E128 Maria Kostenko

Femininity is powerful in all its forms, exceptional women. Rare girls must be appreciated in every way for their perspectives, actions, thoughts, and their unique ways of being. Such rare girls are inspiring. And this is what this podcast is all about. Hello, my name is Aziz and my guest today is Maria Kostenko. Maria graduated university in Ukraine where she studied English and marketing. Her hobbies include dancing, photo shooting for fashion brands, and sports. She currently works in an office of an international company, but also does other projects as a social media and PR manager, a part of a design project in Berlin, and a delivery company in Kiev. After the war started, Maria traveled from Kiev to Berlin alone with only one bag and two phone numbers of people who live in Berlin, who she never knew nor met before. She stayed in Germany almost six months before returning to Kiev to continue living her life and doing her work. Maria, how are you today? Hi, I'm good. Thank you for introduction. I'm happy. I'm honored. I'm lucky to have you here today. And I'm curious to understand you as a woman and as a person. So I'll begin with this nice question. If your friends could describe your personality, what would they say about you? I think that my friends would say that I have a good vibe as a girl. I'm energetic. I am quite funny, but I'm a little bit, you know, like, I like to be alone sometimes. And I don't spend so much time with my friends. So I think something like this. Thank you. I understand. So energetic, friendly, funny, but sometimes you like to be alone. You need to be introverted, if I understand correctly. And I want to focus on the energetic part. When you say energetic, do you feel and mean that you're motivated, that you like to do many things? And if so, what gives you that energy? Is it that you think life is too short, we should enjoy every moment and do everything? Or is it that you have so much to give to this world? You want to create and to change reality and everything in it? Or does it mean you have good vibes and positivity and are sunny? Or what do you mean? I think the first that you said that we have only one life and we should spend it life, I don't know, in the best way like we want. This is one point, another, yes, I feel some good energy inside me. And I think that I can share it with different people. And I think this is really good. Thank you. And I'm then curious about you. What inspires you in this world? What gives you those emotions that make you feel alive, feel like more energetic, feel in a good mood and that you can conquer everything in this world? Is it walking in parks? Is it seeing happy people? Is it being alone and thinking and meditating or writing or doing some art? What are things in this world that give you inspiration? I think, first of all, this is traveling because I very like travel from my childhood because my grandmother thanks her to this. She always wanted to share with me some world. I like cities and countries and cultures. And when I was a child, she took me to some places and she showed me a lot of things because she is a historical teacher. And she always wanted me to be inspired girl. And she always told me a lot of things about history and things here. I started to like traveling. And from me, this is traveling. This is cultures, people walking by streets and details and, I don't know, cities, parks, whatever. I love that you mentioned this. And therefore, I would like to ask you about Berlin. What did you notice was different or similar about people in Berlin compared to people in Kiev? I know that a lot of people in Podil and Kiev are somehow inspired by Berlin a little bit and the mood and vibes over there. But for you, the people in Berlin, did you find it easy to make new friends there or it was more difficult? What did you notice about the culture and vibe compared to Kiev? Actually, it was not my first time when I came to Berlin. I came there about four years ago like a tourist. It was like a big touristic trip with my friends. It was funny. And when the war had started, I don't know why, but I had some idea in my head that I have to be there. I don't know why, but I have to go there. And yes, after this, I started to find some network. I don't know, some people, and I wrote to people which I never think right before. So yeah, I wanted to go there. And when I came, as I told you, I had just two numbers and one girl. She led me to live with her about first three weeks. So I lived with her my first three weeks. She very helped me. She was an actress from Spain. She was a very, very good person and she helped me very good. And yeah, I understood that in Berlin, they're very good vibe of city and so many people, so many cultures, and the people are very, very different. And I really like them, especially in those period of time, so many people help Ukrainians. And yeah, after I lived with another family in a big penthouse with 17 rooms, and I actually, I have never seen such houses. It was like, I don't know, like a miracle or something. I seen some, I don't know, rooms, design of rooms just in Pinterest, and I had this opportunity to live there almost one and a half months with really good people who always help me. And yeah, this is, it was very good time for me. Thank you. I noticed you mentioned you had a special feeling that you need to be in Berlin. You mentioned the penthouse, it's like a miracle. So to ask you, are you a spiritual kind of girl? Are you someone who loves