Irina Novoselsky’s story is one of grit, determination, and entrepreneurial spirit. A self-proclaimed “refugee kid,” her journey from a young girl who recognized early on the value of financial independence, to a leader in the tech industry, is nothing short of inspiring.
Irina’s entrepreneurial journey began very early on. She may not have had the words to describe it yet, but it was clear to her what she wanted to do with her life.
“I always knew I wanted to build businesses,” she said. “I didn’t know that’s what it was called – because how do you know what it’s called at that age? I was definitely a refugee kid, where I come from Eastern Europe and the choices are usually engineering, chemistry – you know, something very scientific. Business is not normally one of the things that you hear about.”
“By age five or six, I realized, okay, I’m going to have to earn my own money if I want this to work,” she recalled. From shoveling snow off neighbors’ driveways to selling flowers cut from weeds in her neighborhood, Irina found ways to make bank, demonstrating an early flair for business and a relentless work ethic.
Despite the early start in business, Irina’s path to becoming a CEO was not straightforward – but her choice of education definitely helped set her up for later success. And her choice of schools was basically a self-imposed litmus test of her ability to thrive in a competitive market.
“I picked NYU business school because I thought, okay, if I can’t find a job in New York, then I’m the problem,” she said.
This pragmatic approach underpinned her career choices, leading her first into investment banking, and then later into private equity. Irina’s time in those industries provided her with a fast-tracked education in business and finance.
“It’s dog years – the amount of knowledge, right? Because you’re also working hundred-hour weeks,” she explained. This intense period taught her the importance of understanding financial jargon and using data to make quick decisions—skills that would prove invaluable at Hootsuite.
While her finance experience proved to be a great foundation, Irina always knew she wanted to return to the operational side of things. The transition to tech came naturally as she recognized the scalability and profitability of technology businesses.
“The reason that people love tech is because it’s just a really profitable business model. It scales really well,” Irina noted, contrasting it with other industries, like the services sector, where scaling benefits in terms of the bottom line don’t really apply in the same way.
Irina’s ultimately led her to Hootsuite, a company she was drawn to because of its unique position in the fabric of society. “Social media is just sitting at the center of communication and technology, and it is about to be massively disrupted,” she said.
In terms of leadership, Hootsuite has presented its own set of challenges and rewards. Irina’s approach to leadership is centered around building strong, egoless teams. “I love creating a team out of a group of individuals. I just think the team is such a powerful concept – to be a part of something bigger that is egoless,” she emphasized.
Irina is also passionate about the role of social media managers, a position she feels is often undervalued at many companies.
“The social media manager, I think, is one of the most interesting roles that is so undervalued today. They are doing a hundred different jobs and they’re so creative, they’re so malleable, they’re so flexible, they’re problem solvers,” she said. By giving these roles the recognition and voice they deserve, she aims to make Hootsuite not just a leader in social media management, but also a beacon for employee empowerment.
Despite her success, Irina remains humble and aware of the continuous journey of learning and adaptation that is good leadership. “There’s this perception that change is easy, and I tend to be a change agent – I tend to drive a lot of change. So that there’s this very easy perception to say, ‘Oh, well, it’s easy for her. Change doesn’t affect her.’ I just get as scared as anybody else around change. I don’t like it. I don’t want it. I’m not super comfortable in the uncomfortable,” she admitted.
Her philosophy is about pushing through discomfort and continually seeking growth. “Am I learning? Am I being challenged? And when I get to a point where I’m not really uncomfortable anymore, I immediately take a step back and think, what am I doing? Why is that the case? How do I get a little bit more uncomfortable? How do I learn a little more?” she said.
Irina’s vision for Hootsuite and social media is forward-looking. She sees a future where social media is integral to business strategy and customer engagement.
“The stats are incredible. You have 5 billion people around the world on social media, and they’re spending three hours a day,” she highlighted. “95% of businesses are on social media, and yet the majority of businesses have no idea how they drive value from social media. What an amazing problem.”
Her goal is to transform how companies view and utilize social media, making it a tool for genuine customer engagement and business growth.
“We get to do it in a way that I think is very human-first and authentic,” she said. “There’s so much conversation around AI and technology, but at the end of the day, social media is about relationships. Our whole life is about building relationships.”
Irina’s own trajectory is a call to action for those who are driven problem solvers and relationship builders. She encourages others to join her if her story and experience resonates.
“If you are a go-getter, if you are a problem solver, if you are a relationship builder, you’re results-oriented and you’re gritty and you want to go and change what we’re doing and help us join our journey, please apply,” she said.
