Tatyana Slavova tells us that, “I am proud of my Ukrainian heritage. I relocated on my own from Ukraine to the USA at the end of 2022, facing the challenges of war.
I wear multiple hats, work as both a Venture Capitalist and Life & Business Coach. I am hungry to keep redefining the role of venture capitalists and coaches and bring new meaning to our work. I have a strong drive to constantly reinvent myself, it is a part of my DNA. I aspire to create more opportunities for wealth and economic growth.
I have the ability to inspire people by showing them new perspectives. I am absolutely sure that words are incredibly powerful and can lead us to create businesses and lives that align with our true selves.”
What were your initial years of growing up like? Tell us about your life before starting your professional journey/venture/initiative and what inspired you to choose this career.
As long as I can remember, I have been interested in understanding why people do what they do and what lies behind their decision-making process. I always believed that Technologies are about improving the world. I have a strong interest in start-ups and success stories they become with the help of connecting people, investment and belief in them. I have always enjoyed analyzing business ever since I can remember.
Why Venture Capital?
– to accelerate high-impact entrepreneurship worldwide: actions speak louder than words.
– to uncover the seemingly impossible: global thinking is a mindset and a necessity.
– to reduce inequality: talent knows no boundaries, and incredible achievements can arise when intelligent individuals are provided with financial support.
Why Coaching?
– to elevate the quality of human experience by achieving peak performance in life and business.
– to encourage a person to have a life worth living.
– to find new, improved models of thinking that are able to transform ineffective behavior into proactive, desired behavior.
– to motivate and unlock inner potential, helping overcome doubts and barriers on the way to the goals.
Was there any turning point in your life that changed your journey? If so, what was it? Please tell us the backstory behind it.
It’s a feeling of being unrealized. It is a feeling of your life being meaningless and useless, but at the same time, there is a fire of interest in you. And it’s not that you think that life is useless and you feel depressed and you want to commit suicide. It’s a different story. This story is about, “I wanna find a way. I’m pretty sure there is a way it’s just not available to me now. And I think I can do it once I’m clear about what to do.” I implemented this first to myself and decided to do coaching on a professional basis. Making one simple promise to my clients: “I will transform your personality”, I need to be a live testimony of the result I promise my clients.
Tell us about your goals, interests, and role models.
When I think of mentoring and role models I think of a composite of people, because there are different skills that I’m looking for in different life sectors. I’m particularly impressed with people who had a rough start in life and managed to overcome difficulties, because I can relate. You need a lot more grit to succeed if you’re coming from poverty.
Everyone has their own set of challenges when starting an entrepreneurial journey. Still, the most essential part for others to learn is how you deal with those. Would you like to share with us your challenges and your coping mechanisms?
The war has begun. How can one plan anything when there’s such chaos and uncertainty around? Future, one’s life, career. Regarding this matter, I like Warren Buffett’s quote.
“To make your life decisions based on what’s happening in the world today is like deciding to get married based on newspaper headlines.”
When you can’t bear the uncertainty of the future, you pay for it with your own future.
The task for each of us is to learn how to move forward, feeling clarity and calmness within, while having no idea what the future holds for us. This is the skill of self-coaching that I teach.
While the global pandemic of COVID-19 is associated primarily with adversities, it has also brought about a true boom in startups, with successful entrepreneurship in many countries. The pandemic has impacted all of us in one way or another. Would you like to share your experience on a personal and professional level?
I built a support system for myself and my clients in coaching to help myself and them through pandemic times when we could be in doubt of our own abilities or were dealing with a challenging situation; or if we’re simply trying to balance life and work and manage those trade-offs.
There was also something powerful about being with a peer group of women – we had weekly zoom-calls, being able to share experiences and talk about how we resolved problems and issues, coming together and supporting each other.
Your journey and your vision are very inspiring, but are there any achievements or accomplishments you would like to mention?
I am on my way.
Would you like to share with our young budding women entrepreneurs the change you would like to see in the world if given an opportunity?
My advice is don’t do what you do for money.
Money is a horrible motivator and compass. At some point you will hit a dip, this always happens, and if all that time you were motivated by $$$, you won’t be able to push it through. You will jump onto the next thing, with a hope to get rich, and once you hit a dip there, you will quit and jump on another thing. And it will go on forever until you realize you need to stand for something real.
But if you are doing stuff because you cannot not live without doing it, you will become a legend. Build products because this is the only thing you want and can do, write because you can’t but write, create things out of nothing because this is what drives you and keeps you up at night.
What’s the most important thing you have learned in your personal life and professional journey? What is your personal motto in life?
I have always relied on myself and my dreams and life proves that I wasn’t wrong. My personal motto is: Success is not final; failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts. – Winston Churchill
Women are a growing force in the workplaces worldwide, standing shoulder to shoulder with their male counterparts. There are cracks in glass ceilings everywhere, with many women breaking through to carve out a space right at the top of the pyramid. What are your thoughts about women’s leadership today?
I think women hit a wall. We face opposition, get overlooked and get discouraged. And then we decide either that we’re going to stop trying or that we’re going to go do something else.
Women need to see that they can do it, but they need to have support on how to navigate the rough terrain and the confidence from seeing other female role models. It’s a matter of believing in yourself and never giving up – if we do that, we will eventually win.
With your grit and determination, you are making a considerable impact, breaking through, and serving as role models for many budding entrepreneurs. What would you want to say to our young women leaders/audience reading this?
“You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.”
These are the words of my favorite scientist primatologist Jane Goodall. And I start with them every day. Why? Because I’m changing the world.These words serve as a reminder that each and every one of us already makes a difference in the world.
