Exclusive interview with Ekaterina Rumyantseva

"What year is it now?" she asks. And, seeing my bewilderment, after a pause, smiling, explains: "Sometimes it happens! Don't be surprised!

Text: Alexander Shevchuk

"What year is it now?" she asks. And, seeing my bewilderment, after a pause, smiling, explains: "Sometimes it happens! Don't be surprised!
Recently we have been communicating with a large developer and, apparently, we have worked hard: in three years we will hand over the object, he tells me, well, it's fine, 2008 is just what we need. And only then does he catch himself thinking that he made a mistake with the timing."

It is interesting to communicate with Katya Rumyantseva, at least also because she makes a reservation to the place and to the point. Somehow, participating in a round table organized by our Publishing House, she involuntarily united two prestigious streets - Ostozhenka and Prechistenka — in one: it turned out "Prestige". And even after it came to the format of housing and someone asked about "houses for bachelors", she boldly declared the existence of "sexy houses - those where children are not raised, but ... made." So the new term went for a walk.

Yes, as a matter of fact, the jump in dates is a sign of large—scale projects that she is engaged in. After all, for someone in this life, minutes are an eternity, and for her, time shrinks and unclenches for months and years.

And, of course, the CEO of Kalinka-Realty will not let you turn sour from boredom — it seems that she has time everywhere. In the morning — at a meeting with an investor, then he communicates with an architect, he will definitely answer the questions of an annoying journalist, find time to swim in the pool, and in the evening attend a social event, where, undoubtedly, he will become the main character for photojournalists. Bright, smart, charming… There are not enough epithets to characterize Ekaterina Rumyantseva. "We are colleagues to some extent..." - I say in the continuation of the conversation.the rest of their implementation"

— How did the name come about? And why did a horse appear in the logo?
— By that time, the luxury real estate market had just begun to exist, really expensive housing was appearing in the capital. The resettlement of communal apartments, multiple exchanges in order to get the coveted floor in some emergency house, then to turn it into prestigious apartments - all this was before my return to Moscow, and therefore passed me by ... I used to work professionally and always adhered to the high standards I encountered abroad. I didn't expect any other approach in my company. I intended to deal only with housing of a high price category. In accordance with this, employees were selected — highly erudite, with a good education, pleasant in communication, endowed with excellent human qualities. They created a new image of the broker. Intuitively, I felt that it was good to have something Russian in the name. There was such a company "Ivanushki", I liked it. And there was also "Kalinka Stockmann". When I suggested Kalinka-Realty, many people associated it with her, and the first customers said "yes, yes, we have known you for a long time", although we were a week without a year. The word "viburnum" is a good one, because the branches of this tree were put on the table for the newlyweds as a symbol of purity, open—mindedness of relations. And the creative slogan "Impeccable reputation" that emerged later only confirmed the correctness of my choice. There is a lot connected with horses in life. I love them very much, for me it is a beautiful, strong, honest and kind animal. Since childhood I have been engaged in equestrian sports. Master of sports in dressage, won various youth competitions. The issue of choosing a logo for a company is a delicate and complicated matter. Therefore, I decided to borrow the experience of large international corporations, one of the main components of their success is the right branding. Practice has shown that animals in most cases are a win-win option. And as it turned out, choosing your favorite animal, as they say, hit the nail on the head.

— And why did you leave university after two and a half years?
— In parallel, a modeling business appeared in my life, I actively participated in fashion shows. I really liked it — the podium, beautiful outfits, exquisite toilets, respectable audience… Very often we were contacted by leading foreign agencies. And I somehow passed another casting and went to work in the USA under a contract. However, we went to other countries and continents for the shows. The most vivid impressions, perhaps, remained from Latin and Central America.

— What does this have to do with real estate, which you suddenly started doing? Or did it also arise by chance and move on a parallel course?
— The age of the model is not long. And even when you're young, you realize this: three to five years will pass, and what's next? I tried to learn a new profession while still abroad. Turn out. Very good teachers got caught. For example, I studied only sales techniques for eight months. And professional experience gradually came. I sold my first houses in Cyprus to young guys from somewhere from Donbass. After a day of communication, they laid out a million dollars for each of the two houses offered to them. When I returned to Russia in the mid-90s, naturally, the question of employment arose. There were offers from different companies, but I was in no hurry to make a choice. I wanted to find a job that fully corresponded to the level of my knowledge, requirements and interests at that time. And I was lucky. On my way, the American company Noble Gibbons was shown. She was the first in our country who organized a department for the sale of de luxe apartments. Just the first two elite objects entered the market — "Palazzo" on Tsvetnoy Boulevard and Veresaeva Street, 6. The acquired experience, knowledge and skills became a logical continuation of a career in real estate. However, then it turned out to be a kind of unpleasant component for me. The successes were dizzying, the deals went one after another, and it's not difficult to lose a sense of reality from this.

