Revealing some skeletons in the cupboard of Antonina Smyrnova

Upplabs develops secure and compliant software for Fintech, Healthcare, and Real Estate since 2014. For tech businesses eager to be #1 in their niche, winning the trust by delivering more than 150 successful projects for clients from almost all over the world.

Time to meet the Tech writer at UppLabs, Antonina!

If you had to eat one meal, every day for the rest of your life, what would it be?

I would choose cheese pancakes (or syrnichki) and everything connected to cheese and milk products. I can't live without them. In the supermarket, the shelf with milk products is the one where I usually spend most of the time.

I like to explore new yoghurts, cottage cheese, and kefir. So yes, that would be my choice for the rest of my life.

the cloth design we create (Orangerie)

Do you have any hobbies, go-to weekend activities, or long-term passion projects you’re working on?

My hobbies are walking, mobile photography, reading, playing the piano, spending time with my child, and of course, travelling.

There is also one project that is my hobby and my long-term passion. I share it with my sister. Once we started our design brand that is called Orangerie. There we are trying to use only natural and organic materials and some recycled ribbons. We buy all our ribbons and materials ourselves in small independent shops in different parts of the world and give preferences to floral design.

Each dress is hand-made and almost unique as there is usually only a couple of pieces of each design. We love traditional clothes from around the world combined with simple design. All our dresses are named after one particular flower, and the collection of them is our ORANGERIE (a french word meaning "greenhouse").

What are your primary responsibilities and what does your day-to-day look like?

My primary responsibilities are writing articles for UppLab's blog and creating content for the company on different platforms and resources. I'm also responsible for the activity that is called Meet the team. It is a meeting where we introduce the new team member and try to find out the most interesting facts. I work part-time, so I usually work only the first part of the day, when my daughter is in kindergarten. However, sometimes I feel more inspired to write in the evenings, so I don't have one regular and strict schedule, and I really like it about my job.

When are you the happiest?

I'm happiest when I'm with my family and when I have the ability to create something that people find helpful. As for the place, I've noticed that I usually feel excited and inspired about some highlands, cliffs, rocks, mountains, oceans, and places that are sometimes hard to reach.

So, when I manage climbing, going, cycling, or walking to these points, I usually feel so much freedom and space that it brings me absolute happiness.

My daughter and me in Wales

How did you first learn about UppLabs?

My friend and colleague, Iryna, told me that she started working in the new company and asked if I could join her there, as she needed a tech writer. We used to work together before, so I didn't have any doubt about this decision.

I was sure that it would be something interesting and was curious about the company. And I was glad we could work again as teammates, as I wouldn't dream of the best person to work with.

What did you want to be when growing up?

I wanted to be a drummer or a cloth designer. I always liked rhythms, and I thought it would be cool to play at some rock band as a drummer. But I've never learned drums, as it always was so many other things that seemed more important.

And now I used to think it was a child's silly idea. But as for the cloth designer, my dreams were fulfilled. Now it's more of a hobby, but one day - who knows?

Get to know Antonina and the rest of the UppLabs team!

We’re delighted that Antonina decided to join UppLabs – it’s been great having them on board! If you have any questions or want to get to know Antonina or one of their colleagues from the Tech writer team, we can put you in touch. Don’t hesitate to reach out!