My name is Yulia Karetzman.
I was born on the 13th of November, 1975, in Korolyov - well known as the cradle of Russian space exploration. This city was known as Kaliningrad before. My father, an engineer, and my mother, a software engineer, worked at specialized enterprises in the city.
We were a united family, traveling together a lot across Russia. My father constantly took my older sister and me for a jog in the morning, and during wintertime we went skiing. He facilitated my becoming a goal-oriented and disciplined person. Grandmother was a hero for us who managed to live through the hardships of war raising 3 children alone. She taught me to be responsible and thoughtful, and to never give up.
In 1993, I graduated from School of Science and Engineering and entered MSU, Faculty of Economics, without examinations based on the results of the Academic Olympics. I could have entered MSU but my mother fell seriously ill, and I had to choose the one closer to our home to take care of her.
My mother was becoming weaker day by day, I had to do all the household chores, and soon we started running out of money on the treatment. Therefore during my second year of studies I took a part-time job, and then started waitressing. In this chaos I somehow managed to attend additional courses on financial reporting at my own expense and shortly started working as a bookkeeper in all three establishments of the employer.
A year later, my mother was gone. This is one of the most tragic events in my life. At that period of my life I could not get over it and kept the grief deep in myself for a long time. But now I know for sure that all the challenges are powerful impulses for personal development. And the scarier they are, the stronger they make us.
I was born on the 13th of November, 1975, in Korolyov - well known as the cradle of Russian space exploration. This city was known as Kaliningrad before. My father, an engineer, and my mother, a software engineer, worked at specialized enterprises in the city.
We were a united family, traveling together a lot across Russia. My father constantly took my older sister and me for a jog in the morning, and during wintertime we went skiing. He facilitated my becoming a goal-oriented and disciplined person. Grandmother was a hero for us who managed to live through the hardships of war raising 3 children alone. She taught me to be responsible and thoughtful, and to never give up.
In 1993, I graduated from School of Science and Engineering and entered MSU, Faculty of Economics, without examinations based on the results of the Academic Olympics. I could have entered MSU but my mother fell seriously ill, and I had to choose the one closer to our home to take care of her.
My mother was becoming weaker day by day, I had to do all the household chores, and soon we started running out of money on the treatment. Therefore during my second year of studies I took a part-time job, and then started waitressing. In this chaos I somehow managed to attend additional courses on financial reporting at my own expense and shortly started working as a bookkeeper in all three establishments of the employer.
A year later, my mother was gone. This is one of the most tragic events in my life. At that period of my life I could not get over it and kept the grief deep in myself for a long time. But now I know for sure that all the challenges are powerful impulses for personal development. And the scarier they are, the stronger they make us.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
I plunged into work. I got a job at a brokerage company and started trading futures on the stock exchange. At that time it was a completely new field that required full commitment. It is hard to believe now, but I had to deal with the technical and fundamental analysis using poor photocopies and self-made translations of foreign literature.
Nevertheless, all challenges are new opportunities. It was difficult to gain knowledge, but due to it, during the 1998 crisis, I bet on the fall of the Dow Jones and earned myself an apartment overnight. Though my company could not survive the collapse of the markets, and I lost my job, I gained great experience and had a degree in economics.
In fact, it came in handy only a few years later: in autumn I got married, and then gave birth to my first daughter and went on maternity leave. In 2001 I gave birth for the second time, but it turned into a terrible grief - the baby died three months later.
Another heavy blow pushed me back into work. Perhaps you remember how it was like to look for a job in the early 2000s? I applied to the employment service, where they found me a job as a regular accountant in a construction company. Well, yes, it doesn't sound as interesting as the risky financial achievements of the 90s. But I didn't care: I had to work to numb the pain.
Several years without work did not make neither my skills nor my professional insight disappear. Therefore, a year later I was recommended as a good specialist and I received an offer for the position of chief accountant in a larger construction company. I definitely had more responsibilities, but, also, the authority to improve business processes has increased. I quite quickly organized the reporting, helped to raise profitability and soon took over as CFO.
Having worked in construction for five years, I realized that I could not unleash more potential in this area.
I decided to change my career path. At university I was interested in leasing, and it became the subject of my senior thesis. Very few people knew about this area then, but now the first leasing businesses have begun to appear. In 2006 I got a job as chief accountant in one of these companies - still a very young one - "TransFin-M".
I cannot say I made the wrong choice. I just do not know any other place where my career could have been better.
Nevertheless, all challenges are new opportunities. It was difficult to gain knowledge, but due to it, during the 1998 crisis, I bet on the fall of the Dow Jones and earned myself an apartment overnight. Though my company could not survive the collapse of the markets, and I lost my job, I gained great experience and had a degree in economics.
In fact, it came in handy only a few years later: in autumn I got married, and then gave birth to my first daughter and went on maternity leave. In 2001 I gave birth for the second time, but it turned into a terrible grief - the baby died three months later.
Another heavy blow pushed me back into work. Perhaps you remember how it was like to look for a job in the early 2000s? I applied to the employment service, where they found me a job as a regular accountant in a construction company. Well, yes, it doesn't sound as interesting as the risky financial achievements of the 90s. But I didn't care: I had to work to numb the pain.
Several years without work did not make neither my skills nor my professional insight disappear. Therefore, a year later I was recommended as a good specialist and I received an offer for the position of chief accountant in a larger construction company. I definitely had more responsibilities, but, also, the authority to improve business processes has increased. I quite quickly organized the reporting, helped to raise profitability and soon took over as CFO.
