This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Victoria Repa, the 30-year-old CEO and founder of
I expected to face a lot of challenges as a business leader, but a full-scale war wasn't one of them. On February 24, 2022, I woke up to a dreadful new reality for my Kyiv-based company: Russia had invaded our country. As soon as the war started, I understood that my No. 1 priority needed to be my team. My focus became attending to their safety, health, and happiness. If that meant we'd IPO in three to five years instead, that was fine — we could have the patience to care for our people.