Episode Transcript
Hello, my name is Aziz and I'm the son of a divorced mother.
She is really my superhero.
That's why it's important for me to support women, to share their uniqueness, their personalities,
perspectives, and emotions about this world.
In these difficult times in human history, we need to bring the people of the world together.
And when we hear the voices of women, when we listen to real lives of women from other countries,
we connect our cultures without differences or stereotypes, and we get inspired by their stories,
to live a better life.
That's what this podcast is all about.
My guest today is Alina Roberts.
Alina is a model from Minsk, Belarus, living and studying in Poland,
and she works in international business.
Alina enjoys volunteering, snowboarding, ice skating, and traveling.
Alina, how are you today?
I'm good, feeling great, how are you?
I'm feeling positive, lucky and grateful that life is an exciting adventure.
And very curious about you as a person.
So Alina, I'll begin with this nice first question, which is,
if your friends and the people who know you best could describe your personality,
what would they say about you?
So the first word would be crazy, outgoing and bright.
So definitely always in the center of a group, always joking and just laughing about everything.
And yeah, I would say that my friends would say only positive things about me.
I love that.
And I want to explore your crazy side in many, many ways,
but I'll begin with something I'm curious about.
People or girls who can often describe themselves as our crazy,
they also get bored easily so they need new excitement, new emotions every day to be exciting.
And if it's not, they don't feel alive.
So you as someone studying, someone also working in international business,
how do you balance that desire for constant new things and at the same time,
have the discipline to make and create anything in your life?
Yeah, for sure, you need to have like a work, a good work balance.
And at the same time, for me, I just, when I don't want to dive deep into a routine,
I always go to cinema, theater, or any other kind of activity.
I love doing sports and like this winter, I'm just so happy.
I went to Georgia so many times for snowboarding.
It was an amazing experience and there was plenty of snowages.
I love snow and all kind of winter sports.
I would say that the only way for me of like getting new energy and making myself inspired by
a life is definitely about meeting people with a good energy, bright people and
seeing places, traveling means so much to me and I'm trying to see as many countries as I can.
And every time on your way, you meet someone, some incredible people that definitely
make some impact on you and you come back a different person, you learn something,
you teach someone. So yeah, I would say that for me, it's always like, if I do like five
days of studies and work, I have to do something incredible during my weekend and
not a big friend of actually staying in bed late on Saturday or Sunday,
I would rather go to some exhibition or I don't know, do some photoshoot or just meet with my friends.
Thank you. I have so many questions, but I'll begin also with something that other women
could be inspired by and learn from. Let's say there are girls who desire to go for their goals
and their dreams. Maybe they feel tired, they don't have that energy that you seem to have that
high energy to experience so much and life and they're like, I'm already exhausted after going to
school to go into university and then maybe doing some workout and it's already too much.
How do you find that extra energy? Like, where do you get it? Is it from nutrition?
Is it some kind of motivation where maybe after the pandemic you thought you only live one?
