In this month’s edition of the Guru Spotlight interview series, we speak to our Customer Experience Specialist, Irina Sanzarova. Find out how many languages she speaks, which one she learnt watching overdubbed Japanese cartoons, why she thinks the culture at the company means she can approach any of her colleagues for a chat, why it’s a joy working with Estateguru’s investors, and why she thinks exceptionally talented people will be happy working for the company.
How long have you been at EstateGuru
I joined on my birthday, on the first of June, so it’s now been 9 months. I had started getting interested in the topic of investing, and the concept of building wealth, and eventually I decided I would like to change my field and my work environment and then the opportunity at Estateguru arose and I went for it.
What’s your mission at Estateguru?
I’m the first point of contact for our investors. If they have any issues, big or small, it’s my responsibility to try and resolve them. I’m the person behind the info@estateguru.co account. I’m the one responding, and supporting our customer relations team, in Estonian, Russian, German and English…
You speak all of those languages?
Yes, I think one of the reasons Estateguru hired me is because of my competence in the German language, which meant I could support our rapidly growing German investors in their native language. My career has always been connected to the German language. I studied it in school and university and lived in Germany, but I first started learning it from a Japanese cartoon that was dubbed into German.
And the other languages, did you study them as well?
I studied English myself, and I studied Estonian because I live here (laughs). Russian is my Native language. My mom was born in Estonia, my dad is from Russia, but he moved here when he was two, but we spoke it at home and I now speak it in my home with my children.
Estateguru’s key values are growth orientation, boldness, freedom, empathy. How do you experience these values at Estateguru?
On a daily basis. Even today over lunch, when we all met as a team to discuss the situation in Ukraine, there’s a strong sense of togetherness. The language of the company is English, so we can all communicate with one another, and I have the feeling that because of the culture here, if we needed to talk to Mihkel (Stamm, COO), or Marek (Pärtel, CEO), you wouldn’t have to consider them a VIP or schedule a meeting, you could just go and speak with them.
So if I’m having a bad day, you reckon I could pour my heart out to the CEO?
I think that everyone is very open and I really enjoy the working environment. The people and culture team have done an amazing job hiring the top people and I still find myself wondering how I ended up working here, surrounded by so many amazing talents.
I wonder the same thing about myself. What do you like most about working at Estateguru?
It’s one of the first jobs that I’ve done that I really like doing, and I think that customer support is something that I really love to do. And I think that has a lot to do with the whole attitude at Estateguru, and the support and encouragement that I have received from my team lead. I feel confident that I can grow in this position, and learn. Our investors are very polite, positive and understanding. It’s far less stressful than my previous jobs.
Tell me something interesting about yourself. What are your quirks and what do you like doing in your spare time?
I consider myself quite a boring person in that regard. I like the simple things in life, like a nice dinner with friends or a good movie, a walk in nature or on the beach. We have some beautiful beaches and hiking trails. I also enjoy watching movies and I improved my English by watching English programs.
Why do you think exceptional talents should join Estateguru?
There are ample opportunities for growth, and you’ll have great colleagues with whom you can also socialise in your private time. The culture isn’t all about work; you can really get to know people. It’s not a typical 9-5 job, where you work in the office every day. And since the company is growing, you will have numerous opportunities to develop in multiple fields. If you discover you like something different, Estateguru will provide you the opportunity to develop other skills.