Having worked in construction for five years, I realized that I could not unleash more potential in this area.
I decided to change my career path. At university I was interested in leasing, and it became the subject of my senior thesis. Very few people knew about this area then, but now the first leasing businesses have begun to appear. In 2006 I got a job as chief accountant in one of these companies - still a very young one - "TransFin-M".
I cannot say I made the wrong choice. I just do not know any other place where my career could have been better.
At TransFin-M my professional growth as a finance specialist reached its peak. I have expanded my purview as much as possible, increased my expertise and developed the skills. At the same time, I got a second degree in risk management and an MBA from the State University of Management. But the main thing is that all this was accompanied by constant growth of the company. The history of its establishment and development can be utilized as a portfolio with my most successful cases. When I joined the company, it had fifteen employees placed in a small Moscow office, and opening a branch in St. Petersburg seemed challenging. In six years we have grown from a small office into one of the largest leasing corporations in the country, appearing on the first lines of the most reputable ratings, with a turnover of tens of billions of rubles. I left the company in 2012 as the first CEO's deputy. It was a beautiful ending to a chapter of my life related to a corporate career.
A very important and joyful event spurred me to turn this page. Several years before leaving the company, my first husband and I broke up, and I met a man with whom I am happily married now. A new-born child in 2012 - my first son - became a turning point in this story. By that time, I had everything: a friendly family, complete financial well-being and a fulfilling career. We often traveled to Switzerland for a long time and were even preparing to move there permanently. But then something snapped inside, and I realized that I had something missing in my soul. Soon, this feeling became so strong that it made me embark upon a path to look for something worth doing, something that I could fully devote myself to.
First, I launched two businesses - in real estate and trade. But I quickly realized that I needed something more spiritual and conscious. In 2014, I sold both businesses and went to the Peruvian shamans on the shores of the Amazon. For almost a month I have been engaged in traditional spiritual practices that have remained unchanged for many centuries. There I radically reconsidered my life, accepted a lot and saw my true destiny. From this point on the path of spiritual growth and constant exchange of knowledge, I began to move towards a real understanding of the mind and the realization of its amazing potential. Even at the moment this path goes on.
I have been studying Vedic philosophy for two years, growing spiritually, practicing Hindu methods that are more than 5000 years old. Then I have been mastering NLP, soon reaching master-level and becoming a coach. For a long time I have been learning from the best experts in the world on the subconscious - Joe Kehoe, Joe Dispenza, Joe Vitale and Michael Roach. At the same time of spiritual search, I received a degree in psychology. All this contributed to achieving purity of mind and clarity of spirit.
My personal life went on as well. In 2015 my second daughter was born, and in 2017 my second son. Now I am a mother of two girls and two boys. My mother's heart is filled with joy.
In order to share new skills and knowledge with others, in 2016 I created an Instagram page and began to develop products that help people become more successful. Now I have more than 10 original courses and marathons. I promote my own IPD methodology based on strategic thinking from business, which can be applied in everyday life. I promote this technology not only in the sphere of prosperity and abundance through the well-known Money Marathon, but also in all other spheres of life through various original products.
I had such situations in my life when I thought this was it and there was no way out. But I learnt that these situations were just the stairs I needed to climb in order to reach the top. This is the only way up.
A very important and joyful event spurred me to turn this page. Several years before leaving the company, my first husband and I broke up, and I met a man with whom I am happily married now. A new-born child in 2012 - my first son - became a turning point in this story. By that time, I had everything: a friendly family, complete financial well-being and a fulfilling career. We often traveled to Switzerland for a long time and were even preparing to move there permanently. But then something snapped inside, and I realized that I had something missing in my soul. Soon, this feeling became so strong that it made me embark upon a path to look for something worth doing, something that I could fully devote myself to.
First, I launched two businesses - in real estate and trade. But I quickly realized that I needed something more spiritual and conscious. In 2014, I sold both businesses and went to the Peruvian shamans on the shores of the Amazon. For almost a month I have been engaged in traditional spiritual practices that have remained unchanged for many centuries. There I radically reconsidered my life, accepted a lot and saw my true destiny. From this point on the path of spiritual growth and constant exchange of knowledge, I began to move towards a real understanding of the mind and the realization of its amazing potential. Even at the moment this path goes on.
I have been studying Vedic philosophy for two years, growing spiritually, practicing Hindu methods that are more than 5000 years old. Then I have been mastering NLP, soon reaching master-level and becoming a coach. For a long time I have been learning from the best experts in the world on the subconscious - Joe Kehoe, Joe Dispenza, Joe Vitale and Michael Roach. At the same time of spiritual search, I received a degree in psychology. All this contributed to achieving purity of mind and clarity of spirit.
My personal life went on as well. In 2015 my second daughter was born, and in 2017 my second son. Now I am a mother of two girls and two boys. My mother's heart is filled with joy.
In order to share new skills and knowledge with others, in 2016 I created an Instagram page and began to develop products that help people become more successful. Now I have more than 10 original courses and marathons. I promote my own IPD methodology based on strategic thinking from business, which can be applied in everyday life. I promote this technology not only in the sphere of prosperity and abundance through the well-known Money Marathon, but also in all other spheres of life through various original products.
I had such situations in my life when I thought this was it and there was no way out. But I learnt that these situations were just the stairs I needed to climb in order to reach the top. This is the only way up.
