Oksana Katorjevskaya is the owner and builder at Your Favourite Homes. Oksana has an incredible story of reskilling and working in a male dominated field as a home builder.
You’ll hear how Oksana juggles motherhood, study, career and a business that’s demanding and has a lot of high value moving parts. Incredibly honest and passionate, Oksana is strategic about her delicate balancing act and shares her secrets of success in this episode.
Arriving in Melbourne from Moscow, Russia in 2002, she faced Visa issues and the possibility of being deported to Russia. By chance, she met her partner and started a career in telecommunications.
A random invitation to a property seminar in 2006 saw Oksana purchase her first property and execute a subdivision and development. Oksana engaged a builder and project managed the development whilst still working full time and nursing her newborn son. On advice and encouragement from her builder, she secured her builders license and embarked on her professional building career – still working full time and having two little children!
Whilst studying for her Certificate 4, she found herself struggling and almost quit during an exam. Swallowing her tears she went back into the exam and completed it, successfully graduating and then secured her second development site.
Oksana’s day consisted of dropping her children at childcare, visiting the asite, going to her full time job, collecting the children from childcare then checking on the building site. Realising they were surviving with very little money in the bank, long hours and children in childcare, Oksana decided to secure her builders license. Her first attempt for a licence was a failure.
She then quit her full time job, purchased a block of land and started her first owner builder project. Learning on the job, she finished the project and sat for the builders license again, which she passed. And the rest as they say, is history.
It was an absolute pleasure to chat with Oksana and hear her incredible story and how she has stayed committed to her business dream, whilst overcoming many hurdles along the way.
For more on Oksana visit https://yourfavouritehomes.com.au/
Have a great week mummas!
– Annelise xo