Blending Brands NYC to Moscow

Meet Nadia Okhunova, co-founder of K917 media and straddling the future of work from New York to Moscow. They’ve already worked with several companies in the EU. Now they’re in the US acting as a bridge between the two markets and cultures. K917 offers full cycle marketing but their main focus is collaboration between brands. One of their best examples is the mashup they did between Uber and Spotify to create a playlist for ride-share passengers.

Previously, she was a freelancer learning how to balance multiple clients. So was her co-founder. Then, about four years ago, they formed the company to make it easier to manage parallel projects and to create new opportunities for brand mashups. As this week’s guest on the Grit Daily Like a Boss podcast, Okhunova shared her views on embracing polywork.

What is polywork?

Millennials are increasingly embracing this unique approach to working. It’s all about having multiple jobs in parallel. Or, as in the case of her marketing agency, it’s having multiple clients and projects. “I’m used to managing different projects and teams at once. I always chose jobs that provide me with a wide variety of tasks and responsibilities,” said Okhunova. She continued, “Polywork allows you to try multiple careers at the same time. You enjoy flexibility and freedom. And you always have a backup plan. This type of employment requires specific skills, like multitasking, self-organization and flexibility.”

When asked about tips for successful polywork, she added, “In order to avoid burnout, get an assistant and delegate some small tasks. Plan and prioritize your tasks daily. And stay focused on the task at hand.” Probing further into how to multi-task like a champ, Okhunova had this to say, “My best tip is to be very good with your time management. Set a time for each client or project in a two hour block. Then switch. Give yourself some 5-min breaks to help you work more productively.”

Flexibility is key

For each project, they invite new people to the team. As she explained, “Freedom is important. We don’t have an office. Our culture enables people to people can work from anywhere. They can even work on side projects so long as they continue to deliver good work.”

In response to questions about how clients and marketing varies from Moscow to NYC, Okhunova suggested that it was pretty much the same. “But NYC is more creative.” Given the choice of working in the US or across the pond, she shared that her big dream was to do video campaigns for fashion brands.

Change jobs quickly if you don’t them – do the same with boyfriends!

Nadia Okhunova

That theme of flexibility is echoed in the statements made by nearly every entrepreneur who has guest starred on our Like a Boss podcast. In Okhunova’s words, “I wish that someone would have told me that making your own business as a startup means that everything changes everyday. And that you need to adjust to it and be creative. It’s okay that your vision and strategy doesn’t work. When it doesn’t work, just come up with a new one.”