Growing up in a multimillion city, I had little opportunity to meet farm animals. They were happy-go-lucky characters from the kids’ books. My favorite animal has always been a pig, but the animal that helped me to make a connection was a fish.
I was five and my mom bought two live catfish on a rare occasion. I remember curiously looking at these big, beautiful fish swimming in our bathtub. Next, I remember seeing them covered with blood lying on the cutting board while my mom was handling them. The realization of what happened to these beings, living and thriving just a few minutes ago, was horrifying. The thought of becoming a vegetarian became very appealing in my early teens, reinforced by my interest in Indian philosophy. But it seemed to be nearly impossible to do it while living in a family, especially tainted by domestic violence.
I didn’t become vegetarian living in England in my late teens, while mad cow diseases threat was still real. I was curious about vegetarian food and used to buy Linda McCartney’s line of products: her Chicken Kievs seemed to be even better than the real thing!
I finally went vegetarian a couple of years later. There was only one meatless restaurant in Moscow, my 10-million home city. It did not matter, neither did concerns of my family that I would die without protein and ceaseless jokes from my friends. Every guy who met a vegetarian girl felt obliged to ask why she lacked compassion for plants. It was so easy to stick to something that felt right, even when the world was giving you hard time about it.
My passion for animal rights did not emerge until much later in life. Multiple things fascinated me as a kid: biology, social science. I ended up picking marketing as the application of sociology, psychology, economics, philosophy, and research, with a touch of creativity and fun. But what’s been driving me is curiosity, the eagerness to explore and always try something new. This made me move across the world more than once and keeps me looking for what more I can do to make this world a little better.
Despite the harsh upbringing, I love people, not less than animals, and it breaks my heart when they make cruel or unreasonable choices. I know they are better than that.
I am still searching for that sweet spot where my passions would converge and result in the highest impact. I am on this journey, and I am prepared that it will last my whole life.
Catch a Glimpse 