Sochi's Surfer Chick

Sochi, on the placid eastern shores of the Black Sea, is not a place one would expect to find a devoted surfer. But it is even more unexpected that this surfer would be a strikingly attractive Russian girl born in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan and raised in cold and remote Siberia.

Larisa Aleksandrova, the middle of three children, was born during the dying years of the Soviet Union in the Central Asian city of Bishkek.  She moved with her family to a small city in Siberia's Altai Region, then to Penza (southeast of Moscow) and on to Novokuznetsk in southwest Siberia, where she completed her university education in psychology.  When I asked Larisa what was the genesis of her passion for surfing, she surprised me with her answer.  At fifteen, she was given a disc of the American film "Point Break".   It changed the direction of her life.  She loved the reverence for the ocean's power and the shared sense of community in the surfing world.  She laughs about it now, considering the film middling, but the lifestyle depicted in the film attracted her to the ocean. She spent the rest of her teen years dreaming about traveling to exotic locales to surf, but held out little hope that this would be her reality.  Also, she watched everything about surfing that she could find in Siberia.  I asked which surf film is her favorite now and she immediately replied "Endless Summer", widely considered to be a classic of the genre.

Surfing was "only a dream" for her for a long time.  Then in 2008, Larisa moved to Sochi because she wanted to live near the water.  She took a job with Yota, the Russian internet provider, and realized that she could travel and try surfing.  In 2010, she went to France and hired an instructor.  She was hooked.  The next year she journeyed to Bilbao, Spain and again learned with an instructor.  Larisa says that Bilbao is her favorite city. She loves the delicious Spanish food, Bilbao's night life and the frequent surf opportunities.  

Late last year, Larisa and a friend from Sochi, Anna Alexeeva, went to Morocco and 3 months later she flew to Portugal, both times to surf.  When in Morocco, she was exposed to an international group of surfers and met new friends from all over the world.  Flashing a ready smile and with a hearty laugh and a thick mane of curly hair, Larisa makes friends quickly.  She said that the surfing community is kind and friendly and that, regardless to nationality, surfers share the  "language of the ocean".  Larisa said that when she is surfing there is only her and the wave- she forgets all else.

Larisa bought a board in Portugal.  Although there is rarely surf in Sochi, in her spare time she is often in the sea practicing her paddling, balance and board skills.  When not in the water, she said the waves are constantly on her mind.  She told me she is already planning her surfing future, so I asked where she would like to go.  Larisa mentioned Australia, South Africa, Peru and Chile as well as California, Tahiti and Hawaii.  She said she hoped to go to Hawaii within 2 years and I told her that with her easy-going manner and love of the ocean, she would be a natural fit there.  

Larisa is very satisfied with her work as an HR manager for Yota.  She spoke in almost the same tones about it as she does surfing. Larisa said that "Yota is one of the best companies in Russia" and that she "could not imagine working for another."  What language did Larisa tell me about herself in? English.  In between her travels in search of surf and for her work (she soon will fly to Khabarovsk and Vladivostok- about 4,500 miles east of Sochi!), Sochi's surfer chick takes English lessons... and occasionally rests.

If you want to catch up to Larisa, she can often be found at the Sochi Expats Club parties, telling us about her latest travels.

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Tom Kehoe, American Expert On Food Distribution, Visits

Tom Kehoe of K & B Seafood and Seaflight Logistics with Nanouly Bigvava (center) owner of the Mandarin Cafe in Sochi

Tom Kehoe, the Chief Executive Officer of K & B Seafood and Partner at Seaflight Logistics, both of New York, visited Sochi with a group of foreign executives, including an official of a French seafood firm, and several from one of Russia's leading seafood distribution firms.  Mr. Kehoe has enjoyed a long career in the seafood distribution business. His business was built in New York City, one of the most competitive and innovative business environments in the world, and it has grown to shipping products to every time zone in the world.

Mr. Kehoe got involved in the seafood distribution business in the United States in the 1970's, when he began shipping Maine lobsters to New York.  Mr. Kehoe and his firm have been successful in New York, despite the logistical difficulties of distributing expensive and highly perishable food items in a large and congested city to an exacting and sophisticated clientele.  With Mr. Kehoe founding K & B Seafood, his business grew to other seafood products and K&B took on the role of supplying Alaskan seafood to the New York market and eventually supplying seafood nationwide.   Among their specialities, K & B feature crab, scallops and other shellfish, including more than 50 varieties of oysters. In recent years, he and K & B have expanded internationally and now their products are distributed in Russia and to many of the nation's finest restaurants.  

The understanding of the complicated processes of moving perishable cargo from remote locations through customs and to multiple destinations through congested traffic led him to found Seaflight Logistics in 2009.  The company is a freight forwarder and specializes in the global logistics of perishables.

