Interview with James Ahearne

After graduating with a degree in Russian in 2011, James moved to Moscow, where he set up GoSay – an e-learning company.

How did you get to where you are?

I initially started studying Chinese and Economics at the University of Leeds, but after a disastrous experience with Chinese, I realised that it wasn’t for me. So I decided to change my course to Russian at the end of my first year, thanks to the persuasive skills of Natasha Bogoslavskaya of the Russian department. I’d never considered studying Russian before, but I thought I’d give it a go. I loved it straight away.

I didn’t know what to do after university, but I knew I loved Russia, so I hopped on a plane, with no job lined up. Here I am, five years later, with my company – GoSay – which focuses on creating education technology to help companies train their employees in language learning.

How did your degree help with your work and life abroad?

My year abroad helped with both communication and observation skills, as I had to talk to people just to get by. I also found that being in a foreign country made me constantly listen and take in my new surroundings. Being able to pick up on the smallest details has certainly helped in social and business environments.

I’d recommend getting involved with extracurricular activities in Leeds. I was heavily involved in theatre, which not only helped with creativity and confidence, but I was also essentially helping to run an organisation, which was a great experience for setting up my own business. As a result, I ended up co-founding a theatre company called Proud Haddock which is based in London and still runs today.

What did you do during your year abroad?

I studied at a Russian university for eight months during my second year. It was a challenging experience because I’d only studied the language for a year at Leeds, and so I was well and truly thrown into the deep end, but it is a year I will never forget!

What are your top tips for students doing a year abroad in Russia?

There are obviously practical tips, like bringing a woolly hat and gloves! But you’ve just got to throw yourself into it. The entire non-English speaking world wants to learn English, so you should purposefully go out and find people who don’t speak English, create relationships with new people, and immerse yourself in the culture. It might sound simple, but it takes time and effort.

What kind of challenges did you face when starting up your own company?

Being an entrepreneur sounds interesting and cool – and it is – but it’s also very hard work. The first barrier was the language. At the time, my Russian was good enough to get by, but I was in no way prepared for accountancy, business law, and documentation in Russian. The second thing is that you need to be prepared to fail, not just once, but many times. It’s a volatile career but one that never fails to excite.

I’d recommend all graduates with even the slightest inclination of starting a company to at least give it a go. Your twenties are the best time to experiment. In the UK, there’s an obsession with getting onto the career ladder, and lots of people end up feeling trapped. But there’s always another option – you can start your own company and explore what it is you really love. If any students are looking to go down the tech start-up route, then I’m happy to offer them some tips. I made plenty of mistakes along the way, so hopefully my guidance will be of use.

What were the best and worst aspects of moving abroad?

Since I’d moved away for university, the process of leaving wasn’t problematic. But, when I initially arrived, I really wasn’t enjoying myself. I arrived in winter – which is particularly tough in Russia – and wasn’t confident in my language skills; however, as soon as I broke out of my shell, and got over that initial hurdle, the whole place opened up to me.

Moscow has its own particular challenges. It’s quite a harsh city, largely because of the changeable weather, which impacts how people carry themselves. There is a stereotype that Russian people are quite cold, and closed-off, and that definitely seems true at first, but once you start to be open-minded, and gain their trust, they’ll completely open up to you. Most of my closest friends are Russians.

There are also plenty of great things about living in Moscow. For first-timers, it’s very easy to get around, particularly because there are now lots of signs in English, which didn’t exist when I first arrived. In fact, the whole city is quite unrecognisable from when I first came here on my year abroad. It’s become more of a political heavyweight, and you can certainly feel a sense of power. I live next to the Ministry of Defence, and I always see helicopters, huge cars, and bodyguards coming and going. It’s strange and very theatrical, but exciting, and that’s why I’m still here – the place is constantly changing and surprising me!

 

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Have the interviews in the Alumni Voices Abroad series been helpful to you? What insights would you like to gain from future interviews with our alumni? All feedback on the series is welcome, please send this via email to lcsalumni@leeds.ac.uk