Kanat Kasymzhanov: Keeping learning is one of my main professional achievements

Interview with Kanat Kasymzhanov, General Director of Kazmedia Ortalygy Management Company LLP.

– When and in what family were you born? What were your parents doing?

I was born on July 12, 1983 in the Almaty region in the city of Issyk, in the homeland of the Golden Man. My parents devoted their entire lives to the medical field. Mom is an otorhinolaryngologist, father worked as a military doctor through the SES. Today, both are retired, but remain in medicine. I also have a younger brother, he works in a large foreign company in engineering.

– Why did you decide not to continue the dynasty of the family of doctors?

My parents always said that their profession required good health, and I suffered from allergies as a child. That is why they themselves did not advise me to follow in their footsteps in professional activities. As a child, I hardly saw my parents, because they often stayed on duty, spent most of their time at work.

– What were your inclinations in childhood?

Like all children, I loved to go out and spend time with friends. My father was fond of collecting books, so we had a large library in the house. This contributed to the manifestation of my love for reading. With age, I became interested in sports: volleyball, basketball, table tennis.

– How and when did you earn your first money?

I earned my first money while still a schoolboy. The guys and I picked cherries and sweet cherries and handed them over to the acceptance point, for which we were paid money. The yield of trees in the garden of the parental home was simply incredible, and during the summer holidays, picking the fruits, I earned my first money – by the way, it was enough to buy a game console.

– How did you study at school?

School years passed in two stages. Until the 7th grade, I studied with varying success and did not have much interest in learning. Since the 8th grade, my attitude to learning has changed. Over the next four years of study, I achieved considerable success, became the best student and graduated from school with a gold medal. The medal was given only if there were no marks below “5” and due to the achievements received on the scale of the district or region. I was interested in such subjects as geography and chemistry, for which I received prizes in Olympiads at the regional and republican levels. My passion for geography subsequently connected me with economic activity, since this subject was the main subject for financiers and economists.

– What path did you choose when you graduated from high school?

Relatives helped me choose a university. My aunt, who worked in the banking sector, was the authority in my professional activity. I decided to also try to master this activity, in connection with which my choice fell on the Kazakh State Academy of Management (former Narxoz), where I entered the Faculty of Economics.

Upon admission, like everyone else, he passed exams, but, thanks to his excellent studies at school, he easily entered free education.

It is worth noting that after school, the university seemed easy to me. You can even say that for me the university is more about communication, about the city of Almaty, about relationships. It seems to me that I got the basic basic knowledge at school, thanks to hard work, and the university gave me more specialized knowledge.

– What is your first job?

Having received a bachelor’s degree in 2004 on higher education, I got a job in the Almaty branch of Kazkommertsbank as an assistant manager in retail lending. My duties included: collecting documents for a credit file, signing contracts, attaching assessments, and the like.

My banking career developed quite quickly. Two years have passed, and I was already in the Department of Corporate Relations and held the position of a manager for lending to companies with a large cash turnover. The portfolio under management was $2-3 billion.

He worked in the banking sector for quite a long time in various positions. Moving to other banks, he held various positions: Deputy Directorate for Corporate Finance, Head of the Corporate Finance Department. The reason for the change of professional activity was the desire for further development.

In 2016, I enrolled in a master’s program at the University of Glasgow-Adam Smith, Business School, and the whole family went to Scotland. The training lasted a total of two years. While I was gaining knowledge, my wife took care of the children, attended English courses and worked part-time. The children were in school.

– How was life after returning home?

In 2018, we returned to our homeland, and I was invited to work at the Astana International Financial Center (AIFC) as a senior global project manager.

The AIFC office was created for a specific project, which was successfully completed. After that, he received and accepted an invitation to work at Kazmedia Ortalygy. This happened in September 2020.

– What are your responsibilities as CEO?

My responsibilities now include coordinating all the activities of the company as an executive body. Before my appointment as CEO, I was already familiar with the financial side of the company, so the transition was not difficult for me.

Our mission is to create a technological hub with the latest technologies in the field of media broadcasting; providing high-tech television and radio production for the population of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

It is important to understand that the top manager “sees” the business process, which, in turn, is the same for every large organization. The most important thing is to properly manage these processes, as well as control their execution. Obviously, in a new field, a person relies on the support of the team. My task was to understand the work of the technical unit and immerse myself in the work of other departments.

– How did you meet your wife?

At the time we met, we were both studying at the same university. At first they were friends for about three years, and then in 2006 they officially became a family.

My wife is an accountant, she also worked in the banking sector. Now we have three beautiful children – the eldest son is 15 years old, the middle daughter is 12 years old, and the youngest daughter will be 5 years old. We have a traditional Kazakh family.

Children are educated in a public school. The son shows a penchant for engineering – he is fond of computer programs, like most young people. He knows Russian, English, Kazakh and Turkish languages well.

– What do you consider the main achievement in your professional activity?

I think this is the moment when I was able to stop in my main profession and went to study further. This is a very difficult step for a family working person in a good position. Learning languages, picking up textbooks and books again is quite difficult. Of course, it was not easy, but I did it and I’m proud of it. All such situations become a turning point when a person goes through himself, goes out of his comfort zone. This always gives a good result, which is not achieved immediately, but eventually bears fruit.

The next Broadcasting / Cinema conference will take place October 3-4, 2023 in Almaty, Kazakhstan.