“I was born into a century and a family that went through every kind of disruption imaginable. I come from […] Central Asia, which has gone through tremendous turbulence: two brutal world wars, multiple civil wars in between every kind of disruption possible, and then that finished with the collapse of our government,“ Nadya Zhexembayeva tells Andrew Wrobel in the fourth episode of Emerging Europe Talks She’s Next empowered by Visa.  

Her first job was in an insurance business selling life insurance in the collapsing Soviet Union. Now Nadya is a recovering academic scientist, entrepreneur, educator, and the founder and chief reinvention officer at ⁠Reinvention Academy⁠.  

“And if for some people stability is a norm, for me, turbulence is the norm. Today, as we face all kinds of disruption, it’s a competitive advantage, meaning I am more ready to deal with change.”  

“Imagine this scene, a relatively young professor at business school meets a vice president of a bank in the same class,” says Cristina Doros, now vice president, regional manager for Central Asia and Azerbaijan at Visa, who first med Nadya back in 2009.  

“It's an inspiration because sometimes when you feel down, when you think your things are going south and you are no good at anything, then I see, I look at Nadya's speeches, I listen to her online, I read the post and I said to myself, OK, you know what, that's the meaning you've been missing.”  

“We are all learning from each other and in that environment, it's all about creating conditions where we can all share, because the wisdom in the room is tremendous with all of these executives,” Nadya adds.