nokeepeesh on Cheshir: “He’s quite clear-headed, thoughtful, and a pleasant person to talk to.”

I actually went into psychology after two years of studying engineering—strange as it may seem, yes, radio electronics—but I wasn’t very impressed by it all, including the salary issues, to be honest. But there’s another issue, which is… Because I was studying in the provinces, in Tambov. So that’s why I studied engineering for a couple of years, went to the States for a year to work, and then thought to myself: “No, I think I’ll go to Moscow to study psychology; I’ll do what interests me—well, for myself first and foremost.”

It turns out I joined Spirit exactly seven years ago—in September, actually. It was seven years ago this past month. I worked there for a little while with the M19 team, alongside my colleague. It was back then—in 2017, as it turns out—that I was watching The International. <...> And overall, I thought—or rather, I assumed—that this was a very promising field. I mean, I just wanted to be part of this movement; I wanted to find out if my help—let’s say—was needed in this field, because, after all, it’s a process of peak performance—that is, a competitive process at the very highest level. And, obviously, there are likely to be similar problems there to those that exist in sports, or—I don’t know—among musicians during performances, or, well, basically, anywhere. And that’s why I started looking into options.

Overall, Nikita also—well—left a very positive impression on me. He’s quite articulate, thoughtful, and a very pleasant person to talk to. I kind of tried not to lose face during our interview—that is, to show that I wasn’t just there because I know something or can do something, to demonstrate some kind of expertise, but rather to express my genuine interest.