IT families: Nurgazy Ordobaev and Syrga Tilekova

Nurgazy Ordobaev, city — Bishkek, CEO AIRUN, product manager, Instagram

Syrga Tilekova, city — Bishkek, CEO NB FIT, product marketing, Instagram

About Us

Syrga. Currently, I am the CEO of the startup NB FIT — a service that helps women around the world recover after childbirth. I have been in the IT field since 2017.

Nurgazy. I am a co-founder of NB FIT, as well as a co-founder and CEO of the startup Airun. We help small and medium-sized businesses quickly go online, start selling, and automate certain processes. 

Syrga. My husband and I met when we were both 18. At that time, the "Mail.ru Agent" app was popular — a kind of social network and an analog of Tinder from that era.

We have been married for six years, we have a child and two startups.

How we entered the IT field

Nurgazy. I entered the IT field in 2017. At that time, I worked in the sales department of an information agency and for the first time encountered the fact that a website could be monetized. It was a news portal that independently sold its digital products. I liked how this field works and decided to launch my own project — an online pharmacy. At that moment, it seemed to me that everything would turn out perfectly, but it turned out to be my first failure. Nevertheless, I did not lose interest in IT. After the failure, I realized that I lacked knowledge and competencies, and began to try myself in different areas of the IT field.

Syrga. In 2017, I worked in a Chinese logistics company — stably and successfully. At that time, Nurgazy, having received an education in the IT field, began to enthusiastically share his impressions about the new profession. His enthusiasm inspired me so much that within a year I decided to make radical changes. Having saved some money, I left logistics and went on a free internship at a digital company. Since then, since 2018, I have been in IT. I tried myself in different areas, and after some time I was invited to an international IT startup — this is where a new stage of my career began.

Distribution of responsibilities

Syrga. There is really little free time when you are a startup founder — it is literally worth its weight in gold. Therefore, we try to spend it qualitatively, in the company of our family and our little child. I am responsible for the health of the family: I make sure that everyone visits doctors on time, and that there are the necessary vitamins and medicines at home. And purchasing groceries is already Nurgazy's area of responsibility; he provides for us.

We rarely cook at home — a couple of times a week, at most three. And we try to clean together, dividing responsibilities as much as possible.

Nurgazy. Sometimes we call a cleaning service, but in general, we try to take care of household matters ourselves. In fact, everything depends on our workload. But with the appearance of our little startup — a child, our world has completely turned upside down in eight months, because before the child appeared, we could work 24/7.

Family traditions

Syrga. Our family traditions have probably become so ingrained in everyday life that I don't even immediately realize them as traditions. For example, we try to go to nature at least once a month — to the mountains or to Issyk-Kul, to breathe fresh air and just recharge.

As for regular habits — every weekend we try to walk with the child. Saturday or Sunday almost always starts with coffee and a family walk.

We also have our own little tradition of celebrating our anniversary — not only once a year, but every month, on the fourth. We congratulate each other, give small gifts, create pleasant little things that make weekdays warmer.

As for family values, with experience I came to an important realization. Nurgazy and I both grew up in incomplete families — I with my grandmother, then with my mother, he — also without the constant presence of both parents. And now we together try to build that very family where there is both a mother and a father. For us, this is a new model that we had not seen in our personal experience. We often discuss this and believe that it is in an atmosphere of stability, care, and support from both sides that a confident, strong, and independent person is formed. It is not always easy, but we try to stick to this path.

Combining household chores and work

Syrga. Combining household chores and work is difficult. Sometimes it seems like you are simultaneously flying with a parachute, drinking hot coffee, holding a child in your arms, and responding to work messages. There are dozens of tasks in your head, everything is spinning in parallel, and multitasking mode is on 24/7. Recently, one of our acquaintances said: "Your family lives too fast". 

Nurgazy. It doesn't seem so hard to me, but there are certain nuances and difficulties at certain moments. But it turns out you can get used to it too. 

We managed to go to Issyk-Kul, rest, attend all IT events, take the child for a swim, and return home in a short period of time. 

It seems we have started to value time more. Previously, we could afford to stretch out a task, procrastinate. But now — there is simply no such luxury. When you have no choice, when the nanny leaves, and you are obliged to be home exactly at 4:00 PM — you start working differently: more focused and precise.

Recommendations for a happy family life

Nurgazy. The main thing in a family is communication. It is important to talk more, spend time with each other, not close yourself off. We try to discuss any situations — whether it is work issues or something uncomfortable. It is better to solve a problem immediately, in the moment, than to postpone and accumulate it.

Syrga. The most important thing I realized during this time is that being a couple and being a husband and wife are different roles, and becoming partners in a startup or business is yet another level. In one family, we have many roles, and sometimes it is difficult to switch from work tasks to personal ones. Any lunch can turn into a meeting. It is also important not to idealize each other, not to idealize the other person's decisions, but at the same time believe in and trust the person. Do not resist, and do not try to prove your point. Therefore, we manage to work together, live together, respect and love each other.

How IT families differ from others

Syrga. If either of us were not in IT, our workaholism could cause misunderstanding. We often hear from others how one partner complains that the other works too much. In our case, this simply wouldn't work — we both understand how it works. If a person is working, it means they shouldn't be hindered, but rather supported.

Nurgazy. What distinguishes us from other families is the ease with which we perceive life. We try not to complicate things and react lightly to any situations. The phrase "light on one's feet" — this is definitely about us.

Syrga. In our family, I value inexhaustible optimism, unconditional support, and faith that we will get out of any predicament. Whether it is a cash flow gap or strict acceleration.