Meet The Team — Veronika Ukrayinets, Head of Communications
Another week, another Meet the Team blog! Today we’re delving deeper into the mind of our Head of Communications, Veronika; who spearheads most of the events our co-founders participate in.
Veronika joined TenX as Head of Communications in September 2017, and has been managing our Public Relations since.
What was your profession prior to TenX, and how did you fall into crypto?
I used to be a quite introverted person at school and remember how my best friend once told me that PR is not my thing… She challenged me to prove her wrong as I’ve always been fascinated by the power of PR to shape public opinion and knew that it’s definitely what I wanted to do in my life.
Right after finishing school I moved to Germany and started my career in PR already during my Bachelor studies of Media and Communication & Political Science at the University of Hamburg and cut my teeth by doing a lot of internships and part-time jobs, also engaged in multiple non-profit projects.
Steve Jobs’ quote: “People who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do” pretty much describes my attitude. Of course, I don’t think I can change the world by myself, so I started paving my way to being involved in a project that is doing that and surrounding myself with inspiring and ambitious people.
In the middle of my Master’s studies I got a job offer from a PR agency in Singapore; i couldn’t resist the chance to explore Asia and work in a global business, in the financial and technology hub. So I moved to Singapore to start a new chapter of my life.
I was helping some very promising startups and well established technology companies to spread their stories, build their brand and grow their business. I was also doing Business Development for the agency.
I heard about blockchain and cryptocurrencies for the first time in 2015 but didn’t pay much attention to it. I learned about what it is but never dug deeper having had an impression that this is just a toy for geeks. The whole concept sounded too idealistic and futuristic until 2016 when everybody started saying that “these things are coming” and “will take over the world.” I realised that this technology is here to stay to be deployed by financial institutions, businesses, governments and individuals. We are already witnessing how it is radically transforming the world.
I fell into crypto and became a blockchain enthusiast only when I learnt about TenX. The company’s YouTube channel was like Netflix for me. I spent all my evenings watching educational videos to fill my knowledge gap in this field as soon as possible. Later, after I joined, I was in charge of getting first couple of thousands of books “Cryptocurrency simply explained” printed, so during that process I had a chance to get even more cryptofit.
How did you learn about TenX and join us as Head of Communications?
I got to know TenX co-founders a couple of months before its ICO. They shared about how and why they founded TenX and a lot of great stories from their journey. I was truly impressed by their vision of cryptocurrency as the way of payments in the future and their mission to bring crypto mainstream. This sounded insanely ambitious to me, but having seen their energy, passion and dedication it felt that these guys can achieve anything they set their minds to.
The name TenX alone tells a lot about their attitude. It was inspired by not wanting to grow “one-bit” at a time, but rather by “ten x” — meaning ten times as much and fast.
I’m a big believer in Tim O’Reilly’s saying “create more value than you capture” and was amazed that TenX had a working product and user base all over the world even before the ICO.
They were also delivering a lot of value to their community and the whole blockchain ecosystem through educational content.
So I got truly passionate about blockchain technology and was very excited to witness how TenX is disrupting the financial system.
We often bumped into each other at conferences and networking events. They kept sharing with me the company’s exciting developments while I kept sharing some advice on what publications they should get coverage in and what events they should speak at.
A couple of months after I left the agency and came back to Germany to continue my studies, I got contacted by one of the co-founders. He was glad to hear that I’m available as they were struggling to find the right agency or a person to manage TenX’s media relationships and they saw me as an ideal candidate. My studies plans crashed again :) I got on a plane to Singapore and “joined the revolution”.
Back then the team consisting of four co-founders and a couple of other people worked from home and I became one of TenX’s very first employees that were hired after the token sale, when I came on board as the Head of Communications.
How do you see TenX making cryptocurrencies spendable?
With the emergence of more and more different tokens, a growing number of users and businesses truly struggle to leverage the existing blockchain infrastructure. TenX has made the interconnectedness of physical and virtual platforms a reality, and has made assets on the blockchain available not only to industry insiders but to any user in the real world.
