BEHIND THE SCENES OF AFFILIATE MARKETING: LIFE STORIES OF NASTYA, TANYA AND MASHA FROM 1WIN PARTNERS!

HWYD: Tell us about your childhood.

Anastasia: I was born in Pyriatyn on 23.08.99, but I have lived in Kyiv all my life. I grew up in an ordinary family: my mom, dad and younger sister. My parents worked at a state-owned production facility, and, as was often the case in those days, I didn't spend much time with them - their work took up most of their day. But for me, it was the norm, because that's how everyone around me lived. My childhood was like many others: simple, ordinary, and without any frills. One of my fondest childhood memories is my birthdays. They were always special because my mom always came up with something interesting to make this day unforgettable. I think it was from her that I got my organizational skills. Another interesting fact is that my dad's birthday is the same day as mine. We are both Leos, so imagine how much of a challenge it was to make me feel really special. But my mom always managed to do it, and every birthday I had remained magical.

Since childhood, I knew that I wanted to be a managerial leader. Working with people is definitely my thing, and I felt that it was in this area that I could realize myself fully. But at the same time, I have always been attracted to creativity. As a backup, I even considered becoming a choreography teacher. Dancing, movement, self-expression - it was close to my personality, but in the end, the desire to organize, lead and work with teams won out.

I loved school, especially from the 8th grade, when I started to actively participate in all events. I was always in the center of attention, organizing events, leading performances, participating in KVN, dancing, and competitions. I even held the "position" of the Minister of Culture in the school government. I always wanted to change something, to invent something new, and it was school that helped me develop my leadership skills. As for my studies, I liked everything related to literature, history, law, biology and chemistry - it was "my thing". But math and physics never aroused much interest. I understood them, but they seemed boring to me, because I knew that they would not be useful to me in life. If it's hard to pick out your favorite subject, it's easy to pick out the one you didn't like at all - it's definitely physics!

I was extremely active in school life and participated in everything possible! In addition to the KVN team, I organized cultural events, concerts, sports competitions - my initiative and energy were everywhere. I also took part in competitions, especially in biology, geography and Ukrainian language. I have collected many diplomas, medals and letters of commendation - each victory gave me even more motivation to move forward. I have always liked to stand out, and the spirit of competition is like an engine for me. This is what charges me to work even better and achieve more.

Dancing occupied a special place in my life - it was not just a hobby, but a real passion. I was a professional dancer, and of course, it took up most of my free time. But it was worth it: I won first places, participated in competitions, and traveled abroad. Dancing not only helped me unload and distract myself, but also tempered my character, taught me discipline, endurance, and the ability to pursue my goals.

HWYD: What path did you choose after graduation?

Anastasia: I entered the Kyiv National University of Construction and Architecture. My uncle was involved in the construction business in my family, and I saw how promising this area was. So I decided to enter the management department, because I knew for sure that I wanted to manage people. However, after six months, I realized that effective management is impossible without deep practical knowledge. So I decided to get another degree and entered the engineering program. As a result, I received two degrees and graduated with honors. It was a challenge, but at the same time a great experience that laid a solid foundation for my future career.

My student years were one of the best times of my life. I was again in the center of attention, I became a senior citizen, and everyone knew me - from the rector to the head of the department. The most memorable feeling is when you are not just known, but perceived as one of their own. For example, when teachers invited me to have borscht at their department, it was a real recognition. Every day was a new story. Student life was in full swing, and this was its special magic.

HWYD: How old were you when you started working? What prompted you to do so?

Anastasia: I have always strived for independence, so my first attempts to earn money were in my childhood. I used to pick berries and vegetables and sell them, and I also collected stickers and resold them in class. Later, I started helping my classmates by writing term papers and diploma papers.

But if we are talking about more conscious work, then from the age of 17 I already clearly understood that I needed experience, and the sooner I got it, the better. So it was at 17 that I started working officially, taking my first serious steps towards independence and professional development. But I seem to recall that I bought a gift for my mother with my first salary!

