At a time when optimism is very rare it's very pleasant to meet an optimist. It's even more pleasant to see this person every day and know that this person's smile is sincere. Tetyana Zhohalko, director of the art gallery "Kruti Shody" ("Steep Steps"), smiles because she is fond of life. She loves her family and job.

When you enter the gallery "Kruti Shody". You know you have arrived in art world. There are so many wonderful applied art things around - real masterpieces! This gallery shop cooperates with a lot of famous craftsmen of Ukraine.

And how did everything start?

At the beginnning of ninties Tetyana Zhohalko became unemployed. It was a very difficult period in her life. She had the support of her husband, friends and a great desire to overcome all her difficulties. In August 1999 Tetyana together with her husband opened art gallery "Kruti Shody". It was very difficult with finances at fiirst, so Tetyana went to the Credit union "Chernihivska" and took out the loan. And a bit later she became the student of Chernihiv Women's Business Support Center. Education at the Center helped Tetyana to receive the necessary education on economics, marketing and how systematize her knowledge of business.

Gallery "Kruti Shody" is now well known among the citizens and guests of Chernihiv forwide assortment of goods, high quality of work and its friendly owner. You will be not only offered beautiful souvenirs here, but a cup of coffee and a photo for memory.

After the education at Women's Business Support Center Tetyana opened a shop. Now her son Mykola with his friends are working there. Family traditions are very strong at the Zohalko family. One of the main traditions is to be all together for Christmas and Easter and to organize small parties for the children of the town at the gallery. "There were "steep steps" in our life, but we prefer to climb these steps rather than be somewhere on sidetimes", - says Tetyana Zhohalko.

Kateryna Lubarska (mentor), Kharkiv

Stay confident, work hard and you will succeed

I was born in Kharkiv city, graduated from Kharkiv State Economic University. I have relavent experience in customer service, but running my business was what I desired.

Once I heard radio broadcast about the WEE Project and selection process to the new group in Kharkiv WBSC. My friend-entrepreneur encouraged me to take advantage of the wonderful opportunity and test myself. I was selected to participate in the coarse. At the Center I acquired all the necessary knowledge of marketing, management, crediting, bookkeeping, business planning, leadership and I finally to start my own business - furniture store. My parents thought I would continue our family tradition becoming a doctor, hence were not supportive at the beginning. Despite the challenges and with my husbands emotional support I opened my first store.

Gradually and continueally my business was expanding: every day, every minute and my family put the heart into it. For business expention I took a loan from Kharkiv Credit Union "Zhinocha Vzaemodopomoga" (Women's Mutual Help) and successfully paid back. Now the first store had developed into a family business - a franchise of furniture stores selling Ukrainian goods.

And I am not going to stop for I desire for all the people around me live a better life.

To women willing to change their family with a better financial standing I would advise to bear in mind the slogan "Stay confident, work hard and you will succeed".

Valentyna Dehtyarenko, Chernihiv

"Now I know that everything will be okay. It's that first step that is always the hardest!"

After graduating from a technical school in Chernihiv, Valentyna began working in sales. Then married an army officer and quit her job, and for fourteen years, she stayed home, raising a daughter and a son.

In 1999 Valentyna participated in the training "How To Improve Your Self-Esteem." She realized that she needed to change her life and considered starting a business. She mulled over the idea but did not predict the resistance she would meet with at home. Her husband, now an entrepreneur himself, could not understand why she wanted to change her life. Her children, who were accustomed to her always being at home, were against her plans to start her own business. But Valentyna just could not continue in the role of a housewife, living only for her family and having to ask her husband for twenty hryvnias to buy cosmetics."

With the training she received at the Women's Business Support Center she was able to write and support her business plan. "The most important achievement for me was confidence in myself and my abilities gaining" - says Valentyna. She talked with experienced cafe owners selling coffee in Kyiv and bought coffee beans from them. She also rented Turkish coffee making equipment from her friends and finally found a small corner at the cafe.

Today in front of one of the Central cafes in Chernihiv you can see a big advertising stand with a huge cup of coffee pictured on it and a list of drinks offered in the cafe. Many Chernihiv residents who appreciate the taste of good coffee have become her regular clients.

Her business is successful and her family relationships have improved. Now her children are proud of their mother and her successful cafe. They actually help her. Her husband, after three months of silence began to talk to her once again. "So, how are you doing, and how's the new business going?" he asked. Valentyna says with a smile, "Now I know that everything will be okay. It's that first step that is always the hardest!"

Olena Dumbai, Donetsk

"Studying at the Women's Business Support Center fundamentally changed my life"

My name is Olena Dumbai, and I'm a mathematician by training. After I finished university, I worked as an instructor of mathematics at College. When my son was born, I found we couldn't make ends meet. My son was sick and I couldn't think of anything else but how to make more money. I hoped my parents could help me - at that time, my father had his own renovation and construction business, working on large government projects in our region, but business had slowed down to a trickle. My mother was laid off. I understood that only I could change my situation for the better.

And then life decided things for us. My father gave me his business and my mother took care of my son, and I was to arrange things so that I would support not only my own family but my parents as well. Life now meant traveling between Donetsk and Horlivka, dealing with problems constantly, and this couldn't help but have an effect on my married life. My husband and I cared about our child but were no more than friends.

Then life smiled on me. The WBSC announced a selection training for participating in a business course. After passing through the training, I began my studies. I found the material interesting and stimulating, and I knew I couldn't let down my family, who had such high hopes in me.

