work—she’s also dedicated to making cherished memories with her family through travel and quality time together. Her journey as a mom and entrepreneur is a testament to the power of passion, flexibility, and prioritizing what truly matters.

WHAT DOES A NORMAL DAY LOOK LIKE FOR YOU?

ANISSA: A normal day for me. I’m up early, like 5:15. I get myself together. Then, I begin to get the kids ready and off to school. That’s the normal routine (because summer doesn’t really count). I do the pickups, the drop-offs. Once that’s done and everybody’s where they need to be, throughout the day I’m just hosting meetings, working, going to site visits, and working on my event planning projects that I have in the queue. [That’s] how I spend the bulk of the day. The afternoons are filled with extracurriculars and post-work that I need to wrap up. My big thing is that we sit down together as a family. When we sit down, we do dinner together every night as a family, and we debrief our days because we have four people in this house who are doing four different things. That is the time when there are no phones or anything like that. We just check in with each other, and see what happened during the day, and dinner doesn’t take that long, but that’s what we do. I also make sure that my husband and I sit down and spend some time together in the evening, just debriefing our days a little bit more in detail than we would have in front of the kids. Then, I go into my evening self-care routine and just decompress, because my days are full. I start early, and sometimes I’m going late at night–even with the different planning tools I put into place. It’s still a long process with long days where I have to decompress in the evenings. So that’s how I spend my day. It’s usually a busy day.

HOW DID YOU GET INTO LUXURY EVENTS AND WEDDING PLANNING?

ANISSA: Long story short, I’ve always done events. I enjoy going to them and assisting with them. I got a lot of experience when I did it in the professional realm, working on and planning events for the institution where I was at. In doing that, I really enjoyed the whole experience of it. It’s been constant in my life. My children’s parties, planning my own wedding, and even my friends’ weddings and events are how the passion grew. Then it just spiraled into word-of-mouth and the client base just kept growing. We’ve been fortunate to be able to do stuff–not just indoors. We’ve been to [Los Angeles,] Chicago, and a few different places. We’ve done some large jobs out there and [have] been able to take it outside of home base. This passion naturally evolved into a career because of everything that I have done over the years in those various avenues.

WHAT DO YOU LOVE MOST ABOUT YOUR CAREER?

ANISSA: What I love most is the flexibility that it gives. I will say that’s what I love, but also the joy of creating dreams for my clients, getting their reactions, and then [meeting people], especially outside of [New Orleans]. I can go to a new area, meet new people, and see the way they do things outside of the way that we do here. I’ve really learned from those. Additionally, it’s rewarding for me because I’m able to show my children that they can achieve anything. They can see that, “Yeah, Mom is all about family!” When I travel, I usually take my kids with me to my weddings and events. I take them with me, and I’ll have a sitter for them, or they’ll be out doing their own thing. I have been afforded the opportunity to take them, so they’re able to see that Mom works, but then they also get to see the other side and enjoy being in a different area. What I love most is just being able to do both–be Mom and the professional person on the other side of things. I do try to make it a priority and try to make it an inclusive thing for everyone.

WHAT ARE SOME JOYS AND CHALLENGES OF BEING A MOM?

ANISSA: Some joys for me: most importantly, it’s being present for my children–for their milestones, events, and whatever is happening in their lives. The challenges come with balancing my career with my family and my husband. So the great thing is, I’ve developed tools to help manage that. I prioritize showing up for my family and checking in with my spouse throughout the day, despite our busy schedules. At the end of the day, what remains is that my family is my main priority. I look at the bigger picture, even taking on these events and taking on these clients; that’s why I choose how many clients I want to take. I don’t have to take every client that comes through here, because I want to be present during these times. I’ve seen it in a professional realm where I’ve had some vendor colleagues who rethought their careers because now their kids are growing and they missed so much. I make it a point to be present. I really, really, really do feel like that’s what I pride myself on because I don’t get those moments back. My clients don’t get those special moments back. So just like they don’t get those special moments [redone] like planning and having their dream wedding or event, I don’t get those redos on motherhood. I want to be able to enjoy that, and it’s the same with my spouse. 

