From Corporate Executive to International Entrepreneur: Lessons from Pavel Kovsharov

In today’s blog post, I’m excited to share an inspiring conversation with Pavel Kovsharov—an entrepreneur whose journey spans from launching his first business at 16 to building a family entertainment empire across Russia and the UAE.

Daria Rudnik: Pavel, thank you for joining me. I know your journey from corporate to entrepreneurship has been anything but ordinary. Could you take us back to how it all started?

Pavel Kovsharov: Thank you, Daria. It all started when I was 16, just beginning university. I opened my first business—a small cafe in my hometown. After that, I focused fully on my studies for a few years. Once I graduated, I moved from Belgorod to Moscow to find what I thought of as my dream job. I worked my way up in an IT company, eventually becoming a top manager in telecommunications.

But I always felt like an entrepreneur at heart. Even in corporate, I treated my work like it was my own business. I couldn’t just go through the motions. If you’re not fully invested, you’re not just hurting the company, you’re hurting yourself.

Daria Rudnik: So what pushed you to finally make the leap?

Pavel Kovsharov: I was on a long vacation in the Bering Islands, and I realized it was time. I had a family by then—we had just welcomed our first son after waiting seven years—but I felt that if I didn’t do it then, I might never. Leaving a stable corporate life, with a team, a car, a good salary, was hard. But it was also the only way to start a new chapter.

Daria Rudnik: And what a chapter it’s been! Tell us more about your current business.

Pavel Kovsharov: I’m the founder of Zamania, a chain of Family Entertainment Centers in Russia. We have 20 centers, each 2,000–3,000 square meters, located in malls. What sets us apart is that we care about the parents too. We have comfortable restaurants inside our centers—not just something for the kids.

We also run a central kitchen producing 6,000–10,000 desserts daily for retail. And now, we’ve expanded to the UAE with three locations in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and more to come soon in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.

Daria Rudnik: Those years weren’t easy though—pandemic, war, economic uncertainty. What kept you going?

Pavel Kovsharov: In 2020, everything stopped. We had to fire 1,000 people in one day, and hire them back months later. I thought we were finished. For the first months, I ran on adrenaline. I worked nonstop. But eventually, I had no energy left.

What helped me come back was my team, my family, hiking, and coaching. That’s when I started working with a coach seriously. Now I understand: if you don’t face real difficulty, you can’t truly grow as a person or a leader.

Daria Rudnik: Let’s talk about international expansion. Why the UAE?

Pavel Kovsharov: I always dreamed of going international. I even started working on a U.S. launch in 2019, but COVID shut that down. After the war started, options were limited. I chose the UAE. People said, “There are already so many family centers in Dubai.” But we focused on locals, not tourists. We built something different—comfortable, high-quality, community-driven spaces.

Now we have three centers there, two more in the pipeline, and plans for 20+ in the region. I also restarted U.S. market research recently.

Daria Rudnik: You’ve mentioned how important culture is to your business. Can you expand on that?

Pavel Kovsharov: Culture is everything. My first hire in Russia was an HR manager who later became COO. From the start, I knew culture would define us. And culture comes from the founder. Not HR, not strategy. If you don’t actively shape your culture, it shapes itself—and you might not like what emerges.

After COVID, our culture in Russia was lost. We brought in a new CEO, new managers—it became a different company. Now I’m rebuilding it from scratch. In the UAE, it’s easier—the team is new, and I can build it right from day one.

Daria Rudnik: What are some of your core principles?

Pavel Kovsharov: Eventually I wrote them down in a personal memorandum on a website. Every employee reads it when they join. I didn’t want to just copy what others do—I needed it to come from me. Culture needs daily attention. Especially in service businesses where turnover is high, people need to know why we do what we do.

Daria Rudnik: What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned?

Pavel Kovsharov: You can’t delegate culture. That was the most expensive lesson I’ve learned. As a founder, you have to lead it. You can have great HR, but the spirit comes from you.

Daria Rudnik: And what should companies do to prepare for the future of work?

Pavel Kovsharov: Be adaptive. The tools will always change—AI, logistics, communication—but your core should stay the same. Your culture, your mission, your customer relationships. Those are your foundation.

We’re already using AI to design new spaces, plan menus, and communicate with guests. But the human side—care, trust, respect—that doesn’t change.

Daria Rudnik: One last question—any advice for aspiring entrepreneurs?

Pavel Kovsharov: Three things. First, if you decide to change your life, do it. Don’t wait. Second, your first hires are everything. Invest in them—they could stay with you for decades. Third, build your reputation. My first investor was my old CEO. I didn’t invest a dollar into the UAE expansion—it was all based on trust. Reputation is your long-term brand.

Daria Rudnik: Thank you, Pavel. This was an incredible conversation.

Pavel Kovsharov: Thank you, Daria. Happy to share.

Pavel Kovsharov is the founder and CEO of Zamania, chain of family adventure parks.
He launched his first business at the age of 16.
After university, started a career as a salaried employee, holding top positions at Tele2 and Yota. The first park in Russia was opened in 2016, and in UAE in 2023. Now the chain includes 21 parks in Russia and 2 in the UAE.

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