We here at WooMeOver first met Rita Chung at the Pasadena Bead and Design Show back in August. We loved her sophisticated designs and her vivacious personality so much that we did a profile of her. And then we had so much fun with that that we jumped at the opportunity to sit down and interview her!
The designer, right, at the home of her friend Nancy (left).
I met Rita at the home of a friend of hers in Southern California. Nancy had just thrown a huge Halloween/birthday party, and a houseful of decorations remained to testify to the party’s success.
Nancy insisted on feeding me (she does grill up a mean panini) and the ladies regaled me with tales of the previous evening’s party. The jewel of the evening was when Nancy’s neighbors called the police to complain about the noise, and the person who got the door thought that the policeman was there for the party. “Great costume!” she enthused. Then, after the officer explained his purpose for coming, Nancy reassured him that they’d turn down the music (well, as much as you can turn down a live band) — “And if we don’t,” she promised the officer, “you can come right back and take my husband to jail. He’s already dressed for it.” Her husband Peter was dressed as a jailbird.
“What did you dress up as?” asked our innocent Olivia.
Rita gave me a wicked grin. “A Shanghai whore,” she airily replied. Oh, Rita, behave!
After my unexpected (but heartily welcomed and enjoyed) brunch, I sat down with Rita to get the skinny on her.
The designer in her own freshwater pearl and jade choker.
In order to tell the story of Rita’s brand, Asian2Woman, we have to tell the story of Rita Chung. And in order to tell the story of Rita Chung, we have to go back to the beginning.
Rita was born in Macau, China. She finished grade school in Taipei, Taiwan, but returned to Macau to finish high school. She then studied Hotel Management in Honolulu, Hawaii, where she then lived for 20 years.
She has an impressive background in the service industry, which opened the door for her in other areas, such as public relations and marketing. She’s worked for hotels, companies, magazines — she even co-hosted a talk show in Macau and wrote a book (called Girls on Top — how apropos for Rita!).
The cover of Girls on Top by Rita Chung (sorry, no longer available for purchase).
So how did this corporate go-getter become a designer?
Rita has loved designing since childhood — she was always designing clothing, jewelry, and everything else in between. She told me that she would tell her tailor exactly what she wanted him to do, and, pretty soon, she’d see people copying what she had done. She was ten years old.
Her mother was a connoisseur of fine jewelry, and “it’s easy in Macau to find a goldsmith to make what you design,” Rita informed me.
After living the corporate life in Hawaii and China, Rita settled down permanently (well, as settled as a whirlwind like our girl can get) in San Francisco and began considering what sort of career to pursue in her new home.
Like a bolt from the blue, she thought it might be possible to turn her passion for design into a career. She did the research and decided that her dream was achievable. She launched Asian2Woman in 2005 and hasn’t looked back since.
Tune in tomorrow for more of Rita’s journey as a designer and businesswoman!
Intrigued,
Olivia
