I returned to Russia, elated and inspired by the fact that I would now put all of my lived international experience into practice there. I had so many ideas and seemingly so much inspiration, but I was immediately confronted with a new reality that I was not prepared for.

I worked a lot and once I realized that I was exhausted. But I still gave it my all and took on all kinds of projects. At some point, it all piled up so much that I stopped and said that I couldn't think about art and design all the time anymore. I've been doing it for so many years, but it's not the only thing you can do. So I announced an art detox.

Naturally, I had to think about what to do. My plan was to make a passive income, which would allow me not to think about my daily bread. And then to look for an activity that I wanted to dedicate myself to. This is where I reached my goal, thanks to several financial projects and investments.

At first I even forgot about the purpose of finding a life occupation and enjoyed a serene life, but after a couple of years it became even more unbearable than recycling.

Finding purpose became an idea-fix at some point. I thought about it all the time. Periodically, I would find myself going, "Oh, I found it!" And so I decided to teach foreigners the Russian language and create an educational platform, then I went to Poland to train as a producer, then I studied sculpture in St. Petersburg. But everything turned out to be wrong.

There have already been a few cases in my life when working with experts saved me a lot of time in something. And I clearly understood what I needed a coach for - I needed the right questions to ask myself. "And the answers are all already in us, we don't even need Google" - as one monk told me in a Buddhist temple.

I already realized after 1 or 2 sessions that I needed to go back to design. This is what I love most of all and what I am most professional at. But I had to figure out exactly what to do there so I wouldn't burn out again.

I always wanted to do residential interiors and all my life I've been doing commercial interiors because I've always been confused about 2 things about residential:
1. everyone has different style preferences and lifestyles. I did not want to convince or impose their ideas, or to adjust to the tastes of the customer;
2. The cost of repairs are always large. And you need to be able to talk to people sensitively about the costs of home design.
When working with commercial spaces, these issues fell away: it is important that the design likes the majority, not a particular customer, and the budget for repairs tend to pay off. But my soul has always looked toward home interiors.

Then Marina and I worked on finding specifics. We had already decided on the main thing, but interior design is too big a professional field and there is too much to do.

And as a result, it finally opened up something that I have probably been striving for all my life and that is my strong point: home-staging, which is a subspecialty in interior design. It combines both the interior of the house and the obvious commercial benefits and design without being tied to individuality.

Yes! Now I help owners of apartments and houses to sell or rent their properties faster and at a higher cost by creating a visually appealing space. And I also work with realtors, because the efficiency of transactions for them when working with me also increases.

All my relatives and friends said that it was just my thing. And then they admitted that even though they supported me in all my endeavors before, but now they're 100% sure that it's for me.

And I know myself that I have been doing it all my life for free, and now I'm ready to build my career on it, and in Russia the scale of the work to be done is especially great.

Now I am in the South of Russia preparing my parents house for sale, and on my arrival, I have another job here.
I have a lot to do :)

What advice would I give to people who are looking for themselves?
Probably not to suffer, thinking about my purpose, as I did for years. And if such a call arises, then go to a expert, with whom you will sort out your entire professional life, skills and goals in a much shorter time. You can also go somewhere to meditate for a couple of weeks, there too often happen "epiphanies" if you have enough time for that:)

1. If you feel that you have lost yourself, do not rush to radically change your field of work. Look at what are the areas not far from yours, where your current competencies and knowledge can be useful and in doing so you can change what you don't like about your job today.

2. To find something you will really enjoy, you need to take action and try and test hypotheses. The easiest way to find your dream job: figure out what you like and start exploring that field

3. Many of us dream of a passive income and think that it can be the solution to all our problems, but Tatiana's experience teaches us how important professional fulfillment is for a person..