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Thrown Into Deep Water: How Grit and Creativity Forged a Founder
9 Plays1 month ago
Eva’s story is one of evolution, not linear success.
Born in Soviet-era Lithuania, Eva grew up in a deeply communal, family-centered environment shaped by discipline, creativity, and survival. When the Soviet Union collapsed, uncertainty forced an entire generation to confront freedom without a roadmap. That upheaval ultimately brought Eva to the United States—landing in Tucson, Arizona, as a teenager navigating identity, culture shock, and independence.
At just 16 years old, Eva made the extraordinary decision to return to Tucson alone to finish high school—emancipated, working multiple jobs, and determined not to waste the opportunity she had been given. Education became her anchor. Creativity became her language.
After discovering interior design almost by accident, Eva found a field that perfectly blended structure and expression. But it was the 2008 recession—losing her job with just a laptop and $70 in the bank—that forced her into entrepreneurship.
In this conversation with Manny Teran, Eva reflects on:
- Why being thrown into deep water builds courage
- How early family legacy shapes leadership values
- The tension between structure and freedom
- Why quiet, uncertain times are fertile ground for creativity
- What it really takes to reinvent yourself—again and again
This is not a story about overnight success. It’s a story about becoming.
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Transcript
Eva's Journey of Self-Discovery
00:00:04
Speaker
The voice of growth, mastering the mind and market.
00:00:10
Speaker
I'm kind of a rebel. Was blessed to find the career that I do. It was a really uncertain time. a country like dispersed. Everyone left.
00:00:26
Speaker
I could really exploring my potential and be myself and discover who I was and that was really cool.
00:00:36
Speaker
had to rise to the occasion. And I think that was the biggest blessing because that's really how I function the best.
00:00:44
Speaker
We created something pretty spectacular. Eva, you have a tremendous story of grit, innovation, of reinvention, of so many things.
00:00:59
Speaker
And I've been inspired from you and by you since I met you. And I know you've done the same for many others. ah So tell us your story. Thank you, Manny.
00:01:12
Speaker
I'm really honored to be here and honored to be able to tell it. um
00:01:20
Speaker
My story? um is long ah and it's really a story of evolution. Life had thrown some curve balls my way, which provided some tremendous opportunities for me.
00:01:36
Speaker
um
00:01:39
Speaker
It threw me into deep water and um there was little preparation, you know, just had to rise to the occasion. And I think that was the biggest blessing because that's really how I function the best. If I was allowed to dip a toe in the water, I probably would have never had the courage to do some other things that I've done.
00:01:58
Speaker
So just the way that life unfolded, I think, is exactly right. And it's exactly right for me.
Growing Up in Soviet-Era Lithuania
00:02:06
Speaker
um and it led me to this place where I am Um, I was really blessed to be born in a really special place.
00:02:15
Speaker
Um, it's called Lithuania. Uh, it's in Eastern Europe and i was born in a really interesting time. Mm-hmm born in the eighties and, um, as a really interesting ecosystem then um This is before or after the reorganization, we will say, of the whole Soviet Union and all that. It was in that decade before. um So I think, you know, the beginnings of that maybe were already taking place.
00:02:48
Speaker
But I got to experience that ecosystem of a communist country, which is really interesting. And, you know, being born into it, you don't know that you're different. yeah ah You just sort of are. um And I grew up in ah in a small town, um which is really beautiful. it's It's close to nature. And a lot of things were done in an old way there, you know, which um was like,
00:03:18
Speaker
You know, i I spent a lot of my childhood with my grandparents and um they really lived life and in that old, authentic way. So like my grandmother stayed home and she gardened, you know, and she cooked and she took care of the family. So she was always there.
00:03:34
Speaker
um We always had animals. We always ate all of our own fruits and vegetables, like really healthy, authentic lifestyle, which I did not appreciate growing up. was boring, you know. Yeah.
00:03:46
Speaker
um And my grandfather made furniture. um he actually had a significant injury in his life that that um threw him into his career path. And he was such a strong individual. um He was able to make a living from his creativity. And not only that.
00:04:07
Speaker
build furniture when he was completely disabled. he He had broken his spine when he was young, you know, in his 30s. And um he built a whole life, you know, and ah on a stool, sitting on a stool, like made his own machinery and, you know, um designed furniture, built furniture and build this network around him of people that really or part of our family, you know, all all the clients that would come to him, they would come and have dinner and, you know, they would come and visit. And incidentally, it was also work. It was just this really beautiful environment that I grew up in.
