Who am I? — Phase 0 — Implicit Identity (2008)

⚜️ Anna Pivtorak (Kostyuk) — Interview 2008#

Who am I? — Phase 0 — Implicit Identity (2008)#

Original source

Jewelry Business 11–12'2008
Interview with Anna Pivtorak

ANNA PIVTORAK:
BEFORE CRITICIZING SOMEBODY, LOOK AT YOUR OWN ACHIEVEMENTS CRITICALLY AND ATTENTIVELY OR TRY TO MAKE THE JOB OF THE PERSON YOU ARE CRITICIZING

Anna Pivtorak, the Director of Jewelry Business Publishing House. She is a reputable manager. Her creative potential is a source of ideas; her mindset towards mathematics is a secure basis for implementation of these ideas.

Were you a good school student?#

At school, I was very diligent and my work resulted in good grades. I approached getting prepared to all tests to do sums from all books I could find at home — just to be able to do it automatically. Of course, my father helped me. He always supported me and believed in me. And my mother taught me grammar.

How did your mathematical education begin?#

At first, my parents took me to a cybernetic class. The last two school years I studied at physical and mathematical lyceum under Taras Shevchenko State University.
I am happy that I had an opportunity to live and study with the most talented kinds of the country. In fact, this lyceum was my first education step.

What did mathematics give to you?#

I learned to think logically and loved the action algorithm.
In fact, these qualities help me both in writing business letters and in the project strategy development.

Can you please describe other important things your parents did for your development?#

After my 4th year at school, I dedicated one summer month to intensive English courses for people going abroad.
We studied English every day from 9 A.M. to 6 P.M., but had no home tasks.
It stimulated me to study the language both at school and at the university.
When I was a 5th-year school student, I started to attend speed reading courses which made me read whatever I saw.
Beginning from my 9th year at school, I started studying Maths and Physics with university tutors, when I needed it.
I am really grateful to my parents for all courses they organized for me — e.g. courses in marketing and accounting.

What was the contribution of your father to the development of your personality?#

My dad Anatoliy I. Kostyuk allowed me to come to his office at the Presidium of the Academy of Sciences.
I prepared my homework in his office and could see him working.
This is when he taught me how to prepare important documents and how to make officers understand my business letters instead of putting them aside.
He would often tell me that hard work is always rewarded.
Even if a student has no time to get through all examination questions there is always a chance that he or she will pick a lucky card at the exam.

What are university studies like?#

Brainstorm.
As a rule, university studies are theoretical, while the practice is a different story.
But attending lectures and workshops and reading books in libraries contributes to personal development.

What is your specialty?#

I have higher education in 2 specialties, Economic Cybernetics and Business Management (National Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv).
Moreover, I am now a 3-year student of State Arts and Culture Academy for Top Managers, Department of Art History and Expertise.

You have higher education already. Why do you need one more diploma?#

I decided to publish Luxury&Style.
I understood that I needed studies at this university to be an expert, in particular, in jewelry art area.

What is Luxury&Style project aimed at?#

I want to become an expert in art, to understand what kinds of styles exist and learn their specific features and how these can be represented in jewelry.
And, of course, I want to share my knowledge with my fellow jewellers via this new magazine. I want jewelry made by our jewellers to be regarded as masterpieces.
And I want Luxury&Style to unite jewellers and fashion designers since they are who create the style of modern people.

What will Jewelry Business cover, then?#

Jewelry Business will cover the topics of establishment, planning, strategy development and crisis management of companies in jewelry area.
In principle, the contents of this magazine will fully correspond to its title.
And we will still be colleagues rather than rivals of such well-known trade magazines as Vestnik Yuvelira Ukrainy (“Bulletin of Ukrainian Jeweler”) or the Russian Yuvelirnoe Obozrenie (“Jewelry Overview”).

Who will Jewelry Business be managed by?#

In 2009, Jewelry Business will be managed by Aleksey Belyakovskiy.
Presently, he is the developer of jewelport.net.
Aleksey knows the jewelry trade, hence he understands what is interesting for people involved in jewelry business.

Please describe the stages of development of Jewelry Business over the recent four years.#

To begin with, I segregated the news of jewelry technology into a separate magazine, Jewelry Manufacturing.
Jewelry Business is of interest for general audience which resulted in the increase of advertising efficiency which justified the expenses.
The magazine also gained popularity in, for example, show business.
So, I’ve succeeded in getting this magazine into the centre of attention.

Do you have any awards so far?#

Yes, that’s an interesting story.
In 2005, when I had to introduce Jewelry Business, I was examining a number of magazines.
Once, I saw a medal which a magazine (as far as I remember, Svarschik (“Welder”)) was awarded with, and made a sketch of it in my business diary.
I had no idea of how to get it.
And only in 2007, when I was awarded with my first National Business Leader medal I remembered this dream which I had thought of as an impossible one.
Later on, Jewelry Business was awarded with a Third Millennium Quality diploma.
And in 2008 I was awarded with a Medal of Honour.

