Inha Kordynovska, 34 years

My name is Inha Kordynovska, and today I am an entrepreneur in legal and crisis consulting.

At a certain point in my professional journey, I felt very clearly that the role of a «person who executes» had become too confining. I wanted to be not just someone who implements other people’s decisions, but someone who creates them. I did not leave the legal profession—it is a labor of love, not a matter of calculation. At the same time, I consciously crossed to the other side of the barricades to build my own company as a space where I could fully realize my abilities.

I’m drawn to the entrepreneurial lifestyle: constant turbulence, difficult decisions, chaos, and emergencies. What many find emotionally draining is a natural way of life for me. At the same time, I clearly distinguish between scaling for the sake of numbers and scaling for the sake of quality. In legal consulting, I deliberately focus on depth, unconventional solutions, and substance, while planning to pursue growth on a different scale in other fields.

Another important topic for me is women’s entrepreneurship. I work in a very «male» industry and have learned from personal experience that a woman’s path in business is almost always different. I tried using traditional male methods, but quickly realized that they went against my nature. My body and inner state immediately signaled that this was not my path. Over time, I realized the main thing: almost no one sells women the idea that they can be successful while remaining themselves. Instead, there are many programs and concepts that either promote male tools or impose the opposite extreme—that business is supposedly «not for women».

And between these extremes, there is almost no conversation about a middle ground: about doing business in a way that interests me, feels comfortable to me, and suits my needs in light of my life circumstances, children, and reality. I know few women entrepreneurs who allow themselves to remain women, act intuitively and in their own way without breaking themselves, and still succeed.

It’s difficult not so much because of business itself, but because of the constant feeling that you’re «not like everyone else». At the beginning, the only thing that helps is believing in yourself and understanding that this path is right for you. Over time, your own journey becomes your anchor: not other people’s expectations or external authorities, but what you have already managed to do yourself. At the same time, I believe there is a lot to learn from men: their confidence, their ability to present themselves, not to undervalue their work, and not to doubt themselves every minute. It’s important to adopt these skills without betraying yourself, your instincts, or your own way of moving forward. Looking ahead, I have a very specific vision. I want to go to Argentina for a while to learn Argentine tango professionally and take part in the world championship. This is not emigration—I can’t live without Ukraine! It’s a conscious stage of life and a great personal dream that I’m systematically preparing for.

So by then, I need to structure my businesses so that I can afford to live that way for 2-3 years while pursuing my other dream—dancing tango. I’m also planning to move into other fields, including the defense sector. For me, the defense sector is not only a business opportunity, but also a way to be useful to the country.

I sincerely believe that powerful technologies in this field are emerging in Ukraine right now, and I see great potential in it, both in terms of purpose and development. Today, my sense of happiness is very simple: my basic needs are met. In wartime, that means being able to wake up in a warm home, with heating and hot water. I truly feel happy because I have basic security. More broadly, happiness for me is a state of inner peace, clarity, and a sober understanding of myself in this life—when I have health, energy, and the ability to meet any challenge, even the most difficult ones.

Freedom for me is the ability to live the way I want, make my own decisions, and take responsibility for them. I want to be responsible for the decisions I make myself, not those imposed on me from outside. That is what true freedom means to me.

How did the business idea come about?

The idea for my own business emerged at the intersection of two factors. First, I had worked for six years at a company in the niche field of maritime law, achieved strong professional results, and at a certain point realized that staying within this niche alone had become too limiting. Second, my manager at the time decided to leave the legal business, move into IT, and effectively close the company. He wanted to bring that chapter to an end, while I wanted the opposite: to continue the work and develop it in my own way. Im

portant, too, was an inner desire to change roles: to move from employment and execution to creation and responsibility for my own decisions. My body also «signaled» that I had outgrown my previous professional «suit»: I started getting sick, and that was another sign that it was time to grow and move forward.

What key skills helped you launch your business?

First and foremost, resilience, determination, the ability to think strategically, and creativity in finding solutions to difficult and unconventional situations.

What were the 3 most difficult challenges you faced in the first years?

At the start of the business, I faced several serious challenges.

The first was COVID-19, which began almost immediately after the company launched. It was a period of complete uncertainty—with no idea where to go or how to make decisions. 

The second challenge was studying at the same time: while opening the business, I enrolled in a full-time program at a higher education institution to earn a second degree. This demanded enormous amounts of time and energy. The third challenge was the war.

What crises has your business faced, and how did you overcome them?

The most difficult crisis was the start of the full-scale war. At the time, I was in Odesa and did not leave the city, while some of the team remained in Kherson and found themselves under occupation. At the same time, we had to keep working because we needed to pay salaries, while we had almost no clients: Kyiv was effectively not working in the first months, and Odesa even less so.

We held on because we had always worked across Ukraine. In the first months, clients from Lviv, where economic activity continued, supported us. We also did a lot of pro bono work during that time. I had opened a humanitarian volunteer center with acquaintances, and as a company we provided it with legal support. 

In addition, our team provided free consultations to charitable foundations and customs authorities on importing humanitarian aid. The legislation was changing almost daily, trucks were being held up, everyone was panicking, and all of it had to be sorted out at customs offices across the country.

This work was incredibly exhausting, but it gave the team inner strength and a sense of purpose that kept us from «falling apart», including those who were under occupation. I have never experienced a worse period in business, and I don’t think I ever will.

UCU Business School shortened a journey that would otherwise have cost us mistakes

What decisions proved most effective for the company’s growth?

The biggest boost to the company’s growth came from the decision to graduate from UCU Business School. I had a strong legal background, but after launching the business I found myself in new roles where I lacked management and leadership skills. I could have acquired these skills through trial and error, but studying helped me avoid many mistakes and significantly shorten the path to growth.

What seemed like a fatal mistake became the key to enforcing the decision

What mistake do you now consider your most valuable experience?

It wasn’t exactly my mistake, but rather the court’s. Still, it taught me the most. We pursued a case for five years, went through every court level, and were right on the merits. However, the Supreme Court told us that the case had been filed in the «wrong jurisdiction»—meaning, supposedly, we had chosen the wrong court to hear it..

It came as a serious shock because there was established case law and relevant guidance confirming that we had acted correctly, but we were still sent back to start all over again in a new court. In effect, we had to begin from scratch—another years-long process. Yet this seemingly fatal mistake became the key to enforcing the decision. The court where we started over had a special mechanism for overseeing the enforcement of court decisions, which other courts did not have in similar disputes with city councils. 

Thanks to this mechanism, I managed to make notorious parties comply with the decision in full. For the first time in its history, the Odesa City Council enforced a decision in cases of this kind, throughout the years of independence. Since then, I’ve taken a much calmer, more philosophical view of mistakes made by public authorities: if something didn’t work here, it means it may produce results somewhere else.

Lawyer status at 24 — and my first $10 000