Rubin pointe shoes, like the ones worn here by Melissa Chapski of the Dutch National Ballet junior company, are popular and known for their versatility.
In
between staff meetings and designing boxes for her ballet shoes and forging cross-
cultural bridges in education, arts and business, Aleksandra Efimova maps out her future. Where is she going? How will she get there? She calls it her “wish list.” Efimova draſted a similar plan aſter
enrolling in classes at Eastern Michigan University in 1995. Her vision? To import dance shoes and apparel from Russia to the United States. Over 20 years later, on a recent aſternoon,
a glowing Efimova saunters into her downtown Chicago office looking elegant and poised. She warmly greets her staff— personal assistant, sales team, marketers— before taking a seat in the conference room. Ballet shoes are neatly displayed, along with posh totes and other branded merchandise including T-shirts and iPhone cases. Large canvases showcasing young ballet dancers alongside Efimova decorate walls painted in the signature purple of her brand, Russian Pointe.
Te vision Efimova drew up at Eastern
is fully realized throughout Russian Pointe’s home base, where she’s featured in framed clippings lining the entranceway. Some are from Russia, where Efimova was born. One 1999 article from “Crain’s Detroit Business” recognizes her as an “American Dreamer,” a nod to her success as an immigrant. She remembers “counting the hours until that article came out because I was so excited.” “We didn’t have businesses,” explains
Efimova about growing up in St. Petersburg, Russia. “For me, there was a learning curve in America, and it was not only learning the language—it was learning about all the opportunities the country presents. What is it to own a business?” It took her two years to absorb the English
language. “You just take a big dictionary and you sit down and start translating every single word in your homework,” she asserts, with a nonchalant shrug. “Circle the word and write the translation.” Tough “it’s truly very, very different to read about marketing and actually go home
“I want it to be inspirational for entrepreneurs— for women and immigrants.”
ALEKSANDRA EFIMOVA
EASTERN MAGAZINE | SUMMER 2016 | 29
PHOTOS COURTESY OF RUSSIAN POINTE
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