About me

Dear friends,

When you work with somebody his or her character, interests, approach to your common work etc. matter. Other people's testimonials give some picture but can't guarantee that you will like the person. The best way to learn this is through a personal meeting. But you and I - we don't have a chance to meet in person before your arrival. On this page you will find some facts about me, some informal thoughts about my profession and other sides of my life, even a list of my wishes both sensible and crazy.

I in my turn would love to learn something about you. Do you have a web site? I would check it out with a sincere interest. If not - drop me some lines about yourself. I understand that you might have not much time for that. But only you can help me to enrich your sightseeing program with your original ideas.

Below is a youtube video of me from 2010. Sorry the quality isn't so great, as the technology wasn't as good as it is now. I plan to make another more up to date video during the winter which I'll post as soon as it's available.

How I dared to start this business and how it feels now

A man starts his business because of ambitions but a woman starts her business because she is desperate. It is not universal, but it is my case. When the advertisement agency from Moscow stopped its activity in my city and I lost the position as manager of the local branch I had to think about future. Had I been 20 years old I would have taken the first position and started to build career from zero. But I was 27. The prospect to become a secretary with knowledge of several languages or ordinary manager scared me. Besides I wanted one day to have children. I needed a position which would grant me a chance to combine my family interests with the work. I could not find anything appropriate. So I had to invent something for myself.

The current result you can see on the pages of this site. How do I feel about it? Well... I am extremely thankful to my clients. Thanks to them: - I do not feel like a universal home work machine. The sample of women who devoted their lives only to family does not inspire me. Most of them look somehow unsatisfied although they are missing something important.

• I do not panic at the idea that one day my husband can leave me. Please, understand me right: I have a truly great family. But no one is guaranteed they won't lose a partner.
• My income lets my family not only to survive but to afford something more: vacations in countries warmer than ours or other luxuries. That would be impossible with the only my husband's salary.
• And my job is a great source of positive emotions. My clients compliment me quite often and I enjoy it a lot!

I think our world follows a tradition not to encourage women who want both family and job. It is the structure of the society. Governments and business owners have to accept extra expenses in order to support working mothers. That is why we start our little companies.

My Family

I am a happily married woman. My husband Ian moved to Russia from Britain to live with me here and since that moment my life changed. I feel loved and appreciated, I know that for him I matter a great deal. He is very different from a typical Russian husband - helps a lot with household and children and acknowledges what I do for the family. Local women think that I am exceptionally lucky. Our culture and style of life are not attractive for him, but we think that on a balance there are more advantages for us in living in Russia than in Britain - at least for the next 10 years.

I have 2 children: 14 year old Lisa from my first marriage and 9 years old Mark. Bringing them up for me is a challenge. Life is easier when you can follow an example. My mum had a son and a daughter. Theoretically I should know what to do. In practice - I don’t.

For my mum’s generation bringing up children was mainly about providing them with food, clothes, and teaching them some moral ideas. In the Soviet Union , as it was at the time, we had free education and equal salaries, so the choice of profession was not crucial - one could not fail.

Since then our society changed dramatically - but our educational system did not. It is a source of endless disappointment for me. What would I want my child to learn besides reading, writing and arithmetic? Most things I would be interested in are even not taught at school.

Our school system does not cover managing money. There is no information about family budget, loans or investments. An average Russian person studies nothing and as a result knows nothing about the laws - even basic ones - about inheritance or marriage/divorce. Cooking and sewing are no longer subjects at school. But kids learn physics, chemistry, biology, geography, literature etc. They are supposed to grow broad minded in sense of education, and useless in practical issues, completely dependent on their future employers and banks. That is not a future I want for my children!

So I feel like a lonely warrior on the battlefield. So much to teach! No ready made courses, no helpful materials. There is no chance of being a full time mum; other duties are demanding attention from every side. I am important too! Give me your time!

So the general feeling is the following: hard work without appreciation or support except from my dear husband.

In Russia it is a popular idea that things will get sorted out somehow on their own accord.

A child will grow and learn for himself everything that is necessary for life (somehow in between the many standard duties). Personally I think this theory is cruel. Throwing someone into deep water is one method to teach swimming - but not the best one.

I find it hard to be a mother. Not denying the happy moments I share with my children.

My interests

It seems that psychology and sociology have always been my passions. But to be quite sincere at the age of 6 I liked ice-cream better. :-) I can not say exactly how it started but by now I have read many books and continue to check the new issues. I do trust that people come to this world to be happy and therefore I am quite interested in the ideas why not everybody manages to feel happy and what can be done about it. As one sample - I am very fond of Mary and Robert Goulding ideas.

My interest brought me to the psychology faculty of St. Petersburg University where I started a piece of research "Adaptation of American professionals to Russian culture". Unfortunately I can not boast that it goes on efficiently. The main problem is that being a scientist in Russia is a kind of expansive and time-consuming hobby. As I have no chance to get any money for my work it means that first I need to secure some income, then to take care about my house, family and friends and then... then I get no time left! Still I haven't give up on the idea.

I'm also particularly interested in the motivation of teenagers - it's one of things I'm seriously interested and active in.

I am interested in history. The more I learn and compare past with the contemporary life the better I understand both. I feel myself an alive link of chain which goes back to the Second World War, Stalin's horror period and Revolution and further to the 19th and 18th century, to Peter the Great times. Great grandfathers stand behind my back not like the dusty skeletons but like the alive relatives. And history itself for me is not only a bunch of amazing stories but something what explains Russia's today life - and my personal life also.

I like exploring my city. It is never the same. Old good restaurants become overcrowded with strange people and lose their charm but the new places emerge instead. I love to eat in new places. There is something about food - don't you think? - what we started to miss in our fast food culture. I drop into the shops of all kinds. I stare at the shop windows. I am new experiences and emotions hunter. I am constantly looking for something unusual to share with you...