So let me make sure I enjoy every day or how does it work? Yeah, for sure, pandemic has affected
my views and life and on time and there was a point when I was just you know, like staying home,
well obviously we're always staying home but at some point you just realize that your life is going
past you and there is nothing you can do but as soon as I've got the opportunity to go out and do
something I was doing it and you know, back then like during the pandemic it was in Belarus and
we do not have like we did not have back then any like COVID restrictions and actually when they
whole world was on a lockdown we were kind of free like going somewhere but just for your own safety
you would buy this to you home and I went on a trip after COVID ended. I went on a trip to Dubai
with my friends and you know after such a long time when you were just kind of locked it was
really great to just you know explore the new country and its culture and I just
I really liked it and that something that motivated me to like go ahead do things it's your time
and when you look at that I don't know you know Dubai I guess it can motivate many people to
actually work harder and achieve things well I was one of them and I just realized that I need
to change something in my life and back then I had only my bachelor degree in international law
and I was like no I need something else I need to do masters I want to do it in Europe and
my university of choice was in Brussels University of Economics and I was like never like that
good at math and I was like well that's a challenge for myself I have to try and see if it's
if it's going to work out so I decided to change my major a bit and I started with the international
business so it's more like business-oriented well before it was only studying law but you know
still I was able to manage it so for me it's like the biggest improvement of the year that I did
something that I was always afraid of and I did it well thank you I love that and well if Dubai
inspired you I'm curious why did you choose to go live in Poland and not plan and move your life
to study or to do your fashion a modeling or anything in Dubai specifically what made you decide
to choose Poland instead so Dubai was like a good motivator well I would not probably consider
Dubai for a long term just because of the weather it's like too hot for me you know and I was
born in Belarus I lived for my whole life in Belarus and it's quite cold there we have like all
seasons so you can see the changing nature in Altam and then winter with snow and pure full
spring and summer and you know when I went to Dubai it was February so it was like really
cold and vintage in my hometown and yeah it was a good motivator but I was interested in obtaining
a degree in Europe and Poland is quite close to us so I'm able to come visit my family anytime so
I did not want to you know like disconnect from my country and my family my friends but at the same time
I had to do something new so that was my country of choice and I really like it here
I'm learning a new language it's going to be my fifth language and you know I like it and I'm
doing well here so I'm not sure what's gonna be in the future but yeah it's just the first step
and we'll see 100% and since in the beginning I asked you about your personality well do you feel
now that you're living in a new country and you have more independence in Poland did you discover
new things about yourself and did your personality change compared to when you were in Minsk Belarus
absolutely I mean that was the first time when I've been abroad for many times but I never
like believed for a long period of time and yeah that's a completely new environment you know when
you go somewhere for holidays and you just you know just chilling and when you go to another country
and you have to adapt to the society and the way of living because you know some things can be
different even food and the language of course so but I would say that I adapted quickly maybe
because the difference in cultures is not that big but you know I learned what loneliness is and I
been alone like on my own because I just I always need someone to talk to but I also learned that
it's not a bad thing and you know sometimes you you need to just stay with your thoughts and kind of
learn yourself from the inside so yeah that's that's the experience that I was able to gain here
and I'm very thankful this country for that I love that and you mentioned that one of the things
that inspire you are bright people and people who you feel that are your kind of people
can you speak a bit more about that how do you know when someone is your kind of person
is it maybe their energy and you feel that within you is it that you feel you know them
a long long time is it after conversation that you have similar values and thoughts
or their ambitious and building things in this world or what's to you the criteria or the way
that you meet someone and think yes this is my kind of person well lately I just started noticing
that my kind of person doesn't need to have the same views on on world as I do but we just need
to be tolerant to each other's personalities and each other's views and I just realized that
I can get well with people like with completely different backgrounds and views on life but at the same
time I can learn from them and they can learn from me and I find this exchange very valuable
and you know so many people that's probably I don't know like five years ago I would never
actually like talk to now we were like chatting on a daily basis if they are like from a
different country or we hang out here and I just it's interesting how my views on people
change and how I start communicating with the people and interested in people with a completely
different lives but it just shows that you know different it's cool it's we we can see new things
and we can learn new things thank you and as someone who like I said and like you explain both
you need to be a bit crazy and at the same time do many other things what is crazy to you
is it being funny and telling jokes like you mentioned is it that you're always into some new
adventures that are surprising to people what is crazy because I believe it is related to confidence
and so it might inspire some women to find their crazy side which led them allows them to go
out of their comfort zone so let me know about that yeah so I meant crazy in a good way like good
