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Employee Spotlight: Anna Hunt, Junior Associate
Kicking off our Employee Spotlight series, meet Anna Hunt, Junior Associate. For someone with a short name, she’s not short on positivity, humor, and spunk! Despite a simple name since birth, she responds to a surprising number of nicknames: Annie, Annz (yes, the Z is important), the classic Anna Banana, and lastly by her Instagram handle @itsmee_annalee.
We took some time to get to know Anna, and here’s what we learned:
What has made Anna, uniquely Anna?
Q: What’s a trip that changed you, and why?
A: “For almost 5 months in college, I was able to live and learn amongst historical works of art and architecture in Florence, Italy. You cannot compare the real thing to what you see in any textbook. I am still grateful for this opportunity, as it reassured my passion for design.”
Q: What’s one professional skill you are currently working on?
A: “I’m taking advantage of time during the pandemic to improve my hand-sketching skills; by spending an hour or two drawing.
Q: What is the most daring thing you’ve ever done?
A: “I went on a 6-mile hike in the jungle of Chang Mai, Thailand, in 100+ degree heat. I fell down the side of a cliff, roughly 10 feet, and then another 5-10 feet trying to get up. Clumsy or daring? You choose.
Q: What surprised you about working at FitzGerald?
A: “The biggest surprise is friendships I have formed with coworkers. I find myself in constant contact, even on weekends, because I do not consider them only colleagues… but friends.
Q: Have you ever had a nickname? What is it?
A: Yes, surprisingly I have a few nicknames for someone with an already short name, and most are longer than my real name. My sister calls me Annie, which I think is cute. My closest friends call me Annz (yes, the Z is important.) I get the classic Anna Banana from time to time. I also get called my Instagram handle a good amount… which started out as a joke, but is not any more. (follow me @itsmee_annalee). Lastly, though not a nickname, a lot of people just call me by my full name. My name is so short, so it still just rolls off the tongue.
Q: What’s a work-related accomplishment that you’re really proud of?
A: My biggest work-related accomplishment was working on the North + Vine project. This was one of the first projects that I worked on at FitzGerald, as well as my first real project outside of school. Nothing compares seeing a project you work on come to life. I (embarrassingly) sent so many pictures of our finished project to my friends and family.
Q: Who is someone you really admire?
A: Someone that I really admire is someone that is anonymous to the public: Bansky. He shredded his famous “Girl With Balloon” print as a publicity stunt to force the public to laugh and reflect on the fact that graffiti, and street art, being treated as fine art is ridiculous. There comes a point where art should be accessible to everyone. Banksy really allows me to reflect on art as a whole, which is something that I had never thought about while experiencing other artists’ works.
Q: What’s a mistake you made early on in your career, and what did you learn from it?
A: I still consider myself to be in the early stage of my career, so I am still learning and growing from my mistakes. I think my biggest take away (moving forward) is that we are all human, we make mistakes, but it is important not to dwell on these mistakes. There will always be a lesson learned out of every experience. Use what you have learned to inform others so that we may slowly, but surely all grow together.
Q: What is one totally irrational fear you have?
A: Bridges. I am not a fan of bridges. I instantly get anxious walking or driving across them. My mom is also afraid of bridges, which is kind of weird… maybe I got that from her? Our biggest accomplishment was walking across the Brooklyn Bridge two years ago; which may not seem like a big deal to others, but to us it was amazing! If you ever walk with me across a bridge, do not make jokes because I will not be happy with you!
Q: What is the best gift you have received?
A: The best gift I received was from my parents. They created a puzzle that my sister and I had to put together to inform us that we were going on a trip to Budapest, Prague, and Vienna. This was my first time ever leaving the country and definitely encouraged me to travel more.