Making cryptocurrencies spendable in a very easy and convenient way is actually only the first step towards its mission of bringing crypto to the masses. The next step would be to convert fiat into cryptocurrencies with a click of a button. The third step would allow people to deposit money and have them spread over different cryptocurrencies without deciding which one to use. We are going to use COMIT for this which will become the financial rails that will be connecting literally any financial asset.
At TenX each and every one of us are a crypto enthusiast and believer in a decentralised future. We are not only building one of the leading blockchain companies, but are also advocating blockchain to all stakeholders in society and educating people all around the world about blockchain and the possibilities it can bring to us. We’re at a big turning point in the future of money and economy as a whole.
TenX faces unexpected challenges very often, as blockchain industry lacks regulations and many governments are prohibiting the development of this technology by not understanding its huge potential of removing the middleman or just don’t know how to regulate it yet.
But when you put smart, like-minded people with great purpose together you can overcome any obstacle. The team culture and work environment at TenX are really amazing. People at TenX are self-driven, hard-working and extremely passionate about the mission. You really feel like part of the revolution and are motivated to achieve things that seem impossible until they are done.
The co-founders lead by example and inspire the culture of top performers by motivating the team to succeed, providing all the necessary tools and showing appreciation.
TenX grew from 8 people during the token sale to 60 people now and we are making sure to maintain the culture that will make the company last for decades and centuries. Our core values are: trust, dedication, data-driven decision making, candor and growth.
We also have a lot of fun together — amazing Fun Fridays, cinema or table games evenings, birthday celebrations, team building events, TenX Summits and holiday parties.
Is there any one person or company who inspires you?
Elon The Great :) His goals to change the world for a better place and to ensure the survival of the human race motivate me to never give up ideas and goals that I have, even if they seem crazy and unrealistic at first.
I adore his limitless imagination, his dedication and sacrifices, his ability to think big and and create amazing things. It was an unforgettable experience to talk to him at SXSW this year.
Being Head of Communications, what is a typical day like for you?
As Head of Communications I am responsible for building and protecting TenX’ reputation and strengthening the position of the co-founders as thought leaders. So I’m the main point of contact for the media and event organisers. That’s a lot of networking and relationship building as you can imagine.
TenX is a results focused company and one of our unspoken agreements is “Be the CEO of your role”. So we take full responsibility of how we manage our schedule and the outcome.
I totally love the interesting, challenging and rewarding work I am doing and see the value I am bringing to the team, so I don’t notice how time goes by even having long hours.
I spend most of my day in the office corresponding via email, having calls and meetings. A few times a week I go out for coffee/lunch/dinner with journalists and event organisers or attend networking events.
If an event TenX is part of is taking place in Singapore, I’m accompanying the speaker.
One of the fundamental components I could never do my job without is the unconditional belief in the team and company success. It’s one thing to do PR during happy times, like right after fundraising, announcing new partnership or launching new product features. And it’s another to sail the ship through rocky times.
It’s an exciting time to be in blockchain. I can’t think of a better place to be and feel very honored to work closely with some of the brightest minds in the industry.
Where do you personally see TenX in 2 years time?
TenX will keep growing exponentially and in 2 years the team will consist of 500–600 top talents occupying half of TenX Tower.
With the banking license TenX will be issuing cards and will get a couple of millions of users who are TenX raving fans.
TenX will build COMIT to connect anyone and anything to decentralised services and will serve as the fabric for the decentralised world.
The company will be valued at over a billion dollars and PAY token will be one of the top 5 coins.
Aside from work, what keeps you busy and what do you enjoy doing?
When I have a moment to spare I spend it out of doors — walking, hiking or running. Last year I ran a half-marathon, but I guess Singapore is not the best place for doing it considering the heat. I like all kinds of classes in Virgin Active, especially hot and antigravity yoga.
On weekends I go to events happening in Singapore, hang out with friends or read in the park. I really miss snowboarding. Haven’t had a proper winter holiday in mountains in years. So it’s on by bucket list for the coming winter. I also love to play with cats on the street. One day I’ll get my own.