HWYD: How, under what circumstances, and when did you get into 1win Partners UA?

Anastasia: One day I decided that I wanted to try something new, because my job as a project manager in IT no longer interested me. I submitted my resume and was contacted by a very nice HR person. From the first minutes of our conversation, everything became clear, so I joined the team without hesitation. Since then, I have been here for many years and I am happy that I made this choice.

If I highlight the main points, my responsibilities include the following:

• Work with merchandise, CRM system, and warehouses.
• Interaction with partners and development of partnerships.
• Development and implementation of stands.
• Organization of events, team building and corporate events.
• Team coordination and strategic planning.
  Implementation of effective business solutions for the company's growth.
• I am responsible for an integrated approach to managing and developing internal and external processes that contribute to the company's scaling.

HWYD: What is your biggest achievement as a part of 1win Partners?

Anastasia: My greatest achievement is that I continue to develop, open up new opportunities and stay true to myself despite the challenges of life. I am sure that our greatest achievements are yet to come. But today I am proud that everyone knows about our company, our stands are considered the best and even become a model for competitors, and our merchandise has become a standard that everyone wants to get. This confirms that we create a quality product and set high standards in the industry.

HWYD: What are your dreams?

Anastasia: Like all Ukrainians, my biggest dream right now is for the war to end. I want everyone to be able to feel safe in their homes, build a future without fear and live in a peaceful, free country.

HWYD: What is your guilty pleasure: what do you indulge in, what makes you happy?

Anastasia: My guilty pleasure is anything that gives me strong emotions and unforgettable impressions. I especially enjoy traveling, new places, unexpected adventures, and anything that gives me an adrenaline rush. This is what fills life with bright moments and makes you feel truly alive! I don't like to stay at home, so the best weekends are active weekends! I love to explore something new, so I'm rarely caught at home! And, of course, it's meeting friends and spending time with family.

HWYD: Looking back and meeting yourself as a little 10-year-old, what would you say to yourself?

Anastasia: Nastya, don't pay attention to other people's opinions. Go forward no matter what! Set clear goals, focus on the main thing and believe in yourself. You are incredible, and you will succeed!

HWYD: Tell us about your childhood.

Masha: I was actually born in Zaporizhzhia, but since I was two years old I have been living in Kyiv, so I consider myself a Kyivan ☺️ My family consists of my dad, mom and older brother, but we are very close with another family, which is very large and I can't even count them all. So my family is big! Perhaps that's why I have always been brought up and developed a sense of family values. I was also taught since childhood never to lie, although sometimes I had to in my childhood to avoid being scolded by my parents (as it seemed to me at the time, it could save me).
The most vivid memory from my childhood is probably my grandmothers' dacha in Zaporizhzhia, fried potatoes, a bunch of friends in the yard, and homemade pies. This is how I spent my time as a child every summer.

As for my dreams, I have always wanted to become a celebrity: either a singer or an actress, and in my teens, YouTube bloggers started to gain popularity, so I also wanted to be a blogger.

I did okay at school: not bad and not excellent. Sometimes I played hooky, of course, and my grades suffered because of it, but it taught me to always find ways to solve problems. However, I loved going to school - I am very socialized and I like to be around people, so I always found someone to make friends with at school. Among the subjects, I liked English the most, but I hated physics, although when I managed to solve a problem, then temporarily this subject did not become so unbearable))

At the time of my school education, almost everyone participated in Kangaroo, and I was no exception. In addition, I was delegated to the district competitions in English and German. It also happened that I won prizes. I was also a cheerleader and participated with the girls' team in all school competitions.

And where did I go besides school?) Tennis, dancing, gymnastics... Even speed-reading courses) There were a lot of clubs in my life, but I stayed in rhythmic gymnastics and tennis for the longest time.

