Sona and I met in a cozy cafe not far from Sna at the end of the working day. Sona comes to me from the living room: she is one of those leaders who solves problems not over the phone, but in person. We order coffee and I immediately ask Sona how she ended up in the beauty industry.
“I am a philosopher by education, although initially I planned to pursue myself as an accessories designer. But at university I was so fascinated by this discipline that I transferred to another faculty almost immediately. I am grateful to the family for never saying to me: “You don’t like it? Nothing, keep learning and then we’ll see”. My proposal to change something was instantly answered positively. You know, today I understand that it is the philosophical background that does not give up, helps to look at life positively and accept any circumstances.
Then I met Rita. Today she is a true family member to me. We became friends and traveled together. Once, sitting in one of the Parisian cafes, they talked about what they want to do. She has a journalism school behind her, I have a philosophy. I understood that she would hardly work in the department, although there were offers.
France had an amazing and positive impact on our worldview, and we also realized that the hat industry is not developed at all in Russia (yes, right away). We decided to try ourselves on it. Honestly, we were lucky, because we launched at a very good time, we chose an unoccupied niche. We spent the minimum amount of money, made three hats, took a photo on the phone, and a week later we received a letter from Vogue: is it possible to take our hats for shooting? We, of course, agreed. And so every time someone wrote to us. Therefore, it was all about inspiration and not about business strategies. Now, of course, we are radically different, we have grown a lot. I see both myself and Rita (Rita is the founder of the Mai Mai brand. – Note BURO.). Now we often ask ourselves: “Well, what are the numbers?” (laughs)
