When Olha Zolotkova arrived in Winnipeg just months after Russia’s mass invasion of Ukraine in 2022, she didn’t speak English.

Now, she’s building her own business.

" I’m so excited.… A little bit worried about it, you know, but I’m happy because now we have freedom, we have chance [to] start something new," Zolotkova said in her new Exchange District showroom.

But this wasn’t always part of her plan.

Over the years, Zolotkova worked as a teacher, principal and textbook editor in Ukraine. She started thinking about starting her own business when she came to Canada, but figured it would be a daycare.

While on summer break from her job as an educational assistant at a Winnipeg school, she decided to launch By Zola, an online store and by-appointment clothing boutique specializing in pl

See Full Page