crazy which means that you do not worry about what people will think or will tell about you
and for instance if I feel like you know I have my hat says own and I go for walk and I feel like
I want a dance or I want to sing like I need to sing you know sometimes I just I can go to the
forest and I can just sing out loud I just you know need to let my energy off and it just makes me
so much happier and well for someone someone would say well you're crazy you just you know like
screaming in the park with your music on but that's just one of the ways how I can relax
and you know get rid of the bed energy let's say so or just being spontaneous I would say when
when you're like very easily can decide it okay let's go let's have an adventure let's go to another
city let's explore something new and why would you afraid of something you know because life it's
actually not that long ends will you have this experience ever in your life you know because
there are some in some cases there are experience that only happened to you only once so why not
to go and do it and do not be afraid of it that's a very very important topic and I would like
to know even more from your experience because we live in a time where a lot of women maybe because
of social media or the pandemic or just society being judgmental they stay within their comfort zone
they don't go for their big dreams they worry maybe I'm not good enough they worry or what if
other people judge me what if it's not safe to try something new how do you find that ability to
overcome that fear and what's your advice to other women to find their confidence and actually
go for their potential and big dreams instead of staying limited by any kinds of thoughts or any
kinds of judgment from other people or simply anxieties and fears yeah so I think you just because
all those limitations they are in your head so at some point in life you created those limits
for yourself and to get rid of them you should realize that we are imperfect and we've never been
which means that even if I do it bad or it's better if I don't try at all at least you did something
at least you tried it didn't work out okay it's fine it happens to many people and just look at the
I don't know there are so many great people and it's not about their talents but they are
desire to achieve their precision and the fact that they did not give up from the first try
yeah thanks thanks to them we have the world as it is but if we talk about social media more of like
half of what we see on social media is fake and we know it but we still especially women we try
to compare ourselves to others but people tend to post only positive about them they never they
never gonna ride a post or post a picture when they were unhappy when they're sad when they're
not feeling well and we never take this into account and then we obviously would just compare
ourselves and we see well my life is not as bright and full of events as others have but
do they really show you the other side we should never forget about it because if we if we just
think that you know people are only enjoying their lives and have it fun well probably
if even if they do there was a hard work before that we should always remember that
thank you really Alina I love all those motivating thoughts because the mindset really is what
creates our reality and to us even more your productive person or what you take care at least
of many facets of your life so how is your day typically and how do you take care of your work
your studies your body the fun times and all that how do you balance them could you describe how
your life in Poland currently how did you design it and maybe it can inspire other women with
ideas and how to design their day to have that balanced life without sacrificing anything yeah so
my day starts approximately at 8 or 9 a.m sleep is really important for me because I cannot
function the whole day if I don't get at least eight hours of sleep so but you still need to wake
up early because that's the best time you know and your brain is the most productive during the
morning times so yeah so I wake up I obviously have my breakfast and I'm heading to the university
I have my schedule printed and just on my wall so I can always you know take a look during the
day and remember what I have planned for tomorrow and it kind of helps me with a homework and
all the project that I need to prepare for for the next week the next day or the next month or
whatever the deadline is and I have classes well probably like three or four could be two if it's two
I can I still have time before my work starts because I work remotely and I just need to get home by
particular time so I can have some time for sports and I usually go to the gym or I meet my cousin
and we go to this women pool together even though I don't know how to swim and I never like I
cannot learn it I don't know why I'm just there is something wrong with me but I just I can
swim but I'm still enjoying the water so I still go there and just you know like jump like a frog
yeah so after that I'm going back home and I turned on my computer I start working and you know
sometimes there could be exhausting days just because of like plenty of customers calling and asking
for something and especially when you're dealing with let's say angry customers you know it's
always affects you even though there could not be your fault of something but you have to handle
this very well and make the customer satisfied at the end and I have a full work day some eight hours
I just I work and nothing interesting about it actually um yeah and I I need to do some homework again
so after like 11 p.m I'm doing my homework and I go to bed at like midnight or 1 a.m and I sleep till
eight or nine and that that's my day during the work week and on the weekend I'm not planning
anything I just I know that I need to keep up with my homework so I have my Polish classes
I do my homework what's planned and then I always have some time for myself because I'm not
able to you know enjoy and rest as much during during my work days so I know that I should do
some kind of activity on the weekend so I can always plan it in advance and I don't know just
like a musical concert or theater or opera or something just to you know dress up put my makeup on
feel like you know I'm here and I'm not just a robot that works Monday to Friday you know 9 a.m. 5 p.m.
