Antonina Fedorova

Antonina Fedorova is the founder of Anybe, the 1st platform for psychological tourism. It’s a community-based platform for one-day real-world experiences of looking behind the scenes of any profession and changing the context of your everyday life.

Antonina has been a real-life experiences producer for many years, organizing 200.000 attendance music festivals as well as exclusive individual adventures. In 2020 she came to California to bring her dream to life and build a platform where it is possible to be anyone – even if just for one day.

Where did the idea for Anybe come from?

I had a personal enemy – one–life course scenario. I don’t want to live just one life even if it’s good: typical university education, rather stable career path in a certain professional area, one personal style throughout all life stages, settled in the same location, same people around you, same personality and same mindset the whole life… That’s why I’ve created this concept of trying multiple lives. Anybe is a platform that allows people to “walk a mile in someone else’s shoes”.

What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?

The first hour after waking up I don’t touch my phone to check all the messages. I just go out for a walk near the ocean. That’s the best stress management tool that I have. I work from home, and almost every day I enjoy in-person meetings with inspiring people who became a part of the Anybe community or are going to become it. Usually, I visit one new place per day. Endless exploration and curiosity flourish me.

How do you bring ideas to life?

The best way to bring ideas to life is to share them with my teammates immediately. The following brainstorming inspires me to bring my ideas to the next level.

What’s one trend that excites you?

That more than 70% of people prefer to spend money on experiences, not material items, according to WE KNOW Experiences 2.0 research by Momentum Worldwide. Human connection and sincere feelings are luxuries in the world of materialistic values, and I am happy most people still would choose them instead of another tangible item.

What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?

Looking for opportunities everywhere, asking myself “How can I get money from it?”

What advice would you give your younger self?

Seriously, don’t take it seriously.

Tell us something that’s true that almost nobody agrees with you on.

“Be yourself” – they say.
Being just yourself is so outdated.
We are here to explore and play with our personalities. We can be anything.
“People don’t change” – they say.
It depends on you, – I say.

As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?

Imagine yourself as a hero of the book called “My life is my message to this world.”

What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business?

Perennial art of small steps. Discipline and moderation. Not running through everything, not demanding from myself and my team only the biggest and perfect results saves the continuity and stability of our business processes. I realized this after getting some hard knocks. Even in a creative process, allocating suitable amounts of time for each step of your work is more likely to add up to a large result and take you and your business where you want to get.

What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?

First, do it, then – calculate it. I used to make this mistake a lot. I dealt with its consequences by seeking external financial resources and putting grave restrictions on the project budget.

What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?

The concept of architectural tourism. I see it as visiting cities and staying at unique urban places like theaters, exceptional railway stations, town halls, etc. I believe that this dream can be brought to life, given all efforts it takes to implement it.

What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?

The gravity blanket. Since I bought it, I sleep well and I am more productive in everyday life. It’s engineered to be about 10% of your body weight to relax the nervous system, and this time it’s not some marketing ploy, at least it works for me, and I am a rather skeptical person.

What is one piece of software or a web service that helps you be productive?

Miro – our team uses it a lot for things like business canvas, strategy mapping, activities planning, etc. It literally helps to see the big picture.

What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?

Theodore Dreiser – Financier (and the whole Trilogy of Desire). It’s based on a true story and for me, it’s the best example of an entrepreneurial mindset.

What is your favorite quote?

“Attached to nothing, connected to everything.” Being brave and open-hearted enough to be ever-changing for me doesn’t equal disregarding everything and everyone around me. It is also about being present in the moment. I know it’s not going to last forever and I don’t cling to it. But I try to savor as many of them as I can.

Key Learnings:

• One limited life is my enemy
• I’m sure we are all born here to play and learn, to discover this reality and ourselves.
• Being adventurous and trying real-life experiences is the only way to find your meaning in this world
• Ask yourself this: if you were a hero of “Groundhog Day”, and you knew that it would be finished after 100 same days, how would you plan to spend the first 2–3 days of 100?