Name: Yulia Drummond
Age: 30
Job Title and Description: Co-owner, designer and model. I own a swimwear company called Voda Swim with my husband. I design the collection with the help of my assistant designer and model the line.
Website: www.VodaSwim.com
Twitter Handle: @VodaSwim
What does your current job entail? Is there such a thing as a typical day?
Yulia Drumond: Each day is never the same as the last—the only typical thing is making important decisions. I wear many hats when it comes to running Voda Swim. As a co-owner, I make plans with my husband for future growth and expansion. As a designer, I pick colors and prints for our collections [as well as] come up with new swimwear styles. I sew the first samples, make patterns and work closely with our manufacturing team to create quality swimsuits. I enjoy the variety of my work and the creative aspect of designing swimwear.
What is the best part of your job?
YD: I enjoy being able to work closely with my husband because we make a great team. We work well together and have different strengths and weaknesses that create a balanced team.
What inspired you to create a swimsuit line?
YD: For the longest time, I couldn’t find the perfect bikini that would make me feel sexy and confident. That inspired me to create Voda Swim’s Envy Push Up® line, swimsuits that increase the appearance of a women’s bust by one to two cup sizes, provide amazing cleavage, lift and support, have low water-absorbency and most importantly, give women confidence on the beach.
What is one thing you wish you knew about your industry when you first started out that you know now?
YD: Stick to what you do best and be true to your product. When we started our business, we wanted to do too many things at once. We quickly realized that women know us for making an amazing push up swimsuit. Now, we focus on creating a great product and we’re not rushing to expand into different areas. Being a leader in a niche industry is a great place to be.
Who is one person who changed your professional life for the better?
YD: I give a huge credit in my professional development to a book called The Success Principles by Jack Canfield. I must have read the book at least five times, especially in the early stages of our business. When you start a business, you have so many challenges on your way that sometimes [makes] you want to give up and forget about it. The Success Principles gave me the courage to believe in myself, be persistent, believe that everything is possible, surround myself with positive people, create a vision board (road to success) for the business and to just do it!
What words of wisdom do you find most valuable?
YD: I love the words of author Ben Stein:”The indispensable first step to getting the things you want out of life is this: decide what you want.” I always say, “How do you know if you are going to get there if you don’t know where you are going?” It is really simple—you have to decide what you want. It is important to have dreams, goals, desires, a wish list or a vision board.
What are your tips for balancing a professional and personal relationship with your husband?
YD: It is very simple for us: we keep business and personal life separate. This can be difficult because we have exciting days and difficult days, and we always want to talk about them. To help us separate our personal and business life, we came up with a code word to stop talking about business during personal time. If we are not at the office and either one of us says, “Muffins,” we just change the subject.
What is one mistake you made along the way and what did you learn from it?
YD: The biggest mistake we made was not having clear job titles when we first started Voda Swim. This led to a confusion of responsibilities as well as many arguments between my husband and me. We sat down and decided to split up the responsibilities in the business. I am the creative side of Voda Swim and take care of everything involving the design and production of our swimwear. My husband is the operations side and is in charge of marketing, sales, accounting and other [administrative] operations. This definition of responsibilities helps us work together in harmony—we ask each other for advice instead of telling each other what to do.
What do you look for when considering hiring someone?
YD: It definitely depends on the position I’m hiring for. Different positions require a very different set of skills. But I always look at the education, skills and industry-related experience, and I always check references. On top of that, I evaluate the person’s personality, character and other qualities at the interview to see if they would work well in our work environment.
What advice would you give to a 20-something with similar aspirations?
YD: Never give up and never stop dreaming. Many people give up at the early stages of idea development or believe that their dreams are simply unattainable. The truly successful people in life are the ones who have a dream and go for it.