and it's really important for me just to feel as a woman and to to feel beautiful to feel
to get out of the routine even though I'm I'm just like I'm enjoying my routine as well so it's not
something very exhausting at the same time because if you like what you do it just you know it's
not it doesn't seem like something terrible you just enjoy in your work I love that and I notice
you said it's important for you to feel as a woman what does that personally mean to you what is
the energy of femininity and what is for you the meaning when you think about yourself yes I'm feeling
like a woman right now for me my femininity I would say when it was I don't know at what age it
probably like starts developing but probably during your teenage years and back then when I was a
teenager I just realized that well you know I want to learn how to walk on heels and how to do it
nicely to have you know like your posture your neck and head straight and you know just to look
like walk beautifully and look the same way and I told my mom hey you know I want to I want to
go to the model agency and I want to learn how to walk and women together together and they really
liked me so they took me and there were some classes so there was a class of makeup was some artistic
classes we also had dances catwalk and some de-tology I guess and this is something that actually
helped me because I don't think I would get as much knowledge from my mom but yeah probably
models cool gave me all this and like that was the basement and after that I just started building
something else on it and I really liked doing my makeup and hair and you know getting dressed and
especially when for when we have a show like a fashion show and you have some fittings before
and you talk to the designer and they decide like which dress is for you and every time like
you change it so many times and you have this beautiful fabric and you just you get in love with
fashion and closing and like in a good way you you think that I'm feeling beautiful like my mind
and my body and the way I dress it just all fits me and yeah I would say that this is something
that actually developed in this femininity and now I'm just kind of supporting it and if I'm
for me for instance makeup is like some kind of relaxed or meditation when I don't need to
to hurry you know I don't do it just you know to have it on me but I'm doing it and I'm just
enjoying the process of choosing your mascara your eyeshadow or a lip liner and yeah I mean
that's what I need to feel good to feel beautiful and obviously other women can have their
personal like I would say they're personal things and some kind of rituals for someone it could
be like you know taking a warm bath with flowers and a salt or I don't know doing some yoga session
but I think it's really important of having some kind of ritual that helps you to feel renewed
and relieved and just take care of yourself not of someone else you know 100% and that's absolutely
great advice for everyone self-care should be a priority if you want a happy and long life
rather than getting overtime too stressed too sick and unhappy and so like you said it's not about
becoming a robot that just works works works and to speak about something really interesting which
is Belarus within Eastern Europe maybe some people don't know how the culture of Belarus is different
to countries that are near it can you share a bit more about that what is unique about Belarus
how is the culture and how are on average or in general the commonality in thought and in culture
between Belarus and girls I would say that culturally obviously Slavic countries they are
very similar in their traditions in the way the women look and obviously we have this thing of you
know the Slavic woman that's perfect woman with looking always amazing taking care of her children
like the perfect mom perfect wife and perfect lover like beauty but at the same time we should
not forget that you know well yeah women had to do so in our cultures but just because they
did not have any other option there was no one to help them and if we talk about Belarus right now
I would say that those principles they are changing a bit and when the standard woman is not
a robot and she does not have to do everything she does not have to you know like clean the house
do the dishes at the same time look like a beauty queen and take care of your kids you know and we
understand it at some point we need a man that can help us kind of you know because before it was
more like an accessory kind of so there was not much help from men before for our women and
I would say that now it's changing so it's a very positive thing yeah and for for the cultural
like I would say that women were always trying to take care of themselves and they always wanted to
look beautiful you know like putting flowers in their hair and making some like special traditional
patterns on their clothes thank you so much Alina this was such an interesting conversation that could
continue for a long long time there is so much more I want to ask you but the time is ending
it's finishing so I wish you all the success in Poland and in your future goals I wish you
constant inspiration and thank you so much for participating in this podcast thank you so much
as is for having me here I was really glad to share my life a little bit of my views and experiences
and I wish you all the best with the project and I'm sure that you can empower many women to
just be happy enjoy their lives stay motivated about themselves and never give up thank you you are welcome
