5 Questions with Publicis Groupe CEE Lioness Olga Voronova

As part of Publicis Groupe Central & Eastern Europe (CEE)’s 'Embrace Gender Equity' initiative that was launched during this year’s International Women’s Day on March 8th, the company created a special series 'Publicis Groupe CEE Lioness' designed to showcase and spotlight its many female talent and leaders across the CEE region, celebrating their experiences and important roles they play within the company. Get to know the Publicis Groupe CEE Lionesses through their stories in this series.

1. Can you share your story with us, how have you gotten to where you are today in your profession? 

Olga> As it happens sometimes, it was by accident.  I started my career after university as an office manager in a media agency. Soon after, I was asked to become an assistant in the outdoor department, where my main job was sorting posters and drawing signs on paper city maps. Yes, we used to do that in 2003😊.  Gradually, I started working with all media, and then went on to  work in GroupM as a team supervisor for the P&G client for several years, before switching over to handle trading for all GroupM clients. 

It has been seven years since I started working at Publicis Group. In this time, I have been the managing director of Spark Foundry and Starcom Ukraine before taking on my role today as the APEX Lead.

2. What has been your most memorable experience in your career so far? 

Olga> I was asked to launch APEX in Publicis Groupe Ukraine in 2021, and my role as APEX Lead was to build it from scratch, prove to the global team that Ukraine has strong potential, deep understanding of the market, the right talent, energy and drive to do it. (I wanted to take the chance to express my deep gratitude to both my Ukrainian and global managers, Enver Kikava, Alla Malinovskaya, and Freddie Taylor. They played key roles in making it happen and their support enabled us to convince our clients that our work can help improve their KPIs.) 

The plan was ambitious, yet we were able to deliver it and now our APEX business is showing growth year on year. 

The feeling when I sold the idea and the APEX solution to the very first client is for sure, one of the most memorable experiences for me.

3. Similarly, what was the most challenging moment and how did you overcome it?

Olga> I’m certain I’m not the only one to say this, but in our profession, I reckon the most challenging moment is losing a client. While I was the managing director of Starcom Ukraine, we lost a global FMCG client, which is also one of the largest marketers in Ukraine, and the biggest for our business. This lost was significant in terms of billings, revenue, and team. I was broken. 

Despite the devastating loss, I`m grateful to my boss (Enver Kikava, CEO Publicis Group Ukraine), the wise man that he is, advised me that when the news are bad, hard decisions will surely follow but it is all part of our business, clients will always come and leave. I should not take it personally, we can only do our best to influence the things we can change and try to be stoic about things that we have no control over. The main thing is to be able to distinguish one from the other :)

Eventually, we overcame it and went on to have a lot of great wins and loses again, because that is just how our business goes.

4. What are your most important tips on achieving success?

Olga> Success is a very personal concept; everyone puts their own meaning into it. For me, success is not static. It is impossible at any specific moment to look at yourself in the mirror and realise that right now, you are successful. It’s almost like happiness: sometimes it’s difficult to catch, but it’s important (for me) that you can go and move on. 

Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm, as Winston Churchill says. 

It is hard, really. One can be broken and sad, the world is cruel sometimes, but deep understanding of this phrase often saves me from bad thoughts and gives me the energy to go on – remember, just keep walking😊

And, this may sound obvious, but be a team player - people do not create miracles alone. 

5. What are your tips for younger female talent embarking on the journey you’re already on?

Olga> The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you have not found it yet, keep looking. Do not settle. Do choose working in Publicis Groupe and do more of what makes you happy 😊.

The only thing that stands between you and your dream is the will to try and the belief that it is actually possible. Believe me, it is possible!

Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things that you did not do than by the ones you did do. So, throw off the bowlines. Explore. Dream. Discover.