How did you find yourself in this business?

Gelnur Valeyeva:

— Totally by chance. There was a certain period of my life when I realized that I wanted to grow further and expand new competencies in the field of marketing, but not in the telecommunications business anymore. Before Unistroy, I worked in a telecommunications company for about 4 years. Then I started exploring the job market and comparing different options. I was choosing between the construction business, the franchise sector, and the fitness industry. Why Unistroy? Because this company is about trust, it offers opportunities for developing yourself and your employees. And also because I was promised help in implementing bold and unconventional decisions. With the team and management support. And they kept their promise :).

Have you ever felt that a woman has no place at a construction site?

Maria Smirnova:

— I can always feel it. At meetings, on the sites, and even when talking to clients. Of course, men think they understand technical details better. But it is like an incentive for me: to talk with men equally, you need to be a cut above professionally! This is what makes me move forward.

How can women's qualities help in real estate development? Can you notice something male builders do not pay attention to?

Asel Zhunusova:

— We've made a BI customer portrait and it has shown that 65% of them are women. Everything shows that women choose, and men pay. So when creating a product and promoting it, you need to focus more on women. And only a woman can understand, for example, which kitchen would be comfortable for her and which one will not. Women in real estate development can notice such things, and men don't always pay attention to them.

Construction is always about nerves. How do you relieve stress?

Svetlana Kucheryavaya:

— Stress is a familiar state for me. In my spare time, I study applied psychology, analyze roots of stress, help my relatives and colleagues to cope with them.

Natalia Popova:

— I try to avoid stress using my management skills, like planning, for example. But if this does not help, I read trainings, it helps me to distract myself and makes it possible to look at the stressful situation from the outside.

Have you ever cursed?

Svetlana Utesheva:

— No, I haven't become a true builder in this regard. I don't curse, I don't drink alcohol, absolutely. Once I was driving having picked up my daughter from school, and a car brazenly cut in front of me. Because of an overabundance of emotions and lack of words in my active vocabulary, I could not find anything better than to catch up with that car and to show the middle finger to the driver. It was only a single case, just once in a lifetime, and it happened many, many years ago, but still, if you ask my daughter to tell something interesting about her mother, she will paint that situation in colors. It seems it was my most audacious action associated with the use of profanity without words :).

Would you like your daughter to follow in your footsteps? If not, why not?

Irina Izotova:

— My eldest daughter has already followed in my footsteps. This year she graduates from Higher School of Economics with a bachelor's degree in marketing. If life brings her to the real estate development business, I will be happy and useful! My profession and my work is a gift of fate. The most precious thing for me in my job is the opportunity to be involved in the spirit of creating the largest (in terms of space and volume) material values and pleasures! I wish experiencing such passion for work not only to my daughter but to all good people!

Do you feel the notorious male dominance in this conservative business?

Elena Astakhova:

— I once wrote that only the lazy one does not mention today the difference between the masculine and feminine approaches, for example in business. At all trainings, seminars, and MBA I attended, almost every trainer considers it their duty to note the difference between the women's and men's views of business. Our desire to talk about this still allows men to perceive women as some, let's say, special employees and makes it possible to discuss the notorious male dominance. Any woman, as well as any man, can be stupid, and nothing will help in this case. It is difficult to discuss who dominates over whom in terms of results or career because we ourselves give a reason to this. I haven't thought about it and I've never felt any oppression.

The only thing I've noticed is that women are paid less in our business. I cannot say for sure whether this is due to qualifications or something else, but women are offered approximately 15 % less for exactly the same job and they are expected to do more work.