Author
May 26, 2023
An orchardist, scuba diver, avid-traveler, animal-lover, and process-guru – meet our multilingual, and self-described, “introverted extrovert” – it’s Digibee’s wonderful Controller, Nina Kachanova.
Why Digibee?
Nina’s professional curiosity brought her to Digibee. She said her role has generally the same requirements from company to company, but she wanted the opportunity to learn a new industry. She was particularly interested in technology and already knew she liked working in a startup environment. But, ultimately the decision to join Digibee came from her conversation with CFO Rafael Nardelli. Nina said “the way he spoke about the team, the culture, and the mission of the company both for the industry and internally – I just felt like it would be a good atmosphere. After that conversation, I was very excited about the opportunity to join Digibee.”
Working at Digibee has proven to be everything Rafael said it would be. As she approaches her one year anniversary, Nina is certain she made the right decision joining the team.
Life at Digibee
When Nina reflected on life at Digibee, she had many positive aspects to choose from. From the flexibility of working remotely, to working for a company with a strong mission, to the excitement of growing a brand, but the most positive aspect for her has been the people. She is part of an amazing team that fosters a collaborative, supportive, and inspiring working atmosphere. She commented that she hadn’t experienced such a healthy work environment in a long time and that it has made such a difference.
In particular, she loves being absorbed by the Brazilian culture, with their warm and welcoming nature. Nina was born in Russia and has found the Russian and Brazilian cultures to be very similar. Both cultures enjoy connecting with others through sharing personal experiences and stories. Due to that, relating to her Brazilian team was a natural transition for her.
In a company like Digibee, spanning the US, Brazil and Latin America, language barriers can present themselves as challenges. However, Nina believes that challenges are really opportunities in disguise. One of the first steps she took was to start learning Portuguese. She also deeply appreciates the efforts of the Brazilian team as they strive to learn English. This mutual willingness to bridge language gaps has made their interactions even more interesting and has strengthened their bonds as a team.
The Future Ahead
Looking ahead, Nina is really excited for the future of Digibee. She is eager to continue contributing to improving operations, laying solid foundations, and establishing efficient processes. She is currently navigating through the audit process to support Digibee’s goal towards going public in a few years. That will be a significant milestone to achieve that fuels her enthusiasm for what lies ahead.
Professionally, Nina is truly content saying “I am right where I want to be in my career. I want to continue my growth within the team and explore opportunities to expand my skills, but I love that I’m in the role I want.” At Digibee, she is afforded a sense of freedom and flexibility that empowers her. As a startup, she has minimal structural constraints which provides opportunity to shape workflows and processes. Her team constantly encounters exciting challenges that fuel their growth and innovation. She enjoys having the ability to experiment, try new things, and make a real impact. Her future goals include automating all their processes across transactions and systems. She said this is a critical next step for the finance team.
I am right where I want to be in my career. I want to continue my growth within the team and explore opportunities to expand my skills, but I love that I’m in the role I want.
Balancing Work & Life at Digibee
Nina has a wealth of interesting hobbies. Some, like scuba diving, are on hiatus as she navigates being a mother to her five year old son, Nick. She used to scuba dive every weekend and looks forward to sharing that particular interest with Nick when he’s ready. She also used to go boxing several nights a week! Nick brings his own adventures of course. He just learned to bike, and Nina is enjoying exploring new places and biking together. They are also a globetrotting family and have traveled to Ireland, Scotland, England, the Bahamas, Canada, and Italy. Nina joked that “Nick has more stamps in his passport already than I did in 10 years after coming to the US!”
Her family also includes a small menagerie. Nina lives on a lake, so animals and nature play an integral role in her life. Her house pets include a Pomeranian-Husky, two Maine Coon cats, a turtle, and their latest addition, a bearded dragon. Outside the home they have ducks, geese, and even a (friendly?) alligator named “Crocky.” Being in Massachusetts myself, the idea of an alligator near the house panicked me, but Nina says you get used to alligators in Florida, and as long as they are “under 5 feet, you don’t really worry about them.” (I don’t think I could ever get used to that!)
Probably her most interesting hobby is maintaining her orchard. Nina’s acre of land is home to a diverse range of about 60-70 tropical fruit trees. She can be found pollinating dragon fruit flowers by night and digging every weekend. She enjoys sharing the fruits of her labor (literally!) with her coworkers and letting everyone try different varieties.
At Digibee, we have a team of incredible individuals working together to bring our innovative enterprise integration solution forward in the US and globally. It was a pleasure talking to one of our exceptional “Digibees,” Nina, about her journey and work at Digibee. Keep reading our employee highlights to learn more about this amazing team of people working to make Digibee’s mission possible.
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