My Story


I was born in Moscow, Russia, then Soviet Union, was trained as organic chemist, and got PhD in biochemistry. When the “iron curtain” fell at the end of 80s, I was invited to do research in Frankfurt, Germany and then in the University of Maryland at Baltimore. Being locked inside the Soviet Union until my 30s generated tremendous hunger for seeing other countries and people, and my family and I started to travel the world. Remember pre-smart phone times when we would bring several precious rolls of film and then do slide presentations for friends? It all changed when we became digital and equipped with smart phones - just showing photos was not exciting anymore. So, finding subjects for exciting stories became our hobby which made our travels so much more interesting.

In my professional life I had to do a lot of presentations which evolved into a love of connecting with others through stories. To transition to storytelling, I received storytelling instructions from Paul White,Toastmasters International, and Jessica Robinson, "Better Said than Done".


My stories are brought about by my travels but they are not accounts of what we saw along the way. Rather, I like to look around, listen to guides, research, and find intriguing historical anecdotes about events, buildings, people, animals, food, drinks - whatever causes my listener to say “Wow - interesting!“ and to feel enriched and entertained by joining me in traveling through world and history.

My Story

I was born in Moscow, Russia, then Soviet Union, was trained as organic chemist, and got PhD in biochemistry. When the “iron curtain” fell at the end of 80s, I was invited to do research in Frankfurt, Germany and then in the University of Maryland at Baltimore. Being locked inside the Soviet Union until my 30s generated tremendous hunger for seeing other countries and people, and my family and I started to travel the world. Remember pre-smart phone times when we would bring several precious rolls of film and then do slide presentations for friends? It all changed when we became digital and equipped with smart phones - just showing photos was not exciting anymore. So, finding subjects for exciting stories became our hobby which made our travels so much more interesting. Also, in my professional life I had to do a lot of presentations which evolved into a love of connecting with others through stories.


My stories are brought about by my travels, but they are not accounts of what we saw along the way. Rather, I like to find intriguing historical anecdotes about events, buildings, people, animals, food, drinks - whatever causes my listener to say “Wow - interesting!“ and to feel enriched and entertained by joining me in traveling through world and history.