Seeking Inspirato with Sofi Grytsan
Sofi at a local Viennese coffee shop near her neighborhood. Photo: @terrakopova
A wise, young soul
Sofi’s story reminds me that persistence is one of the fundamental keys to success.
Sofi is a woman who strives to make her dreams a reality. Every. Single. Day.
She has a can-do personality and wastes no time questioning whether she can do something. Hungry for the experience, she leaps for it instead.
The life Sofi has built for herself has come as a result of perseverance and hard work.
Sofi celebrating her graduation from Vienna University. Photo from Sofi’s Instagram.
Let’s roll back the clock: attending uni
Originally from Ukraine, Sofi moved to Vienna for university.
It wasn’t easy.
She failed her exam three times. She struggled and wanted to throw in the towel, but her parents encouraged her to keep trying.
“It was a really hard time for the family because during this time the war had started in Ukraine [2014]. Inflation caused turmoil for my family because, overnight, they started making 3x less than they were.”
She was working as a waitress, a nanny, and cleaning houses because giving up was not an option.
Finding the dream job
Sofi attending a work function for L’Officiel Austria. Working in fashion has perks! Photo from Sofi’s Instagram.
When Sofi graduated, she was eager to begin working in her field.
“When L'Officiel came to Vienna, I was looking for a job”.
L’Officiel is a French fashion magazine, similar to Vogue. They report on high fashion and have branches throughout Europe.
Sofi remembers telling her mom that working for them would be her dream job.
Since she didn’t have any connections to the company, she sent her CV to the info@ email address.
“No one responded, and now I know why.”
Sofi now manages the info@ email address and admits it’s an overwhelmed inbox.
When she didn’t receive a response, her parents advised her to visit the Vienna office in person. Still nothing.
Then her dad recommended a daring strategy: “if you go [to their office] every day, sooner or later, someone will notice you.”
Following her dad’s advice, she brought her CV to the L'Officiel Austria office four times. On the last time, they called her three days later.
Sofi is now the Digital and Social Media Editor for L'Officiel Austria.
“If you can dream it, you can do it. Imagine it, work towards it.”
Persist, persist, persist.
Currently, at L'Officiel Austria
Sofi’s position with L'Officiel Austria allows her to seize a front row seat to Austria’s fashion culture. A culture she feels is ripe for change.
“Vienna is a small village where people have no idea what’s going on around the world. They have no clue that it can be different and they don’t want to be different, they’re ok with it. They love their culture and fashion.”
For now, that is.
Whether or not Austria retains its multigenerational nationals, the cultural landscape will inevitably change as it continues to attract immigrants.
Ready or Not
Currently, approximately 16% of Austria’s population are residents with foreign citizenship (source: Statistik). The number is even higher in Vienna, perhaps even closer to 40% (source: Wiki).
Sofi has noticed that this is apparent in the L'Officiel Austria team where half of them are Russian-speaking.
Although this international perspective caused initial office friction, it has produced better work.
Sofi’s current challenge is to get her visa and make sufficient money to continue to live in Vienna. She’s hopeful.
“I don’t know how my life is going so well, but someone really loves me! Even when things get hard, it always works out.”
“Simple is better”
Moving onto something a bit more lighthearted: Sofi’s sense of style.
Hold the flowers and prints!
If given the chance, Sofi would wear black high heels with a simple dress every day in Vienna. She appreciates simple things, like solid colors.
When asked about personal style, Sofi quickly jumps to her style inspiration: her sister.
“My fashion inspiration is my sister.”
When Sofi was about 5 years old her sister introduced her to Fashion TV. Sofi was hooked ever since. Her sister now works as a fashion photographer in Dubai (@annagrytsan) and Sofi is dreaming of a day when they are reunited and living together in Europe.
Money + Clothing?
Sofi dismisses the need for designer pieces. She enjoys the process of putting a look together.
“Money and style have nothing in common. If you have money, it doesn’t mean you look stylish or you have good taste. You can have amazing taste and buy things in H&M, Zara, or second-hand stores.”
This reminds me of one of my favorite quotes: “It costs a lot of money to look this cheap” - Dolly Parton.
“If I have the ability to find the item for cheaper, I’m going to find it for cheaper.”
Here’s a prime example of Sofi’s skills. When pearl hair clips were all the rage, she bought them on AliExpress instead of paying 50 euros for them.
Sofi rocking a scarf. Photo from Sofi’s Instagram.
Sofi is always looking for inspiration and finds most of it in the world around her (yes, I mean VIENNA!).
But she also looks to Pinterest for trends using hashtags #2019Trends #Fashion #Style.
Sofi believes it’s the small details that makes up your personal style, like earrings, rings, and scarves. All of the scarves.
Thank you, Sofi
Let me leave you with a poignant quote from Sofi:
“I know my goals, and I know what I want and I don’t care what people think. I don’t want to let down my parents.
I’m here. I finished university, I am working in the job of my dreams, I’m trying to make my life much better.
Step by step, but it’s working.”
Bottoms up to Sofi and we wish her all the success in the world. Go buy that dress, girl.
I couldn’t have done this article without:
Sofi, thank you very much for being a part of the Seeking Inspirato series. Follow Sofi on Instagram
Photos: A big thank you to Sasha for the photos.