IT families: Zharkyn and Aizhan Kalysh

They met on Instagram, survived the quarantine, and entered the IT field together. Today, Aizhan and Zharkyn are a frontend developer and a product designer who are learning to balance their careers, household life, and family traditions.

Zharkyn Kalysh, city — Almaty, product designer, LinkedIn

Aizhan Kalysh, city — Almaty, frontend developer, Instagram

About themselves
Aizhan. We met through Instagram during the quarantine in 2020. I had just returned from Almaty to Astana after the lockdown. I was walking with a friend in the botanical garden when I saw a direct message from him. We immediately found common ground, and a month later, we started a serious relationship.

How we entered the IT field

Zharkyn. In school, I played the game SAMP (GTA San Andreas Multiplayer) and often spent time on forums. Participants had avatars and signatures in their profiles that were created manually using graphic editors. For a sixth-grader, this was a decent way to earn money for lunch and small pleasures, so I started learning Adobe Photoshop and 3D modeling. By the time I reached the 11th grade, my focus shifted to studies, and I had less time for this.

Later, I enrolled at Satbayev University in the "Petroleum and Gas Engineering" major. During my studies, I realized that this field was not for me and remembered what I was truly passionate about in school — design. It was that very activity for which I could stay up all night and go to classes the next morning as if nothing had happened. Then I started studying design again and decided to pursue this path.

My career began in Astana: I got my first job as a graphic designer. Over time, I realized I wanted to grow further and started learning UX/UI design while simultaneously attending interviews. Eventually, I got a job as a designer in Almaty — thus began my journey in product design. Currently, I work as a product designer at Alfa-Bank.

Aizhan. I studied at L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University in the "Space Technology and Engineering" major. Even then, I understood that I would not work in this profession. In my fourth year, I got a job as a flight attendant at Air Astana. I liked this job: thanks to it, I saw many countries and broadened my horizons.

During the quarantine, I decided it was time to move forward. After being laid off, I tried different fields, but ultimately settled on frontend development. I managed to get into a free four-month internship — thus began my journey in IT. Since then, I have worked at Airba Fresh and Kolesa Group. Now I work as a frontend developer at Kcell and mentor beginners in IT.

My work format is hybrid, while my husband’s is fully remote. We spend most of our time at home together.

Distribution of responsibilities

Aizhan. Since we both work from home, we try to eat home-cooked food. Usually, I cook, but if I don’t have time due to work or meetings, Zharkyn orders delivery.

We distribute household chores using a simple principle: if someone doesn’t like or finds it inconvenient to do something, the other person takes it on. We also consider who currently has more time and energy.

We try to spend our free time outdoors — most often, we go for walks together.

Family traditions

Zharkyn. We have many small traditions, but the most important one is that every evening we put away our laptops and go for a walk to take 10,000–15,000 steps. We do this in any weather and in any mood.

Such walks help us distract ourselves from work, recharge, and simply talk to each other.

Aizhan. As for family values — for us, the most important thing is to respect each other. For example, we never raise our voices when talking. It is also important for us to develop together and support each other’s successes — whether small or large.

Balancing household life and work

Zharkyn and Aizhan. Since our schedule is such that we are practically at home 24/7, we don’t have problems with household chores. On weekdays, we focus completely on work, and we leave household tasks for the weekend.

Recommendations for a happy family life

Zharkyn and Aizhan. For us, the foundation of happy relationships is honest and open conversations. It is important to share our thoughts and feelings, discuss everything, and find solutions together.

Being a support for each other in any situation is another important part.

And, of course, not forgetting about the little things: delighting each other every day, even with something simple — for example, cutting fruit or brewing tasty tea.

How IT families differ from others

Aizhan. I think the peculiarity of families where both partners work in IT is that we understand each other well from a professional perspective. We know what deadlines, meetings, and burnout are, so we relate with understanding when someone is tired or busy with a project.

We can also discuss work, exchange ideas, and even help each other grow professionally.

Zharkyn. Our family is different in that we do not compete; on the contrary, we inspire and motivate each other to become better, while trying to maintain a balance between work and personal life.