(Candy’s Dirt) – Three years after completing her first million-dollar, new construction build in Dallas’ prestigious M Streets, sustainable home builder and interior designer Aarieanna Ware scored another big win — an uncommon victory among local construction bosses. She was named Miss Texas.
The 26-year-old grew up as a self-professed military brat, living in different countries and admiring the unique architecture across the world, Ware told CandysDirt.com. She also grew up watching the Miss USA pageant with pizza and ice cream, sitting as close to the television as possible.
On Aug. 4, she’ll be competing in that pageant, and if her track record says anything about her drive, she just might win it all.
Building a Future
Ware worked as an interior designer and while she was still a teenager, she embarked on a project at her own apartment, a fourplex off Ross Avenue.
“I did a lipstick-on-the-pig remodel in an apartment I was renting,” she said. “The AC went out and I was terrified. If anything went wrong, I was calling outside services, not the rental company. I called the foreman and told him about my AC. I thought I was going to get evicted.”
The property manager was curious about her skills in remodeling and referred her to Tom Motlow, of TKM Properties who owned the building and offered her a job flipping the other units on the property.
“It was definitely one of those ‘right-place, right-time’ moments,” Ware said. “That was the start of my career in construction.”
At just 19 years old, Ware started a four-year apprenticeship with Motlow.
“I completely learned the business from the ground up,” she said.
Now Motlow serves as a partner in Ware’s Kenmare Homes. She also works closely with local Realtor Nadine Meyer, who she met through Motlow.
Trudging Through Mud in Jimmy Choos
Ware’s parents taught her that “beauty was a bad investment,” so she shied away from her femininity as a child and honed her skills and knowledge.
“Pretty privilege is definitely a thing,” she said. “But when it comes to respect, especially in this industry where I am not the norm, that has definitely hurt me — not having to prove myself but having to gain respect through my work, not what I look like.”
Ware exudes confidence and she dresses how she wants to dress, but she’s learned some lessons the hard way.
“I showed up at one of my new construction projects wearing heels and I wanted to impress everyone,” she said. “I did my superwoman pose in the mirror before I went out. I got there and it was like, ‘You’re going to walk this 28-unit job site in those?’ It was a mistake and I got mud on my Jimmy Choos. I learned my lesson and moved on.”
There really isn’t a blueprint for how to “move in this world as a woman,” Ware said.
“I kind of started making my own,” she said.
Making a House a Home
Ware thrives in new construction and uses sustainable materials.
“There are a thousand builders in Dallas, and I wanted to separate myself and give consumers the option to have a home that was built differently,” she said.
She builds three-story duplexes and single-family homes near Mockingbird Lane. Her favorite home was her first new construction build on Winton Street. She completed it in 2021.
“It’s a big glass A-frame duplex,” she said. “That home is probably the most important because it was the first. I would doodle a very similar home because it’s what I grew up seeing. It’s very Scandinavian and German architecture. To be able to build something like that was a really big deal for me. It kind of just cemented that I was meant to do this.”
Entering the Pageant World
Ware recalls being a child overseas and watching American television a week after it originally aired. Pageants were an event in her household.
“It would come on at 11 o’clock at night, and we’d have the pizza, the ice cream, all the things,” she said. “I would always try to pick out the winner.”
On one such occasion, Ware identified the prettiest girl and declared that woman would be crowned. Her father turned off the television and had some stern words for his daughter.
“If you think we let you stay up late and watch this because these girls are pretty, then you’ve completely missed what we’re doing here,” he said.
Ware said she was heartbroken and cried herself to sleep. Her father told her the next morning that the competitors were doctors, lawyers, and trailblazers.
“They found something in the world that they want to try to change,” he told her. “They just also happen to be beautiful.”
Ware said that was the first time she remembers being told that she could be beautiful, smart, and successful at the same time.
Years later, she signed up for Miss Dallas and won, and then took home the crown for Miss Texas. Her parents and younger brother will be in the audience as she competes for Miss USA.
Women Building Up Women
Ware said she’s met dozens of contestants along the way who are doing inspiring things and encouraging each other’s success. She founded a nonprofit called Build it UP! and is doing some inspiration of her own.
“I believe in God’s timing,” said Ware, who converted to Judaism at age 20. “It doesn’t matter what I decide to do. If it’s not right in his eyes, it’s not going to work.”
Ware has been working with a “mindset coach” and focusing on the messages she wants to share with other contestants and from the Miss USA stage.
“One of the best things that young women get out of pageants is it really helps you figure out who you are and what you want,” she said. “We bond over our love for pageants and wanting the world to be a better place. Not to go all world peace on you …”
We’ll be watching the Miss USA pageant on the CW on Aug. 4 with pizza and ice cream, rooting for our hometown girl.