— I hope it didn't last long?
— I have collaborated with many leading developers. One of my last sales was organized by KV-engineering, from where one of the founders called. At that moment, they were thinking about creating a real estate company, which they offered to head. I presented the business plan to the board of directors. He received approval. Soon I got to work. In journalism, indeed, "marked". At the age of seventeen, she entered the journalism faculty of Moscow State University. Before that, I was published in various publications — dad still keeps clippings with my publications. The first material was a story about the schools of working youth. And it turned out to be critical. I, then still a high school student, denounced the education system! Then she moved to the secular chroniclers, which was closer in nature. I remember how a tired Masha Rasputina sat in a provincial hotel after the concert and gave an interview — to me, an unfamiliar novice journalist. It was strange: after the powerful pressure, the energy that came from her from the stage, the atmosphere during the conversation was completely different. There was a kind, direct, beautiful woman with her problems and experiences nearby. The interview with her turned out to be interesting, even Komsomolskaya Pravda reprinted it. "I came to the profession quite consciously, with work experience in other countries,
good training at the level of international standards" "The market grew, and with it grew as a leader. I will not pretend that everything was easy. But luck never left — it's true" Today it's difficult for me to answer the question whether I love Moscow. But I perfectly remember the moment when one day, returning from Kostroma in the early winter morning, I was driving through the streets of Moscow and caught myself thinking that I love this city. Snow was falling in white flakes, lanterns glowed yellow, majestic buildings stood… Now I live on Rublevsky Highway, raising a little daughter Eva (she is three years and nine months old). That's where I feel most comfortable.

— Has the company's slogan become your life motto as well?
— Absolutely. I'm so arranged that I can't work badly. And this applies to everything — household affairs, household, and business. It is impossible for me to do something by half or by a third! I feel uncomfortable telling lies! This is from childhood. From my parents. And, thank God, my environment accepts me exactly like this and, most importantly, understands me. And the same people themselves. This unites us.
We provide the client with prompt and reliable information, always warn about the risks, inform about the advantages and disadvantages. We do not dissemble, we do not ingratiate ourselves and we do not impose our opinion. Real estate business is a reputation business, we value our reputation extremely. With developers, frankness sometimes turns into insults. I have a catch phrase. When a new client-developer asks me a question, I always answer like this: "What do you want to hear — the truth or me
it is necessary to answer in such a way that you like it?" There is its own specificity in working with Russian architects. But this is already from the category of relationships, when a compromise, as a rule, can be found. For example, working with Yuri Grigoryan is easy and pleasant, we understand what modern requirements and standards are. We are currently working on several projects. For example, the latest project that has already been announced for implementation is the elite residential complex "Chocolate", located in the Kotelnicheskaya Embankment area. In my opinion, there are no flaws in the house. And another feature of our wealthy compatriots: sometimes they just can't get used to the fact that they now have a billion dollars and an apartment on the "Golden Mile", and therefore they are always delaying entry into new apartments. One of the clients — a top manager of a giant corporation - bought three apartments in the most expensive houses, but he still lives with his family in an old apartment in Chertanov... — I would like their worries... I'll just remind you of your winged expression: "Desires come with the possibility of their realization." Good luck to you — in everything! The market grew, and the company grew with it. I will not pretend that everything was easy. But luck never left — it's true. In general, I have such a worldview — aimed at the positive. It's hard for me to delegate authority, but today the company "Kalinka_Rielti" is not a backstage boutique luxury real estate company, but a professional real estate company, a market operator. Therefore, it is no longer possible not to develop and restructure it. This is also due to the fact that new areas of activity have appeared. We provide a full range of services not only in the segment of expensive real estate, including consulting support of the object, evaluation, organization of the sales process, implementation, etc. From the very beginning of our existence, the resources allowed us to provide brokerage services in other market segments, including commercial real estate. Investment consulting is one of the new and successful areas of the company. For example, in March of this year, with our participation, a deal was made for the acquisition by RGI of three residential blocks at Rozhdestvensky Boulevard. We intend to expand, and therefore a new set of employees, including top managers, is not far off. We moved to a new office in Butikovskiy Lane, which is larger in size than the previous one, but I'm afraid at this rate we will soon grow out of it.

— There are a lot of paintings in it…

— My dad is an honored artist of Russia. I am a late child in the family: my three sisters were born before that, and the age difference between the eldest and me is twenty-five years. All the hardships in the family came at a time
when I was not there yet. My father graduated from military school, my mother was a doctor. And when the head of the family took up creative work after thirty years, and he had been striving for this all his adult life, his mother got a job at two rates in order to
let dad fulfill himself. The studio apartment was a workshop. And only when my father's recognition as a painter came, gradually everything got better, and I was born into a family of prosperous
Kostroma intellectuals. I practically didn't live with my sisters — they got married one by one and left their parents' house. Special attention was paid to me - I studied at art and music schools,
she attended a theater club, sports clubs. However, I had a premonition in advance that I would definitely not follow the beaten path of local youth — studying at a pedagogical institute for girls and a military school for boys, respectively,
creating an army-teacher family.

— You didn't have any leadership experience at all…
— The company was established at the end of 1998, when the country was experiencing the consequences of default. Nevertheless, the real estate company of a new format, which I proposed, turned out to be extremely in demand by the market. Our first objects were a house in The last lane, "Opera House", houses in Zachatievsky lane, 19 and in Sechenovsky, 3. Naturally, I had to deal with all the activities of Kalinka myself — from apartment presentations to clients, employee training to operational management, solving tactical and strategic tasks. On the one hand, I was lucky, because I made all the decisions on my own, and not collectively. At the same time, the environment "matured and strengthened". The feeling that we are leaders in our market segment has never left us. This was also confirmed by the number of objects entrusted to us for implementation on an exclusive basis. Today, when the market has become more transparent and professional, ratings have been published, research has been conducted. And we have just confirmed our positions. It is flattering to realize that employees began to be lured to other companies by hook or by crook, that is, the line in the candidate's resume about belonging to Kalinka-Realty was appreciated when applying for a job. A kind of quality mark. Indeed, we have been trying to keep a high bar in everything all this time. "At some point, we clearly began to realize that we occupy leading positions in our market segment. This was shown by objective ratings, surveys of colleagues that were published in the press" "I can't work badly. And this applies to everything — household affairs, household, and business. It is impossible for me to do something by half or by a third"