Қазақша
Русский
Without any support, a Kazakh woman got a second degree in the USA, combining her studies with a successful career.
The top-rated Milos restaurant, located on one of the beaches in Miami, is visited annually by thousands of locals and tourists, including celebrities. It received the title of one of the best seafood restaurants on Ocean Drive in 2021. In 2020 Purewow rated it as Absolute Best of South Beach. About 150 people work there, under the management of Gulnara Murzagalieva, a 27-year-old Kazakh woman.
She is not just a manager, however. She is responsible for the financial and operational activities of a huge restaurant with an area of 1100 square meters and a turnover of dozens of millions of dollars. Gulnara says that, literally every dollar is under her supervision.
In the interview for Forbes.kz Gulnara Murzagalieva told about why she moved the USA, how she managed to get a managerial position in a top-rated restaurant, what difficulties she had to face in the States and why the Americans value employees from Kazakhstan.
Gulnara was born and raised in the small village of Tasmola in the Chingirlau district near Uralsk. She was raised by her grandparents. They taught Gulnara to work from childhood and encourage academic excellence.
"Life in the village, of course, is different from the city. We stoked the stove, fetched water, all the amenities were in the yard. I had no parents, I was raised by my grandparents. My grandmother always told me to study well and learn English. She used to say ‘This is how you will discover the world’," Gulnara recalls.
After graduating from school in her native village, Gulnara moved to Uralsk, where she studies translation in the University of Eurasia. Already in the first year, in February 2013, the girl learned from her relative about the Work and Travel program. In addition, a relative promised to help with money if Gulnara wants to participate. Gulnara agreed.
"After the first year, my university friend and I went to North Carolina for three months." She immediately decided to stay. I returned to Kazakhstan, finished my second year and in 2014 I left for the States. I returned to North Carolina, but since it's more of a tourist destination, I thought about moving to Miami. There are more opportunities for development in Florida. The life there is cheaper, the ocean is nearby and the summer all year round," Gulnara explained her choice.
Gulnara has always dreamed of moving to America, and it is not even about the pursuit of a better life. According to the girl, she wanted to leave behind the mentality of her significant ones, who believed that the main purpose of a woman is to get married and have children.
"I'm not against marriage and children, I want it too, but for me it's not the only goal in life. I want to travel, study, and advance my career further. I wanted to be free, not to worry about what they think about me, what they would say about me, imposing their opinion on me. I never liked it. Here, people are different. They have a different standard of living, they are free in their choice," Gulnara explains her decision.
Another feature of the Kazakh mentality that Gulnara does not like is the importance of "connections" in employment.
"The USA has a similar thing: a recommendation is important to get you into some company. But in order to get it, you have to be a really good person, a professional, and not just someone's relative – this is a big difference," she stated, "Here you can achieve everything on your own, you only have to develop and try."
Arriving in Miami, Gulnara followed the path trodden by foreigners in the United States and began her career as a waitress. The earning only covered her basic needs – housing and food, but Gulnara understood that she needed to earn more, save up and go to university. Then she got a job in a law firm as a regional assistant. The wage was higher, but still not enough to save for school. Then Gulnara decided to take a second night job. This became her main step in the career ladder.
"In 2018, I got a job at the Milos restaurant as an administrator. I worked in this position for a month, and I was offered the position of an accountant, because I was responsible and attentive. I agreed. Then the operations manager was fired, and I was offered his position," Gulnara Murzagalieva said.
Gulnara has been in full charge of the restaurant for 4 years and controls every single dollar.
"Everything we order, spend, buy – I manage it all. I order seafood from Greece and Portugal, arrange and pay for their delivery by plane. I monitor the availability of products, renew licenses annually, and in general, I do everything that is necessary for business. We serve 400-500 customers a day. I manage everyone who works in a restaurant in Miami, and make sure that they are paid on time. I don't have a boss here, they are in Montreal and New York," Gulnara clarified.
