Free People

"I started my career as a brand manager at a small local company, and today we have grown into KTKTosmetics, one of the largest cosmetics manufacturers in Ukraine. We operate four well-known brands: Mr. SCRUBBER, HOLLYSKIN, SOLIDENT, and BARBER BLEND. Each of these brands has its own unique history, customer base, and character. Over the years, I have progressed to the position of Deputy Director. Every day presents new challenges that I genuinely enjoy. I thrive on tackling challenges and exploring new paths that others have not taken before. Each new task feels like a puzzle; I can see the logic, the direction, and the result."

"Girls often don't dream of becoming directors of metallurgical plants when they are children. I certainly didn't have such plans initially. My background is in economics, but over time, I developed a passion for the manufacturing industry. I began gaining management experience in the industry, starting with concrete fences and then transitioning to casting for artificial Christmas trees. I joined Volynstal as the deputy director, and a year later, when the then director left for abroad, I was offered his position.

“I’ve been in furniture since I was eighteen. I don’t know why — I just always felt it was mine. Back in vocational school, I used to sketch cabinets and kitchens in my notebooks. Later I got an internship at a furniture factory — and ended up staying. I learned everything hands-on. I cut the parts, glued them, delivered them by van, and assembled the cabinets — all by myself. It was a good job. I did everything right, and I was constantly promoted.

"I was born and raised in a village. My father kept a small herd of cows. My whole life has been about the land, the field, the farm. At first, I worked in a collective farm, then, when everything started to fall apart, I went into business, procuring cattle. But the moment came when the community offered me to take care of this land. It was overgrown land — neglected and uncultivated. I agreed to take it on. And that’s when I began to invest: in machinery, in construction, in the soil itself.

"Everyone in my family is deeply involved in finance; they excel at working with numbers, models, and forecasts. It always seemed natural for me to follow in their footsteps, and I believed my future would be in the world of money and investment. I was systematically prepared for this path — I studied abroad in Spain and completed an internship in Hong Kong. However, when I turned eighteen, life took an unexpected turn, and so did I.

“Some people might call us a photographic studio. Some people think that we are an event venue, where life lives itself. We opened a year ago, during the quarantine, so we are lucky. It has been our favorite saying ever since: Wonder Space is a thousand square meters of pure pleasure.

“A year and a half ago, I made a spur-of-the-moment decision and bought a company manufacturing modular houses. At that time, I already had three construction sites in Odesa and another three in Kyiv. My partners could not understand me. They wanted me to take care of those assets that I already had. And I told them, “Wait and you will see that I am right.

"On February 24, two fertilizer import trucks were on their way to me. Everything stopped, no one knew what to do. It was a complete shock. And you know what they say in agriculture: one day feeds the whole year. The country's food program is also an important front, because the soldiers who are fighting have to eat something. Children and refugees, too.я

"… And, suddenly, I realize that I am leading my son by the hand to the bomb shelter. We are in a hurry. And I can't even answer whether he wore underwear under his jeans. Air raid buzzes in my ears, my eyes involuntarily scan the sky, and the first thought in my head is: "Fighter jets are flying at us... This is war, a real war..." We were not taught how to act in such a situation, and, in the end, it is impossible to prepare for such events, especially if you do not want to believe that a new reality has come.