Oana is a marketing professional and an artist. Her talents include marketing research and strategy, dance, photography, foreign languages, décor, cooking, and gardening.
Born and raised in Eastern Europe, Oana made the skip over the "big pond" in 1997 to attend Berea College in Kentucky, a private liberal arts school with a work-study approach. Founded in 1855 as the first interracial and coeducational college in the South, Berea's primary service region is Southern Appalachia. However, students from all states in the U.S. and from more than 60 other countries provide a rich diversity of colors, cultures, and faiths.
Oana initiated the first orientation program specifically designed for international students. She was the President of Berea College Modern Dance Group and created and interpreted her own choreography and that of her talented teachers and colleagues. She dedicated her summers to interning for WINGS (Women's Initiative Networking Groups), a non-profit organization dedicated to helping women-owned small businesses in 49 counties throughout Appalachia. Oana also discovered her love for photography, which she continues to enjoy today.
After obtaining her undergraduate degree in Business Administration and a minor in Spanish, Oana pursued a Master in Business Administration with a Marketing concentration from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. Just for fun, Oana chose Portuguese for Spanish Speaking Students as her elective, enjoying the similarities between these two Latin languages and Romanian, her native tongue.
After graduation, Oana worked for six years for a fast growing home shopping television network in direct marketing, marketing research and strategy, focusing on consumer understanding via quantitative and qualitative research. Over the years, Oana gained experience with customer profiling, database segmentation, branding, loyalty and acquisition programs, and successfully led numerous targeted marketing campaigns.
In 2004, Oana began taking ballroom dance lessons. Shortly thereafter, she became the National Champion in the amateur division. She continues to learn, compete, and teach. In addition, Oana's photographs of dancing have been published in the official amateur ballroom dancers' magazine, won 1st prize, and were featured in a two-page article.
Oana has also been featured in more than a dozen television commercials and a few motion pictures. She enjoys acting and is registered with Talent Trek modeling and casting agency in Knoxville.
Oana met Angelique through mutual friends and was immediately and completely amazed by her creativity. She couldn't help but notice the incredible gravitational force that Angelique had towards other creative and talented people and her crew. After getting to know her and her interior design projects, Oana couldn't help but want to be part of the Building Ideas team. In 2009, she began working with Angelique to revamp her brand image on line, in print, and via networking. As an avid supporter of creativity and customization, Oana is excited to contribute her knowledge, skills, and energy toward Building Ideas' success.