The restaurant in Miami is not the owners' only one. Milos is open in Las Vegas, London, Athens and Montreal (the very first Milos restaurant opened in 1979). Soon they will open a restaurant in Dubai and another two in Los Angeles and Miami. There are also two restaurants in New York, which Gulnara helps in managing. She earns about $100 thousand a year, not counting various bonuses and a social package.
According to Gulnara, an interesting trend has been observed in the States recently: more and more Americans prefer to cooperate with employees from post-Soviet countries. This is explained by the fact that almost everyone who moves to America in search of a better life is more hardworking, purposeful and responsible. Many are building their own businesses, holding senior positions, and few rely on state benefits. For American employers it is a good sign.
"It is very important here to have a recommendation, someone to put a word for you. Letter of reference is very important. But at the same time, there are really few responsible people who take their work seriously. Over the years of working in the restaurant, I have seen many irresponsible people. They promise to come at three, but don't show up until five or do not show up at all. "Our" people, from the post-Soviet space, who work here and with whom I have to cooperate, are mostly very responsible. When I work with them, it's much easier for me, they never ask unnecessary questions and do their job very well," Gulnara shares her observations, "We have a community of Kazakhs, we meet up and communicate. Every year there are more and more people from Kazakhstan move here and almost all of them are doing well.
When asked if all Kazakhs here are that lucky, Gulnara laughs and answers, "Of course not. There are many difficulties." In her opinion, the main difficulties arise because of the big difference in culture and mentality.
"It is interesting that Americans themselves are very polite and they have great respect for any culture, while we ourselves do not always take into account their values. The relationship may not work out because of that," explains Gulnara,
"Difficulties arise due to language barriers. But if you set a goal, then you can quickly improve – if there is a will...," Gulnara insisted.
"When I moved here, I only spoke basic English. Then I just stopped communicating with my friends. I decided that since I'm going to live here, I need to learn the language quickly. And I almost completely limited communication in Russian, I forced myself to speak only English and communicate only with Americans. I was trying to fully integrate into my new life.
Despite all the difficulties, Gulnara did not want to return to her homeland.
"Of course, I experienced hardships, I didn't have enough money. What I earn now seemed an astronomical amount to me back then. I had no support. I understood that no one would bring anything on a platter to me, but I always knew that I made this decision myself, and if there were difficulties, I needed to overcome them, move on, be strong," Gulnara recalls, "Partly it's because of the desire to prove to myself that I can do anything. When I left Kazakhstan, they didn't really believe in me. They said that I was only 19 years old, I would fail and would come back anyway. And that was also my incentive not to give up.
Unwillingness to return to her homeland does not mean that Gulnara does not love her country or culture. On the contrary, Gulnara not only does not forget Kazakh traditions, but also tells her American friends about them.
"I should not forget my homeland, my traditions, and I introduce my friends to our culture. For example, we really like to celebrate Nauryz. All my American friends and my young man really like this holiday, they love our national cuisine, especially beshbarmak. But they don't like kurt, they don't understand it," Gulnara laughs, "They are interested in Kazakhstan, because for them we are all Chinese, and when they find out that I am from Kazakhstan, they try to learn a little more about our country.
In August of this year, Gulnara graduated from an American college with a degree in finance. This is her second degree in the USA. Flexible schedules and trusting relationships with the team, built over the years, allowed to combine school and the restaurant job.
"To have time to do everything both at work and at college, you need to be very organized, be able to manage your time so that study and work do not interfere with each other. I was able to prove myself as a responsible person at work, and if I need to leave my workplace to study, it means that I have already done everything at work," Gulnara says.
In the future, Gulnara plans to get a job in the banking sector. She says that the restaurant business is a very responsible and difficult job, because if, for example, there is a trouble with deliveries, then many processes will simply stall. In addition, a job in a different field will contribute to self-development.
"I want to be an example for my family, for my sisters and for girls in general. I want to show that a woman can achieve success not only in the family, that you need to develop, you need to study, that life is not limited to marriage and maternity leave," summed up Gulnara Murzagalieva.