It’s never too late to follow your North Star. When Nadya Karpova decided it was time for a career change after a few years in the workforce, she thought back to when she’d been inspired in an undergraduate Boston College classroom by FableVision Co-founder Paul Reynolds. It was 2021 and Nadya was back at school, completing her master’s degree at Boston University. She reached out to the studio about possible summer internship opportunities and joined the marketing team.
“I was really hoping to immerse myself in the children’s media universe and launch a more creative communications career,” explains Nadya. “I focused on finding a collaborative, writing-focused role and found a home at FableVision.”
Now, as a full-time communications strategist on staff, Nadya fosters connections with FableVision’s followers and finds new ways to break through social media noise. Her past work in client management gives her a unique perspective that allows her to understand clients and effectively communicate with clients and the public alike. Nadya’s transition to a media focus has been an exciting opportunity for her to flex her creative muscle and put the spotlight on storytelling.
Keep reading to find out more about Nadya’s career change experience, adventurous hobbies, and literary favorites!
How has your experience in client services helped your role as a communications strategist now?
In my previous client services role, I took on marketing tasks like creating newsletters, blogs, conference materials, client welcome packets, and so on. That made me realize that I wanted to shift toward a marketing career.
The experience also helps improve my conversations with clients to figure out how to spread the word about their projects and amplify their marketing efforts. After managing many clients’ accounts at my previous job, I have a better understanding of their expectations. When I create marketing materials, I keep their perspective in mind, thinking about their goals and what questions they might ask.
What do you like most about telling FableVision’s story?
I love storytelling in general, plus FableVision has a fun and unique portfolio. It’s cool to showcase the amazing projects we’ve worked on… how can you possibly have a bad day if you’re writing about an anthropomorphized, rock-singing liver or the adorable Gashlings? It's also a bonus that I learn a lot from the projects themselves! From a business perspective, we want to continue creating engaging media. By highlighting our portfolio, we hope that prospective clients will be excited to work with us, and we’ll have the opportunity to create more wonderful partnerships.
Congratulations on the studio’s recent rebrand! What was that experience like for you?
I loved watching the new logo and branding come to life. From a design perspective, we wanted to pay homage to our original logo designed by Founder Peter H. Reynolds, while bringing a modern twist to its personality. On the marketing front, we needed to figure out what story we wanted to tell with our rebrand, so we had many conversations about how to launch the announcement. Once we determined our angle, it was fun to craft the blog and create social media posts so everyone could see our amazing, fresh look. I love the dynamic logo because the marketing team helps determine which new icons we want to unveil as they connect to the stories we’re telling each month. The rebrand was my first “project launch” once I began working full time, so it was awesome to start with a bang!
Any advice for other folks interested in a career change or who just want to further their professional development?
Stay proactive. No one will come to you with a five-year-plan, so you have to figure out the steps yourself. Remember that five years from now, you’ll still be five years older than you are today, regardless of what you do. Therefore, start sooner rather than later, and always keep in mind that you’ll need to take a few steps back before you can take steps forward.
Surround yourself with people who support you. Once you have a better idea of what you’re interested in, talk to people to figure out what paths you might take. For example, I spoke with a mentor from Boston College in the communications field who gave me suggestions, ideas to think about, and people to contact. I spoke to her contacts – some of them suggested companies I could apply to and advised against graduate school, others knew about graduate programs to consider, and some helped edit my resume. If you go to graduate school like I did, be sure to commit yourself to doing the work and establishing good relationships with your professors. They have valuable experience and they’re there to help you.
What’s your favorite aspect of social media marketing?
I like figuring out how to engage our followers so they’ll read our latest blog, view our newest project, or learn more about our client. With so much existing content, it’s a fun challenge to determine how to break through the noise. Social media also provides us with an opportunity to connect with our followers and fans in a more casual way that can hopefully brighten their day. For example, we wrote haikus for World Poetry Day and showed off our new pie logo icon for Pi Day – there are so many unique ways to stay connected with social media. The combination of sharing news and being playful makes for a fun job! Ultimately, I like that social media allows us to share our projects with more people who may not have known about them otherwise.
