[ad_1] Here is Lana reading her own story aloud. Це есе також доступно українською. My name is Lana Miro, shortened for Svitlana. I’m a Partnerships Manager at Crocoblock. This article is my personal story about how WordPress and my work have been helping me stay on board during the war in Ukraine. Brief Introduction I’m 28 years old, born and raised in Mykolaiv, Ukraine. It’s a peaceful, small city (before the war, about 400,000 people lived here). I never thought about moving because travelling and exploring other cities for short periods was enough for me. Mykolaiv was always my comfort zone, where I felt safe. This city provides me with a sense of peace – the river, the parks… the river – yes, I’m a fan of water. 🌊 My Introduction to WordPress I began my journey with WordPress in 2017 when I started an internship at TemplateMonster. That’s when I discovered this incredible platform that captivated me with its scope and possibilities. At TemplateMonster, I worked as a Partnerships Manager. At that time, the company’s niche was templates for various CMS platforms. So, I’m well-acquainted with all of WordPress’s competitors. 😄 During my three years with the company, I realized that WordPress was the largest and most interesting CMS for me. Why? The community and the number of people creating content about WordPress is enormous! A variety of plugins and templates. An interesting and intuitive dashboard. In 2020, during the Covid pandemic, I started experiencing issues with my back and mental health, so I decided to take a one-year break. I left the project and rejoined another Holding project a year later – Crocoblock. Crocoblock was a breath of fresh air for me because of its amazing community and cool plugins that I wanted to work with. ⚡My main tasks involved finding partners for collaboration, organizing events, and more. I’ve described partnerships in more detail in my free guide – WordPress Partnerships Basics. Invasion: How to Work? The war with Russia has been ongoing since 2014, so the Russian invasion in 2022 wasn’t a surprise to us. However, what was surprising – that bombs, missiles, and artillery could be used with such intensity in the 21st century. For the first two weeks, we were paralyzed. 😔 The beginning The first two weeks of the war were a real shock. We were all paralyzed, but the Crocoblock team quickly came together, creating an operational chat to support each other. This was a time when words, actions, and even just being present in the chat meant so much.💙 For example, one of our employees immediately went to the army, so we collected money, and our developers bought everything he needed to start. I checked my work email on the second day of the escalation. Lying in the basement, with the internet barely reaching, I decided, “I’m relatively safe, so I can respond to partners.” I reviewed critical messages, and let them know that we were okay and would respond as soon as we adapted. A few days later, we decided to write a blog post to let the Community know we were okay and to explain what was happening. 😥 After two weeks of lying in the basement (yes, my family of nine spent two weeks in the basement, occasionally sleeping in the corridor or bathroom for safety), a bomb was dropped near our street, and that became a critical moment for our family. By a majority vote, we decided to move to the western part of our country. Adaptation period Once we were safe, I was able to start working at 100% (okay, maybe 80%, as 20% of me was still in shock 😣). Of course, the news, conditions, and stress affected me, but work helped me get back into a routine and begin to adapt. Work became my lifeline. It brought me back to life, giving me a sense of stability when everything around me was falling apart. We recorded a video message for our clients, which was an important step not only for synchronization but also for my personal recovery. Not to mention the numerous words of support we received afterward. We once again realized that Crocoblock clients are the best.💚 Part of the team immediately moved to safer cities or went abroad. But some stayed in Mykolaiv, and Anna, our CEO, was in an occupied city – Kherson. But that’s her story. I was incredibly happy when she finally left the occupation, and we exhaled in relief. After three months (which felt like a year), my husband and I decided to move closer to Mykolaiv to be near his parents. It was safe there, but due to the constant changes, my depression reached its peak. Fortunately, part of Kherson was liberated, and Mykolaiv was being shelled less frequently, so we decided to return home. That’s when I started treatment with a psychiatrist. She helped stabilize my condition and bring me back.⌛ 💯 2022 was the hardest year for me and my family, but the ability to work and be part of the WordPress community helped me Just Continue. At the end of the year, I decided to thank everyone who supported me, asked how I was doing, joked, and was kind to me in a post on Medium. Team changes Of course, the war impacted our team, and I immediately noticed how management changed its approach to focus on caring for each team member. 🙌 We started having training sessions based on the team’s requests (e.g., anxiety management), management helped with healing supplies (since there are blackouts or Internet issues in Ukraine), and relocation if needed. During the war, our HR team introduced the IDP (Individual Development Plan), which allows you to outline your development for the year, focus, and receive better feedback. This helped me during my depression. The war brought changes, and I became more anxious, chaotic and found it hard to focus. 👩💻 The constant support from my manager was also crucial. My
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