To learn about somebody, Irina likes to ask:
WHO ARE YOU?
Her answer to her own question:
I belive our story starts fro our origin, so, i start there:
I was born in the Soviet Union during its last decade, a child of an economist mother and a builder father. My earliest memories are of a country in upheaval—currency devaluations, overnight millionaires, shuttered factories, fresh possibilities. I watched entrepreneurs streak upward or flame out just as fast, and I wondered why some ventures soared while others collapsed. That curiosity pushed me to finish high school two years early and earn an accelerated bachelor’s degree in Psychology, determined to understand what drives human behavior under pressure.
In January 1998 I landed in Texas with two suitcases, a scholarship‑sized vocabulary, and a heart that fell instantly in love with American optimism. I waited tables, nannied, learned the language of possibility, and in 2003 launched my first fintech venture—a real‑money gaming company. When I married a brilliant technologist, we built custom hardware and software that automated the entire operation. After our son was born, we sold the business, but the hunger to build only grew.
At the close of 2013 we stepped squarely onto the bleeding edge, co‑founding one of the United States’ earliest Bitcoin exchanges and unveiling it live on the DEMO stage. That startup later pivoted into a retail bank in Mexico, giving me a panoramic view of regulatory mazes, cross‑border payments, and the human impact of financial inclusion. Two decades in fintech and ten years in blockchain have left me fluent in both code and capital—and still insatiably curious.
A New Frontier of Food, Health, and Space
When the world shifted in 2020, supply chains stuttered and the fragility of our food system became painfully clear. I began asking: What does true resilience look like for nourishment, wellness, and longevity? The answer became Moonridge Texas, our family’s 111‑acre regenerative ranch. There, AI‑guided drones, machine‑vision soil sensors, and good old Cossack grit work together to rebuild topsoil and grow rare cannabinoid‑rich hemp.
“US Multisovereign Space Fund: Structuring Space as an Asset Class”From those potent botanicals I formulated Synlada, a longevity and wellness line that “alchemizes” high‑purity CBGA with peptide‑grade actives—no fillers, no hidden toxins, just regenerative chemistry our own family relies on daily. I’m relentless about ingredient provenance because I’ve seen how industrial shortcuts pollute both body and ecosystem. Synlada is my answer: products transparent enough for scientists, strong enough for athletes, and gentle enough for daily ritual.
The drive to system‑build pulled me upward, too. I entered the Executive Master in Global Management for Space Business, Policy & Leadership at Thunderbird / ASU and graduated by presenting my team’s thesis—“US Multisovereign Space Fund: Structuring Space as an Asset Class”—directly to NASA’s CFO. That work crystallized my belief that space is not a distant frontier; it is an emerging asset class that demands disciplined capital choreography today.
As a volunteer I helped nucleate the Space Force Association of Texas, serving as chapter Vice President and leading the team that secured a six‑figure grant from the Midland Development Corporation. Whether on‑planet or orbital, my thesis holds: rigorous research, cross‑sector collaboration, and values‑driven stewardship unlock the next era of prosperity.
How I Operate
Audit best practice. Study the champions in any field—soil scientists, payment engineers, orbital economists.
Identify the gap. Pinpoint what remains unsolved, under‑funded, or misunderstood.
Deploy my powers. Build systems that close the gap and uplift every stakeholder—from microbes in the soil to founders on the ISS.
That cycle fuels my speaking on global stages, my private innovation summits, my YouTube & podcast series where I trade playbooks with boundary‑pushers. It governs my investing, which balances edge‑stage startups with legacy holdings, and it guides advisory work in fintech rails, venture diligence, and space‑finance structuring.
I’m still the girl who watched post‑Soviet entrepreneurs rise and fall—only now I help founders rise with more resilience. I’m still the psychology student—only now the lab spans from micro‑biomes to macro‑orbits. Most of all, I’m a wife, a mother, a dancer at heart, and an artist who believes complexity can be beautiful when it serves life.
If my journey intersects with yours—whether in capital markets, regenerative agriculture, human‑first wellness, or the architecture of space commerce—I invite you to explore, question, and build alongside me. The frontier is broad, but it welcomes disciplined dreamers. Let’s engineer systems that let humanity, and our planet, thrive.