For years, my professional world as a lawyer / procurement specialist was built on logic, but deep down, I had a forgotten desire to create and design. My inner transformation at inDrive began with a small act of trust from my manager: the chance to make a simple presentation not just informative, but visually engaging. That single creative task was a spark that reawakened a hidden talent, allowing me to blend my analytical mind with a passion for design.

It made me realize that it's the people and culture at inDrive that truly facilitate these changes, trusting us to be more than our job titles. My journey here has taught me to never be afraid to pursue the passions hidden within us, because sometimes all it takes is a little encouragement to remember what you're capable of creating.

Stepping into a fast-paced, high-performance environment has always energized me, and inDrive is exactly that. But what’s stayed with me most isn’t just the speed or ambition; it’s the people. From my very first days, I was met with so much support, kindness, and genuine willingness to help. That experience shaped the way I see leadership. Now, whenever a new colleague joins, I make it a point to create that same warm, welcoming space, because those first impressions matter.

Over time, I’ve grown in ways I didn’t expect. I’ve become more intentional, more empathetic, and more focused on how we achieve results, not just the results themselves. I even started improving my Russian to connect better with colleagues, and I love how a simple message can lead to laughs and emoji-filled reactions. It’s in these everyday moments that I see the heart of inDrive’s mission, not only challenging injustice out there in the world, but also building something deeply human, together.

I’ve been working at inDrive for 9 years – a third of my life.

I’ve found love and got married, made friends, played in a rock band, and built a board game collection. I traveled abroad for the first time, moved to another country, and bought a house there – something I’d been working toward for years. I learned two new languages, became confident in English, changed roles six times, built my dream team – and later disbanded it. The company evolved, and I evolved with it.

Everything has changed in these 9 years – my whole life, really – but I want to focus on the three most meaningful lessons I’ve learned.

Everything depends on me. To make a change, you have to act – and action shapes what matters. I realized this during the Activity Map project, which became my biggest failure. Ironically, or thanks to it, I saw that we’re not just here to complete tasks. We can live comfortably by executing what’s given – or take real responsibility and define what we do and how we do it. But most importantly – why. These aren’t just backlog items; they’re intentional changes in a living system with the purpose. That’s how we make an impact.

Humanity and common sense above all. This isn’t just a nice phrase – it’s a core principle. In any tough situation, I lean toward the kindest, most respectful path – that’s how I define common sense. We aren’t just resources. We are the people, working with the people. And yes, I believe we do share a sense of what common sense means – at least to some extent.

Adaptability is everything. We shouldn’t cling to what’s familiar or blindly follow established rules. The world changes faster than we can track – and we change even faster. Ask me what inDrive was 9, 6, or 3 years ago – each time, it was something completely different. The same goes for me. What once felt foundational is now gone. What once worked no longer fits. Something new and alive has taken its place. To keep up, we have to stay open, flexible – and ready to perform on the edge.

I’ve been at inDrive for over three years, and while I’m still very much in the process of growing, I can definitely say that some things have changed. It’s not just about the skills I’ve picked up (though those matter too), but about how I’ve started to shift on the inside — how I see things, how I relate to others, and how open I’ve become to new ideas and to people around me.

One of the biggest changes has been learning to really listen — not just to people from all kinds of places, but also to myself. I’ve started relying more on my inner sense of direction, even when the path ahead is unclear. That’s still hard sometimes — I don’t always get it right — but I’ve become a bit more comfortable with not having all the answers.

I’ve become more curious, more willing to explore, and more open to everything I don’t yet know. I try to notice beauty more often — in people, in moments, in small things — and to value each and every minute of life.

When I joined inDrive, I came in with full notebooks and a cautious mindset. I knew how to write clearly, lead with structure, and get things done. What I didn’t expect was how gently — and powerfully — my team would help me unlearn. I started listening more before executing, asking what matters to people before jumping into tasks and deadlines.

The biggest shift? I stopped looking at things on a task level and started chasing connection and impact — the kind that makes people pause and feel. I wasn’t just welcomed; I was trusted. Given space to ask, try, challenge — and most importantly, grow. Feedback here wasn’t correction, it was honest, thoughtful conversation that helped me find my voice.

In that space of trust and safety, I started creating not just to inform, but to move. I leaned in — not to echo, but to lead. At inDrive, I’ve grown into a version of myself that’s clear, confident, and rooted in who I am. I’m more connected — to my work, to the people I work with, and to the people we create for.

As I’m writing a note for inFaces, the most visible change  over almost 4 years here is probably that my hair is long 🙂

But the real shift happened from my very first day, when I opened a dashboard and saw the volume of daily rides. At that moment, I realized that what I used to consider “above and beyond” was just the starting line.

Since then, everything has changed: the way I think, the way I lead, the way I connect dots between data and people. And of course — the hair.

But most importantly, I’ve learned that growth at inDrive feels natural. When you’re surrounded by smart people, bold projects, and a company that’s moving so fast, you can’t help but grow — as long as you’re ready to take responsibility.

Working at inDrive has completely reshaped how I view the role of communications and its impact. Transitioning from the agency world to leading Comms in Brazil has pushed me to be far more proactive and accountable — not just creating content, but owning the outcomes behind it. I’ve had to adopt a more strategic mindset, anticipating needs, connecting people and goals, and acting as the “glue” between internal teams, external audiences, and business objectives. Being responsible for both storytelling and results has elevated the way I approach every initiative.

