Obviously it’s impossible to talk about all parts of my life. But, there are a few wonderful moments that I can discuss and relive as I share them with you. 

I was born in the USSR in 1979 and lived in Ukraine for the first ten years of my life. I completed 1st through 3rd grade of elementary school while in Ukraine. One of the most vivid memories of my childhood was on September 1st of 1989. It was the first day of school. All of the students in the country wore their white aprons over their brown uniforms and carried flower bouquets for their teachers. My family and I, however, loaded a greyhound bus and headed to the border of Bratislava, Slovakia, to leave our home country for good. 

Being a middle child in the bunch of eleven has left me overlooked at times. Living at a local daycare Monday through Friday from the age of two to five was difficult; we had loving parents who couldn’t physically handle all the children at home because there were so many of us and our dad had to work all the time. During summers, however, he would take as many kids with him as he could to the watermelon patch he harvested every year. It was a magical time for us kids; we would roam the forest, cook on open fires, sleep under the stars, pick mushrooms and berries and work hard during the day. What kid wouldn’t love this?

I will always remember, when I was 9 years old, getting my very first dress that was not a family hand-me-down but from a local thrift shop. I was excited beyond words. And before we left Ukraine, our parents bought everyone a new outfit for our new journey.  

The shortages that I experienced were not the same with all of my siblings; my older siblings had more privileges and things because there were more resources available. And perhaps my younger siblings didn’t get as much as I did. But one thing that we all got was each other. To this day, we are a close bunch, one big happy Ukrainian family.    

We eventually moved to Portland, Oregon, where we started school and began integrating ourselves into the new and “unusual” American community and culture. I started babysitting at the age of 11. And at the age of 14, I earned a permanent job with Burlington Coat Factory after demonstrating my customer service and organizational skills during the seasonal holiday rush. 

The integration into American culture wasn’t flawless and connecting with my peers was often difficult. Because of this, my family and I merged into the forming Slavic community in Portland, where we could more easily form deep relationships. At one point, my dad became a pastor of a local Ukrainian church, which created a platform for me to exercise and practice my leadership skills. This was a wonderfully careless time in my life but I learned many lessons.  

One of my stronger learned skills, as it turns out, was foresight. Even though I had a job, my oldest sister had the “dream closet”. She had the best taste in clothing and in shoes. We all envied her collection and watched her with admiration when she would wear something from her prized cache. She was about to get married and was preparing to move out to her new home. At this point, I knew I had to strike if I wanted to wear one of her treasures to her wedding. I hid an ensemble that I’ve been eyeing for a while, a dress and a pair of high heel shoes. Was I great at walking in them? No. But did the occasion warrant high heel shoes? Yes. Was I going to do it knowing I would ruin her shoes? Yes. It was quite a memorable moment when she saw me at her own wedding wearing her clothing. We still talk about it today. 

I became very independent at an early age. Although life was more challenging with the “going at it alone” attitude, I learned a lot. I decided what I wanted my life to be early on. But being independent made it more difficult to take advice and feedback that was offered when I was making important life decisions; I felt like I knew everything around the age of sixteen. One of those decisions was getting married at seventeen and not really having any kind of a plan. What kid has a plan at this age? (For the record, I’ve been trying to conceal this fact from my girls most of their lives, but one day they told me they knew – the good thing is that it’s no longer a threat with my eighteen year old and my youngest is almost seventeen and is very picky). 

I’ve learned a great deal about myself, about my life and finally what I wanted to do-over during the next decade. After working two to three minimum wage jobs at a time, I decided to go to college and earn my bachelor degree. I had an opportunity to live in Germany during the last two years of my studies, which was another great learning period in my life. After returning to the states, my girls and I moved to Georgia, ending my decade long first marriage. 

As a new graduate I was eager to apply my newly found skills and knowledge and did well as a project/operations manager at a small developer. I also found myself in a new relationship, after going through extensive soul searching, counseling, and serving. During this time I earned a Master’s degree; a first in my family. I also got involved in a local church and built some very important relationships; some of them were seasonal, some of them were provisional, and some of them were life long. The housing market at that time however, was playing against my industry and I was able to obtain a new job through my provisional relationships. 

Unfortunately to say, on the day that I’m writing this, my relationship with that organization has since ended. However, I found something else that has brought an amazing amount of satisfaction and purpose into my life. After reading many books and examining my state of being, I found life coaching.  

Now looking back, I can see many opportunities that I took to develop my communication skills and ability to influence people, unknowingly. It started at my dad’s church at the age of fourteen by organizing various events and youth activities. I’ve created a book club with my local Portland friends and carried that on to Germany, where I formed a women’s group; women who endured hardships due to military involvement and others. Upon my arrival to GA, I once again created a new book club and became a women’s group leader at my local church. And finally, in my corporate experience, I served as a Women’s Network Leader in the Atlanta area in a business capacity. All this I did because it is my passion to serve others, it is my purpose to uplift women, and I became good at it due to various opportunities life presented.  

I am so grateful to God and my family who have enabled and supported me throughout my journey.  I’m also grateful for my dog Izzy who keeps me company day in and day out and nudges me so very firmly to go on our daily walks. Finally, I’m grateful for the opportunity to be a part of your life and to build my tribe with you!