HWYD: What path did you choose after graduation?

Masha: It so happened that after high school I entered the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy to study sociology, but over time I realized that sociology was not my thing. So I graduated from Kyiv National Economic University with a degree in marketing.

Unfortunately, I don't have many memories from my student days, because it was the time of the notorious coronavirus, so almost all of my studies were done remotely.

HWYD: How old were you when you started working? What prompted you to do so?

Masha: Since I was a child, I was often invited to work as a model, later in my teens I opened my own small online clothing store, and at the age of 17 I started doing SMM for various cafes, which later led me to our field and PR in particular. I think I earned my first money when I was 8 or 9 years old - I took pictures for a children's clothing store, and spent all the money I earned on a table clock for my dad.

HWYD: How, under what circumstances, and when did you get into 1win Partners UA?

Masha: I have been working at 1win Partners for almost a year. Before joining the company, I always noticed what cool stands 1win Partners had at conferences. Also, merchandise and marketing in general inspired me to look for options to join this team. And, fortunately, it happened. I found myself in the company as a PR manager, trying to maintain a positive image of the company in the market, as well as developing various advertising campaigns to make everyone talk about us, and initiating various collaborations that I am passionate about.

I am sure that my greatest achievement in the company is still ahead, but I am happy to work here - in a company that everyone knows about and that is on everyone's lips. There is only more to come!

HWYD: What are your dreams?

Masha: My biggest dream is for the war to end as soon as possible! I want all my loved ones to come together and peace to finally come to our country.

HWYD: What is your guilty pleasure: what do you indulge in, what makes you happy?

Masha: I don't have any guilty pleasures) I enjoy my work and the business I do.

HWYD: Looking back and meeting yourself as a little 10-year-old, what would you say to yourself?

Masha: Everything is always for the best! Everyone should remember this)

HWYD: Tell us about your childhood.

Tanya: I was born on November 7. For some reason, no one likes this fact, because I'm a Scorpio, and everyone but me is sure that I am fully associated with this sign. But I don't believe in horoscopes. I'm from Kropyvnytskyi, formerly Kirovohrad. It's not a big city, but it's pretty nice. But it was too crowded for me.

I have a pretty close-knit family, and my childhood was bright and eventful. The family got together very often and had lunches and dinners. We always had a lot of traditions that allowed us to get together as often as possible. I had a lot of hobbies, a lot of toys, I think I could have had a separate room for them.

My fondest memory from childhood is when I was visiting my grandmother, and my mother called me and told me that there was a surprise waiting for me at home and that I should come back. I arrived home, and there was a gift waiting for me-a small puppy, a dwarf poodle. He was the size of a kitten, completely white, and his ears were the color of coffee with milk. I had been dreaming of a dog and was happy that we finally had a tail at home.

As for my profession, I wanted to be a model, journalist, psychologist, gymnast, and even a molecular cook. As soon as I learned enough about something, I started to find it boring, and I looked for something more interesting. The molecular cook thing is no joke. I remember how my mom printed out a recipe book for me, which I was reading.

I didn't like school from the first grade.) I didn't like waking up early. And in high school, I was a real rebel. I was for justice and always fought back against all the teachers who allowed themselves to communicate with students in a rude way. I also loved to argue, to defend my opinion. I adored law, I was very interested in learning about the law and solving problems on it. And most of all, I disliked math and German, I just didn't like teachers, and I played hooky very often. School years are a separate page of my life, where I was a rebel

However, I even attended some Olympiads and have my diplomas somewhere, but I don't remember which subjects. But I was always drawing school posters for all the holidays.

The longest I studied at a music school was 8 years of piano. I graduated and was very happy about it, because it was a school after school with its own lessons. I also took art classes. And there was a club where there were different creative directions: modeling, drawing, beading. As for sports, I went in for dancing since kindergarten, then rhythmic gymnastics for a little over a year, but I got injured, so I couldn't attend competitions, and therefore stopped doing it because I wanted to win))

HWYD: What path did you choose after graduation?

