IT families: Konstantin Kim and Natalia Ni

Constantine Kim, city — Tashkent, project manager, Instagram, LinkedIn

Natalya Ni, city — Tashkent, project manager, Instagram, LinkedIn

About Us

Kostya. Three years ago, I spoke at the professional community Agile Uzbekistan on the topic of creating EdTech products. Natasha organized the meeting for the Agile community, and that’s how we met.

How we entered the IT field

Kostya. Since childhood, I was interested in Lego and computer games. Then, in fifth grade, I got my first computer and internet access. I started getting interested in installing software, custom phone firmware, and so on. That’s why I enrolled in technical systems management, knowing that was where I needed to be. At university, we mostly worked on projects, participated in hackathons, and received a grant for developing wearable devices in medicine. Later, my interests expanded to education, and I became interested in projects at the intersection of education and IT.

Natasha. Since school, I’ve always liked math. And this love for math continued in lyceum. I planned to enter university on a state-funded basis in finance, but I ended up studying applied mathematics and computer science. That’s how I got closer to the IT field. In my master’s studies, I became interested in business analysis, and that’s where my career path began; later, I moved into project management. Today, I work as a project manager in an international company.

Family traditions

Kostya. We have a shared hobby — cooking. We love eating, and our love for food turned into a hobby. On weekdays, Natasha cooks, and on weekends, I do. But cooking isn’t seen as a chore for us. Just like in IT, we outsource some household tasks.

Natasha. Sometimes we use services for household tasks, using various platforms to free up time and spend it together. We have a tradition of weekend breakfasts together. More often, during our shared time, we plan trips to the countryside and cooking over an open fire.

Kostya and Natasha. We try to celebrate all family holidays with family. We love gathering all relatives around one big table, where all the food is prepared by us. Especially in warm weather, when we grill steaks or burgers on the barbecue. Gathering and feeding relatives well is our language of love.

Combining home life and work

Natasha. We simply take many household matters in stride. If we don’t have time or lack it, we prefer to hire help for household tasks, including house cleaning and ordering food. Ordering food is less frequent. Cooking is enjoyable and serves as a form of meditation for me.

Recommendations for a happy life

Kostya. Support and belief in each other, understanding of shared long-term goals — all of this makes our family happy.

Natasha. Once, we decided that we want to live a long and happy life together. For this, we plan long-term goals, resolve misunderstandings, and care for each other.

How IT families differ from others

Natasha and Kostya. Our field of work definitely influences our lives. Tools and professional skills help strengthen family life. For example, just like in a project, we have financial planning in our family, and we use automated spreadsheets for this. Another example: retrospectives. Just like at work, we hold retrospectives in our family life and think about what we can improve.