What inspired your interest in communications in general?
I enjoy writing, learning about communication theories, and discussing how the medium of a text changes the message. It’s exciting, and at times overwhelming, that media changes quickly, so it’s important to keep learning about it. Communications also has many opportunities for creativity, from crafting the messages, to writing, to putting everything into a beautiful package with images, videos, and great design.
What’s your favorite children’s book and why?
Norton Juster’s The Phantom Tollbooth, with illustrations by Jules Feiffer. Thanks to a recommendation from a friend, I read it as an adult and it sparked a curiosity in me to keep reading and learning more. The book’s fantastical land, The Kingdom of Wisdom, entertains language and math enthusiasts by featuring the cities of Dictionopolis and Digitopolis. The story follows a young boy named Milo and his companions, Tock the dog and Humbug, as they travel through this kingdom to rescue two princesses, Rhyme and Reason. I love the wordplay, puns, idioms, and illustrations – it’s a great creative story that’s also fun to read.
Growing up, I also loved reading Eduard Uspensky’s books about Cheburashka, an animal unknown to science. The stories were turned into beautiful and heartwarming cartoons that tug on your heartstrings and are super cute.
Where’s your favorite place you’ve ever traveled?
I love New Zealand because the North and South islands are filled with varied and beautiful nature. Highlights of my trip include:
Mount Tongariro, an active volcano near Lake Taupo, surrounded by the snow-filled Mount Ruapehu and the scary Mount Ngauruhoe, aka Mount Doom from Lord of the Rings. As we did our 20-km hike, we saw blue, emerald, and lime pools, red craters, black lava rocks, and a thick forest all in one day.
Abel Tasman National Park. Our walk through the native forest included views of sandy beaches and turquoise water.
Hobbiton, the movie set from Lord of the Rings, which features the Shire. We picked out the Hobbit Hole we’d want to live in, saw Bilbo’s home, enjoyed a drink at the Green Dragon Inn, and marveled at Waikato’s beautiful pastures.
Doubtful Sound, New Zealand’s deepest fjord. The scenery was unreal – green cliffs full of native vegetation, calm water, and silence when the boat turned off.
Adrenaline rushes. I was thrilled to go canyon swinging, paragliding, ziplining, sand boarding, hydro attacking, and luging! I now have a lifetime discount for canyon swinging, so I’ll have to go back! The one activity I didn’t enjoy? White water rafting.
I can talk about New Zealand for hours, so contact me if you want to learn more!
More about Nadya
Do you collect anything?
Stuffed animals! I have sentimental ones from my childhood or travels, Critter Knitters handmade by my mom, Pusheen, Boo, pigs, and flamingoes. And I have little gnomes that live by my plants.
Who is Persik?
My floofus – fluffy doofus! He’s our feisty orange cat who loves running around, climbing on boxes, spilling water out of his bowl, and biting for play. We love him so much!
Favorite ballet?
I’ll always have a special place in my heart for The Nutcracker – I performed in Boston Ballet’s show for many years as a child and convinced my friends to create our own production. When it’s not the holiday season, I love La Fille mal gardeé, a comic ballet that includes a clog and chicken dance, and Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty, a beautiful classic.
Chocolate or gummy candy?
Both!
Photo by Mickey West
Favorite movie and TV show?
National Lampoon’s Vacation movies and Robin Hood: Men In Tights. I also loved and highly recommend Netflix’s A Series of Unfortunate Events (after reading Lemony Snicket’s books, of course).
Any hobbies?
I love to dance! I trained at Boston Ballet School and continued to dance during my undergraduate and graduate studies. Since 2016, I’ve danced and choreographed for OnStage Dance Company where I mainly focus on jazz, contemporary, and ballet. We have two shows per year and perform at community events!