Tarot? Or what are your thoughts on destiny, manifestation, is reality about people who are meant to enter your life and everything has a reason, no coincidences? What's your perspective on this? Because you're speaking in a very spiritual kind of way. Oh, thank you. As for Tarot, I just tried maybe two times with my friends because she interested in this and she know how to do this. So just I had some difficult period in my life and I called her and asked her, please, can you do something? I need to know one answer on some questions because I really need it. And yes, she did it for me. But as for spiritual things, you know, I'm always trying to think positive and I believe in the universe power. I believe that all what happened with us is not just a random thing. So we just need to think positive, concentrate on our girls and just take what we want. It's not easy, of course, but everything in our hands. So just think of it and take it. I love your confidence and yes, we only have one life. We should take everything that we want that will make us happy. At the same time, what is the source of your confidence? A lot of people nowadays, maybe because of social media or like you said, you went to a penthouse with rooms that only look like things you've seen in Pinterest. So they compare themselves to people who live like that every day and think, oh my God, I'm not so amazing. I'm not so perfect. And they lose their self-confidence. Are you a confident girl? How do you try to develop your confidence and self-esteem? And what's your advice for other women and girls who maybe feel insecure to develop their feminine confidence? Oh, it's a really good question. Actually, you know, I became confident just maybe it was the last year, something like this, because before this, I felt myself not so confident. I always try to figure out and understand who I am, what I want from this life. Because you know, when I finished my university, by my university, I am English teacher, but I understood that I didn't want to work in school because I'm not about it. I want something different. I always interested in marketing and in PR. I always wanted to try something, to work with people, with some fashion fields, with some project, et cetera, et cetera. But I didn't realize what I exactly should do. I work in different fields for not big amount of money. And I was depressed so, so many times. But when I just started to realize it, who I am, what I really want from my life, and what level of life I want after I'm started to learn. And I think the first thing which gave me confidence, this is my knowledge, and because I started to learn marketing from zero, I started to, I don't know, spend much time with different people. And unfortunately, from one side, you know, I had to say goodbye to people who don't want to, I don't know, work a lot, and don't want to have a good level of life, et cetera, et cetera. I had to say them goodbye, because yes, for this point of time, maybe I'm a little bit like alone, but from another side, I have my confidence because of the knowledge, because that I think that if it's about girls, always you should answer, you should, sorry, you should ask yourself, who you are, what do you want from this life? And what is your value inside you? So I, when you ask yourself this, and you're realized, what do you want? And you realize that you're like brilliant, and this is very important, important to know, because unfortunately, so many women, girls, they don't know who they are and what they want, and they don't understand their value in this life, something like this. Thank you. I love your answer. I can feel your passion, and I agree 100% with every single thing you say. And I'm happy you're listening to yourself and being your own woman, not just following what society says or other people think. And to ask you a little bit, you're involved now with a design project in Berlin. Is it fashion design? Is it a different kind of design? And in general, have you been interested in the field of design for a long time? What's your perspective or love for design, if you have it? Thank you for your answers and comments. So actually, as for design, this is projects of just interior design of residential buildings. It's interesting for me, and with this project, I have really quite a funny story, because I when I was in Berlin, and I was trying to find a job, and almost about one month, I just woke up. And day by day, I sent my CV and sent my portfolio to different projects. And I was just looking and looking. And I wrote about myself to one company, Elka Design, from Berlin. And then they answered me something like, okay, thank you. We have a good portfolio, but unfortunately, for this point of time, we were not ready to use social media inside of a project. So maybe later. Okay. So after about three or maybe four months, this woman, he called me and asked, okay, Elka, I'm calling you as for your presentation, and as for your position to me. So I'm agreeing, let's continue to work. And I told, oh, sorry, can you remind me because I'm really forgot about this. And yeah, she told, oh, okay, so I'm from Berlin, blah, blah, blah. And yeah, okay. So right now we are working together, and I am making for them Instagram layout, I'm writing tags, making stories, et cetera, et cetera. So yeah, but as for design, of course, I very like fashion as well. And I also had some projects in Berlin. I organized as art director, photo shooting and whole process. I found one brand, unfortunately, I can't