Before studying business, I studied art. For the last 8 years, I’ve put art to one side in the pursuit of financial stability. It wasn’t something I had growing up, but I knew I wanted to return my focus to art once I had it.
My return to art began when I visited Ukraine in 2018. It started with a single poster from a flea market in Kiev, and kept growing. Over the last two years, I’ve explored many of the countries that make up the former USSR, buying thousands of vintage posters along the way.
Comrade Kiev started as a side hustle. A way to be close to art and to make a little extra money. When the world went into lockdown in March, I expected our sales to drop. But the opposite happened. We were selling more posters than before. I began to question whether it could be something more.
In May, I made the decision to make my side hustle a full-time focus at the end of 2020. I would spend the next 6 months planning in the evenings and weekends how to be my own boss for the first time. All that changed just over a month ago when I was made redundant. It meant I had to accelerate my plans.
I going to take what I’ve learnt working for other businesses, and build my own, with art at its core. A business that stands true to the values I hold close. Welcome Comrade!