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR PARENTING STYLE?

ANISSA:  I lean more into traditional values. We have rules, we have manners, respect for others, and [self-respect]. As a family, we do attend church together; that’s very important in our home. I strive to create a safe space for my kids to be healthy and great humans, and not have to be stressed and overwhelmed with day-to-day happenings at home. We do make mistakes, but it’s how we learn and how we recover is my motto. As kids grow and get older, they do grow. If you bumped your head, it’s like, “Okay, I’m here to guide you, but also, utilize those tools that have been instilled in you to navigate.” If I’m not here, my husband and I have instilled enough in them that they could lean on themselves to navigate life. I want them to have the best quality of life. My friend and I always joke that I don’t want to raise broken children! I don’t want their spouses standing there watching all this trauma, you know, all of that. So making sure that they see me do self-care, and then knowing you could [do] whatever you put your mind to, we’re here and we’re supportive and always here. So, I would say for me, that will be like my parenting style.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE THING TO DO AS A FAMILY?

ANISSA: You may think this is a little silly, but we love to travel. That is our family jam. My kids love a good vacation, a good getaway. That’s what we do, and we try to do it as often as possible as a family. We try to do trips, and either it’s me and the kids, my husband and the kids, or whatever. Even if it’s just couples or just me and my husband with no kids, we love that. My kids [love] international travel. I don’t know if we have a favorite [destination] yet; just exploring and seeing everything out there has been the greatest joy. 

WHAT PERSONALITY TRAITS OF YOURS DO YOU SEE IN YOUR CHILDREN?

ANISSA: For my daughter, [she’s] nurturing. She’s so good with kids. Every time she’s around kids–especially little kids–they gravitate toward her. I call her the baby whisperer, because she’s always holding someone’s baby, and they’re going to sleep in her arms. That’s how I was as a child. I loved to be around kids and babies. My son is a little bit like me because I find him to be a little bit more outgoing. He is like a little social butterfly. He is that part of me, just because that’s who I am. Even though I have introverted qualities, I’m in an area where [if] you drop me in with a bunch of people, I’m usually very outgoing, and it’s easy to talk to people. So I see that in him. Both of them, overall, I would say are compassionate and caring individuals. They’re always thinking about other people.

HOW DO YOU MAINTAIN A WORK/LIFE BALANCE?

ANISSA: At some point, you have to turn it (work) off. I do use the “Do Not Disturb” feature. My family, parents, kids, and very important people can bypass it if they try to reach out more than one time. I find that really helps with that work/life balance. It separates being at work and being home. When I’m home, I really try to be home, unless I have deadlines coming up, or things that I have to do that there’s no way around it. But I really try to create that, and I give that credit to my husband because when I first started event planning, it was in the office at home–I never shut it off. Ever. He brought it to my attention, and I said, “What are you talking about?” Now, when I find myself at home, I’m home; I don’t want to do any work. Before, I used to be in front of my computer all the time. Or, I would always have a phone in my hand or something like that. Like I’ve mentioned earlier, my family, my friends, and my clients respect my evenings. I have a jam-packed day; I’m pulled in all kinds of directions. So, I let people know that early on. I’m always available because everyone comes to me. I’m like the mother of my friend groups, and everyone comes to me, but they do respect that in the evenings or if I’m traveling. They know they won’t bug me–and not because I tell them not to–they just know how I am in those moments; I just really want to be present.

DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE FOR OTHER PARENTS?

ANISSA: There is no rulebook for parenting. The biggest thing is that our children watch everything that we do. So I try to model my behavior, so that they see what I do. Most importantly, cherish the moments that you have, don’t rush through the process, and just be present. Because time goes so fast, and that’s what it has taught me with this 17-year-old. I think, “Girl, I was just taking you home from the hospital!” 

Quick Q’s

  1. Guilty pleasure… French fries
  2. Favorite date night… Spa day and dining out at our favorite restaurants
  3. Favorite girls night out… A nice, quiet dinner or trip
  4. Something that makes me laugh… My family–they are always full of adventure
  5. Something I’m looking forward to… All of my children’s future milestones and the day they become parents themselves

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