Career Day at Russian Pointe!

Recently, I enjoyed a very special visit from a group of five dynamic girls and young women, ranging in age from 8 to 19. They are all granddaughters of Lori Brown, a managing director at Patina Solutions and my fellow member of International Women's Forum.

Lori organized the visit to Russian Pointe as a “career day” to give her granddaughters – most of them dancers – an opportunity to learn about running a business, particularly one oriented strongly around the arts.

After the visit, each wrote about what they learned. I was glad to see that they had been inspired by the business, and also by my personal entrepreneurial story. I hope that they all find careers that they love as much as I love mine!

Here’s what they had to say:

“To tour the office of a dance brand many of us have used throughout our dance careers was amazing. It was interesting to be in the space where a lot of our favorite products have been created [and] refreshing and inspiring to listen to someone talk so passionately about their career. The ability to love going into work each day is something we all will strive for in the future and Alexandra made it clear that it is possible with a lot of hard work and dedication. Ultimately, visiting Russian Pointe allowed each one of us to realize the value of an education and continual leaning throughout a lifetime. We learned a lot and even more importantly had a blast!”
Abby, age 19  

“As a dancer, I got very inspired and learned that there are tons of other things in the dance industry that have to do with business and dance. I learned that you can build so much from barely anything at all. When Aleksandra moved [to the U.S.] when she was 16, she had barely any resources and now she owns a multi-million dollar company.”
Olivia, age 13

“Aleksandra was so nice. I learned a lot of new things from her. One thing is to do something you love. Aleksandra said that she loves coming to work every day. I want to have that same experience. I also learned that small things can turn into big things. Aleksandra started her business out of her dorm room, and now she has a whole line of items and many stores that carry it. It was so fun going to see the Russian Pointe office.”
Mallory, age 11 

 “[I learned that] you can start a business at a young age. I wanted to photograph items in the photo studio, the video [we watched] was really interesting, and [after the visit] I am inspired to dance more.”
Carly, age 9

 “I liked learning about how Aleksandra got inspired to start her business. I enjoyed the tour and loved meeting everyone. Seeing all of the ballet shoes was cool, and it made me want to take a ballet class!”
Avery, age 8