I joined FutbolkiOptom.ru as an assistant to the company’s founder, helping with day-to-day operations in a small e-commerce and custom production business. Over the following years, I gradually took on more responsibility and eventually became the company’s leader and owner.

The business focused on online sales and in-house production of custom apparel and merchandise: T-shirts, mugs, and branded accessories for individuals and companies. As Founder and CEO, I was responsible for every part of the operation. I worked directly with production, handled orders, logistics, and deliveries, managed finances and accounting, built marketing and sales processes, and hired and trained the team.

Over time, the company scaled to a truly large production level. During its lifetime, we produced several million units of merchandise, and our products were shipped to every region of Russia, becoming widely recognized in the market.

This was a full “from the ground up” business. I learned how to build an operation as a complete system — where production, customer experience, operations, and growth all have to work together. In 2017, I exited the business by selling my stake, completing a full founder journey from early operations to scale and exit.