Margarita Valigun is a remarkable woman who managed to break barriers in a male-dominated industry. As a female engineer, she built a successful business despite facing prejudices and challenges that would have made others give up. Her story is one of determination, hard work, and perseverance.
Margarita’s journey began when she graduated from university and worked a routine job. However, she soon realized that she was bored and ready to look for something more challenging. She had always been strong in mathematics and loved creating things, so she decided to change her line of business from equipping chemical and industrial laboratories to design and construction. She learned everything she could about construction, received a construction license, and started buying land and building houses. In only two years, Margarita had three teams of 12 people.
Unfortunately, the pandemic hit, and Margarita decided to delve into the development of fasteners. She modeled, refined, and developed various interesting ways of fastening, and her customers were companies producing profiles for stretch ceilings. This led to her more closely engaging in stretch ceilings, and she eventually had a profile development company and two teams of stretch ceiling installers. However, the COVID pandemic and the political situation in her home country forced her to think about immigration to the US.
Margarita faced many challenges as a female engineer-entrepreneur. She had to break through the wall of distrust with teams of builders who initially found it difficult to perceive how a woman could conditionally “hammer in a nail” and be the brains of projects. She also faced resistance from people who were unfamiliar with or skeptical of this technology in the US. However, Margarita is a fighter by nature, and difficulties only strengthen her.
What sets Margarita apart from others in her industry is her logical and mathematical mind, combined with “female logic”. This helps her find non-standard ways to solve problems. She can also do several things at the same time and solve multiple problems in her head at once. Margarita believes in the huge opportunities and prospects in the US due because this technology is almost not represented there. She has acquired licenses, letters of thanks, and great respect from customers.
Margarita’s move to the US is an anecdote that illustrates her adventurous spirit. In January 2020, she and her friends flew to New York for a week of relaxation, but they decided to extend their vacation and fly to Miami for a couple of months to wait out the winter. However, when they were due to fly back to Moscow, air travel was banned, and they could not leave the US until flights were allowed again. Margarita used this time to study English and think about what she could do in the US. Despite stereotypes and hurdles, her determination and hard work paid off, and she has developed a profitable business.
Margarita Valigun is an inspiration to women everywhere who aspire to break barriers and succeed in male-dominated industries. Her story demonstrates that everything is achievable with determination, hard work, and endurance.