What is your attitude to criticism?#

It depends.
Of course, no one will feel comfortable when being criticised behind his back.
I do object to public criticism.
It is for sure easy to discuss somebody somewhere on an Internet forum.
But not everyone can just come and express his or her opinion personally.
In general, before criticizing somebody look at your own achievements critically and attentively or try to make the job of the person you are criticizing.

I haven’t.
But what’s surprising — I had the omens of it.
When I was a 2nd-year student I worked part-time transcribing audio records for The Wall Street Journal.
And when shortly before I began managing the Jewelry Business Publishing House (I was an accountant at that time) my colleagues gave me a journalist’s certificate, I wondered: “What does this mean?”

Do you always follow your dream?#

No, I don’t.
For example, at the beginning of this year I wanted to become a lawyer and even worked as a defender at court for a while.
I easily use legal terms, I know regulatory acts and how to use them in practice.
But I realized that the magazine I was managing faced the design crisis.
So to be able to understand what I should require from designers I had to go to design courses. Due to my teacher and the knowledge I acquired I developed a new scheme of material and illustration layout.
So I went to the art-related area anyway.

I understood that lawyers decide human destiny — the destiny of the person whom they appear for at court.
If the lawyer does a really good job rather than just makes money at 6–8 court hearings a day, he literally goes through all hard times with his client.
I do pay great respect to such experts, but I have no possibility to spend my energy and time to solve other people’s issues.

But still, tracing the stages of your education it is not easy to suggest that you would be working in the area of art. How do you treat such turn in your destiny?#

I am surprised, honestly.
After 15 years I decided to re-read all my horoscopes, name interpretations, destiny numbers… I couldn’t believe it!
Before, I read it thinking it all was not about me.
And now I suddenly realized I am walking a new way and becoming an expert in a new area.

Was it predetermined somehow?#

It was.
Since I was two, my mother Nadezhda N. Kostyuk would teach me how to combine colors; she would buy and show me books with reproductions of pictures of famous artists and architecture pieces.
She always watched if I had good handwriting, if my speech was correct, if my posture was straight. I was always neat.
My mother always told me:
“No glass, plastic or cheap metals — better nothing than this! You should only wear jewelry made of precious metals and natural gems.”

Do you have a hobby?#

It’s a tough question.
I have no time for embroidering or painting, I even don’t read detective stories or women’s novels.
I cannot afford this.
My family are used to that I’m constantly thinking about something — even when I’m sleeping, I’m still thinking and working.
I must feel the life of my family, my children.
It’s not the time for me to have a hobby yet (laughing).

Do you often get together with your parents to celebrate a family holiday?#

Unfortunately, no.
My parents live in Moscow now.
They are retired, but my father is still working on a big scientific project.
Though my brother Aleksandr and I both live in Kiev, we rarely see each other. It is not an easy task to gather all the family — maybe because every member of the family is a Personality managing very important issues, so our plans do not always coincide.
So we understand each other and just keep in touch by phone or e-mail.
But we celebrate family holidays with my husband’s parents because we live in adjacent areas, and this makes the whole process easier.

Do you find it difficult to combine work, studies and family?#

I dream, I try to reach the goal and not to think about the difficulties.
I got married when I was 18.
I became a mother when I was still a student.
We have never hired a baby-sitter.
I believe that the hardest time is already in the past.
Now my son Aleksandr is 11, and my daughter Darina is 9.
They are my major supporters.
All my family — my husband and children — understand and support me.

Where do your children study?#

Our children attend private school Intellect which offers in-depth study of all disciplines.
I like the teaching system at this school.
The class consists of 8 to 12 persons.
After the classes are finished, children are looked after by tutors till 7 P.M.
Every morning they go to school, and they do it with pleasure.
They don’t have to carry heavy bags because they manage to do their homework at school.
They have to wear school uniform four days a week and Friday is a day for casual clothes.
Students of this school do not curse.
They take part in different contests.
Every month teachers organize interesting trips and excursions.
And what I think is the most important is that right after their first day at this school they told me: “We are respected here!”
Teachers address them as “dear sirs and madams”.

Which kinds of sports do your children do?#

My children have been training in hand-to-hand combat section for four years already.
We are highly satisfied with the classes which are conducted by two instructors at the same time — brothers Yuriy and Andrey Radchenko.
They train their students how to protect themselves both in the fight and in everyday life.
During the classes the kids not only earn points for their teams but also get a possibility to act as team captains which imparts the leader’s skills to them.

What do you teach your children?#

We tell them that how they do their school tasks and even how they do their best during the trainings is the indicator of how successfully they will run their business.
We teach them to be responsible for what they do without pointing at someone else who could have caused misbehavior.