Tanya: I have two higher education degrees. The first one is in translation. I entered a private university because my school had a focus on languages, and I had already studied English, German, and Polish. I decided to move to Kyiv, so I just chose any university. My second higher education was in law at the Academy of the National Police. I really wanted to get there, but as a full-time student I would have to live in a barracks. My parents weren't very happy, but I entered the academy as a part-time student in my second year of university and didn't regret it. I really liked it, I wrote articles and even published one. Now I have just completed my master's degree and passed my exams a month ago.

My student life was full of warm moments - it's hard to single out anything, but probably the warmest memory is one of the days when my friend came to visit me from another city, and we walked all night, talked a lot, laughed, and then met an incredible dawn. For some reason, this memory is very vivid for me, and I still remember this moment perfectly.

HWYD: How old were you when you started working? What prompted you to do so?

Tanya: Since I was 17 years old. Have I mentioned that I was very persistent?) My parents didn't want me to live in a dormitory, they were against me working and wanted me to study. And my mom said I wouldn't get a job because I was underage. I said, "We'll see!" and hung up the phone. I had never done that before. An hour later I found a job, called my parents and told them. They were shocked, and we laughed about it. But my parents wanted me to spend more time in my childhood, not work.

With the first money I earned, I rented an apartment because my parents were right that I wouldn't be able to live in a dormitory-I lived there for less than a month, and I didn't even put my things away.

HWYD: How, under what circumstances, and when did you get into 1win Partners UA?

Tanya: Two of my friends worked at 1win Partners. I was looking for new offers for myself and one day I received two offers: the first one offered to manage a full-cycle marketing agency, and the second one from 1win Partners - to become an affiliate manager. At that time, I had been in marketing for 4 years, so I decided to try something new for myself and I was right. And now I'm back to marketing and working in SMM and PR.

I am responsible for the company's social media and PR, in short. In fact, it's hard to describe the tasks in a thesis statement. I have a very interesting job now, I'm just thrilled. What I like the most is the opportunity to realize cool ideas with an incredible team that is always supportive. Imagine when your ideas come to life and you get incredible feedback. Especially when others say that they want to do it like 1win.

Probably my greatest achievement in life is that I learned to listen to myself and always do what I want to do. To live authentically, and not to label it as "the right thing to do." As for the company's achievements, I would love to share my children, but I'm sorry, NDA. I think the biggest achievement is just ahead, I don't plan to stop there)

HWYD: What are your dreams?

Tanya: A white house with blue windows overlooking the river so I can paint. In fact, I have a picture of an ideal future in my head, probably like everyone else. But I'm not sure if I want to realize it, because I'm not sure if I really want it. As for the easiest thing to realize, I want a Malinois dog, and I'm waiting for the right circumstances.

HWYD: What is your guilty pleasure: what do you indulge in, what makes you happy?

Tanya: I have a bucket list of all the things I want to do, try, or buy, there's just a bunch of stuff and my "want" never ends. And I'm constantly closing this list.

HWYD: Looking back and meeting yourself as a little 10-year-old, what would you say to yourself?

Tanya: You'll meet a lot of people, but not all of them will stay with you forever, and that's fine. Sometimes friends will leave, but new ones will appear instead. The main thing is to do what you like and don't be afraid to make mistakes. What seems important and scary now will turn into a funny story later.

Every person has their own unique story behind them! It was this life experience, with a touch of warm childhood memories, that led Tanya, Nastya, and Masha to the field of affiliate marketing. And although their stories are different, they have one thing in common: a sincere enthusiasm for what they love! In preparing this material, we aimed to show that behind every successful case there are real people with grandma's pies, dreams of a dog, or sleepless nights working on their theses. Be inspired and go for it! Just like the heroines of our interview did.

HWYD Media editorial team