Top manager Olga Naumova is one of the few women who are at the head of the largest companies in Russia. By her example, she destroys gender stereotypes that a woman is not capable of being a competent and effective leader. In addition, Naumova successfully refutes the assertion that convinced careerists are unhappy in their personal lives. Indeed, in addition to her favorite work, she has a wonderful family - a husband and two children.
Way to success
Olga Valerievna Naumova is not yet 50 years old, and her resume has long represented an impressive track record, which includes the experience of managing the largest companies in Russia - Severstal, Novolipetsk Metallurgical Plant, Pyaterochka and Magnit retail chains. When her career was just taking off, many suspected that influential parents were behind the young leader. But these rumors turned out to be untrue.
In fact, Naumova was born, albeit in an intelligent, but quite average family. Her parents devoted their lives to teaching: her mother worked at Moscow State University, and her father - at the Bauman Moscow State Technical University. It is not surprising that they managed to instill in their daughter a love of knowledge. In 1994 Olga graduated from the sociological faculty of Moscow State University with a degree in marketing. In addition, during her studies, she simultaneously entered the Bauman Moscow State Technical University, but a year later dropped out of the second university due to lack of free time.
Naumova began her career as a student. The main area of her interests was various research, training of interviewers, which gave invaluable practical experience in the chosen specialty. Naumova took her first leading position in the Alt consulting company, heading its Moscow division. Then she worked in the computer field for about six years, managing the subsidiaries of the IBS holding.
As evidenced by her resume, Olga Valerievna was never afraid to radically change the field of activity. For example, in 2000 she went into the grocery business as the commercial director of the Russian Product company. Less than two years later, Naumova was offered to head a steel rolling plant in Cherepovets, and she, without a shadow of a doubt, went from Moscow to the provinces.
Career achievements
The cooperation of Alexey Mordashov, a young top manager and owner of Severstal, lasted more than seven years. Naumova managed to bring a large Russian company to the international level, change the assortment towards high-margin products.
In 2009, the billionaire Vladimir Lisin became the new boss of Olga Valerievna, who appointed her director for long products and hardware at the Novolipetsk Metallurgical Plant. In 2010, she became the head of the Rimera company, which is part of the metallurgical group of the Chelyabinsk Tube Rolling Plant.
In 2013, Naumova's career again made a U-turn in a diametrically opposite direction: she took the helm of the Pyaterochka grocery chain, which is part of the X5 Retail Group. Over the years of its operation, the popularity of stores has steadily grown, new retail spaces have been opened, the number of visits has increased, and with them, the total revenue.
For a long time, the main competitor of X5 Retail Group in the Russian market is the Magnit trading company, which for five years held the leading position in the food retail sector. Only in 2018, the balance of power changed in favor of the owners of Pyaterochka, Perekrestok and Karusel. Many people associate the failures of "Magnet" with the emergence of new owners. In 2018, the founder and main shareholder of the company, Sergey Galitsky, sold a controlling stake to VTB Bank, after which he left the post of CEO. After 4 months, Olga Naumova was invited to this position. How an experienced top manager will prove himself in a new place - time and annual sales figures will show.
Family and personal life
Although Olga Naumova admits that she is obsessed with her work and cannot imagine life without her, family values are also not alien to her. The famous top manager has been married for over 20 years and has two children. True, she talks little and reluctantly about her family, preferring conversations on the topic of work and business. In early interviews, Naumova mentioned that her husband works in the computer field, but his name or any details of the acquaintance of the future spouses are not indicated in open sources.
The eldest daughter of the couple, Elizabeth, was born on June 2, 1999. Until the last day before giving birth, her mother went to work, and on maternity leave she was delayed by only a month and a half. Naumova's nanny and grandmother helped in caring for the baby. Moreover, when Elizabeth was two years old, Olga left to work in Cherepovets, and the family remained in Moscow. As a result, for a long time she saw her relatives only on weekends.
However, living together with her husband and daughter has little effect on Naumova's lifestyle. She used to leave for work early in the morning and return closer to midnight. On weekends, the top manager devotes a lot of time to sleep, recuperation, and proper rest. But her relatives have long come to terms with such a family way of life and do not express dissatisfaction about this. Moreover, the busy work schedule did not prevent Olga Valerievna in 2010 from becoming a mother for the second time. They had a son with her husband. This joyful event again did not force Naumova to pause in her career. Obviously, she prefers to bring up her second child in the same way as her eldest daughter.
It is not known for certain how the top manager's spouse relates to the atypical distribution of roles in the family. However, judging by the duration of Naumova's marriage, the couple clearly found a compromise on this issue.