What is your attitude to your son?#

I tend to be very demanding to my son, because both prosperity of his family and education of his children will depend on him, as a man.
But after I had realized that I had to respect and support him just because he is the successor of the family of Pivtoraks, he changed as well: he became a more serious, responsible and motivated boy.
Sasha is very good at negotiations; he becomes the leader in any company within two minutes.
What’s more — he is a left-hander but can assemble, say, a ship from the smallest parts of a construction set.

What in your daughter makes you happy?#

I like to call her my baby daughter because I want her to grow a tender, kind and friendly girl.
I am happy about her wise thoughts.
In fact, it should be peculiar to any girl, no matter her age.
She went to school when she was 5, she is good at Maths and learning poetry by heart.
Darina is a fighter for justice, so she can be rather persistent.
I teach her that sometimes it’s better to turn the page and open a new one.

Do you have any pets?#

We have a wonderful cat and a dog.
The kids feed and walk with them with great pleasure.
And there was really a lot of broken glass in the grass this summer, and the dog wounded its legs a few times.
And each time the kids would run to the drugstore, buy the necessary medicines and give first aid on their own.

What do you dream about now?#

I dream that my children’s dreams come true.

And what dreams do your children have?#

They want to have younger brothers and sisters.
They are also dreaming about a big cozy house and their own horse grazing nearby.

What is luxury for you?#

For me, it is a united and happy family, where the children (brothers and sisters) support and help each other.

What do your friends ask you about most often?#

They often ask if it is not difficult for spouses to be together every day, at home and at the office.
Quite the contrary, it is interesting, and we support each other.
And if you are more tired at the end of the day, you don’t have to explain anything.
Sometimes our kids make dinner for us.

What beautifies men and women?#

Ah, that’s a long story…
It’s easier to say what beautifies nobody.
For example, rudeness or arrogant behavior.
I want people to try to understand each other and be friends and colleagues, not enemies.

What is your opinion about modern jewelry?#

If we are talking about the jewelry of the CIS, the progress is evident.
Some companies produce rather recognizable jewelry which does not really need labels.
This is company’s face.
As a publisher, I am pleased to receive from the jewelers worthy advertising layouts to be published in the magazines.

Jewelry of which manufacturers do you prefer?#

I’ve been working in jewelry business for four years and, of course, I have my own specific attitude to the manufacturers.
I like the jewelry from Galaktika, Art-Vivache and garnitures with pearls from Kristall Factory, Vinnitsa.
I would like to note that our friends, for example, buy wedding rings made by Kiev Jewelry Factory and Maksalina jewelry factory, since these feature good range of products and affordable prices. And, of course, jewelry made by Dyulber and Zlatosvit deserve particularly high appreciation.
I can mention many deserving companies more, including but not limited to Talion Zoloto, Untsia, Lobortas&Karpova, Fial, Gorodnichev, Gemma, Zarina, Arista, Martina etc.

What is your opinion about the crisis which will spread globally?#

It is a natural process.
It would occur anyway.
In fact, crisis is rather suffered by large companies employing a lot of people.
When I was a university student (Economic Cybernetics), I was particularly impressed by one of lectures in microeconomics.
Draw a diagram, where vertical line is company’s income and horizontal line is the quantity of employees.
The curve will grow up to some point and then drop down.
This means that it is reasonable to audit the personnel regularly because not all employees work off their salary.

How do you manage human resources in your company?#

First of all, I work with students whom I teach everything.
Secondly, all our employees are freelancers and are paid for what they have done.
We cooperate while it is mutually beneficial.
If either party has to go a different way, I make a good letter of recommendation.

Today, everybody is interested in how to survive this difficult time.#

In this or that way, but everyone has already felt the impact of crisis.
Five tops: assess your major resources (funds-employees-vendors-consumers), identify the guaranteed income sources, find an adequate concept for reliable products promotion channels and evaluate the sales points and logistics thoroughly.
Please find a detailed overview in Jewelry Business 1/2009.

What is your attitude to the global cost-cutting policy, including cutting advertisement costs?#

I do understand this.
However, marketing consultants do not recommend “advertising pauses” for companies’ operation in competing markets.
While everybody is in panic and cuts costs, someone is implementing adequate marketing policy and gets the best clients.
Moreover, advertising during the crisis results in public loyalty and ensures a fruitful after-crisis period.

What are the positive sides of the crisis?#

Crisis is a good time for re-branding (for analysis and conclusions).
And it brings not only problems, but new possibilities as well.

Dear Anna, thank you for an interesting talk. We wish you success in all projects you are managing, understanding and respect of your colleagues, well-being of your family and may all your dreams come true!

Thank you. I wish good luck to Jewelry Business and all jewelers. I hope the government will support the industry and all companies will prosper. I wish all of you to have mutual understanding in your families and more time and money for the rest which The Jeweler deserves.

Alt-text:
Magazine cover of Jewelry Business 11–12'2008 featuring Anna Pivtorak.

Anna Pivtorak (Kostyuk). Who am I? — Phase 0 — Implicit Identity (2008). AP | Pivtorak.Studio. 25.12.2008
© Anna Pivtorak (Kostyuk)