Mr. Kehoe's interests and career is not limited to food distribution, he also serves as a Trustee of the Village Board of Northport, New York, a bucolic and affluent town on Long Island.  He is Commissioner of Commerce, where he works with the business community and also Commissioner of Sanitation, where he is responsible for the policy and budgets of the waste water treatment facility.  Mr. Kehoe is a member of the world-famous New York Athletic Club, founded in 1866, and known as "the world's greatest athletic club'.  The NYAC has sponsored hundreds of prominent athletes, who have cumulatively won hundreds of medals at Olympic competitions, including 7 gold medals  (13 overall- more than most nations!) alone at the Beijing Summer Games and who have won scores of national championships in boxing, wrestling, track and field, rowing, fencing and other sports.  Mr. Kehoe's participation does not end at the sideline though. He was a competitive swimmer, is a surfer and holds two 3rd Degree Black Belts. Two of his daughters were elite fencers and one is now the coach at the NYAC, where one of his sons is a heavyweight boxer.

Mr. Kehoe's background gives him an understanding of the challenges faced in moving people and products. He knows how to work effectively with city, state and federal officials and he has a strong background in sports.  All of this drew him to Sochi, where we talked about some of the challenges that Sochi will face as the Winter Games approach.  First, he expressed delight at the verdant beauty of Sochi, saying that when he got off the airplane, he did "not expect to see palm trees in Russia!"  and then spoke about the scale of construction here.  I asked him what his approach would be in moving people and perishables during the Games.  He told me he is "am acutely aware of what congestion does to perishables, schedules and the movement and safe passage of our most precious commodity, people" and that his firm  "has staff entirely devoted to these issues"  He went on to say that working with the administration here in Sochi will be crucial to make sure that planning is complete.  He said that an understanding of the needs of local business will be required to satisfy the visitors' expectations.  We talked at length about challenges he has faced and novel solutions that Seaflight has developed in multi jurisdictional shipping and distribution.  

Since Mr. Kehoe returned to New York, we have spoken by telephone and he has expressed interest in the potential in Sochi, even suggesting to an institutional investor to travel to Sochi to investigate the possibilities of hotel development.  He sees what I do:  a city on the cusp of developing into an international and year-around destination.

Brian Burke, Hockey Legend and N.H.L. General Manager, Visits Sochi

Brian Burke, the President and General Manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs and General Manager of the U.S. Hockey team, visited Sochi on Saturday, April 28.  Mr. Burke planned on arriving in Sochi on Friday, the 27th, but due to fog his flight was diverted to Krasnodar. He waited all evening in the Krasnodar airport until the flight was cancelled at about 10 p.m.  Because his schedule is demanding and time was short, Mr. Burke caught a taxi and persuaded the driver to make the 6 hour trip overnight on the serpentine Black Sea route to Sochi.  He arrived at about 5 a.m. After a quick shower and cup of coffee, I showed him central Sochi, Adler and the Olympic Park before he departed for Sweden. When I asked him about staying in a hotel in Krasnodar, instead of driving all night to Sochi, he told me there was no assurance he would have been able to fly here the next day. This may have required him to cancel Sochi.  He said it was important to him to see the environment where players would be living and competing and that he could not speak credibly about it and the issues they would face unless he had been here.  It is not hard to see how his attention to detail and work ethic has led to so much success, both in the NHL and for the U.S Hockey team.  

Brian Burke was born in Providence, Rhode Island into a family that eventually included 10 children.  When he was about 11, the family moved to Edina, Minnesota.  In Minnesota, he received a late introduction to hockey, the sport that would dominate his life as a player, agent and eventual General Manager of the Hartford Whalers, Vancouver Canucks, Anaheim Ducks and currently, the Toronto Maple Leafs.  The Maple Leafs are one of the marquee franchises not only in hockey, but in all North American sports.  Remarkably, he is the first American-born G.M. of the Maple Leafs. Brian also was the General Manager of the U.S. men's hockey team that won a silver medal in the 2010 Winter Olympics.  He attended Providence College and Harvard Law, so his educational pedigree is as strong as his hockey background.  

Brian and I talked about the Olympic Park and the construction that Sochi is undergoing.  He noticed the numerous apartment buildings, road and street projects being constructed and we walked around the airport.  He told me that the Olympic Park and venues were "very impressive" and that the new airport is an excellent facility for an Olympic city.  He also told me that the overall changes that Sochi is undergoing are remarkable.  

The entrance to the Olympic stadium is only about 100 meters from the Black Sea, so we stopped there and took photos.

 

Channel 5 Video In Sochi With Bruce Talley

Several weeks ago, I was featured in a video piece that Saint Petersburg's Channel 5 did on English langauge service in Sochi.  The video was shown nationwide in Russia.  Sochi has started a "word of the day" program to teach residents of Sochi basic English.  Each resident will be exposed to the word an average of 3 times per day.

Hotel, Restaurant and Cafe Expo

April 4- 7 saw an expo on the boardwalk at Lighthouse Beach.  About 100 exhibitors were there to sell products and services to the hotels, restaurants and cafes in Sochi.  We attended and took photos of the event. Sochi is adjusting to its changing market with new hotel providers such as Hyatt, Marriott and Hilton.  Radisson is adding another property.  New restuarants are opening to appeal to Sochi's increasingly international visitors. However, Sochi has a shortage of catering companies that can satisfy the demands of outside organizations for events. We are working with several companies that are expanding into Sochi and at least one restaurant with foreign ownership is planning to expand into catering to meet the demand.