00:04:44
Speaker
Just perfect, you know, and that's what we knew. and um i i also spent a lot of time around elders, you know, because it was my grandparents' generation and I was always very curious and inquisitive and I would just listen to their stories and listen to them. And I think that was a really big influence and a really big um place where sort of like my values grew from, you know, and maybe some of the habits and discipline and just the way I interacted with people what stem from that lifestyle.
00:05:18
Speaker
And um i think I've always tried to find that, you know, since I've been on my own again. That's super interesting. This organic way to live, this organic way to exist, and and this blended boundary between work and life um and the community and family everything was all together there was no separation of like I do this and then I do this and I do this ah you know um everything was all in one and there was just so much pride that my grandparents had they each had their own kind of realm you know people would come over and like
00:05:54
Speaker
My grandfather would always give a tour of his gallery of his, you know, creations. And my grandmother would always take everyone out into the garden and show every plant. And we would sit down and have a feast. And, you know, people would leave with these beautiful works of art and like, you know, a basket of vegetables. And i don't know, you know, even even after my grandpa passed, that whole community still took care of my grandmother. It was such a beautiful legacy. It was such a beautiful thing, you know, so.
Transition to the West and Cultural Adjustments
00:06:23
Speaker
That was the beginning. And then, um you know, my my parents are really extraordinary as well. um my My father is he's a radio engineer by education, but he's just grown into this amazing leader.
00:06:39
Speaker
and he's led you know multiple organizations. He's actually retired and just started leading a new one because that' that's just who he is, you know. um Really strong man, really passionate about history, passionate about family. Very. um military background, disciplined, hardcore, and you know. um And my mother is a creative.
00:07:03
Speaker
Creative, breaks the boundaries ahead of her time, innovator. She's an artist. She's very soft, very fluid, like two totally complete opposites. And o You know, when the Soviet Union broke up um and when we gained our freedom, like it was a really uncertain time. It was a really wild time, you know, um having this freedom was like, wow, what do we do now? You know, for the people we were used to such structure.
00:07:36
Speaker
i mean, structure to the point of like. You know, you got assigned what you studied in school and then you got assigned where you worked and how much you worked and what you did and, you know, what kind of products were available. Like everything was very, very, very linear. Wow.
00:07:49
Speaker
And now you have this whole open space to do whatever you want. Right. And so what do we do now? So it was just.
00:08:00
Speaker
It was a storm, you know, as a storm of like.
00:08:06
Speaker
I don't know. Searching, searching for what this country was going to become. The country was searching for its own identity, even though it has really amazing history, really amazing traditions, really amazing culture. But it was like an opportunity to write a new page. And that time, that transitional time, um i think people were so...
00:08:30
Speaker
segregated to be, you know, stuck in one place. We didn't have access to the outside world as much that people were so hungry to search for that. The country like dispersed. Everyone left love and went wherever they could um for this promise of this greater life, for this promise of um something else, to discover something else, you know, was kind of a natural reaction probably. Right.
00:09:00
Speaker
um And of course, you know, being being so sheltered and then having like the Western culture media come in. Right. You have this promise, this beautiful picture yeah life that you really don't know what it is, but it sure looks beautiful.
00:09:17
Speaker
So I think a lot of people went looking for that and a lot of people immigrated. Including yourself. Including myself. Actually, my mother did first. um She ah met my stepfather, who also has Lithuanian descent, although he was born in the States. He was teaching art history in Lithuania.
00:09:36
Speaker
They met both artists, art background. And so he actually lived in Tucson, and that's how we ended up here. She moved here first. She moved here about three years before I did. And then um eventually they they brought me here as well.
00:09:50
Speaker
And um we didn't even know where Tucson was
00:09:57
Speaker
was. When I went on told people i was moving to Tucson, they thought it was Houston.
00:10:03
Speaker
So, um you know, came here like it was like landing to the moon. i bet. Yeah. um You said some things here that I think are are interesting from your your your beginning here.
00:10:17
Speaker
you you sort of left this this place where um everything was structured. You lived this lifestyle with your very family-centric. I resonate with that as well. That's kind of how I grew up.
00:10:30
Speaker
You grew up with your grandparents. I did the same. i would listen to stories. And I think that as much as we tried to forge our our own path, We're always kind of drawn to that as well.
00:10:43
Speaker
And the the fact that you were and are coming back full circle to wanting to to live that lifestyle, organic food, like we're searching for something that's probably already always been there. Yeah. Right. Yeah. And there's ah something you said about um drowning in the water whatever. There's a, there's ah i'm going to paraphrase this, this quote.
