IT Families: Daier Mustakhimov and Madina Kozhanova

Dair Mustakhimov, city — Almaty, Lead Data Scientist at QazCode — Beeline Kazakhstan IT company, @dairmustakhimov

Madina Kozhanova, city — Almaty, Data Analyst at OLX, @kozhanova_meow  

About Us

Dair. Madina and I met in 2013 at university. At that time, I was studying at the Kazakh branch of Moscow State University (MSU) in the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics and spent my last two years studying in Moscow. Madina was studying at the same university in the Faculty of Economics. Once, I was celebrating my birthday, and someone suggested introducing us. I declined at first, but later decided to write to her. We started communicating, went to a Zolotukhin concert together, and began dating in 2016.

How We Entered the IT Field

Dair. After graduating from university, I was searching for my path. First, I tried working in the 1C programming field, and later I went on an internship as a JavaScript developer, but I realized it wasn't quite for me. Later, I started studying Data Science and decided to try my hand at data analytics. I worked briefly in Moscow, after which I saw that Beeline Kazakhstan was hiring Data Scientists. At that time, the Big Data department was just being formed. I reviewed the requirements and understood that they were indeed building a team of professionals and striving to create something from scratch. I passed the test assignment and moved to Almaty.

Madina. Since I graduated from the Faculty of Economics, my path led me to consulting, but over time I realized that this wasn't quite the field where I wanted to develop. At that time, in 2018, Dair taught me SQL, and I went to work as an intern with the BI platform — Qlik. Today, I work as a Data Analyst with the BI platform — Tableau.

Distribution of Responsibilities

Madina. We are both unpretentious about food and cleanliness. I do the cleaning; as for mirrors, the bathroom, and windows, that is Dair's area of responsibility. Cooking is optional, but more often we visit cafes or cafeterias.

At least once a week, we try to combine breakfast with work, friends, and colleagues.

We try to spend our free time from work actively. For example, we go rock climbing and to the gym several times a week, study English daily, and also go hiking, ride bicycles, and mopeds. In winter — snowboarding and skiing.

Dair. We didn't arrive at this immediately, but gradually. First, we decided to buy bicycles and commute to work, then we started traveling actively, then we signed up for rock climbing and English.

Family Traditions

Madina. We have several favorite YouTube channels, and when a new video comes out, we definitely watch it together over dinner. In addition, a joint breakfast on weekends is also a great family tradition.

Dair. I would also add spending time with parents. Madina's parents live near Almaty, mine are in Karaganda. And once a quarter, we try to visit Madina's parents first, and then mine. Initially, we tried doing this separately, but soon realized that it was difficult without each other.

Combining Household and Work

Madina. Combining IT work with household chores and family is not difficult. First of all, when you are an IT specialist, and, for example, work with data, there are work processes where the database is loading and this takes time. During this time, I can calmly go wash the dishes or order groceries home. That is, the time spent on household chores is significantly reduced.

Dair. Since Beeline has a flexible hybrid work schedule, we are more tied to tasks. There is a certain volume of tasks where I can allow myself to distribute time for their completion, maintaining work-life balance. This is convenient.

Recommendations for a Happy Family Life

Dair. When we started living together, we gradually learned to negotiate and created our own rules. For example, if a conflict occurs, we do not punish each other. We did not sign any prenuptial agreement; the basis of our agreements is trust. This is important.

Madina. It is also important to accept each other. What I realized is not to live with expectations and try not to demand anything from the other person. The secret to happy relationships is to live in pleasure and ease.

How IT Families Differ from Others

Dair. Due to my profession, I like when there is order at home and everything is systematized.

Madina. At home, as well as in relationships, we try to simplify everything as much as possible. For example, instead of a vacuum cleaner — we bought a robot vacuum.

We also support each other in our work. For example, I am an Excel specialist, and if Dair needs to do something in Excel, he turns to me. And vice versa, Dair is a Python specialist, and if I am coding and something doesn't work out for me, I know he will help me.

Dair. We even had a board at home where we wrote down our brainstorms, ideas, strengths, and weaknesses.

Madina. We are not a classic Kazakh family in its traditional understanding. We have non-standard goals; we focus on our personal desires and goals, not worrying about public opinion and prejudices. We are more pragmatic and always do what both of us want. Perhaps, this is one of the main differences of our family from many others.