Women of the world are claiming their rightful spot in every domain of the professional world. An increasing number of women are gradually asserting themselves as leaders in entrepreneurship, administration, education, finance, engineering, health, and various other fields at the regional, national, and global levels. Determined to break through the traditional glass ceiling that has prevented them from achieving leadership positions, irrespective of their skill or capabilities, more and more women are gaining positions of power in the corporate world.

The fact remains, that women are in no way inferior in terms of capability when it comes to leadership roles. In fact, several studies have found that women prove to be better leaders than men due to their ability to balance professional and personal leadership skills. According to numerous surveys, women have higher emotional intelligence and stronger soft skills. So, more opportunities for women to lead in businesses and organisations can lead to increased productivity and, ultimately, a better bottom line.

A survey says, organisations with female CEOs outperform their male counterparts as they bring special demographic skills on to the table. They take better care of their staff, improve reward systems and provide more flexibility. Women-led businesses are more likely to lessen internal corporate governance turmoil, and better management monitoring leads to improved transparency and performance. However, being the CEO of a company is no cakewalk. It is an all-consuming role that requires a great deal of expertise and experience in the respective field. Anna Vasyutina, CEO of Dubai based business consultancy, Estas is one such business leader who is successfully leading her company to greater heights. Armed with over 26 years of experience along with a strong track record of successfully managing several roles and large projects, Anna is a veteran professional with an analytical mindset. She is a team player who can also work well independently. She has proven leadership, interpersonal, and communication abilities. Anna is also a successful mentor because of her great people skills, and she has always pushed her mentees to go the extra mile.

Throughout her career, Anna has been dedicated towards gaining knowledge and reaching set goals by giving it her all at every step to provide the greatest results possible. She is a great believer in establishing and maintaining the key partnerships and relationships that prove productive and allow for better performance. She is capable of delivering excellent results due to her dedication and ability to handle multiple roles, functions, and activities deftly in high-pressure situations.

As the CEO of Estas, Anna has been successfully consulting on various business matters. She has completed a number of case studies. She successfully manages the startup and ongoing operations while handling ongoing general management. She also handles finance and accounting with aplomb. In addition to the role of CEO, she also serves as a consultant, director, accountant, lawyer, manager, financial specialist, planner, and investor.

In a conversation with the Women Entrepreneur Magazine team, Anna speaks to us about her various areas of expertise, professional journey and future endeavors. Here are excerpts from the conversation.

Give us an overview of Estas. What are some important features about your expertise as a global business leader?

Estas provides a vast variety of ready to use business solutions and consultancy, through its online store. Right from ready to use business plans, business models, business consultancy, market research and SWOT analysis, Estas specializes in all. The site is adapted to the needs of large, small and medium-sized businesses. Our target audience is both large companies and aspiring entrepreneurs and even startups, IT entrepreneurs who need basic advice and assistance in running a business, right up to its implementation.

Estas stands for first-class products and impeccable customer service. We are a team of innovators dedicated to cutting edge solutions, with the energy and resources to continually modernize and improve the online shopping experience. Our online store is synonymous with quality and allows customers to use all our services without leaving the comfort of their home. We guarantee the constant availability of a wide range of products for any budget.

As a business leader my major area of expertise is finance and investment; we assist people create and grow capital, and we advise on business, management, marketing, and of course, finance and investment.

“I believe woman must adhere to the company's culture while also remembering her own identity, culture & entity, and she must never lose sight of herself at work or in life”

Take us through your early educational journey and prior industry experience that you bring to the table. What motivated you to specialize in business management?

I have a total of 13 degrees, including PG Diplomas in Finance and Investment, Russian-American and UK programmes in F&I, MSc in World Economics, Higher School of Economics, PG Diploma from the University of Padova, Italy; Philology degree in Italian language, PG Diploma from St Georges International School of London; and Postgraduate qualification in Law & Economics from Moscow State Law Academy, Moscow.

I obtained my postgraduate certificate in UK and US contract law from the Law Centre of International Legal Education. I also earned an Executive MBA from the University of Warwick, with a specialization in marketing, strategy, consultancy, and change management. I recently received my financial course investment certification. I've completed a number of courses, including those for the ACCA and CIMA certifications as well.

Having pursued the finance and investment courses, as well as MBA programmers led me to specialize in this field. From the second year of starting University, I had dreamed of starting my own consulting firm. After college, I hoped to work as a financial and investment advisor. Today, I have fulfilled these goals.

Tell us about the various roles and responsibilities that you currently shoulder at Estas. As a lead-er who wears various hats, what is your guiding leadership philosophy?

Yes, I am a multi-hatted leader who serves as a consultant, director, CEO, accountant, lawyer, manager, financial specialist, planner, and investor. I drive my employees to work in order to achieve customer satisfaction.

My roles and responsibilities include undertaking investment opportunities and advice across various sectors, creating online web-school, educating, training, development, coaching and creating `book store`. I undertake extensive consultancy work across various sectors including telecommunication, banking, technology, mining and coal, oil & gas and retail, as well as being responsible for the whole commercial operations of client organizations. So far I have helped a Furniture Retail company by understanding the market for a new product and detailed branding; I developed an ice hockey school business plan; created contracts and financial planning for clients' businesses and have being responsible for sourcing and developing new client accounts.

“We are a team of innovators dedicated to cutting edge solutions, with the energy and resources to continually modernize and improve the online shopping experience”

Development & innovation of the website, marketing & strategy campaign, and client negotiation & development are some of my significant accomplishments. Providing financial and investment advice, business in the construction of residential buildings and accommodations, investing in residential buildings and accommodations, are the others.

To keep myself well aligned with the industry trends I closely follow change management, IT change, and technical advancements, as well as industrial, environmental, and economic changes.

What have been some of the most critical business challenges that you have had to face as an entrepreneur in the business management sector? How do you successfully overcome them?

Coronavirus was and continues to be the most daunting challenge for us. Because of Covid-19 and its negative impact of people's health and wellbeing, getting new subscribers to our service platform was difficult. Although we extended the website's reach to America, we can see that there are currently no complete subscriptions.

In your opinion, how has women's participation in the workforce evolved lately, especially in the Dubai region? What steps must we take collectively to ensure that more women create lasting and lucrative careers? As a successful business leader, what would your advice be to young women aspiring to become business leaders and entrepreneurs in the future?

Women's roles have evolved around the world, particularly in Dubai. Men began to value us more. They have started to appreciate us more and more as the role of women in the world grew.

I believe woman must adhere to the company's culture while also remembering her own identity, culture & entity, and she must never lose sight of herself at work or in life. Woman must use their own knowledge and implementation skills, as well as their own practice and experiences, to work under the guise of global business practices. She must respect everyone while also respecting herself.

I recommend young women to pursue an MBA and before starting a career in that field, as well as going to multinational corporations and building a career there. I also strongly advise young women to read business and management literature, such as Peter Drucker and Richard Daft, Philipp Kotler and other MBA authors, as well as philology literature and pursuing a philology degree.