00:11:03
Speaker
It's not the, it's not the, the, the water, the deep water that we drown in necessarily. It's the fact that we stay in the water. We get thrown in the water, you know, just like in life, we're going to fall, we're going to have issues.
00:11:17
Speaker
And if you choose to stay in there, you might drown and die. But you were a fighter, you're you've got grit built into your DNA, and you get up and you dry off and move on. Absolutely. So you came to Tucson, and I understand that you you decided to stay. What's that all about?
00:11:36
Speaker
Yeah, so, you know, um I'm kind of a rebel, I discovered. um And... You know, i have I don't know. I i had to, but first of all, when I came to Tucson, I expected to see like, you know, Native Americans and like cowboys. I was really disappointed.
00:11:58
Speaker
um It took me like 20 years to actually discover, you know, that, that culture and that life. um So, yeah I was, um,
00:12:12
Speaker
It was really interesting. ah i was kind of trying to find my place and where I fit. You know, I realized that people looked at me as really different. My name was really different. Nobody could pronounce it you know, and all of a sudden I was just like spectacle.
00:12:29
Speaker
So that was strange. um But what I really loved about being here and what I still really love about being here, i think especially Arizona and and Tucson, too, it's it's a place where you can really be free.
00:12:43
Speaker
people here are really tolerant, you know, and and curious, I think. And, um you know, in some of the, I mean, I guess I'll use Europe as an example because, you know, that that's my background. But even in some of the places that,
00:12:58
Speaker
or maybe have older history, older culture, maybe part of like being close to family too. You have a structure and you have this, these unspoken expectations of the way that you should be. and I felt, here I felt really free. I felt like, you know, i could really explore my potential and be myself and discover who I was. And that was really cool. um i That part felt really good.
00:13:23
Speaker
Felt like it was soil where I could grow myself. Yes. um And so my mother moved back when I 16. She had a really hard time. um i think ah their their generation, my parents' generation and that transitional generation in general um had the hardest time transitioning from the structure they were raised in and now now this this new open field. And my back when 16.
00:13:50
Speaker
think that language barrier was really hard, culturally was really hard, you know, not having family close by and my brother was small. It was all of it was really hard. And so um she decided to move back.
00:14:02
Speaker
And then um that would have been about 99, I guess. um I was 16 at the time. i was in um going into 11th grade. And I went to both my parents and I said, you know what? i I'm in school.
00:14:22
Speaker
um I can rent a room from some friends that I know. i have a job. You know, I started working when I was a freshman. I was gung-ho that I was going to go out there and and and start working. And I did. i said...
00:14:37
Speaker
Can you let me go back? Like, I really want to go finish school. That's that's what I asked to do. I said, I want to go finish school. And at the time, I think education in the United States and the United States was really highly esteemed and it still is.
00:14:53
Speaker
um And they said, OK, you have an opportunity. I said, I'm not going to waste this opportunity. Like I have a I have documents like why? Why wouldn't I? Right. So they said, okay, and they emancipated me and I got on the plane. I was 16, came back across, you know, Atlantic and came back to Tucson and um
Discovery and Pursuit of Interior Design
00:15:16
Speaker
grew up in this community.
00:15:18
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. That's insane. You know, that story, that story, these are stories you don't hear as much anymore, you know, with with respect to people flying or charting ah across, especially living in this culture today.
00:15:31
Speaker
You know, one of the things about the West that I really love, and I'm so glad I grew up in the West, is a sense of wide open choices and opportunities. Yeah. I feel that in general, if you live or grew up in the East Coast or even the Midwest,
00:15:45
Speaker
there tends to be a little bit more of a corral around your lifestyle and a lot of folks don't leave as much yeah that's a big big broad brush stroke there but i've seen that in my own experience having lived all over the place in the midwest and coming back just the west arizona the desert something about it that to me calls my name and I will always have a home in Tucson.
00:16:10
Speaker
I might leave somewhere else and have other things, but coming back to me is like, it's home. It feels good. It feels like I can drive an hour from right here and be in the middle of nowhere.
00:16:23
Speaker
I did that, I tried doing that in Michigan one time. i was like, to my wife wife at the time, I'm like, let's just go somewhere. And everywhere we went, there was houses, there was people living there. And I'm like, oh, I don't want that. I wanna be able to just like spread my wings. yeah So what's the arc between having made that transition to now being the CEO and founder of your own company?
00:16:48
Speaker
i mean, that's one hell of an arc.
00:16:52
Speaker
Yeah. Um, so to kind of close in the gap, um, School was always my beacon, right? Like education, I was drilled into me as like, you know, a small small child and having the privilege to go to school was always really valued. So I stuck to that, right? So from high school, you know, took a little break, was blessed to find a career that I do um because it was a perfect fit for me.