This evolution has been strongly influenced by inDrive’s purpose-driven mission, which truly guides how we work and communicate. It’s helped me embrace new, more collaborative ways of working — with more transparency, regional exchange, and a focus on real impact. As part of the LatAm Comms team, I actively share learnings and challenges with peers across countries, while also learning daily from our local Brazilian team. Being immersed in the fast-paced mobility sector has deepened my understanding of the market and strengthened my belief in communications as a tool for both awareness and meaningful change.

Ever since university, I’ve been driven by the desire to make a positive change. My entire background is rooted in social initiatives, research, and human rights. But in the past, I often found myself demotivated - working in companies whose values didn’t align with mine made me question the meaning of my work. Joining inDrive changed that. One of my very first tasks was to support the operations behind the Alternativa screenings in Almaty. I had the chance to personally experience and share the power of watching a socially important movie with local audiences - that moment made my early days at inDrive so special.

Later, thanks to the support of my manager, I had the opportunity to design and crash test a social initiative at Discovery phase - and it was even included in our internal Playbook on how to craft social projects! For the first time, I feel that my personal values fully align with my company’s mission. I’m inspired by the Impact Department team I work with - people who encourage creativity and give space to make a real impact, not only on internal processes but on real lives. It’s deeply fulfilling to finally say: me and my workplace are striving for the same goal - to drive positive change in the world.

To be honest, joining inDrive marked one of the most transformative chapters of my life. Beyond moving me to another country and changing all my perspectives — it gave me something far more powerful: freedom. Like, big time. The freedom to explore who I could be professionally. The freedom to admit you don’t know everything. And the freedom to grow into what you could be.

For the first time, I felt I was building a career on my own terms—shaping roles, forming best teams, creating brands and solving problems that actually mattered. I wasn’t just working within a system—I was helping to shape one, yet making it my own.

The biggest thing was realizing I could create this kind of freedom for others. To build a creative space where people feel empowered, supported, and challenged. To create an impact—and an experience—that lasts long after their time here. Because in the end, people are still your master key.

Funny enough, even with the bigger picture in sight and all the plans & predictions, inDrive showed me that things don’t always need to go as planned— ’cause sometimes the unexpected is where the real good stuff is. 

Coming from a high-pressure environment where everything moved at lightning speed, I rarely had the chance to pause. The pace was relentless, and slowing down often felt like falling behind. But since joining inDrive, I’ve been introduced to something I hadn’t truly experienced before: "balance".

Working across multiple countries and juggling diverse priorities, I expected things to only get faster than what I was used to. But instead, I discovered that taking a step back doesn’t mean I’m losing momentum. Slowing down, even just for a moment, helped me gain clarity, calmness, and a deeper sense of purpose in my work. It taught me that productivity isn’t always about speed, it’s about direction and presence.

This shift didn’t happen by itself, but I’ve been incredibly lucky to have peers and leaders who not only trusted me to grow in my own way but also gently reminded me, when needed, to take a breath. Their support created space for real growth not just professionally, but personally. That, for me, has been the most meaningful change.

My sense of security, confidence, and aspirations to keep growing — before joining inDrive, I had a job where I didn’t see any growth opportunity area, no matter my effort and dedication. Here, it has been completely different. From the very beginning, your own teammates inspire and encourage you to move forward and seek growth.

Thanks to that, I was able to gain the confidence I was missing and continue working toward achieving both my professional and personal growth. Now, because of all this, my perspective has changed — I believe my dreams and aspirations are possible, and that inspires me to keep fighting every day.

For a long time, I found it hard to let go of people, situations, and expectations. I used to hold tightly to what felt dear to me, struggling when things changed. But my transformation at inDrive began when my boss showed trust in me: allowing me the freedom and responsibility to navigate challenging situations with my own judgment and intuition.

That trust unlocked something within me. I started to trust myself more, to listen to my intuition and believe in my cause and purpose. I came to realize that there’s a reason I ended up at inDrive: to learn patience, diplomacy, and acceptance.

Working here has taught me that everyone has a purpose and a lesson to offer where some people are meant to stay, while others will eventually move on. I learned to see that this is just life: nothing is permanent, and change is the only constant.

Most importantly, I’ve learned to stay calm even in the midst of chaos. Surrounded by colleagues and leaders who lead with composure, I’ve seen how things will eventually fall into place when handled with patience and grace.

It made me realize that it’s the trust, people, and culture at inDrive that truly enable this transformation — allowing us to become more than our roles and titles, helping us grow in ways that go far beyond the workplace.

I became even more open to new cultures, and my sense of responsibility and initiative has strengthened. I realized that consistent effort on any skill will definitely pay off - and I experienced that myself when I received the Inner Drive Award Gold, as a symbol of recognition for my efforts.

During my time here, I’ve gained experience in project management and learned to actively participate in team collaboration. My perspective has also shifted - I’ve learned how to balance business goals with people management, understanding how important it is to consider both the company’s and the team’s interests to achieve shared success.

Before joining inDrive, I used to separate the world of business and the things that made the world a better place — to me, they were two different lives. One was about achieving results, the other about meaning — outside working hours.

Now, these two paths have come together into one story. In nearly two years at inDrive, I’ve had the chance to contribute to the promotion of a documentary film, support communications for our impact projects, and take part in developing our internal sports initiatives.

It’s changed the way I see my work — it’s no longer just about tasks or goals, but about real people and real change. And that shift has been one of the most meaningful parts of my journey here.