From metal and wire: An entrepreneur in Ukraine rebuilds her metalworking career lost to war

Viktoriia Tabachna, 43, worked for many years at a small metalworking production enterprise in Kharkiv, Ukraine. “It was just the way fate would have it,” she says. She built a career there systematically, not by chance. She worked as an assistant at the enterprise, dealt with deliveries, and did marketing. As time went on, Viktoriia began discovering the magic in this business, which she found fascinating. She watched as a large truck drove into the enterprise and unloaded blocks of dirty and cold metal, which, after being cleaned and painted, were turned into beautiful, shiny items.

Eventually, this magic became her life's work. This path required, and still does, a large amount of human effort. 

For the most part, the enterprise where Viktoriia worked was engaged in large functional products – gates and massive shelving units, for example. But occasionally, they received orders for decorative items, which Viktoriia loved the most, even though they were the least lucrative. The management did not seek to develop this area. 

She gradually began to explore the decor market on her own and decided to set up her own business. She found artists and sculptors in Kharkiv; she rented and then bought a small workshop space. 

"I made small orders while getting acquainted with the market. Everything went smoothly toward transitioning to working for myself," Viktoriia says.

She had already employed an accountant and was getting ready for larger orders when Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022.

"All at once, everything faded into the background. For about a month, our family hid in the school basement. One day the military came and told us to leave. Military vehicles were already parked at my doorstep. Volunteers drove us to the other part of the city to our relatives, where we stayed for another week. And then it got difficult even there, and we started looking for an opportunity to leave. This is how we came to live in Poltava for three years so far. The people here are very sincere and have welcomed us. We live in peace here," Viktoriia recalls. These memories of being displaced are still very painful for her.

For more than a year of displacement, Viktoriia was depressed. She grieved the loss of her home, drowned in everyday problems, and read the news about the shelling of Kharkiv daily. One day, while scrolling through Facebook, she stumbled across an announcement about the WINGS project and the Workshop of Opportunities program, which organized meetings for women to inspire and motivate them, as well as teach them useful skills in employment or entrepreneurship. Viktoriia understood that she could find the support she so desperately needed, and she joined.

"I came there like to my family. In any situation, the project coordinator, Iryna, had something to answer, advise, and guide. My daughter had a teacher in primary school thanks to whom she always wanted to go to school. It's the same here: These meetings were bright events in my everyday life," Viktoriia says.

She did not expect that her experience with WINGS would later help her get her abandoned business in Kharkiv back up and running. 

Broken metal

Viktoriia's workshop in Kharkiv was located in a garage cooperative, where the premises were mostly rented out for production. At the beginning of the war, when Viktoriia and her family were hiding from shelling in the school basement, there were strikes all over the neighborhood. The workshop was also struck and almost all the equipment was destroyed.

In May 2022, when Viktoriia had already been evacuated to Poltava, her neighbors advised her to do something about the workshop, as soon nothing would be left of it. Viktoriia and her friends found a driver from Poltava who agreed to help her move the equipment.

While she was packing, she could hear a constant barrage from the side of Chuhuiv. The driver was nervous, so Natalia had to pack in a rush. She took the equipment out and later went back several times to pick up more things, metal and wire. 

In Poltava, she rebuilt her business bit by bit. She bought what she needed on credit and with the help of friends. She did everything she could.

"When I came to Poltava, I had to think about how to survive. I had long dreamed of opening a shop on the Etsy platform, and eventually I did. There were small figurines made of screws, nuts, and wires. From then on, I started making everything that came to my mind. A woman from Australia ordered figures that she invented herself. For example, we made a customized hare wearing a bear mask," she said, laughing.

Under the WINGS project, Viktoriia developed a business plan and won funding for it.

"It was such a flood of emotions! I applied to buy very heavy equipment – a machine with different pipes, on which you can do whatever your heart and customer desire. In Kharkiv, I had a manual machine that was very difficult to work on. The production of the product itself took a long time. Now, with the new machine, I just press a button. When I bought the equipment, it allowed me to expand the range of products in the workshop. The work is now done faster and better. I started designing garden furniture."

A woman's business 

Now, the issue of ease of working with her equipment is crucial. She employs a sculptor and a welder, but it is becoming increasingly difficult to find men to work in the workshop, so she invites everyone to work – both women and students.

"Women have to become stronger now, in every sense. They consider this to not be a woman's business. It was difficult at the beginning. I was often not taken seriously. During consultations, they asked me to call a male colleague. There was a period when I had to prove that I understood something and could do something. But I got through it," Viktoriia says.

Now her workshop in Poltava, which used to be an unfriendly grey garage, is warm and cozy. Viktoriia has renovated it and put up photos of her work. She also created a website herself. She once learned computer programming, but never fell in love with it as much as she did with working with metal and wire. 

"I love the feeling when you buy a wire and have no idea what it will turn out to be. And then you unload it for painting – you see the finished product, and the customer says, ‘Wow.’ When you get feedback from customers, you are inspired to keep working. I want to do something up-to-date, something that no one else does. I want to create light, airy things out of metal. So that a woman or a girl could come in, see these small details, and want one for herself."

The business is growing steadily. 

"At the last WINGS meeting, I shared with the ladies that I really have these 'wings' now, because I'm back on my feet and have the strength to fly toward my dreams. I was recently sharpening wire for a Christmas tree figure and lost track of time. It's my brainchild, and it brings me joy," Viktoriia says smiling. 

Now she knows she has the power to rebuild everything again. She is happy to create when everything around her can be destroyed so easily. This is why Viktoriia loves her wires and machines so much.

This material was prepared with the support of the Government of Canada under the Women Included: Nurturing Growth and Security (WINGS) project, implemented by Pact. The information presented in this material does not necessarily reflect the views of the Government of Canada.

Text by Daria Bezruchenko.