Larysa is an immigrant from Belarus, she moved to the US in 2017 after falling in love. Now, she’s separated from husband and living in a small, Brooklyn apartment with her college-aged son. She left behind a career as an account manager at a large, multinational corporation in her native country where she managed a team of 25 people. Armed with two degrees in Marketing and Economics, she said she was used to being a success in life and expected the same for herself in the U.S. Her plans didn’t quite pan out that way; she’s struggled to find skill-aligned work in the U.S. and is now working something we call “a survival job” at a local Trader Joe’s and as a case manager for a social services organization and working more than 60 hours per week.

Meet Larysa Tsui!