00:17:24
Speaker
And I think that's what allowed me to blossom in it fully. um And it was totally by chance. You know, I didn't even know interior design existed. um And i had a friend who was going to school for that. She, you know, worked next door and she invited me to go to um to market, which is kind of like where all the wholesalers, manufacturers of furniture get together, you know, several times a year. And it's it's a wholesale place where designers can go shop, you know, all the all the newest innovations and product and and stuff like that. And it was in San Francisco back then.
00:18:00
Speaker
um First of all, i fell in love with San Francisco, you know, and then walking into that space, walking into that market and seeing the people, i was just like, wow, i was so impressed. You were so elegant and everything was so beautiful and the whole environment, the way people interacted with each other. And and I don't know that this respect for creativity and this respect for creation and It's like, you know, all all the pieces, all that my family legacy pieces fell into place. And I just knew i wanted to be one of those people. I said, I just want to be one of them.
00:18:38
Speaker
That's all I knew. I didn't know anything about what they did or, you know, drafting plans or or any of that. But I just knew I wanted to be one of those people. And that's why I wanted to belong.
00:18:51
Speaker
And so... lo and behold. Lo and behold. Yeah. 20 some years later, i'm i'm still, you know, blessed to be doing that. um Again, interior design is such a field where you can explore so much. There's so many different paths and avenues, you know, ah to fulfill a space. There's so many different spaces for so many different purposes. You know, um we we need space to do, you know, all of our functions and and to be within.
00:19:17
Speaker
And so... I've been exploring few different avenues, and so it's it's kept me really engaged. It's kept kept me really interested. And so, um, oh again, i was just really blessed to find the career that was just it was just who I was.
00:19:32
Speaker
Um, and then, um, You know, out of school, through school and and during school, I've always been very ambitious um and I've always been a hard worker. So like I kept adding to my plate and so adding on different experiences, whether it's getting an assistantship or getting a part time job. And, you know, it was always in my field, even when I was in school, i was really focused. um Probably also because I didn't have family close by and didn't have a lot of those things that fill your time. You know, I just really threw into developing my career. Right.
00:20:07
Speaker
um And also had to survive financially. Yeah. Yeah. That's that's a motivating factor for sure. In school, I had like three jobs just to, you know, make the rent, which was such a blessing because, you know, propelled my career. And so I got this really cool job when I graduated. um was for an architecture company and my boss threw me into the deep end of the pool.
00:20:32
Speaker
Yeah, it was really great. It was exactly what I needed, you know. And so it built my confidence a lot and I built a lot of skill. um There's a lot of really so other skill designers that worked within that company. i was a fairly large company and they were willing to teach. And um I really, really learned a lot.
00:20:50
Speaker
Um, what I didn't love was being structured and having to be, you know, in one place all the time.
00:21:00
Speaker
um I was lacking inspiration and of course, you know, being a rebel and being an innovator, I was like, oh, well I wish I could do it this way. I wish I could do it that way. And I would kind of take some ideas to my boss sometimes. And, you know, they had a structure that works. So they weren't so open to be listening to a 23 year old ah um you know, telling a different way to do things. And then I thought, you know, do as as my party wound down and I started getting the feelings of h I may actually want a family someday. you know, I thought to myself, well, how will I ever, you know, raise a human and and live in this like work structure? Right. Like yeah I can't I couldn't imagine it because the way and that I grew up was totally different.
00:21:45
Speaker
So these these thoughts like started swirling in my head and like, OK, something, you know, something different probably going to have to happen. Well, the recession happened, you know, and the the whole world blew up and i lost my job.
00:21:57
Speaker
This is in 2008. Yeah, yeah. yeah yeah And um so then, ah you know, had to kind of restructure my living situation and it was the day of minimum. I was, again, just renting a room with some really wonderful people, you know, as well. And I had my laptop and had 70 bucks in the bank. And I was like, you know what? I'm going to create a company.
00:22:21
Speaker
Wow.
Design Philosophy and Impact
00:22:22
Speaker
That's remarkable. um Because I don't know, it's just, you know, quiet time. You don't have a lot of things to do. It's a time to be creative. That's when when the creativity comes from. It's not in the busy, banging, booming time. It's in the quiet time.
00:22:36
Speaker
You know, there's a lot of power to that. I too started my company in, it was a little bit later, 2010, 2009 timeframe in the quiet, in the recession.
