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ANCHORAGE, AK — When Hollie Ruocco, CMKBD, of Anchorage, AK-based Creative Kitchen Designs, Inc., first moved to Europe when her husband was stationed overseas, she had no idea that she would find her lifelong passion there. Initially a loan officer in the U.S., she contin- ued on this path in Italy and the UK, only to real- ize she truly hated it. Having always loved colors and design, she decided to pursue a design career while in England – a career that blossomed as she moved to Washington DC, and later, Alaska, where she eventually built her own design firm. STUDY ABROAD Ruocco and her husband lived in Italy for four years, where she had a position working for a military commander doing banking installa- tions. She wasn't enthralled with the position, but as it was what she knew, Ruocco got another job at as a loan officer when the couple ended up in the UK. But in time, she came to realize she was miserable and wanted a change. As a kid growing up in a small town, she had always loved building forts and "designing" rooms within them. So when an American designer friend in England saw the house she'd decorated on base, and told her she had talent and should pursue a career in design, she began flirt- ing with the idea of design as a full-time career. Ruocco notes, "I took some interior design classes once we got to England and decided that what I wanted to do was go into the design business." She was hired by a firm just outside of London, and spent the next two and a half years working in the firm's kitchen and bath depart- ment. Ruocco says that it wasn't the colors, fabrics and decorating details that intrigued her; instead, it was the form and overall layout of the room that captured her interest. Her passion for creating well-designed layouts inspired her de- sign journey, and continues to do so to this day. A CAREER IN DESIGN After England, Ruocco and her husband were stationed in Washington, DC, where she pur- sued her design career by getting her CKD (she earned her CMKBD in 2011). But the homecom- ing wasn't totally seamless from a design stand- point; there were cultural differences that posed some challenges. "I had been working with metric measurements for two and a half years and I come back to the States and everything's an imperial measurement. And I'm totally lost again. I'm starting all over. To pick up a ruler and look at it was, like, 'Oh my gosh, I started out designing kitchens in metric and now I'm switching over,'" explains Ruocco. Another difference she noticed was that, in England, most cabinets were either knockdowns or high-end custom. In the U.S., she soon be- came familiar with the notion of made-to-order cabinets that could be assembled right out of the box, which was quite a change. Seven years later, her husband was stationed back in Italy. During this time, Ruocco took a hia- tus to raise her children. However, she made sure to keep up her certification, and traveled back to the U.S. every year to attend KBIS to stay up to date with all of the latest products and trends. When the family headed back to the U.S. for good, this time to Anchorage, AK, Ruocco knew she was home. Originally from upstate New York, she fell in love with Alaska at first sight. About a year and half after making the move to Alaska, Ruocco and her husband divorced, but she says there was no question of her leaving. "The minute I got off the airplane, the sun was bright, it was absolutely beautiful and I said, 'I'm not leaving.' And I didn't," she says. Ruocco had been offered a design job with a large Alaskan firm that spring at KBIS. She stayed in that position for five years, but in order to have more freedom to accommodate her schedule as a single mom, she eventually left to begin her own firm, Creative Kitchen Designs, Inc., in 1999. She shared a work space with a Designer Finds Knack for Design Abroad BY ASHLEY LAPIN OLIAN A former loan officer finds a love for kitchen and bath design while stationed overseas, returning to the U.S. to build a successful design business in the wide open spaces of Alaska. The floorplan of this space that Ruocco designed features a Great Room with a simple roof pitch that opens into the kitchen, which has its own ceiling vault, like a 'room within a room.' The kitchen is the attraction of a Alaska's Kenai River Retreat, centered on hospitality and sharing life with the outdoors. Photo: Dave Davis, DMD Photography Ruocco transformed a classic 1980s kitchen into this modern open-concept kitchen which promotes entertaining with family and friends. The family's favorite features of this remodel are the stone work and the open shelves. Photo: Dave Davis, DMD Photography 42 Kitchen & Bath Design News • December 2016 DESIGNER PROFILE