40 under 40 – 2019 winners

Anna Nejasmic

Anna Nejasmic
New York, NY

Executive, Four Seasons Hotel, New York City
Croatian American Activist in New York City
Family is from Split/Dalmatinska Zagora

Anna Nejasmic has been singing since age 6 since watching Celine Dion belt out the song, “Power of Love”. Thus, while discovering her passion for music at a very young age, she was classically trained in voice since the age of 10 and began her singing career at the Croatian Children’s Festival in New York City. This festival has become a yearly, exciting tradition where she would express her own creativity and passion through song and share it with the audience. Anna was 12 years old when she won the festival in NY and thus was able to perform later at the famous Lisinski concert hall in Zagreb. Her song that year was so special to her because the author of the text, Robert Pilepic, was also the same author who wrote the famous song,“Morski Vuk”, for Oliver Dragojevic. This achievement instilled a drive to audition for Anna and she was one of the youngest to be accepted to the prestigious Boston University’s Summer Tangelwood Institute Program and the Manhattan School of Music.

Anna went on to record an American CD demo at the age of 15, and audition for American Idol in Chicago and did win the Croatian Idol contest in New York City and then competed in Toronto, Canada. Anna also then sang at many Croatian events in the community, with the Croatian band “More”, followed by alongside the Croatian music star, Drazen Zecic and even has sung at an event for Madam President Krabar-Kitarovic too.

Anna was also involved in the business world at a very young age by creating proposals and invoices for a contracting company. This passion for business took her to study the field at the University of Rhode Island. During this time, she won the audition to sing the anthem for the school, was awarded a scholarship in finance and has repeatedly been on the Dean’s List. After graduating with a business degree and a high GPA, Anna began her career in the hotel industry. During this time, Anna organized events in hotels for and with well-known celebrities. Her dedication to work led her to win a few major Employee awards. Anna’s ambition combined with that powerful “Croatian” spirit, took her from charming boutique hotels recently to the exclusive Four Seasons Hotel in New York. She strives to be well-rounded both professionally and personally, as this enhances her knowledge and growth as a proud, Croatian American individual. Additionally, Anna recently has joined the choir at the Manhattan Croatian Catholic church and the Association of Croatian American Professionals Group in New York City.

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