00:22:47
Speaker
And i have some friends and people I know that have had tremendous success and a tremendous fall as well. And it's oftentimes very difficult to show them that yes, you may have fallen but that gives you the best opportunity to then rise again.
00:23:11
Speaker
Because not only do you have everything to prove to yourself, you have no expectations from the world because they saw you fall, they're like, and forget that, right? Then while you're while you're down, like you said, you have the quiet.
00:23:26
Speaker
I have really cultivated stillness in my life over the past decade in different ways, more so now in the past two years, three years than any time else in my life.
00:23:37
Speaker
And there's so much power in stillness and just listening to yourself listening to God, the universe or whatever you want to call it. You can pick your own thing. I'm not going to, you know, preach. But for me, there's stillness. There's stillness in in nature.
00:23:53
Speaker
And man, just have a sense of if people just recognize that that is the time to architect your future, there's so much power to that.
00:24:09
Speaker
I would assume you agree with that. Absolutely. I mean, it's where you find your freedom again, you know, because as you become something or as you become successful, that that thing that you do or the success in that sort of defines you in a way. And that's how people look at you. And that's how look do you look at yourself and you identify yourself. It becomes your identity, right? Absolutely.
00:24:31
Speaker
When you have that that cycle and everything in in nature cycles, everything everything cycles, right? So when you're on that down cycle, when you're in that dark space, when you're in dark night, it's like you get to rebirth and you get to do it any way you want and become anyone you want. I mean, it's probably one of the most powerful times of your evolution as a human being as in the as in those dark places.
00:25:00
Speaker
I just had an interesting analogy that popped in my head. So you are obviously an interior designer and you step into a space and I'm sure your mind is just like teeming with ideas, right?
00:25:14
Speaker
And I think in a manner of speaking, when you're in that stillness, you're in a very similar place, right? As human beings, we're in a space within ourselves.
00:25:24
Speaker
And then now we have the capacity and the ability to decorate it design it, propagate it how we want. Yeah. Just thought about that kind of random, but it just kind of fired in my head that there is a connection there. Yeah.
00:25:41
Speaker
Yeah. It's, it's, um, any sort of creation it's, you know, manifestation. It's, it's a really special thing to be able to do that. And, you know, it used to be about,
00:25:56
Speaker
design for me used to be a design used to be about, I guess. Principles, art, um, principles of design, rather, you know, ideas, products, this and that. And now it became about people, you know, to me. So ultimately, you know, the design is for the human.
00:26:19
Speaker
it could be for a group of humans, you know, if you're doing commercial design. But, um, Being able to listen, understand, and respect and love the human to create something for them is a really special thing. It's a really special gift to be able to do that.
00:26:39
Speaker
And it's a way to get to know someone or a group of people very intimately. For sure. That idea of creator creation is one of the things that motivates me the most in life.
00:26:53
Speaker
And as an engineer by education, I worked on projects where we were creating things. And that at the time it was for the aerospace industry. And subsequently it was involved with automotive and other industries as well, medical device.
00:27:08
Speaker
But the people on the other side of this table that I've had that are creators that have created something magical from sometimes nothing. Yeah. Whether it was John Hudak who is who took took the helm of Tucson Life's Home Magazine or Herb Stratford who took this decrepit um theater that was, you know, inhabited by wolves and homelessness. and he converted into one of the most beautiful buildings here in Tucson, the Fox Theater.
00:27:36
Speaker
And Randy Dorman, who took the this idea of this big warehouse and turned it into the Ice House Lofts, which defined a new genre within Tucson of a way to live. Now you're here.
00:27:51
Speaker
Let's talk about some project that you feel that, for whatever reason, is magical to you. Whether it was your contribution, maybe your contribution was tiny, but whatever, just give us a sense of one of your favorite magical projects.
00:28:13
Speaker
I guess I have two that come to mind and they're completely opposite from each other. Okay. And I feel like they're equally um as important maybe to to Tucson. You know, I've lived here now for 30 years. um So consider this my home and I take a lot of pride in it and, you know, spend time visioning it too. You know, from when I was in high school, which was actually...
00:28:40
Speaker
visioning downtown and wishing for downtown. i mean, every time I go there now, i'm like, wow, you know, we used to wish for this. yeah remember when it was all boarded up and now like, wow, it actually happened. You know, our our our words, our wishes put out there, like, look at what we did together.
00:28:55
Speaker
um do You know, the other the other um vision ah was always that ah Tucson is a little bit remote, you know, which is one of our blessings and gifts, but also sometimes it feels really far. Like when you're out traveling in the world um and then you come home, you're like, damn, we live far. we're the last frontier, you know? And bringing some of those ideas here was always my wish too.
