A Space Talent Spotlight Series Interview with Anastasia Volkova, CEO of Regrow.
The Space Talent Spotlight is our blog series focused on the leaders and builders at the intersection of space and tech.The Space Talent Spotlight is our blog series focused on the leaders and builders at the intersection of space and tech.
What have been your top three career accomplishments so far?
That's a tough question! I'd say my top 3 would be:
What were the critical steps/choices that helped you get ahead?
Choosing a technical degree from the start, and knowing that I could add any other degree to it at a later stage after doing the "hardest one" first.
Choosing to not stay in academia, but to always seek practical applications of my work that will lead to the biggest and sustainable impact. I started getting involved in startups pretty early on, when still in my Masters.
What part of your education had the most impact on your career?
My PhD, I think. I got a taste of what it means when you are literally one of the top people in something pretty specific, and the confidence it gives you when you achieve the academic goals. For me, that confidence helped to take on the business challenges associated with implementation of the "great idea" into a business that can thrive.
What about your career have you enjoyed the most and least?
As CEO of FluroSat and now CEO of Regrow, I would say I enjoy the part that allows me to "connect the dots" between the internal activities and potential partnerships or even the synergies between different products that we have.
I least enjoy the other side of "connecting the dots" - there never seems to be enough communication, context, and "getting on the same page", given we are such a fast-paced team.
Where do you see the most promising career opportunities in the future?
I see achieving higher degrees of transparency and sustainability in agriculture to be a very exciting opportunity for our agtech company, and me personally as a CEO, and founder with a vision for a better world of tomorrow.
What advice/resources would you share with the next generation following a similar career path?
For everyone interested in Earth Observation, I would encourage them to participate in hackathons organized by space agencies to get up to speed on what is possible to achieve with modern satellite data, as well as follow the projects that the public agencies and industry invests it to keep the pulse on what are the most pressing issues in the space that still require resolution, and can benefit from new talent and new approaches.
Is there anything else you would like to share?
If anyone is interested to learn more about my personal or FluroSat's journey, I invite them to check out the podcasts on our website. I try to regularly invest time into sharing perspectives on the ways to enter STEM, and if there is any feedback or thoughts people have to share, I'd be most interested to hear them!
