Author: Hannah Cairns

As part of LoopMe’s Ukraine Support Month, August’s employee spotlights feature Ukrainian employees, who tell us more about themselves and share their experiences of life in Ukraine since February 2022.

Who are you?

What is your name and role at LoopMe?
My name is Anna Shabaieva. I manage the team of Campaign Managers here at LoopMe.

Do you have any hobbies?
I enjoy traveling and Petrykivka painting, a traditional Ukrainian decorative painting style.

What is your superpower?
I’m Ukrainian!

What is a place that you are most excited to visit in your lifetime?
I’d like to visit Alaska again, I was there 12 years ago and it’s forever in my heart.

Life in Ukraine

Can you talk about your experience the past 18 months?
It is very difficult to describe the war experience. We are watching how our country is being destroyed in real time and many people are dying every day. It’s very painful. Just as I’ve been writing this, we had a massive missile attack at night on the whole of Ukraine again. I woke up from a massive explosion at 4am. 

What do you want your team members outside of Ukraine to understand?
A big part of Ukraine is not occupied by Russia and we are trying to live normal life – but I’d like people to understand that the war has touched every family. We have Loopers who had to leave their jobs and join the army to defend our country; we have Loopers who are waiting for their husbands, brothers and fathers to come back to their families; and unfortunately we also have Loopers who already lost their loved ones.  

How do you feel supported by LoopMe?
I’ve been working at LoopMe for 7 years now, and Loopers have become a second family to me. It’s not just a job – it feels like home. 

Life at LoopMe  

Why did you decide to join LoopMe?
I wanted an opportunity to combine my professional expertise with my passion for making a difference. And I have it at LoopMe. 

Why did you decide to work in this industry?
I’ve always been passionate about marketing and advertising, and wanted to combine creative, analytical and technical skills. It’s always changing. It’s fast-paced and innovative. Every day is a little bit different.

What motivates you to come to work?
My team, the best people I know.

As part of LoopMe’s Ukraine Support Month, August’s employee spotlights will feature Ukrainian employees, who tell us more about themselves and share their experiences of life in Ukraine since February 2022.

Who are you?

What is your name and job title?
My name is Artem Koscheev. I’m a Project Manager in the Data Science team.

What is your role at LoopMe?
My role at LoopMe is to help the Data Science team work effectively on planned projects with no miscommunication between teams.

Do you have any hobbies?
Oh! A lot! Right now I am focused on reading (I prefer sci-fi and fantasy) and board games (and I’m not talking about Monopoly or Alias).

What is your superpower?
Well. As a normal Ukrainian guy I have some not one. But my favorite is my communication superpower.

What is a place that you are most excited to visit in your lifetime?
Hard to say. As of now I’d like to visit the Highlands in Scotland.

Life in Ukraine

Can you talk about your experience the past 18 months?
For the past 18 months, I have been switching between my part-time job at LoopMe and military service in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. As a mobilized soldier in the Territorial Defence of the AFU, I took part in full-scale war in Ukraine, mostly in defence operations. While in service, I reached the rank of corporal according to the NATO classification. I was a detachment leader and an instructor. When I had free time, I spent it helping the Data Science team handle projects and communication with other LoopMe teams. My family stayed in Ukraine, so when I left the forces recently I was reunited with them. And I was very happy to see them again.

What do you want your colleagues outside of Ukraine to understand?
Disclaimer: I do not intend to blame, offend or criticize anybody at LoopMe. This is my personal opinion and message, and does not reflect the opinions or thoughts of other people.

What do I want you to understand? Everything is real. Ukraine and the people in Ukraine are living in a period of war. You read about these periods in history textbooks or in literature. Or maybe you watch them in TV series or movies. For me, all these stories have become reality. I do not want any of you to go through the same experience and to gain this level of understanding. Please just take into account that every day in Ukraine people are killed and injured intentionally and with the blessing of the people of the Russian Federation. And some of your colleagues or their families could be next.

