Today we’d like to introduce you to Anna Naumenko.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I was born in Ukraine, got my bachelor’s degree in marketing and started working in Fashion and Entertainment back there. After moving to NYC back in 2012, I was planning to pursue my career in fashion because what is a better place for that, if not New York? I went for a Master’s Degree in Fashion Merchandising and was working as fashion buyer at the same time. Quickly, though, I understood that the fashion industry is so over-competitive and underpaid that this is not something I am looking forward to. I always liked writing, so in my spare time, I came up with the idea to create an online magazine with a series of interviews with Russian-speaking women based in the USA. I was not only interested in sharing their stories for the other girls to inspire them, but also was curious by myself – what helped them to succeed? The project was not commercial – I wasn’t making any profit from it. Before one day when, my friend offered to do an event where she could speak about her path to the audience. She is a photographer also born in Ukraine and moved to NYC, so we had such similar stories. The first event was a success, and this is how my career as an entrepreneur started.
Interesting that I have never planned to become one, quite the opposite – I always wanted to work in a big corporation such as Chanel or Saks Fifth Avenue. But I was also always open to the opportunities, so this is my life lesson number one: never say no to anything right away.
In 2018 I opened my own business and since then I executed tremendous amount of the events: from a 600 guests yacht party to a 4-days conference in Madrid.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It is never a smooth road! And considering the fact that I am a woman, an immigrant, I don’t have any financial support – this triples the hard parts of the experience. But… I would never change it!
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Word “vmeste” means “together” in English, and this describes a lot about my businesses. Under this umbrella, there are a few projects I manage.
The Vmeste Women’s Club is a social club for Russian-speaking women in the USA. Before Covid, we had it successfully running in 5 cities: New York, Miami, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Pittsburg. Pandemic changed a lot, and I kind of lost interest in this idea. Main reason is that it became trendy, and now there are so many similar projects. I am not afraid of competition, but I quickly lose interest in projects which are easy and are similar to many others. But with moving to Houston and seeing that niche here is free, I started doing the events for Russian-speaking women here again.
I also run intellectual quizzes IMOMS for women in two cities: New York and Houston. Love this project with all my heart!
Another business I manage is Jettercy – it is a boutique marketing agency for small businesses. We offer services such as websites development, social media marketing, SEO and Google promotions, photo- and video- shootings, graphic designs.
There is also a festival called Atmosfera. I did one in New York back in 2020, and another one is just now in Houston. It is a relatively big gathering which involves pretty much everyone: local business for a market, local musicians and performers for the entertainment, and all local families to have fun at!
Other than these, I always work on some big events as a contractor. This year, for example, I am managing a 3-day conference in New York in October and an event called TOP USA Awards in Medical Field in November.
What makes you happy?
It will probably be the weirdest answer, but routine really does make me happy. Days when I wake up early and full of energy when I manage to get all things planned and done and on top of that, either go to the gym or walk in the park with my dog – all these are very, very simple, but it does make me happy.
I also love visiting new places, trying new food, make money. and working on something new.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/annanatochi/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anna-naumenko-ny/
