June 6, 2025
Born in a middle-class family in Nagpur, Maharashtra, I was raised by strong parents—my mom, a cancer survivor who fought her battle when I was born, and my dad, a self-made man who built a business from scratch. At age
In 2018, I moved to Australia with my husband & our 8-month-old daughter from Russia, it was far from easy.
My husband worked full-time to support us & my English was not perfect, especially with the distinct Australian accent I wasn’t prepared for. I felt isolated, spending my days at playgrounds because they felt like the safest place for me.
I realised that I needed help, so I found a therapist, and through regular calls, she slowly helped me reconnect with myself.
I wanted to work, but language was still a barrier.
Back in Russia, I was a community director at a large IT company. So I launched an agency doing the one thing I knew best, helping Russian-speaking business owners build their communities.
It took off, bringing in big clients & helping us in achieving financial stability. That year, we even bought a beautiful red car.
Then the pandemic hit. My clients were uncertain about their businesses, and childcare shut down. One day, I messaged a Google director on Instagram and pitched my idea to launch an online co-working space. Surprisingly, he supported it, and we co-founded a community of 25,000 founders worldwide.
It was an incredible, over challenging, amazing, tough, beautiful year.
I got completely burned out.
I stepped away, asking myself: ok, what’s next? I wanted to integrate. To me, that meant working for a global company with values similar to mine. @canva felt like the perfect fit. I applied, and despite the fact that even native Australians dream for years of getting a job at Canva. In 2022, I joined as an Education Community Manager.
Then the Russia-Ukraine war began.
I was so ashamed of the war my country had started. But my team at Canva supported me so much. I’ll never forget it.
I felt like my life had split in two, a beautiful, happy life in Australia, and nights filled with tears for my friends from Russia and Ukraine.
Today, I’m a community builder and TEDx speaker, working on my second book in English, and raising my bilingual child who surprises me every day. Australia has shown me the true meaning of kindness, and this is the thing you never, never forget. I had one home. Now, I have two.” Yana Belova
Born in a middle-class family in Nagpur, Maharashtra, I was raised by strong parents—my mom, a cancer survivor who fought her battle when I was born, and my dad, a self-made man who built a business from scratch. At age
I landed in Sydney in 2014 with a suitcase full of dreams and a body still healing from cancer. After surviving thyroid cancer the year before, I knew this move wasn’t just about changing countries — it was about choosing
I come from a small town in Punjab called Rajpura, and my journey to Australia has been nothing short of an adventure. I started my Bachelor’s in computing at Manipal University in India, before transferring to the Australian National University
I grew up in Sydney with a single mother and spent most of my early years immersed in wrestling and boxing. School, on the other hand, was never my thing. I struggled with dyslexia, couldn’t focus in class, and changed
