I graduated from Lauder Business School in Vienna with a degree in International Business Administration, moved back to Omsk because of COVID, and somehow ended up finding one of the most international jobs I've ever had — in the middle of Siberia.
Purrweb is a Russian agency that builds MVPs for startups worldwide. Early morning calls with clients in China, late calls with the UK, designers and developers who were genuinely brilliant at their craft, and me — fresh out of university, starting as a trainee, figuring out how to be the bridge between all of it.
I didn't know then that I was falling in love with tech. I just knew every day felt new.
I started with design projects. Brand books, logos, visual identity work. It was good. But then I moved to development projects and something clicked.
Watching our team take an idea — just an idea, sometimes scribbled on a brief — and turn it into a real, working product that became someone's business. Designers meticulously wireframing before touching UI. Developers building applications brick by brick. Architects figuring out how to hold the whole system together. I was the bridge between all of them, and I loved it.
By the end of six months I had delivered 8 projects. Some big, some small, all different.
Every day was something new. New project briefings, new clients, feedback coming in from projects already running. I was juggling several at once — different stages, different people, different needs. Some required deep technical knowledge to keep the client confident. Some needed a more visual, intuitive approach. You learned to read what each one needed and find your way in.
The time zones made it interesting. Early morning calls with China. Evening calls with the UK. Omsk sitting somewhere in between, which meant the day stretched in both directions. But it was rewarding in a way I hadn't expected — being in an international environment again, after four years in Vienna, felt right. Just not where I'd imagined finding it.
To stay on top of it all, I built small systems. Checklists so nothing slipped between projects. Templates for client communication at each stage — kickoff, updates, handoffs — so we stayed clear and consistent without reinventing the wheel every time. A delivery playbook for new project managers joining the team. None of it was complicated. All of it helped.
One client stands out. A logistics company from China that came in wanting a bold logotype. We ended up building something much bigger together — a full brand guide covering company styling, office design, even how their trucks would look. Then a website to bring it all to life.
It was one of those collaborations where the client trusted us and we trusted ourselves, and the work showed it.
Every now and then I still visit their website. Just to see they're doing well. And I smile.
Purrweb taught me that you can ask for things even when you're scared to — a new project, a training session, an opinion from someone more experienced — and usually you'll get a yes. That you learn by watching people who are really good at what they do and staying curious enough to ask why.
Design practices, development methods, negotiation instincts, how to read a room across a twelve-hour time difference — all of it stays with you. You don't always know how it'll be useful. It just is.
Curiosity is sexy.