Meet Kristina Malenyk | Professional Retoucher

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kristina Malenyk and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kristina, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Today’s realities give us a strong understanding that freelance is a stable and reliable way to earn for a living. It has always been clear to me. I hate waking up early, going to the office by bus and being dependent from loads of factors and people. Me, my skills, my knowledge, my persistence as well as my husbands’ belief in my success are the basement of my own retouching business. I felt that I can and I want it so bad, so when I started retouching, nothing could and still nothing can distract me. I realized that being a freelance retoucher will not be easy, everything will depend on me, on my professionalism, on my perseverance and on luck as well. My instagram account is still not very followed, but I focus not on the quantity of likes and reposts, but on quality of my retouch. So I never stop practicing, I spend time on gaining new information from workflows and professional courses, retouching my projects and for the first time in my life I am keen on what I do.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I am from Ukraine. I have always been living and working in Ukraine and continue doing it even now, during this difficult and frightening period of life. I was born in a small town in Donetsk region, I graduated from school and got a law degree there. I was planning to be a lawyer and help people in trouble. But because of the war, I had to move to another Ukrainian city, which was more safe, so I left my family in 2016 and began my life from the very fresh start alone in the new city without any support. I didn’t work as a lawyer, but I earned for a living as an online translator and article’s editor. I liked the idea of working from home and being independent. Although, it’s not that easy to live alone in a big city, sometimes it was quite difficult to earn enough to pay for all the needs and the online jobs were not stable. So my dream was to find my life’s job, something that would not be just a job for me, but my passion and my every-day inspiration.

I believe that we all are born with our own special talents and skills. When we grow up, if we listen to ourselves, do what we like to do and become not what others want us to be, if we save that feeling of pleasure from what we do and for what we get up every morning, this is the key. I always adore drawing and sketching. When I was a little girl, I told my mother that I would like to be a designer and she told me that I didn’t have enough imagination and talent for it. So I made myself forget about it and got a law degree in university. My plan was to work in the prosecutor’s office. But life made its’ own adjustments. It took time and loads of different obstacles to get back to the way that my inner child has always cherished inside. Creative career is freedom, it’s a way to create beauty around us. And I think it’s no less important than going to courts or trading.

It was a risk to start my own business, because I have never used Photoshop and I had no knowledge in the area of retouch. I had to pay my rent and some other financial obligations, so I had only one option – to succeed. I believed that it is my way, my life’s work, my dream that came true. So I guess that my belief and my strong will to become a professional and world-known retoucher reduced all the risks to zero.

And I am happy to admit that I did it. In spite of war, my diabetes, separation with my family and financial difficulties, I did it and I am proud of myself.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
As I mentioned, because of the war I had to leave my native town in Donetsk region and go to a safer place. I haven’t been there for already 6 years. I haven’t seen my family for a very long time. So, for me now the favorite spot is my native land, I dream about peace and safety in that region. And one day it will be so. If I could take my best friend there, we would walk along the streets, which I used to walk with my friends, which led me to school, to the dancing classes I attended. I would show a big stadium, where my mother and I used to run. We would go to the market to buy the freshest fruit and vegetables, fish and cheese. We would take some snacks and go the reservoir to sunbathe and have some fun. I would show our beautiful green park, where there are some many bright flowers and different kinds of trees were planted. There are so many awesome places in the world and I have never thought that my little town will be the one for me. Values change and now I would give everything for an ability to visit it, to show it to my beloved people.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I have always been convinced that hard work is the way to success. Of course, there are other options, like wealthy parents or an advantageous marriage, but I chose my way from the start. Since I was a girl, I spent hours and hours studying, reading and investing my time and energy into the skills and knowledge that I thought I would need for my future career. My perseverance is the most important quality in life and career.

I am a real workaholic. When I retouch, I am totally in the process, so I rarely notice how time pass and often forget to have lunch or take a break to check my phone or mailbox. That’s not healthy, I am sure, so one of my goals is to arrange my schedules and find that balance. I feel myself only in the beginning of building my career, so it’s necessary to do what I have to. Nevertheless, war changes values and shows you what and who are really important. Work is work, but my family will always be the first for me. And I am happy that my family understands and accepts my ambitions.

I am 30 now, I am giving interview to a foreign magazine, I am a published retoucher, so I want to express all my gratitude to my husband and my parents, who always believed in me and supported me.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/retouch_tina/

Other: my email retouch.tina@gmail.com

Image Credits
Photographers @nikolscarpelliphotography, @alexandercroft, @kapilralli