"I took a bachelors degree in public administration at the Siberian Academy of Public Administration, and then went to work for an IT company based in Siberia. I started in the marketing department, and then 18 months later was promoted and moved to Moscow to start up a new office there.

After three years building the business and establishing the Moscow office, it was time for a change. I'd often thought about starting my own business, and so in 2002 I quit my job and bought a franchise from US company Candy Bouquet, retailing baskets of sweets arranged to look like flower bouquets.

I ran the company for about 18 months, but unfortunately the trade was more seasonal than I imagined. It was clear that I wasn't going to be able to grow the business to the size that I wanted and so I decided to sell.

In hindsight selling the business was a good decision, because after a two year stint working as a group account director for an advertising agency, I joined Moscow based publishing firm Hachette Filipacchi Shkulev as group brand director. The firm is one of the top three publishing houses in Russia, with over 500 employees.

At Hachette, I was responsible for launching the magazine Psychologies onto the Russian market, and then managed three of our glossy titles, including Marie Claire and Psychologies.

For several years I had dreamt of taking an MBA but didn't think that I would get the opportunity.  But then my company agreed to support me through an Executive MBA at Oxford, and make my dreams a reality.

With the Executive MBA two things were particularly important to me; the Executive MBA had to have both a global and entrepreneurial dimension - because in the publishing business you have to be entrepreneurial, you need to understand the market and react quickly.  At Saïd Business School I get both. Right from the start it was clear that the programme was going to be very helpful, with subjects like marketing and strategy proving especially useful as they are directly related to my everyday job.

I have recently moved to the UK, and I am now Marketing Manager for Russia and CIS at Discovery Communications Europe."