talk about it. I mean, give the name of this brand and I find it. I wrote to the designer and she agreed to do photo shooting and I have very, very talented photographer. She is my friend. She came to Berlin, I found models and I organized all the process. So actually it was really, really good shooting and results. And I was very proud of myself, you know, that I could do this because when you almost alone in a big city and you don't have any networks, any person who can help you actually, and I don't know, tell you something, how to do it better. And I really, I was like proud, so I can. So yeah, this is another story. I'm proud of you as well, I know how difficult it is. But when you pull it off and when you do it, you feel so confident and it's really, really great. And you spoke about your love for fashion. I noticed you have a very unique style. And I would like to speak a little bit about this, about your advice for other people, women or people in general. How can they find their own style? What is fashion for you? Is fashion an expression of a personality? And so how can someone show their personality in their clothes? Maybe some people don't know what that means. Or is it a mood that the colors and the combinations express how you feel that day? Or what is it for you a way for a person to find their unique fashion style? And how can they express, let's say they're a person who is extroverted, who love to watch fantasy movies and to go on bikes and mountains. Well, how can they show that in their style or anything like that? Yeah, actually, it's a very interesting question. Okay. As for style and fashion, when I was a child, I started to draw, you know, how it's name is like a fashion drawing. Before you want to see something, you should draw it. So I had so many albums and I took these albums anywhere to my traveling with my grandmother just when I was sitting at home and different places. So I designed all these things and after I didn't have any fabric in my home, I mean like new fabric. I just had some my mom's clothes, but after she let me just to make this all what I want. So I just took my scissors and started to do some things with this old clothes of my mom's. So yeah, and I think that it was the start of my interest in fashion. I don't want to say that I wanted to be a designer, maybe yes, but not for 100%. It was just like my hobby and by my own style. I don't know. I just feel something, I like colors, I like to combine some styles, I like brands, I like to know how to wear it and what is better. And yeah, some people told me that you have some personal style, like, I don't know, some special maybe yes, maybe I don't know. I understand and I like your positive vibes and your artistic and creative side and at the same time, we have to speak about the invasion of February 24th, the bigger war with Russia. I know almost 10 years ago, the war started with Crimea and Donbass, but now this February 24th invasion. What was that day for you? How did you hear about the war? How did you feel? What happened and how did you change as a person in these seven months? Yeah, good question about that this war has started about 10 years ago because actually when I started my education as an English teacher, I entered to very, very good Institute of Foreign Languages and this institute was in Donetsk, near the Donetsk city. And if you know that this region was the first region which was occupied by Russian troops. So on those time, I just finished my first year of education and this events has started and I'm just didn't know what to do because I was really, I really like my university and this university was on the second position after in the list of the best University of Language languages, but I just went to my home. I'm from a thousand Ukraine. I went to my home for summer holidays after one year of studying and I was waiting that these events will finish and everything will be okay and I will continue my education and I will come to this city and everything will be okay, but no and I was waiting, waiting and I fortunately I had to continue my education in another university in Melitopol city. I don't want to judge this university because this university led me to continue my education because I didn't have any documents with me, all my documents was in my first university, but they led me to continue my studying, but you know there was different way of studying and not big practice of English and different subjects and I was like, you know, I think that I lose my motivation and on the second course, I just started to find a job and I don't know, my first job was waitress in a city, yeah, something like that in the city pub and as for actually as for now, this bar, I think has already changed so many Ukraine and but from another thing, they became more confident, more powerful and we know that we know for what we are fighting and we all believe in our country and in the future of our country. Thank you so much Maria, all I can say is Slava Ukrainyi. Welcome, hero and Slava. It was my privilege, my honor, my good luck to interview you, you're very interesting person. I wish you to keep going, to keep creating in this world, to keep going out of your comfort zone, to grow and develop and thank you again for participating. Yeah, thank you too, thank you for your questions and for me it was also a good experience and I wish first of all to all girls to know who they are, to have a value of themselves and to believe in themselves and understand that they can make big things.