00:29:28
Speaker
um And so recently i've I've gotten to work on a new development called Uptown, which is has so many cool aspects to it. I'm still like kind of like a little bit dizzy of just the blessing that you know has been bestowed upon our team to to to get to be part of this um just kind of blows my mind.
00:29:55
Speaker
um That project is cool for so many reasons. One is, you know, it's revamping, repurposing and area whole area of town, you know, not just one building. Like, you know, is it's it's creating a new central hot point for an area of town that's going to revitalize that whole side of tucson um it's just such a powerful project know um the people that have been brought or have that have come together to work on this project are bringing in influences from other places which is so exciting i mean you know from people that are really part of the development team that bring in expertise of building community and housing for for people and
00:30:44
Speaker
and really amazing cities like San Francisco you know we have that kind of knowledge now coming to Tucson so we're creating a space for those people to influx here to bring some of that knowledge and and enrich our our town our our culture or you know our our space our economy our you know environment that we get to be in like we have to make a place for to invite those people to to feel at home here you know and so we're getting to do that um and then we have like designers you know from other countries working on that project and we're getting that experience and that influence and um their skills to be able to build us so what we're creating is something completely new it's new to Tucson but it's just such a wonderful collaboration and it's been you know
00:31:39
Speaker
a revamp, a re-innovation of of even how a project like that is built in Tucson and and, you know, how the team kind of works
Integrating Heritage into Modern Design
00:31:47
Speaker
together. So it's been challenging, you know, because we're all kind of having to reinvent the wheel a little bit.
00:31:53
Speaker
um But the outcome just now, it's coming together. Like, it is literally coming to life right now as we speak. yeah And every time I go there, i well up with tears because...
00:32:06
Speaker
we created something pretty spectacular. yeah You know, it's a first like that in Tucson for a long time, like a project of that kind of innovation. And so to be a part of that is really cool. And um it's giving so many opportunities for local businesses. They focused on hiring local businesses to to do the work. And so, you you know, for it's been a propeller and a jumping off point for so many companies. You know, our company has gotten propelled into a different space because of this project. I mean, so we were the lead design team on the project, along with a wonderful architecture company that, I mean, just working within their building and their envelope has been incredible.
00:32:49
Speaker
um We've been able to um also um get into doing not just the amenity work and not just the public spaces, but also really intimately be a part of um creating the units. So one of the coolest things is, so Lithuania is still really close to my heart and I go back there often.
00:33:13
Speaker
you know they have such wonderful um strengths there now right like now that the country has had time to build and grow and really like blossom into this new new thing that they become we still are you know great craftsmen like they are amazing craftsmen and we do beautiful things out of wood so um you know as i go back i sort of like do research and find find the best the best and I've been able to to work with a couple different factories who manufacture furniture and millwork and we've been able to bring in all the kitchens and bathrooms from Lithuania for this first downtown project so we were able to innovate like a custom kitchen each unit is like a custom kitchen you know and ah yeah it's all made in Lithuania we were doing it through the tariff time which
00:34:04
Speaker
was scary for everyone um most people had never heard of lithuania that was scary so we took a team from you know the contracting company to come and take a look at the factory to what it's all about yeah so we could build the trust that we could do a really good job you know and we just finished installing those so yeah it's just oh my god that project has been my life for the last three years really poured my whole soul, my whole mind, my whole heart into that project. And we built an amazing team as a result of that. We already had an amazing team, but the way it's grown because of this project, it really, really impacted us. And this project is really impacting Tucson. And I'm just, I can't wait till the doors are open till we can actually share the pictures because we've been holding onto it for like three years and we're dying to show it, but just can't yet. When is that going to happen? ah Hopefully this spring.
00:34:59
Speaker
This spring. Wow. Yeah, yeah, we're just ah putting the finishing touches on the, you know, furniture's in the warehouse and yeah. ah yeah Isn't that remarkable how we have, how you've had the ability to to bring a piece of Lithuania and and inoculate Tucson with it, you know, even if it's a little baby piece. And that's what I love about this time we live in right now. There's a lot of negativity. There's a lot of madness. You turn on the the TV or the internet and you see just tons of negativity. And I'm not disputing that that's not valid. Yeah. Yeah, yeah things are rough sometimes. Yeah. But at the same time,
00:35:35
Speaker
This is the best time to be alive. Yes. In my opinion. Oh, yeah. There's so many opportunities. There's so much momentum. Vulnerability is at a different level. ah just, I'm just so proud of of where we are. I'm proud of you as well, because i was there as at the forefront. I helped you or I sat alongside you when you were working on the proposal to get that project a little over three years ago.
