IT families: Beksultan Turgunbaev and Tatty Tuleberdieva

Beksultan Turgunbaev, city — Bishkek, Python developer, Linkedin

Tatty Tuleberdieva, city — Bishkek, project manager, Linkedin

About Us

Tatty. I am an IT project manager at Megacom, where I lead a government project in the FinTech sector. Previously, I worked at KARPOU, where I implemented social projects aimed at spreading IT in the regions.

Beksultan. I work as a Python developer at CreaSoft, a company that creates solutions for the banking sector. We develop products for banks and microcredit companies. We met at the IT academy KARPOU, where I worked as a teacher and taught programming.

How We Entered the IT Field

Beksultan. We probably entered this field like many others. Overall, we heard about good salaries, but the main factor wasn't the salary itself, but rather the opportunity to do something new and interesting. Currently, I work full-time from 08:30 to 17:30 in the office. That is the best part of my current situation.

Tatty. At first, I was just a project manager, focusing more on social projects funded from abroad. At some point, someone simply asked me: "We need a PM, maybe you'd be good at it. Would you like to try?" So I decided to give it a try. I am still learning, and it is still difficult. This schedule is a bit exhausting, but you get used to it. I have been working like this for three years now.

If you think about it, perhaps without the COVID-19 pandemic, my husband and I would never have met. He was studying in China, where the virus began to spread. Due to the pandemic, he had to return to Bishkek, where he started learning programming and teaching. It was there that our paths crossed.

Distribution of Responsibilities

Beksultan. Our household is arranged casually, without a strict division of labor. We don't say to each other, "You should cook, and I should clean," — we simply don't do that. Both of us work full-time in the office and come home tired, so we try to do chores as best we can.

If I feel energetic, I can cook dinner myself, set the table, or clean up. On other days, when I am more tired, Tatty takes care of everything. Cleaning is also spontaneous: sometimes I vacuum and wipe surfaces, sometimes she does. It is not a strict 50/50 split, but rather a flexible system where we simply adjust to each other.

Tatty. Free time is hard for us to come by because we have different preferences. Beksultan prefers to relax at home on weekends, whereas I, on the contrary, want to go somewhere, see something new, or engage in active recreation.

But we reach a compromise. Sometimes we stay home on weekends, sometimes we go to the mountains, and on other days we finish our tasks. We do not have a single shared hobby.

Family Traditions

Beksultan. We are a relatively young family, but from the very beginning of our relationship, we established traditions that we still follow today. One of them is that on the 13th of every month, I give my wife a bouquet of flowers.

Tatty. The second tradition, which appeared early in our relationship, is that Beksultan constantly invited me somewhere: we had dinner, breakfast, and lunch together, and it was always different cafes and restaurants. I am naturally an independent person, used to providing for myself, and at first, it was difficult for me to accept his care.

Therefore, I insisted for a long time that once a month I would invite him myself — choosing a restaurant or coffee shop and treating him. This tradition stuck, and now on the 20th of every month, we have a small dinner — but initiated by me.

Combining Household and Work

Tatty. I wouldn't say that everything is either easy or hard for us. Due to full-time work, it is sometimes difficult to find balance, and we are still learning how to do it. Things don't always go smoothly — if the week turns out to be difficult, we simply rest on the weekends, and household chores are left for later.

For us, it is important to rest well, because it is better to recover your strength and work productively than to walk around tired all week.

Recommendations for a Happy Family Life

Beksultan. In fact, we are still searching for the formula for a happy family life. We are a young family, and in April, it will be one year since our wedding. But, in my opinion, the most important thing is to support each other, understand each other, and, even more importantly, listen.

Tatty. It is important not just to listen, but to hear. Especially when you see that a person is tired or something has happened — sometimes it is better to just give them time to rest, and then offer support and help.

How IT Families Differ from Others

Beksultan. An IT family differs in that both the husband and wife work in the same field. This leads to better mutual understanding, as they face similar tasks and problems. Sometimes they even help each other — for example, when my wife had questions about certain topics, I could explain, tell, or even show her practically as I worked through them.

Another commonality in such families is a deep professional understanding. We speak the same language, discuss work, and this makes our bond even stronger.

How can IT families differ? If spouses work remotely, they spend a lot of time together — sitting at home, working side by side, and seeing each other every day.

Our family differs from others in that we are on the same wavelength — both in work and in life.

Tatty. The advantage of us both being IT specialists is that we are not only spouses but also partners. If we have an idea for a business or see a promising opportunity, we can quickly implement it ourselves. I can write a technical specification, and my husband can promptly bring it to life.

We already had such experience. In our family business, there was a need to automate some processes. I wrote the technical specification, and my husband developed the system. Now it is much easier and faster to work: if it used to take half an hour to complete a task, now it takes a maximum of 10–15 minutes.

This is probably the main advantage: we can apply our skills in real life, making our work easier and moving forward.