A Non-Linear Journey
Some say that the career path should be as straight as a hard line, but mine is more like Pollock's paintings (the man pictured on the right side is Jackson Pollock) - it's full of bright twists and unexpected connections.
It all started with a MS diploma in Biology in 2004, which I could not apply anywhere, then a fascination with numbers led me to delve into Financial Math at the Moscow Aviation Institute (though let's just say those "planes" never took off! I left it after 1 year).
Realizing the business world was calling, I enrolled in a Mini-MBA program at Plekhanov Academy, focusing on eCommerce and Digital Marketing – a field that would become a lifelong passion.
My first step into the corporate world was a baptism by fire: a sales representative role in the HoReCa channel for a French tobacco company SEITA ALTADIS. From there, I transitioned to BTL marketing, orchestrating promotions at major sponsorship events like the first Afisha Picnic.
The allure of a new challenge led me to a leading alcohol company, where I built a new HoReCa sales department from the ground up. My success propelled me to Brand Manager, launching a new premium vodka with a fancy name “Marussya”.
This insatiable hunger for growth led me to brand manager position of Corona Extra, then I was promoted to a position of Brand Director of Perrier, San Pellegrino and other brands of Nestle Waters, and finally, to a Head of Licensed Beer Portfolio at Moscow Brewing Company, where I have spent most of my time launching new brands from scratch - among them: Faxe, Hollandia, Oettinger, Bear Beer, Harp, Ballantine, Schlitz and so on.
Throughout my career, I've launched over 15 brands across Russia, Kazakhstan, and Belarus, spanning industries from tobacco and liquor to mineral water and finally beer.
But my story isn't just about boardrooms and brand strategy. As a coding enthusiast, I spend my free time building web apps, websites, and even VST audio plugins for music production (that's a whole other story for another time!). Making music might not be on my resume, but it reflects my creativity and drive to constantly learn new things.
As I mentioned at the very beginning, now I'm interested in new projects and a completely different skillset: performance marketing and e-commerce.
Below is my current skillset and areas of interest, what I'm a professional in and what I know to one degree or another