1. And you may ask yourself, "Well... how did I get here?" (Tell us your journey?)
Growing up in Russia I had my first English class at the age of 9 since then I became completely fascinated by foreign languages. I dreamed of being an English teacher. At the time my dolls and my younger brother were my practice students. I literally begged my brother to please let me teach him English. He reluctantly agreed to sit through my class for a few minutes before running off to play outside with his friends. My fascination with foreign languages and cultures continued and I went on to study Linguistics at the University of Tyumen where I majored in English and minored in French. Throughout my studies, I worked part-time as a translator for an adoption agency. I got to meet so many amazing families who traveled across the world to adopt babies they’d never met before and gave them all the love and care they would never have otherwise. I also got to participate in a student exchange program in the US, during which I met my husband Shane in NYC. For our first date, he purchased tickets to a Broadway show and made reservations at the restaurant on top of the World Trade Center… for Sept 11th, 2001. Needless to say, our date didn’t happen, instead, we were caught in the middle of all the chaos that erupted after the biggest-ever terrorist attack on the USA. Fast forward 21 years and we are happily married with two amazing teenage daughters.
After moving to the US, I pursued my MBA with a concentration in Finance. I worked in a variety of roles at Koch Industries (Invista) and then at Chesapeake Energy. Both of those were fantastic companies to work for where I got to meet some incredible people and got many opportunities to learn so many aspects of the organization - IT, product and project management, risk management, financial accounting, supply chain, etc.
In the last year or two with my previous company, I realized that I was so ready for a new challenge. I no longer wanted to be part of a support function like IT or Finance but hoped to be directly involved in creating a product. I decided to join some of my old CHK coworkers at Persefoni. I was fascinated to be part of the mission to help each and every company in the world to positively impact the Earth.

2. And you may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile. (What do you do at Persefoni?)
I am the Director of Product Operations, which focuses on internal product processes and makes sure the product team is functioning like a “well-oiled machine”. For example, one of the main areas of focus is the efficiency of the customer feedback process. Our goal is to ensure our customers are heard and have the most positive experience using our platform!
3. And you may ask yourself, "Where does that highway go to?" (What are your hopes for your time at Persefoni?)
I hope that we can get more and more companies to start measuring their carbon footprint in Persefoni and help them find ways to decarbonize their operations and value chain.

4. And you may say to yourself, "My God! What have I done?" (Why is Persefoni a great home for you?)
Everyone here shares the passion to help combat climate change! It feels awesome to be part of the solution! Additionally, I get easily bored and always need a new challenge. For that reason, the start-up environment and Persefoni is perfect for me! Since starting in October of last year, I’ve already had four different roles and have loved every one of them. What I learned here in a little over a year is equivalent to many years at my previous jobs! I started as a Sr Product Analyst and got to dig into 3rd party data, write product requirements, do testing and help build new modules. Soon after that, I got an opportunity to help stand up and lead a new team of Carbon Accountants. This team of super smart “climate nerds” brings decades of combined climate education and work experience to help us build the most trusted CMAP (Carbon Management and Accounting Platform). Then I went on to be the Director of Localization. Part of that role I helped advance our localization processes, set us up to quickly and easily translate our system into other languages, and adopt regional carbon accounting and reporting frameworks. Now I am diving into the world of Product Ops!
5. And you may find yourself in another part of the world... (Tell us about your life/hobbies away from work?)
Outside of work I love spending time with my family. My favorite memories are being active together - playing tennis, pickleball, golf, beach volleyball, or just enjoying the outdoors! We also love playing with our cocker spaniel Buster and taking him for walks. Since I started working from home, he’s become my coworker and lunch walk buddy! We love traveling anywhere that has a sandy beach and waves! During the volleyball season, we travel all over the US to watch our daughter compete. I love everything about plants - growing them, reading about them, and just observing them around me!

“Once in a Lifetime" is a series of articles designed to help our customers and partners learn more about Persefoni's truly passionate team. We're not just building award-winning software ... together, we're helping to decarbonize our planet.