16
МИРОВОЙ СТАНДАРТ
Бизнес-леди - моя карьера в США
Summer 1995, my parents and I found out that there is new faculty open in Novosibirsk, Russia and decision was made that I should definitely check it out. The faculty was a branch of Moscow’s University and it was called International Economy and Trade, noticed not International Economy and Law :))) that came later on, after I graduated…
So my dad and I went to meat Dean of the Faculty - Malsev Aleksey Aleksandrovich and couple weeks later I was a student of the brand new Faculty nobody heard of along with other 21 students. It was nerve racking not only we really did not know what we would learn, there were only 21 of us in this huge Siberian Transport University. 21 kids who wanted to try something new, who wanted to be a part of something new, to learn other languages, business traditions and culture of doing business in other countries, marketing strategies of other countries and so on. It was something new, something exciting but at the same time something scary… Now looking back at it I would never change it and do it all over again and again.
First day at college, 1st of September 1995 and I met my life long friends who stayed with me 22 years later:) Classes, concerts, parties, mid term exams, paperwork, traveling, meeting foreign students, going on exchange programs and doing seminars. It was a lot to take in, a lot to understand and a lot to digest. We were exposed to different mentality and different way of thinking. It was only a few of us first year so we grew very close to each other and very fast.
Natalya Nikolaevna… My English teacher, the person I owe my love for this language, the person who introduced me to it and the person who taught me. Classes with her were intense, at times we all wanted to quit but we got through it and I don’t regret it. That is the person who started tradition on the Faculty of celebrating other holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas and Halloween :) one of my favorite at that time. Organizing those concerts was hard, hosting them in English was even harder but it taught us not only the language but the value of friendship, the culture of those countries where it came from, the way other nations think … We never forget her and she always will stay in our hears.
Second year, the year current Dean of Faculty Evgenia Nehoroshkov started his journey as a student of the Faculty of International Economy and Trade. There were more students and still only 21 of us :) so we became one, we always felt that students who came on board in 1996 were part of our group, almost like extended family… Concerts, parties and seminars got more elaborate, more interesting as the years went by, we learned more, traveled more, some of us even got married.
Last year of college… Think about it, when we started in 1995 there were no Internet, no online libraries, no printing papers, we wrote all our notes, we carried big books:) So last year, the year dial up Internet and computers came around, the year I met my husband. Now you won’t surprise any one if you tell them you met online, but back then, back then it was different. I met people in aol chat room, I was there in chat room to talk to people from other countries to practice English and just
like that, one of them was my husband. We still laugh at it; we met online when online almost did not exist.
2001, I knew I was moving… I was leaving, leaving everything I knew and every one I knew and loved… going on the other side of the world… the side where nobody was waiting for me… was I ready, was I prepared. Now I know the answers:) I WAS NOT… I thought I knew English and oh boy, it was time to wake up. For the first 1-2 years in USA I was truly scared, scared that I will not make it, scared that I will not learn or will not find my place in life. I realized that I do not know anything about their culture, hardly know their language and need to do something. I give most of the credit to my husband for been my everything here, for sticking by my side through good days and bad days, days when all I wanted to do is to cry, days when I really doubted myself.
So first thing first, how do I learn the language and learn it quick. Well I decide that I need to get a job somewhere where I am exposed to all the different people with all the different accents at all the times. No computers, no sitting and hiding behind the desk and no paperwork just people talking to me from morning till night. I went to one of the largest mall on East Coast and that day got a job as sales associate on the sales floor working with clients from morning till night talking to them about everything and anything. It was hard, really hard, by 2nd month I could get through the day without thinning I am having a hear attack. After 3 month I decided that I could handle it and getting comfortable so I started to look for companies to apply for real job, job I went to school for. I looked into Coca-Cola, Pepsi, IMB, prepared my resume, translated and notarized everything from school and then I met my husband’s friend Patty, we talked about what I was planning to do, what education I have, how long I was here for and where did I learn the language:) After casual conversation she said, why don’t you come over and talked to me tomorrow at the office. I said sure and took her business card. Next day I was sitting across from her in the largest family owned real estate company in the country. We spoke for about 30 minutes and at the end of it she told me that she would love for me to come and join her as she was looking to expand her team, her real estate team. At that time Patty McCarthy was in the top 5% of real estate brokers of United States.
So here it is an opportunity in from of me to do something I never thought of, something different, but there were a catch to become real estate broker you need to go to NFCAR (Northern Fairfield County Association of Realtors) complete 100 hour course, pass the test in the school and then go to Hartford and pass the state test which includes Principal and Practice of Real Estate and separate test Connecticut State Law. What I was thinking… I went home stayed up all night, talked to my husband and next day signed myself up for the class to get my license.
Classes were hard, the hardest part was that I did not know 40% of the words teacher was using, I did not know what septic is or how well works, who is an assessors and appraiser :) the list was huge. I told myself there is no room for failure, I just have to stick with it and 3 month later I was sitting through the final
test at school. I do not want to bore you with details but I passed, I passed the class test and a week later I passed state test and I was sitting in the same chair I sat 4 month ago across from Patty with real estate license signing my employment contract with one of the biggest real estate company.
First days in real estate were crazy, I realized that I learned the language (well enough not to flip out all the time), I got license, finished Real Estate school but now I need to learn the area, streets, inventory and so much more. Every day was different from showings to corporate couples to meetings with investors or sellers, doing appraisals and market statistics for clients, then meeting photographers and creating marketing campaign for new construction complexes. It was crazy and to stay a float I had to learn it all and learn it fast. Patty was great help and fabulous teacher, she was in the business for 20 years at that time, so I followed her from morning till night, listened to how she spoke, how she held negotiations or did presentation for sellers. She told me to invest into myself and continue learning all the time so I did, I signed up for Intense Marketing and Selling in Real Estate and some other classes. 3rd year in the business I realized I am getting it and I am good at it. I truly enjoyed working with all the different people, buyers, sellers, investors and builders. Everyday was different and something new was happening non-stop. I start getting awards like Top Producing Broker, Top Listing Broker and Customer Satisfaction Awards.
In 2005 I was expected my first child and I was terrified that I will loose client-tell and my work connection once I become a mother because I will not have a freedom to work as much as I was working, so I decided to push myself and close as many deals as I can before I deliver and I did. To my surprise after my son was born with the support from my husband, my parents and office support from Patty and our team I was able to maintain clients and increase the volumes we were doing and in 2007 I was nominated as Sales Vice President. After that it was more goals, more work more awards… In 2010 I had my second child my little girl and with more responsibilities as a mother I got more responsibilities at work, so we kept growing the team and kept expanding.
17 years later with great husband and 2 wonderful kids, numerous awards, huge sales volumes and tons of great clients, I cannot be thankful enough for how my life turned out. I am proud to work with the best team and great business partner and will not have it any other ways. ст