I began my career in 2000, almost by chance. Right after finishing school and starting university, I began looking for part-time work. In the newspaper classifieds, I came across a job listing that required knowledge of English. That's how I ended up at Subway at the age of 18.
It was Subway's first entry into the Russian market, managed by an American team from the head office, so English was essential for communicating with management. Within two months, I received my first promotion to manager. At the time, I had no idea that the restaurant business would become my life's work — but already in that moment, something emerged that would come to define my entire career: I was never satisfied with simply completing individual tasks. What drew me was understanding how the whole system worked and what made it successful.
In February 2001, at a school reunion, a friend told me about a waiter position at El Rincón Español restaurant in the Hotel Moskva. At the time, it was a highly prestigious establishment, and the pay promised to be nearly five times higher. I passed a four-hour interview — two hours in English and two hours in Russian. That marked the beginning of a new chapter in my professional life.
Then came work at the Santa Fe restaurant, where I was named Rosinter's Trainer of the Year for developing training materials for waitstaff. From Santa Fe, I moved up from senior waiter to manager at an Italian concept. At the second Il Patio location, I took part in my first restaurant launch from scratch — a premium test project at Novinsky Mall.
Later came Durdin on Polyanka, Chainaya No. 1 in Gorky Park, Coffemania on Nikitskaya, several of my own business ventures, a return to Chainaya No. 1 as training manager for a nine-restaurant chain, and then the launch of the Lacarotte cafeteria chain together with partners. It all started with the first café on Novodanilovskaya Embankment in 2011. There are now four locations, plus St. Cultura café — a project built on the principles of good neighborliness.
I didn't realize that the restaurant business was my life's calling all at once — it came in stages. First, when I received my initial promotion and felt: I'm good at this, let's see where it leads. Then, after graduating with a degree in Mathematics and Computer Science, I realized that the restaurant world was already giving me more opportunities for growth, responsibility, and financial development than a career in my formal field ever could.
There was also a professional crisis — roughly seven to nine years into the industry, when everything seemed familiar and known. But it was precisely after that crisis that new opportunities opened up, a professional breakthrough followed, and the restaurant business became a space for growth once again. When I launched my own business, there was no longer any time for doubt. The cafeteria project captured me entirely — with its mathematical nature, its systemic logic, and its boundless potential for self-realization — and permanently put to rest any thoughts of changing careers.
Later came an invitation to take part in the joint project The Stolovka with Alexei Vasilchuk (Chainaya No. 1, 354) and Dmitri Sergeev (Ginza), and then came Obed Bufet. Each new project became for me not just another job, but a challenge to build a system from scratch — under conditions of high uncertainty, with many variables and a high cost of error.
By training, I am a mathematician and computer scientist, and that background has shaped my professional approach in fundamental ways. I have always been drawn to complex, multi-component projects where it is necessary to simultaneously see people, processes, numbers, finances, training, service, operational efficiency, and development strategy.
Over more than twenty-five years in the industry, I have traveled the path from waitress to executive, launched restaurants and new concepts from the ground up, built training systems, managed multi-site operations, run my own business, and scaled chain concepts.
My core approach to work is high standards and trust. I am detail-oriented and engaged in every aspect of operations — which means I understand everything: construction, finance, operational processes, staff training, service, and even how to fold napkins properly. I require honesty, dedication, and a genuine love of the work from those I work with. At the same time, I give my team the freedom to act, while always making sure nothing falls through the cracks. My team is often surprised that I can recall something that was once "set aside." I can be demanding, but I am fair — and I know when to step back, read the situation clearly, and support the team when it needs me.
I have always been drawn to projects where something had to be built from nothing, where a complex system had to be understood and made to work. That is my professional DNA.
Over time, I came to understand that the restaurant business had become for me an ideal combination of mathematics and creativity — an industry where you can endlessly design systems, build teams, solve complex problems, and see the results of your work in near real time.
After years in the field, I understood that my true profession is not simply that of a restaurateur or a manager. My profession is that of an architect of complex systems — someone who knows how to create working models in conditions of high uncertainty, many variables, and serious accountability for results.
That is precisely why medicine became the next chapter of my life.
My decision to enter medical school was not an attempt to start over or change professions. On the contrary, it was a natural continuation of my professional journey. Over the years, I had learned to manage complex processes, build training systems, launch projects from scratch, make decisions under high-stakes conditions, and support people through some of the most difficult moments of their lives. Today, all of those competencies have found a new home in medicine.
One of the most meaningful projects during my time at medical school has been HemoGuide — a digital assistant for oncohematology patients, created at the intersection of clinical medicine, artificial intelligence, and patient support. Its goal is to help patients better understand their condition, navigate their treatment, respond promptly to warning symptoms, and feel supported between medical appointments.
Working on HemoGuide reaffirmed what I had long known: what inspires me most are complex, interdisciplinary challenges — especially those that require bringing together knowledge from different fields, creating a coherent and functional system, and making it genuinely useful for people.
Looking back, I do not see several separate careers — I see one continuous story. From mathematics and the restaurant business to medicine and digital technology, I have always been driven by the same underlying interest: understanding how complex systems work, building them from the ground up, developing them, and using them to improve people's lives.
I am not afraid to begin again. Each new chapter of my life has not been a rejection of what came before, but an opportunity to apply that experience at a higher level of complexity, responsibility, and meaning.