Right after the course ended, I registered as a private entrepreneur. I put together a work brigade of three specialists and borrowed money from a friend. When at last some profit came from our work, I understood we had already passed through our baptism by fire. In seven months, I was able to return the loan, and after that, I was on my way. Now I look with confidence at the future and dream of expanding my business. I would like to manufacture the paints which we use in our work.

Studying at the Women's Business Support Center fundamentally changed my life. Practical experience and constant efforts to improve gave me a strong theoretical background, especially in marketing. I was particularly taken by this subject. In December 2000, the director of the Center asked that I share my experience with her students. I must have been a success because afterwards, they asked me to teach marketing at the Center. I really enjoy this work. I'm grateful for the opportunity to help women start their own businesses.

Svitlana Krivchenkova, Donetsk

"I realized that it isn't money that decides everything, but that it all depends on the individual, her desires, aspirations, determination, and skills."

I am a thirty-nine year old woman, married, with three children. For twenty-one years, I worked as a seamstress and on private orders from home.

When I heard about the WBSC in Donetsk, I decided to look for support there. At the selection training, I found myself looking at life from a completely different perspective. I saw that there was a way to solve my problems. The atmosphere created at these trainings is ideal for generating and exploring new ideas and for learning from others in the group.

I had previously believed that the only thing standing between me and a successful business was money. Through the course, I realized that it isn't money that decides everything, but that it all depends on the individual, her desires, aspirations, determination, and skills.

I registered myself as a private entrepreneur. It was hard work to establish a clientele. I sold my work at low prices and advertised my services. Because my work is of high quality, I had many repeat customers. I hired two more women who sew for me in my home. Now everything is coming together for me to realize my dream of opening my own salon and store.

Two months after finishing the course, I gave birth to a baby girl. She is already ten months old. Many people say that it is impossible to be a good mother and a successful businesswoman at the same time, but I've proven that it isn't true. In fact, in my family, relations have become closer. Everyone knows that they are making a contribution to the success of the business. My independence is an example to my children. My eighteen years old son plans to establish his own gym. I am glad that he wants to be master of his fate. The WBSC plays an important role in the lives of Ukrainian women. I know from my own experience. The strength of a society depends on the strength of each individual citizen. The more that people are able to realize themselves as individuals and begin to take action, the better off our Ukraine will be.

Ludmilla Lutsyk, Donetsk

"I can and I will!"

I am thirty-seven years old, college educated, married, with one son. I grew up in a family of teachers. My parents worked in the school system for more than forty years. My favorite subject in school was foreign languages, and so it was natural for me to go on to study at the Institute of Foreign Languages in Horlivka. I worked as a teacher of English at various enterprises. I always had the feeling that there was something else out there, that I would devote myself to something special.

When I heard about the WBSC, I knew immediately that I had to try it out and take part in a selection training. Fortunately, I made it through the process and was admitted.

I was a determined student, doing all my homework. My husband, who has had his own business for the past nine years, supported me from the very beginning when he saw how seriously I went about developing my business plan. I was amazed how he took on almost all the housework so that I could be free to dedicate myself to my studies because he knew it was my future. I finished the course in October, and in November, I registered my business, a center for foreign languages called Step by Step.

With a loan from the credit union Well Being, I began renovations. At first, with the holiday season, I had few clients and I needed to begin paying back my loan and rent. This of course had me very worried, and pessimism began to creep over me. But the constant support of my husband and parents helped me through those first months. I would never have believed that my parents, raised under socialism, would support me in my dream of opening my own private business and even help me in establishing it.

I understand that having a business means making sacrifices: you can only dream about allowing yourself a salary those first few months; seeing your son only two days a week, and others. You have to be ready for these for the sake of a future you believe in with all your heart and soul.

But there is also the pride you feel that you can do what you set out to do and that you will succeed. There is the joy in a client's eyes, the respect of your husband and those around you. How does it all balance out? Each person chooses for herself and I have made my choice.

Marina Mirinkova, Donetsk

"The kind of help provided by the Women's Business Support Center is exactly what I needed!"

I am a thirty-five year old married woman. I come from Russia. I graduated from the Institute of Culture and Art in Khabarovsk and worked as head of the youth section of the state administration. My life was filled with creative activity. I also tried my hand at business, buying and trading.

When we moved to Donetsk, I became unemployed. I stayed at home and took care of the house, but it depressed me. The feeling of dissatisfaction was a burden. My five-year old asked me, "What do you do?" Me? Nothing. It is unbearably painful to know that you were once somebody and that you've been left behind. It is also terrifying to try to begin again at thirty-five, in a place where you don't have a single friend or family member near you. "How will I survive?" I would fall asleep and wake up thinking that one thought. When you are out of work, life seems like a moving train, and you are running behind it.

While watching television, I saw a program called Women for Women about the Women's Business Support Center, and I called there. I was thrilled that the support they offer is exactly what I needed. I took the course and defended my business plan. My business idea was to start a business organizing parties and celebrations. It is what I love to do more than anything and I know how to do it well. I was burning with the desire to realize my plan. My firm's name is Surprise. I borrowed from the credit union Well-Being to open my business.

By studying at the Center, I had the gift of a circle of people who think the way I do. They help me maintain my optimism and support me in all situations. It is amazing, the mutual help and concern that exists between the graduates of our group. For example, one time I had a problem and turned to one of my classmates for advice. She offered to lend me money without interest and said, "You can return it when you are able to." Just think about it - this person is neither family nor a friend of many years. Many of my concerns are resolved this way. In fact, many of my first customers have been women I trained with. When you need advice, no one turns the other way, even though they all have plenty of their own troubles.

We are organizing a club of graduates who have started their own businesses. I've been elected the vice-president. I am determined to make this club work to bring concrete results for our businesses, our WBSC and our city.

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