00:36:01
Speaker
And here we are, and i drove by it the other day and there was so much activity. Like, I couldn't believe that they took that mall space and they didn't do full scrape necessarily, but pretty darn close. Yeah. And they have all these things going on and scaffolding and cranes and trucks everywhere. It was amazing. Yeah. Yeah.
00:36:22
Speaker
It's an amazing environment to be on a construction site like that. It's like a world of its own, you know? So this past summer, like spring to pretty much end of summer, I spent in a hard hat, you know, going there almost every day. and um It gives you so much respect for everything we have because you see how hard it is to actually build it, how much it takes out of the people who are doing the work with their hands day to day how much discipline, how much sacrifice, how much...
00:36:56
Speaker
physical strength. I mean, they're working in there, you know, what in in Arizona summer heat. No, you know, no slowing down. You know, we have to meet the schedules and stuff like that. And their dedication You know, um it blows me away and our world stands on their shoulders. And I have so much respect for them and so much gratitude and so much admiration.
00:37:22
Speaker
Because, yes, the design is is important. You know, the people who create the projects are important, but it's the hands that built that that we're standing on.
00:37:34
Speaker
That's remarkable. Now, you've done a lot, Eva, changing the landscape of...
Advice and Future Aspirations
00:37:41
Speaker
everywhere you've been. Looking back on when you were 16, if you were able to tell yourself something, that 16 year old, if you had a portal to that to that person as she's boarding a plane back to Arizona, a long plane flight, what would you tell that young girl who was 16 years old?
00:38:07
Speaker
ah Don't be afraid to be yourself. And don't be afraid to be different. That's where really your strength is.
00:38:19
Speaker
And don't hold yourself back. You know, it's okay to fail. And do it again and again and again, know. um
00:38:33
Speaker
Those two things. Yeah. Yeah. Say one day somebody is reading a newspaper far in the future, decades and decades in the future, and it's your obituary.
00:38:49
Speaker
Oh, shit.
00:38:52
Speaker
Yeah, it's your obituary. Okay. Half page. Huge.
00:38:58
Speaker
What's the headline going to say? And what's the the little bio going to say below it of your life? I was going to make a joke, but probably a bad one.
00:39:10
Speaker
Ding dong, the witch is dead. Just kidding. um What would it say?
00:39:23
Speaker
know.
00:39:26
Speaker
Um, that's a really hard question because part of me, want to just fade away and I don't really want a headline. No, I think the greatness of a person usually speaks for itself. You know, you don't need a lot of words.
00:39:43
Speaker
the The projects are there to show the ah legacy that the people that succeeded after you, that you helped, you know, our legacy, our family is a legacy. Um,
00:39:55
Speaker
Some of the works maybe that I created, maybe they impacted a life that's a legacy. That's more important to me than the headline, probably, you know. But I sure hope they find a hot picture of me and put it in paper. Yeah.
00:40:14
Speaker
yeah That's great. Yeah, I... um Unrelated, but kind of related. So Mel Brooks, the acclaimed producer, director, actor, I mean that Mel Brooks is still alive.
00:40:29
Speaker
He's 99. Oh, wow. And I saw an interview of him maybe a few years ago when he was 97 whatever. And I mean, he's such a character. He's defined so much.
00:40:40
Speaker
And I mean, there's folks that like you mentioned would rather sort of not have the spotlight towards the end of your life and you let your work speak for you. That's kind of like Mel Brooks in a way. You know, he he hasn't been around. You haven't seen him in the news or in the, he hasn't done something for a long time, but his works stand as pillars.
00:41:01
Speaker
The people he's affected have all these producers, all these directors in Hollywood, he is one of the pillars of Hollywood.
00:41:11
Speaker
Wow. And so, and I know this is where I said it's random, but I just draw like a a line between right now you're creating these little pillars. Yeah. Right. You're, you're involved with Uptown and,
00:41:27
Speaker
There's going to be other things that are going to be like that for you so that when you're 50, 60 years from now, when you're on your, on the other side of the rainbow, that you'll be like, your legacy will live on.
00:41:43
Speaker
So I guess my last question for you is, what do you look forward to project-wise, life-wise, Anything wise, what do you look forward to in the next coming decade?
00:42:00
Speaker
Wow. I have a pretty open mind, you know, as as new things that are to come.
00:42:12
Speaker
Um, sometimes when I ask for things like it's such a much much smaller scale, don't really know is possible or or what, you know, the universe has in store.
