Goodbye Istanbul, Hello Berlin.

Hey there, I’m Farida from Azerbaijan.

Now before I talk about my new career and life journey, I want to thank Istanbul and all the wonderful people I have met here who have added so many great memories to my life.

I was born and raised in Baku, Azerbaijan. I have studied in a Russian-speaking school and later transferred to an IB-based International School. Since childhood, I loved drawing and painting. I wasn’t too good at physics or chemistry, but I was pretty good at Visual Arts. I remember how in 5th grade while my Art teacher was drawing on a chalkboard and talking about the drawing techniques, my mind went to my math notebook and I started drawing the same pot. When my teacher noticed it, I thought I was going to get “punished” for it, but I was wrong. He picked up my notebook and said ‘This is perfect’. I was shocked, that was not the reaction I expected, but it definitely pushed me to explore Arts more. Toward the end of high school, I already had my Art Exhibition up and was proudly talking about my collage artwork. I knew back then that if there is anything I loved the most was creating something and socializing.

You would think, I would choose an Arts path from here (um yeh I thought the same for a while). However, I chose to study Psychology and that’s when I came to Istanbul.

I can’t say I was the top student, but I was above average and loved learning and exploring, more than just memorizing and aiming at getting the highest grades in class. During my bachelor's, I had the chance to complete a couple of internships locally and abroad (in Brussels). I also got the chance to go on an exchange program to my Dream state — New York.

Of course, I came back to Istanbul to complete my studies. Just when I thought I would be going back to New York to study Master's Degree, life had made plans for me to stay in Istanbul for another 7 years. Um yeh, I did stay here. I took an offer from a bank to work as an assistant, while I was going to continue my education. Luckily, my Master's Degree had its classes in the evening so I could just rush out of work to go to class. It didn’t take long before I found myself bored after finishing classes and started searching for new adventures. That’s when I came across developer communities. I thought I made lots of friends at university until I found myself joining all the tech events held in Istanbul (and oh sometimes outside of Istanbul). My network grew even bigger and I found myself building and leading Google Developer Communities.

Since 2014 I found myself amidst the startup and tech communities in Istanbul. I got the chance to build a startup, close it, and continue creating. I never stopped and never saw a reason to. I never cared about failing or what others will think of me. All I thought about and focused on was MY growth. I must say since 2014 I got the best partner in life who didn’t stop supporting me, who always stands by my side and pushes me for bigger challenges. Anyhow, back to growth; self-development, and investing in your education is the best thing you can do for yourself.

In the year 2021, my husband and I decided that we have been wanting to change our environment and start new ideas, but we haven’t been taking much action. We have been living in our comfort zone, but it was time to take that BIG step whether we find a job or not. It didn’t take long, and my husband got a job offer from a company in Germany. We got our visas and everything went smoothly thanks to the company.

Now the question is, what is Farida going to do next?

Well, first I want to thank ALL my wonderful Turkish and foreign friends whom I met in the most beautiful city, Istanbul. Thank you for being with me, for supporting me, and for creating the best memories with me.

I must say, I do not have a plan B and I do not have a job waiting for me in Berlin. However, I am finally FREE. I am out of my comfort zone. I can now choose what I want to do with my life. I can now freely build what I want. I can now use my skills and talent for building the life I want.

For the past 7 years of working at the bank, I made great friends and learned a lot of things. But deep inside every single day I knew and felt that it was not my place. It was not what I wanted, but it was what I needed at that time. Working there didn’t stop me from going home spending time with family, and then studying until late at night. It didn’t stop me from joining tech events or building tech and startup communities. It didn’t stop me from constantly learning and moving forward. I am so grateful for every moment of it. However, NOW is the time for me to change and design the life I always dreamed of.

I don’t know what career journey is waiting for me next, but I do know that Art, Psychology, and Technology will be my Top 3 fields.

I will be sharing my new journey through my social media channels. Check out my pages for inspiration.

I want to end this post with the following quote by Emanuel James Rohn (professionally known as Jim Rohn, was an American entrepreneur, author, and motivational speaker):

“If you don’t like where you are, move. You’re not a tree”. — Jim Rohn

Love,

Farida