"The doors are always open; you just need to knock" – an Uzbek woman's experience at Apple.

Sadokat Kazieva was born in Tashkent. At the age of 16, she continued her education in the United Kingdom, earning a bachelor's degree in business management. She then moved to the United States, where she began to build her career. Initially, she chose the field of human resources, as she had always been interested in studying people and their needs. This led her to Samsung and later to Apple, where she continued her career before shifting to digital product design.

Her desire to learn and reach new heights in her profession motivated Sadokat to explore various areas within her company. She became a "shadow" employee in departments related to human resources to better understand the processes and learn how to manage them effectively. After grasping the big picture and achieving significant success, she began to ponder the next step in her career. This inquiry led her to digital product design, where she was able to combine her knowledge and interests to create solutions that simplify people's lives.

Today, Sadokat Kazieva is actively working on projects that have the potential to change the approach to technology use in Uzbekistan and improve people's everyday lives through innovative solutions.

“Once, while working at one of the top companies, Samsung, I began to feel that something was missing. I asked myself every day: what is it?” — shares Sadokat Kazieva.

Thus, she decided to seek new knowledge and develop in new directions. Around 12 years ago, a trend began in America to attract specialists for digitalization, from programmers to product designers. During the hiring process for such specialists, Sadokat discovered an intriguing field — UX/UI design (user experience/user interface design) — and began to study it independently through various resources, as courses on this topic were not yet widely popular at that time.

From Samsung to Apple

Sadokat always felt a creative spark within her, having grown up in a family of musicians and always surrounded by art. Therefore, when she felt ready to fully unleash her creative potential, she decided to seek a company where she could do so. Eventually, she applied for a job at Apple.

“Our Apple office was very close to our home in Texas. One day, I thought: ‘Why not try applying to Apple, leaving Samsung?’” — she shares.

This decision became a turning point in her career, and at Apple, she found a platform to express her creativity and further develop.

The Challenging Path at Apple and Design Philosophy from Sadokat Kazieva

Working at Apple was not easy for Sadokat Kazieva. She went through a challenging 6-stage interview process, which, as she says, felt like an interrogation. However, according to her, this trial helped her understand that Apple values the ability to reveal people's inner talents.

“I realized why the process was so difficult: Apple wants to uncover a person's inner potential. If we don't open up, we won't know who we really are,” — she shares.

Management at Apple

When Sadokat started working at Apple, her manager unexpectedly asked: “Where is the solution to the stated problems?” This surprised her, as at Samsung, she was used to solutions always being provided by management.

“I was a bit upset by this question because at Samsung, it was always the case that problems were solved only by the leadership. But later, I understood that at Apple, no one manages a person. In the work process, only managers do not make decisions on arising issues. They understand that anyone can find faults, but proposing a solution is something everyone needs to do,” — she says.

Design as Art and Logic

“Being a designer is not just a job,” — asserts Sadokat. “Design is the result of patience and hard work. To be a good designer, you need to learn every day and find inspiration.” For her, the most important principle of design is the ability to apply learned concepts in practice.

Sadokat also emphasizes the importance of a visual library for a designer. This "visual library" can be formed based on inspiration from nature, music, museums, or even web resources.

“A visual library is about creating representations of how objects should actually look, their shapes, and features,” — she explains.

“In design, the key is not to limit yourself to one source; seek not 5, but 25 sources. Because the design process is like a circular diagram, and if you think you've found a solution, that's not the end. On the contrary, it means you need to start searching further. And this process never ends,” — says Sadokat Kazieva.

Doors Are Always Open; You Just Need to Knock

“Doubts in your career are a normal state. At 20, choosing one job and thinking you have to do it for your entire life? With such thinking, many stop their development. There’s no such thing as being ‘too early’ or ‘too late.’ Everyone should listen to their inner intuition and make decisions.”

“In my life, I have gone through many interviews and conducted them myself. And many times I received rejections. Receiving a rejection is not the end of life. It may just mean that this place isn’t right for you, or vice versa. You should take it calmly and move on. Doors are always open; you just need to knock.”

Why Not Uzbeks?

Our heroes, Sadokat Kazieva and her husband, after gaining work experience in America and the UK, decided to apply it in the process of digitalization in Uzbekistan. They began to implement projects that could ease people's lives by applying ideas suitable for their society. One such project was the digitalization of all processes in sports complexes and the fitness industry in Uzbekistan.

“We have two reasons for working on this project. First, I dream of creating my own original project from scratch that people will use. Second, together with my husband and our team, we asked ourselves: ‘Why not Uzbeks?’ Why can’t Uzbeks do this? Why should we only wait for products from somewhere and think that only foreign goods can be of high quality?” We started this project precisely to break this stereotype,” — says Sadokat Kazieva.

Prepared by Gavkhar Ziyodullaeva,
photo and editing: Sherzod Egamberdiyev, Javokhir Gairatov