Her Stock is Trading High
From the Archives
Posted on February 10, 2003
Previously filed under: Field Diaries
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Vladivostok in February? Why not! I would be not only a second-generation International Executive Service Corps (IESC) volunteer,
My assignment was to provide marketing consulting to a Russian securities firm. By February 1999, the initially active Russian securities market had dwindled to virtual non-existence. Events leading up to and culminating in the financial crisis in August 1998 had taken care of that.
My boss was a 26-year-old entrepreneur already six years in the business. Alex provided me with an extensive work plan of tutorial sessions. I was to be his “talking head.” All day we addressed the topics outlined in his plan. There was a short course in U.S. capitalism, a not too concise history of Wall Street and financial markets in the U.S., and a lexicon of financial instruments. When I wondered aloud, “is this helping?” Alex always answered politely and positively to my standard query. He was interested and attentive over the course of our three weeks of regular meetings.
Occasionally, Alex would be out of the office on business. I used this time to create reports on our sessions, or meet with others in the office. One afternoon was spent with Elena, a trained mathematician who had been the firm’s securities analyst. She was repositioning herself as a real estate appraiser to take advantage of the emerging market in real property. We discussed ways for her to make herself visible in the community in order to market her appraisal services.
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Our afternoon was serious and professional. Finally, having had enough of this earnestness, I asked Elena if she wanted to know anything about me. Sweetly and shyly, she said she really only had one comment. It seems I was the first American she had ever met. All her other images of America were from the movies. Elena told me that when we were first introduced, she was surprised because I looked so normal—not at all like a movie star. I was a relief to her—so ordinary. Now the destruction of that stereotype, I thought, was a helpful service!
Nine time zones later, Alex and I were in Kiev, Ukraine. His partners had moved there in 1997, seeing Ukraine as a “leading indicator.” They had already invested in more than eighty food production businesses. “How was I to help them?” I wondered. But Alex’s work plan reappeared, and the tutorials began.
One afternoon I presented a marketing plan to be used in Kiev. Andre listened politely, but looked bemused. Finally, he said, “Donna, we’ll take care of Ukraine. We want you to tell us how to talk to Western investors. We don’t want to look like baboons.” Well, there was little chance of that. These businessmen, all under 30, were smart, savvy, funny, charming, and incredibly industrious. They’d never be mistaken for anything simian-like, but there was something they needed—something like charm school—and I could help with that.
Was I helpful to Alex, Elena, Andre, and their colleagues? Time will tell. Of course I hope so. How helpful was the experience to me? Gentle reader, you know the answer—it was invaluable to me. Go back again? You bet. I’d even go in January!
Contributed by Donna Drummond, a retired financial consultant. In addition to being an avid skiier and cyclist, Donna is an active board member and grandmother.
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