I was never comfortable before.

Artwork by my sister, Kate Faldin.

I’ve never understood what people mean by ‘getting outside their comfort zone.’ And I think I know why. I was just never comfortable before.

Growing up, I watched my entrepreneurial dad build and lose businesses. There were winters in Moscow when we couldn’t afford to buy me a jacket. And there were summers in Spain when I swam in the ocean and felt like life was good. These constant ups and downs laid the foundation for my relationship with money: there are times when you have money, and then there are times when you don’t — it’s natural.

When the time came for me to work independently, I was never comfortable, always surviving. Dropping out of college was a risk, and it was mine. I started working, paying my own bills, rented my own apartment. I never had enough. Then I started a company, it failed. Then I started two more and had some success — to the point that I could afford to pay rent and do what I love most: travel.

I never had problems with getting outside my comfort zone because I didn’t know what comfort meant. If I didn’t sell in my video production business, I didn’t eat (or had to get into debt). If I didn’t push myself forward, I would have disappointed the people I worked with.

Everything changed when I moved to London. I didn’t realize it at the time — it felt like moving to a new country was a…