Olena's Story

Here is a client story I wrote for my internship. I hope this give you a better insight into some of our clients lives and how HOPE loans help them! Enjoy.

Name: Olena
Type of Business: Shoe retail
Loans from HOPE: 1 small business loan
Loan Amount: 8,000 UHA = approx. $980

“It’s a long story as to why I decided to start the shoe business” Olena replies referring to the store she began in 1995. The story started when Olena lived in Eastern Germany with her husband who was serving in the military. During her time in Germany, she was employed as a performance musician playing the piano for her audiences. Although the money was slim, she cherished performing and referred to those days as “the best days of her life”.
In 1992 they moved to Eastern Ukraine after her husband retired from the army. After they moved back to the Ukraine, Olena put her piano skills to work as a kindergarten music teacher at the local military base. Although she enjoyed the job, the income was minimal. Thinking of starting her own business, her husband lent her the start up capital so she could begin selling shoes. This start up capital was used to purchase shoes from Turkey, Poland, and Russia in order to resell them in Ukraine.

After being asked about any struggles she had to overcome, she quickly broke out into laughter. Through the audible smiles, she told us that the largest setback was last year when she had a box of shoes worth about $1000 stolen from her. When the police came to write up an incident report they asked her, “Why are you still smiling?” She replied, “Well, what am I gonna do?” The officer was shocked that she would respond to this situation in this way, but at this moment her joyful spirit was evident. She asked a few acquaintances to loan her some money to cover this loss and she persevered successfully through this hard time.

Besides the small loans from friends, she has only taken out three loans with banks since starting her business 14 years ago. Appreciation for HOPE was apparent when she compared these loans to the loans she took out with other banks. The two previous loans had a very hard repayment system with high interest rates. She decided to take a loan with HOPE because “it was very quick and easy system of receiving loans.” Although she only took out this loan a little over 2 months ago, the loan was given just in time for customers who would be shopping for back-to-school clothes. She has already seen the impact of the loan from having a larger inventory while sales are increasing.

Although sales look good this month, the economic crisis has undoubtedly hit the Ukraine. Most business owners have been forced to buy their inventory in US dollars because it is more stable than the local currency. Depreciation is a huge concern for business owners like Olena. In the midst of a global economic crisis that has even hit Ukraine, Olena’s future plans have changed to purchasing lower quality shoes so that locals can still afford to buy from her. These profits go to support her and her husband. Her retired military husband currently works as a bus driver in the capital city of Kiev about 45 minutes away from Olena. She travel travels back and forth and spends half her time in Kiev with her husband, and the rest of her time selling shoes in Bila Cerkov

Although Olena doesn’t get to see her husband every day, she continues maintain relationships with her customers. Having a much interconnected community, she has the privilege of calling her customers her friends, neighbors, and colleagues. Working in the market for an extended time she says “It’s like a continual conversation with my clients. After so many years in the markets, there have been so many conversations.” It is conversations like these that not only help sales, but help Olena and HOPE Ukraine build up a community where people are valued and supported.