Interview with Julia (customer support)

- Hi Julia. Tell us how you started out at PicsForDesign.com?

- Many years ago, when PicsForDesign was a baby, my friend, and mentor, a co-owner of PFD at the time, got in touch and offered the job. I had the time and the skills, so I said yes right there. It was the perfect fit and an exciting niche to be a part of.

 

- How many languages do you speak and how did you learn them?

- Belarusian and Russian are my native tongues, I'm fluent in English and Spanish and won't get lost/ bored, or go starving in Italy. I learned both English in Spanish in school, but of course, that's only part of the story. 

Following a selection process within a student exchange program for high school, I spent a year in the United States living in a host family, and before that would come to a family of friends in Spain to spend summers. 

My mom was a school teacher but then got into the travel industry and organized guided tours across Europe all by herself. She was amazing - loving, resourceful, relentless… We did not have much financially, but she made sure I had traveled more by the time I was 16 than any well-off kid in town.

She was also the one to talk me into applying for the exchange program in the States at 15 - which now I realize took a lot of moral strength on her part, as sending your teen daughter across the ocean for a year at this age is tough for a mother. Sometimes parents do need to have that strength to give their kids more opportunities. The US experience had a powerful impact on my character, linguistic skills, and subsequently - my career as a translator slash interpreter.

 

- Any advice for those eager to learn English? 

- I did spend a few years teaching English, during my University years and a couple of years after. Just like with pretty much anything, there is no magic bullet here, it all comes down to motivation and hard work. For professional purposes, spending a good chunk of time in the country whose language you are learning is key - that's the best way to sort things out in your head and think the way native speakers do. 

 

- Your children are bilingual (speak Engish and Russian). Are there any peculiarities to raising bilingual kids? Any insights to share? 

- Bilingualism is a fun phenomenon, and I truly savor this experience with my children - it's a whole world of challenging, funny and endearing, but mostly they are kids just like any other, only plus one language they speak without thinking much about it. 

I speak exclusively English to my kids and their father in their presence, my husband is responsible for Russian, it's the classic one-parent-one-language approach. As a parent, I owe it to my kids to give them everything  I possibly can - and being bilingual opens a whole new level of opportunities in our quickly changing and fast-paced world. As one song goes "our kids shall be better than us".

I find it cute that they use it as their language of choice to communicate amongst themselves, rather than Russian, which is technically the "majority language". 

 

- You run the customer support, raise three kids and try to live your life to the fullest. Got any advice on time management? How do you make things work and manage your time?

- Time is the most precious thing. I noticed that the less free time I have during the day, the more I manage to squeeze in. It's just the constant challenge of fitting the impossible into your day and having time for everything - keeps you on your toes and makes you more efficient. 

I am a heavy planner - writing out the things I want and need to do is a handy habit but also a form of meditation. I aim to work at peak intensity while the kids are asleep or in school to spend more time with them when they aren't. So I'm very motivated to be highly efficient. 

- What's your favorite and least favorite part of the job as a support specialist? 

- Favorite part - all problems solved, customers notified, inbox empty. I love helping people and making sure their issues are resolved as soon as humanly possible. Sometimes customers write upset, confused, even angry - I love when I can help in a way that makes them pleased and raises their mood, even just a little bit. 

Over the years I cultivated many great relationships with customers and artists, and it's great to exchange a few words with some of them from time to time, ask how they are doing, share things of your own. It's nice - and something not every support service can offer, I like to think. 

My least favorite part is making people wait - which may happen if the issue comes with some technical aspects to be sorted out first, or when things are simply out of our hands as a store. 

 

- What's the best way to relax for you?

- They say the best way to relax is to change the type of activity, and I could not agree more. We live in a  house and there is a bit of land around, so there is always something to do. Sewing, woodworking, gardening, bike rides (we have beautiful hilly countryside), board game nights with friends - you name it. Typically it's anything but screen time - there are too many screens in our life already, so we aim to keep our kids - and ourselves - away from devices as much as possible. 

Even if you catch me relaxing in the classical definition of the word (like watching a movie), I will still be sewing something, cutting out the fabric on the floor in front of the TV, or planning my next day.

Our cat Octavia (named after Octavia Blake from "The Hundred"), elegant Russian blue, has real trouble catching me on the couch, so the moment I land on it, she's right there curling up in my lap - in most cases, the poor thing does not have too long before I get up and keep at it. Our other cat,  ginger-and-white Dexter (named after Dexter Morgan, the murderous blood spatter analyst) knows better and just prefers one of the kids. 

And our dog Nyssa just follows me around and lies at my feet no matter where I am, and she can do that all day. 
 

- Anything to say to those reading this interview? 

- I'm very grateful to our valued customers and artists for their immense patience whenever they get in touch and we have to go through some standard motions to diagnose the issue correctly. I appreciate your understanding and I'm always happy to be there for you - whether it's to sort something out, put your mind at ease, or listen to some exciting news. Stay safe and healthy and stop by when you got some time - PicsFordesign is only going to get better!