Career in the high-tech industry and songs on MTV: the unique story of an immigrant from Ukraine

The fate of Evgenia Arsirova, a native of the Ukrainian city of Nikopol, more famous in recent years, as Yevae (Eve), can be called a true success story. Arriving in America at 22, she was able to enroll in the prestigious self-paid School of Engineering at New York University and then pursue a brilliant career in the tech industry at Adobe. However, her solo career brought real fame to the Ukrainian woman, namely, the release of songs and clips in English, some of which hit the charts of MTV and other prestigious American TV channels, surpassing many local performers in popularity. At the same time, Eva admits that at the dawn of her career she had to work as a nanny, work as a waitress, a cleaner and wash the hair of clients in a hairdresser. Eva Arsirova shared the details of her story with Forum Daily.

Photo courtesy of Yevae

"Do not believe rumors and fears"

Eva came to the United States with a BA in Philology and an MA in Administration. However, the girl quickly realized that in order to get a job where she dreamed of, namely, in a consulting company from the Big Four and to work with Fortune 500 corporations in the United States, she needed to get an American education at a prestigious university.

«At the time, I was very supportive of Upwardly Global, which is helping immigrants return to their profession in the United States. Largely thanks to them, I have developed a good network of professional contacts. It was there, by the way, that I met my future mentor, who helped me a lot at the first stage. I had to visit this organization on Wednesdays, which is why I had to leave work an hour earlier. I was given a condition: either I quit Upwardly Global, or I have to change jobs. I decided that future prospects are more important than current earnings"- Eva recalls.

Of the possible options, the girl chose the IT industry. She passed the master's examinations and was admitted on a general basis to the chosen specialty in the field of technology. Thanks to her high admission scores, Eve was able to receive a study grant, which greatly eased the financial burden. In addition, she had to collect references from her former employers in Ukraine and the United States.

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«One of the big mistakes our immigrants make is the fear that a very small part of the subjects taken at national universities will be re-enrolled in the United States. In case you intend to get a bachelor's degree in America, you really, most likely, will have to retrain a lot. However, the trick is that, having a national diploma, you can immediately apply for an American magistracy. At the same time, the bachelor's degree is recognized by American universities. The only requirement is an apostilled certificate from the Ministry of Education that you actually graduated from a university in your country", - Eva shares her secrets.

Another frequent obstacle to getting an education in the United States, the girl calls the fear of the imminent repayment of student loans.

Photo courtesy of Yevae

«Indeed, at first glance, the amounts may seem huge. The only thing I can advise here: do not pay attention to other people's fears and rumors, but try to calculate how many years it will take you to pay it off. This is not difficult at all, as there are quite a few sites that list the starting, average, and top salaries in your industry. For example, I looked at data on the legal, medical and IT industries. Together with the calculation of expenses, they allow you to realistically plan how long you will be able to pay off your debts. For the IT sphere, for example, 5-6 years is enough", - says Eva.

Work and creativity

In parallel with her studies, Eva worked in several companies at the same time. In total, during her life in America, she changed more than 40 jobs.

«In addition to paid work, I worked for 9 months for free on the development of a website and strategy for one of the social networks. In the meantime, I had to leave my main job: the employer did not want to let me go to take the exam. I shared this situation with a person I helped build the site, and he unexpectedly offered me an internship at SAP. I gladly accepted the offer, because I understood that this was the start of a career in the corporate sector, as I wanted.", - says Eve.

Meanwhile, the intensive work schedule began to affect her studies: the girl simply did not have time to physically prepare for the exams so that she could pass them perfectly. However, even here the situation was resolved successfully: as it turned out, the system at the American university turned out to be quite flexible, and made it possible to extend studies for a longer period with fewer hours per semester.

At the same time, Eva studied music since childhood, and did not forget about creativity even in the most difficult moments.

«In the beginning, I rented an apartment with neighbors, and it happened that I was physically unable to retire to sing. But, as soon as I was alone, I still sang. Later, when I got my first high-paying job in high-tech, I was able to take vocal lessons from the lead singer of the Broadway musical Evita"She recalls.

First success

Now Eva is improving her vocals, working with the teachers of the Metallica group and Vera Brezhneva. She began her musical career in the United States performing with a Ukrainian choir and attending numerous auditions. At the same time, the singer is sure: the main problem of novice performers is not an accent, but an excessive ego.

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«Almost everyone who heard me liked my accent. However, you still need to be prepared that in the beginning you will receive mostly rejections. At this stage, you need to realize: you do not have to be liked by everyone, and other people also do not have to love what you do. Yes, it is very important to understand the mentality of others, it is important to learn from the Americans what is good that can be adopted from them, and to be ready to change. But at the same time, you still remain yourself, and even working within the framework of American culture, in songs you still express your own feelings. It is important to calmly accept that not everyone can be close to what you are doing, that Broadway shows have their own politics, and you should not expect a miracle. You just need to find yourself and your audience", - says Eve.

The Ukrainian singer found her first chance to break into the world of American show business in Concord, a city in Northern California. She was introduced to a DJ who, in addition to music, was actively involved in issues of social justice, equality and women's rights. It was these themes that permeated the work of Eve herself, and therefore the women turned out to be like-minded people. Eva did not come to the radio empty-handed: the compositions were on the air rake и I run to you.

Photo courtesy of Yevae

«It was this female DJ who prompted me how to take my first steps in show business, what arrangement is better for certain songs, and so on. In addition, I began to read special literature on how to organize a business, register copyright, etc.", - says Eva.

A dream come true

The performer writes the lyrics for her songs herself, and the music in collaboration with other composers. Recruiting a team, shooting videos, promoting her songs - Eva is still doing all this almost alone. Nonetheless, the results have been overwhelming. To date, Eva has released 7 songs, shot 5 videos, and 5 remixes have already been released for the song I Run to You, including in collaboration with famous music DJs Stonebridge and Block and Crown. The remix was ranked 7th out of the 100 best electronic music compositions in the prestigious Digital Dj Pool US Dance Chart. Eva's songs can now be found on all music platforms in the world, including Apple Music и Spotify... This is especially surprising, given that the girl recorded her first song less than a year and a half ago.

«In fact, I have been writing lyrics for a long time, but the turning point for me was the death of my father. He studied music all his life, but it was never his profession. When he was seriously ill with cancer, and I came to say goodbye to him in Ukraine, he said that he was very sorry that he did not devote enough time to music. In response, I shared with him that I have a dream to make a musical career, and my dad approved of my desire"- Eva recalls.

The girl assures: she is not trying to specifically adapt to the listener and she herself still does not know what exactly "clings" the Americans in her work.

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«The main secret to success: never think about monetizing what you do. All truly successful people did not have a goal of making an income from their dreams and recouping costs. If you think about it, you will either not be successful at all, or you will do less than you could.", Eva advises.

Recommendations for immigrants

The girl calls perseverance as another important component in achieving success.

«Do not be afraid to remind yourself, send letters in continuation of meetings, in a word, do not let us forget about yourself. This is very important at the first stage - and then your name will already speak for itself. And, as we said, it is important to understand someone else's culture not only in order to understand others, but also to find yourself.", - says Eve.

The performer is confident: in her studies, work and creativity, it is important not to be afraid to be curious and willingly open up to new things.

“For example, even before entering New York University, I had a small but experience in IT. I have participated in testing the websites of companies I have worked for before. This was not part of my direct responsibilities, but it was interesting to me. Then, already working at SAP, I never stopped learning and mastering new areas, for example, data analytics. The more new areas you discover, the more likely you are to find something you truly love. The secret is that only doing what you love will give you the motivation to succeed.", - Eva is sure.

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