Building an Exceptional Team and Culture: RetailNext Russia Story

In the children's summer camp, when the guitar classics were considered to be Yuri Vizbor and Bulat Okudzhava (let’s call them Bob Dylan Leonard Cohen of those times) and we had a song: "And everything comes to an end, comes to an end, comes to an end..." Everything eventually comes to an end, as everything flows and changes, and so came to a close the story of the Russian branch of the international company RetailNext. The office and team that set an example in Nizhny Novgorod for many years, the startup culture we began building as young university graduates and former interns at Orion Innovations (ex-Mera) and Intel. I became a "22 year old" director, barely finishing my second degree in international law from Lobachevsky University, embarking on an incredibly captivating journey without any plans at all, as I had dreamt of a career as a tax consultant or auditor. "To amuse God, tell Him your plans", they say.

The small story of big changes began in 2015 when a small development and support team joined the global RetailNext team, at that time, we were about 10 people. We started hiring and developing our brand in the Russian market, building expertise and participating in various events, from horse-drawn carriage races to international technical conferences.

In 2017, we moved to a new, large office in the heart of Nizhny Novgorod and in 2018 we took part in the DevFest by Google Developers Group Community (where I volunteered, special thanks for this opportunity goes to Ekaterina (Katya) Vinnichenko and Sasha Denisov ) for the first time. Our colleague Muir Manders flew in from the USA to give a talk on Golang. It was a real blast!

It seemed as though the world was shedding conventions, distances, and boundaries. Globalisation became the word of the year. Our team made it to the pages of the magazine covering the best events of the time. We went to a Ember.js meet up in St. Petersburg organised by Alex Kanunnikov , and then to Copenhagen for an Ember Fest.

Riding on the wave of inspiration, we created the first Ember.js community in Russia, organised a series of meet ups, launched swag, and designed a local version of Tomster (Ember's mascot). Thank you so much for the support and inspiration, especially Leah Silber (you can't imagine how happy people were to receive the cutest swag in the World) and global Ember community members ??

Developers from different parts of Russia came to speak at our events. RetailNext developers started presenting at external meet ups, too, - including Women in Tech (do you remember how warm the feedback from the audience was Anastasia Guseva ?) . Dasha Kolistratova (hello, Daria Kolistratova !) even appeared in a glossy magazine as a female programmer, golang evangelist, and active speaker.?

Any genius depends mainly on energy. "Positive life complication," - in other words, enthusiasm, - has always been my life motto. So, the team "endured" and participated in all eight types of sports at the "IT Sport Games" of Nizhny Novgorod - a legendary event essentially created by HR professionals from different companies without significant financial investments (this part of my life requires a separate story). We won quite a few medals and cups, considering the small size of our office compared to companies like Intel (with their professional soccer team), EPAM, Orion Innovations (ex-Mera), Harman, NetCracker, and others. Without false modesty, I consider our team heroes!

In 2018, the whole country celebrated the World Cup. Football news was coming from every corner, the cities where matches were held were abuzz with fans from different countries.

Riding on this wave, enthusiasts from our team created an app while on a yoga tour (hello Andrey Fel and Artem Zhivoderov), allowing employees to place bets on matches, participate in online trivia, take thematic quizzes, and make presentations about their favourite teams. Participants earned "rncoins" for all activities, and leaders in the rankings received prizes.

We were flexible, made quick decisions, traveled, and flew somewhere all the time. Before the pandemic, we were the first in the industry to organise a corporate RetailNext regatta.

During the pandemic times, we all missed the office and each other so badly that during the call about a serious situation caused by offline store closures and figures, we smiled at each other from ear to ear, leaving the leadership team with numerous questions. It was awkward, but it was so pleasant to see familiar faces, even if only online.

During my last official business trip to Nizhny Novgorod, I got into a taxi in a somewhat downcast mood. The driver complimented me and said something quite therapeutic and approving, "Movement is life! If you're not moving and changing, it means you're dead." In fact, this phrase was in response to my complaints about the endless repairs in the city center, but if you think about it, it's applicable to absolutely any aspect of our lives. And so, ahead of us lies movement, life, new projects, and people!

We had an internal joke about a kayaking trip because it always got postponed for some silly reasons. This gestalt finally has been closed, and now the office is closed too!

Thank you to everyone who was part of this beautiful story - employees, partners, and colleagues in the trade who supported us. I continue my journey as an HR BP in the global company RetailNext and will warmly remember our adventures with the team in Russia.

You are forever in my heart!!! ??????

The show must go on!

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