Secondly, I’d like to talk about the emotional aspect of my previous point. For now the question ‘How are you?’ is no longer a polite way to begin a conversation. Be ready to hear the real feelings and thoughts of the person you’re talking to. To give you some context here, we do not have a lot of professional psychological help here due to our history and culture, so some emotional things might be thrown at you. Sometimes it will be enough just to hear an answer which differs from “I’m fine – and you?” and show your feelings or attitude towards the situation. And that’s it. Let’s say it is a Ukrainian part of cultural diversity in LoopMe.

And, lastly, keep in mind that some basic needs here could be unavailable. I mean, rockets are still falling on our homes, so we might be having trouble sleeping, or with our gas, water or electricity supplies, or even suffering with our health. This does not lead to a lot of positive emotions, to be honest. As far as I can tell, we try to avoid bringing these problems to the office, but sometimes we just can’t. If you need to speak with someone in the Ukraine office, please check to see if there have been any strikes in the area.

How do you feel supported by LoopMe?
First of all, LoopMe still gives me a job! It is an amazing thing! Also the people I work with – my team and my manager – give me a lot of emotional support. And I think that’s an authentic part of LoopMe’s business culture. So thank you, LoopMe, for that.

Life at LoopMe

Why did you decide to join LoopMe?
“I was young and I needed money” LoopMe needed a person with good communication skills and a background in both analytics and project management, so I thought why not.

Why did you decide to work in this industry?
There are not many ways to earn a middle class income in Ukraine without dealing with corrupt authorities. IT is one of them.

What motivates you to come to work?
The people around me motivate me to come to work. As well as the interesting, challenging things that happen every day.

Life at LoopMe

Why did you decide to join LoopMe?
I wanted to be part of an established ad tech company operating with market-proven products and a “startup” mentality. I also was intrigued by the opportunity to grow a measurement business and leverage LoopMe’s proprietary DMP and AI technology. The icing on the cake was working with bright, engaging and fun people who I can learn with, lead and grow professionally and personally.

Why did you decide to work in this industry?
I love scaling ad tech companies by developing business models, establishing strategic partnerships and evolving marketing products, especially with inventive and dynamic people who share this passion. I also enjoy solving problems and cherish the moments when the marketing solutions I evangelize resolve critical challenges for clients and improve how they operate and monetize their company. Most of all, I am inspired by the fact that not every marketing problem has been figured out yet, so I can help devise and implement these solutions.

What motivates you to come to work?
Each day presents new challenges, and no two days are alike. I can be convincing a prospective partner why PurchaseLoop Brand is advantageous for their clients on Monday, negotiating a partner renewal contract on Tuesday and discussing dashboard reporting enhancements with teammates on Wednesday. Also, business is most fun when it is creative, and working with LoopMe teammates and partners enables me to apply my creative and problem-solving skills all of the time.

Who are you?

Tell us a bit about yourself.
I am a native New Yorker and l live here with my family. My wife was born in Mexico and speaks mostly in Spanish to our two kids, who attend a French bilingual school and a Mandarin after school program. So even though I have lived in this amazing city for all but one year of my life, for the last 16 years, our family has been jumping from one culture and language to another throughout our daily activities, and whenever possible, we like to add to our global journey with trips to explore Latin America, the U.S., Europe and the Middle East. I also love to go often to the theatre, concerts, museums and soccer matches with my family. While my career features business development and strategic sales roles at Nielsen, AOL, CNN and Bankrate, I also have worked in the music industry and for the children’s TV show “Sesame Street.”

Do you have any hobbies?
Since grade school, I have been playing guitar, piano and bass, as well as singing and composing pop and rock songs, and I had a rock band until our first child was born. I listen to rock, pop, new wave, hip hop, jazz, classical and world music; one of these days I will program a Spotify playlist for the NY office. I also cook, though I am hardly a gourmet chef – like many, my repertoire blossomed during the pandemic. When it comes to outdoor activities, I love playing soccer with our son, rooting for his travel team and exploring New York’s neighborhoods with my family as the streets are always changing.

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you choose and why?
I love living in New York, but if I had to live elsewhere, I would choose Paris. It is as culturally, artistically and gastronomically diverse as New York with many neighborhoods to explore but has a much deeper history, incredible architecture and easier access to Europe, Africa and the Middle East.