00:42:23
Speaker
So if I had to plant some seeds, um, I really look forward to seeing how Tucson unfolds. It's such a change, changing time, growing time right now, you know, and I think,
00:42:39
Speaker
So many of us have ah vision for it or what we'd like it to be, but it's sort of taken its own, you know, wings. It's... it it's kind of becoming evolving on its own because there's so many different facets and aspects of so many new people coming in so i'm curious to see what it's going to become i'm curious and and i'm excited to be a part of it as well uh i'm excited to see um how we preserve or or how we preserve the culture here right like from the architecture to most importantly the nature you know um
00:43:16
Speaker
how we preserve that way of life that we've had, but also blend it in with a new. um i think that good stewardship of that is really important. um And then myself, through this work, through this work between countries, and because my life is in two countries, right? All my family is still in Lithuania.
00:43:36
Speaker
also... and also a lot of my friends are living abroad in different places i've gotten to travel a lot to a lot of different culture countries and and experience a lot of different cultures i've really just gotten really passionate about it and especially doing some international trade um and now with the tariffs and how the landscape of that is changing i'm really really excited to see what the what the world is going to do i think it's a time i mean we are a global economy we are a global um generation there is no going back to that i mean you know there's just not um in my mind and that's where my heart is is um you know while growing and blooming in a local place but really thinking globally and thinking long term and thinking into the next generation thinking into the next chapter
00:44:29
Speaker
So I want to be more involved in that and learn more about cultural relations between countries. um Yeah, I really want to seek that out and hear more conversations and And be a part of that.
00:44:46
Speaker
I think it's so powerful. You know, imagine if in a team you let everybody have a strength, you know, and let that person bloom in their strength. Imagine if you let a country do that.
00:44:59
Speaker
How powerful that is and how much peace we can find in the world and how much we can all flourish. You know, i just. Yeah. So that's my next vision. That's awesome. Yeah.
00:45:14
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, geopolitics aside, because we know there's so much going on with geopolitics. Yeah. It's just, it's crazy. And one thing that I'm always very wary of, and I share this with my children and people that i that I'm close with, is make sure you understand the whole story. Yeah. People are very quick to make decisions or judgments on whether something is, quote, wrong or right. Yeah.
00:45:38
Speaker
the recent Venezuela thing. There's people on both sides, right? Well, my God, what do we do? And then you talk to Venezuelans, they're like, oh my God, thank God, it happened. Why didn't happen sooner? yeah and And so you having an international background being born in Lithuania, which incidentally I learned that the Lithuanian language predates all European major languages, which is remarkable. I mean, I saw that, I was reading an article, and I was like, that's kind of crazy. It predates Russian, predates some of the servo, this and that. I mean, I'm not a linguist, but I just recognize that there's there's some interesting things about that.
00:46:15
Speaker
But being international, coming to Tucson, growing, blossoming, sort of learning the ropes, if you will, of business, and now turning that back onto the world.
00:46:29
Speaker
I'm excited for you, and I'm excited for the world as well. Thank you. Yes. Actually, I do have another question. What do you have to say to an aspiring young entrepreneur, maybe a woman, maybe not, who's in their early 20s, who is interested in building, creating a life for themselves through through business?
00:46:56
Speaker
What would you say to that person that could help them move the needle in their life?
00:47:04
Speaker
To move the needle,
00:47:09
Speaker
I would say step outside of your environment. Go to some different environments. See how people are doing things. And find someone who inspires you, who's gone further than you.
00:47:23
Speaker
And um ask them to teach you. I think that's the best way to move the needle. um And then do things that really scare you. If it's not scaring you, it is not worth doing.
00:47:36
Speaker
Yeah. That's how you move the needle. Yeah, that's one of my big mantras. Comfort is a killer, man. Yeah. It'll kill you dead on your tracks right there. Yeah.
00:47:47
Speaker
If it scares you, it's fear or being scared and being excited is really the same emotion, right? It's the same. It's kind of like the same sensation. so You know, sometimes, you know, the line is blurry, but that's where the magic is at. And there's always somebody there to help guide you, coach you be a sounding board, somebody wiser than you. Just ask for help.
00:48:15
Speaker
That's great. Well, thank you so much for your time, Eva. This has been ah a blessing, a good time. And the words of wisdom and your perspective is something that our audience really appreciates.
00:48:28
Speaker
And the reason I do this podcast in part is because i want to share people's stories. ah people that may not have the spotlight all the time, people that have some very interesting perspectives that I believe the world needs to hear.
00:48:45
Speaker
So thank you so much for your time. Thank you, Manny. Cheers.