Meet Anastasia Shelest | Product Designer & Curious Bee

We had the good fortune of connecting with Anastasia Shelest and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Anastasia, what role has risk played in your life or career?
I think taking risks is a price that you need to pay if you want to live an open-minded and happy life. To be curious about what really makes you happy and how you want to live your life regardless of social pressure and standards — this way is full of ambiguity and risks, but if you focus on the process of learning, those risks become experience. When I have a risky opportunity in front of me I always try to look at how this opportunity matches my dreams and goals. If I see how I can learn from that and become better, I take this risk and try to do everything in my power to make it successful. When I don’t have time to think (or overthink) I likely just will follow my heart and take a risk and, honestly, it almost always is 100% worth it!

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I am a Product Designer with more than 10 years of experience in UX/UI, design systems, visual communications, and marketing. Currently, I work at Meta (Facebook), but during my career, I worked with such prominent brands as Cadillac, Chevrolet, Adidas, Tele2, and others. I worked as a product designer for the largest e-commerce company in Russia, Avito (#2 in the world). Before that worked as a visual/product designer for an international network agency Grey.

All of that is great, but the thing that I am the most proud of and excited about is that I moved to the United States from Minsk, Belarus, one year ago by myself on one of the rarest work visas — O-1 — which is given to Individuals with Extraordinary Ability or Achievements. During my first month in the United States, I got an e-mail with an invitation to interview with Meta and after 6 months (and 5 rounds of grueling interviews) I got an offer to join one of the biggest and most progressive companies in the world. It is interesting that some of my friends think that I am lucky, my parents think that I am really extraordinary (lol), but the truth is that I am just a hardworking girl with a “glass half full’ attitude.

Growing up in Minsk, and living for 9 years in Moscow, I didn’t always receive a lot of enthusiasm and support from my family and friends when I shared my dream of moving to the United States. The first lesson that I learned is that not everyone will believe in your path, and no one owes you encouragement. Listen carefully to the opinions of the people who care for you, and if it’s not matching with your path, just keep going in the direction where your heart is leading you. In my opinion, there is only one thing that each person owes during life: honesty to oneself and taking actions accordingly.

It’s not always easy. I didn’t have a lot of faith in myself at first either. The challenges looked so big and overwhelming because I didn’t have a lot of money, I didn’t have any friends or connections in the US and—bonus—I barely spoke English. To overcome these obstacles I started developing my “trust-the-process” way of living that made significant changes in my life. I formulated my dream, vocalized it to the Universe, and instead of being unhappy where I am, I simply focused on doing everything that makes me happy and fulfilled where I am with trusting to life that someday I will have opportunities. This approach did magic for me. Without realizing it I chose the right profession, I met the right people, I had the right opportunities at work, and all of these were small puzzle pieces of my dream. I strongly believe that if you set your dreams honestly, the work you put towards them will makes you happy. Was it easy to “trust-the-process”? No! I was working and learning so hard, but I don’t regret it because I was happy while doing it.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I live in Seattle, and recently my brother and his family visited me for the first time, so I created the cheesiest, touristic, and kid-friendly (I have 9-year-old nephew) Seattle itinerary that I want to share! Really, a must-do on your first trip here!

The first day we start with breakfast at Lola, which offers modern, Greek-influenced cuisine with local Seattle ingredients (the chicken kebab is a must-try). From there we have a 15-minute walk to Pike Place Fish Market, which is famous for its crowd-pleasing antics with fishmongers flinging the daily catch through the air to be caught and wrapped behind the counter. There we grab a coffee in the original Starbucks that was opened in 1971.

With coffee in our hands, we walk through the Gum Wall, a whole block covered in used chewing gum (it’s funny, not gross), and continue to Pier 55 where we go to see the cool 5D short movie Wings Over Washington to learn everything about the history and diversity of Washington State.

From there, we walk another 15 minutes to the Monorail to ride to Downtown Seattle. The ride is short, but extremely exciting for kids. The Monorail takes us to the most popular sight in Seattle — The Space Needle. It’s really beautifully strange from a close distance. Near the Space Needle we go to the Pop-Culture Museum that was build by Frank Gehry.

The second day starts at the Ballard Sunday Market where we can buy local products and food (asian dumplings are the best here). From there we can start our 1.5 hour drive to one of Washington’s most popular scenic attractions, Snoqualmie Falls, which is known for its appearance in the show Twin Peaks. The waterfall is very magnificent! Finally, we finish our day in the famous Ray’s restaurant for some traditional fish and chips.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I learn about what I want and more importantly, what I don’t want, through experience. Every small piece of me is a reflection of my family, my friends, my work, adventures, relationships, and every country that I traveled and opened my heart to. But I think I can narrow all of that down to 2 shoutouts: 1. Shoutout to Life (God/Energy/Universe — we all have different names for that), who gave me the most interesting friends, supportive family, and everything that I don’t choose or don’t deserve. 2. Shoutout to my Intuition, which navigates me through day by day life and is my best helper in any situation — when I open my eyes after meditation the next step is always a little bit more clear.

Also, I want to recommend some books that have influenced me so far:
– Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari — about knowing your heritage;
– The Genius by Theodore Dreiser — about owning your path in life despite of everything;
– The Untethered Soul — about owning your consciousness.

Website: https://shelest.design

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shelestnastya/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anastasiyashelest/

Other: Telegram — @shelestnastya nastya.shelest@gmail.com