Fight the infomercial! A podcast devoted to small entrepreneurs will be launched in Russia - INTERVIEW
Russian small business over the last two years has finally managed to attract the attention of both the authorities and the general public. The hopes for economic recovery after the blows of the pandemic are largely connected with the development of this very sector.
According to Olesya Ushakova, the creator of the Taste of Taiga brand, entrepreneurs are becoming rock stars of our time. She shared with the editors of Made in Russia a new project - a series of podcasts called "Entrepreneurs," which will be devoted to the life stories of those who, despite the difficulties, start and run their businesses.
- Olesya, tell us how did you come up with the idea of creating a podcast?
- I have wanted to master this field for a long time. The idea and the subject were easy to form. When I first voiced the idea to my friends, they supported me a lot and we started making it fast. Our heroes are ordinary people who once decided to live a little differently. Their journey, the falls, the challenges, the victories - they inspire and are a real fuel. When you see that your neighbor did it, that he did it, it is hard for you to sit still. It is true that not everybody can repeat the success of Jobs, Bezos, Tinkov, Durov, but there is no need for that. But everyone has a chance to try and create something of their own and make life in a small area more comfortable.
- What will the characters talk about?
-We have four interviewers, each with their own style and pitch. I interviewed a woman, she is an immigrant, she has a very big company, she makes Russian pointe shoes. Her way, how she got there, what she does is interesting.
Or, for example, there will be an interview with a girl who came to study in Krasnoyarsk, got married, had a child, got divorced and moved back to her native small town. In September she opened a foreign language school there and now she cannot get through because of the high demand. Her story is an example of how a woman does not burn with hatred for her ex-husband, not sitting in place, but moving forward. She took a step back, but that step gave her the opportunity to grow. She got a government grant, she has plans to expand, I think that's a cool story. We need to see real people around us every day, not "dough", "hype", "Facebook".
- Yes, today we need positive news and examples that inspire.
- Yes, every life experience is fuel for development. I read a lot of literature about women's leadership, entrepreneurship. In the same States very many books are published about usual businessmen. It is clear that not everyone can be like Bakalchuk (Tatiana Bakalchuk is the founder of Wildberries), but there is a large number of cool interesting people. I want to try to introduce a slightly different format of storytelling into journalism. For the most part, these will be stories about microbusinesses and human character. We will show people who are not quite public. Their moods, their attitudes toward entrepreneurship. We'll tell stories of their difficulties, perhaps downfalls or successes. So that there won't be a load of meaningless info-gossip, but real stories of people who create.
- How do you see the project developing?
- The project has its ultimate goal. Along with podcasts we will make a print version on Yandex. Zen. A year from now, by next autumn, I want to collect the most interesting and well-read stories and make an e-book and a certain number of hard copies. I have ambitions to somehow adapt it into other languages.
Made in Russia / Made in Russia
Author: Maria Buzanakova