Every unique and talented Avantee is a co-creator of the Avant culture we love. We hope the @Avant series helps you get to know who we are, how we do what we do, and what it looks like to build your career at Avant.
Nikolina “Nina” Povrzenic
Formerly Regulatory Compliance Associate, now Senior Associate (as of 2023), for the Compliance team
Joined Avant in 2014
What’s it like to work @Avant? We asked Nina for her take on our culture, and here’s what she said:
1. How would you describe Avant’s culture?
From the beginning, Avant has been about teamwork. People are always saying “don’t be afraid to reach out,” and they really mean it. It’s super nurturing, and we teach each other new things, new skills. Like when I first started at Avant, so many people sat down with me to explain how SQL works. I could have tried to figure it out with YouTube videos, but they taught me the way we actually use it here. I love that willingness to sit down together. We share with each other because we all have the common goal of solving problems and moving forward.
2. Why are you happy/successful here?
This is an environment where everyone is so motivated to try new things and strive to be better, and it makes me happy that I can contribute to it. When somebody asks me a question, I feel great when I know the answer. And when someone asks for help, I feel great when I can help out. You can tell that everyone is making time for each other, and paying it forward.
I also love the way Avant tries to create culture remotely, with trivia and other events—I’m all about that stuff. Even simple things, like our huge emoji library in Slack. Overall, it’s really a culture of learning and camaraderie.
3. What’s a superpower you get to apply at your job?
I’m crazy organized. I am a spreadsheet queen, I’ve got physical lists, lists on my computer that are all color coordinated. Organization is my foundation to make sure I stay on track. I love taking a complicated and daunting task and breaking it apart so that it seems doable. I’ve been doing this since I was a kid, with any kind of puzzles or art projects that I was working on. Okay, it was a little Type A, but I loved organizing the puzzle pieces and putting them together in the smartest way possible. Checking off those bite-sized tasks makes you feel so accomplished at the end.
4. When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?
When I was a kid, I was obsessed with space. Everything space and NASA. Then I took a physics class and was like, this is not the right role for me. But especially now, it’s still so exciting and I love following it. I can still live out my space dreams, just without the physics part.
