We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Polina Ruvinsky. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Polina below.

Alright, Polina thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

My background is in software engineering and tech leadership. Over 20 plus years, I saw how often women’s ideas were undervalued, their achievements minimized, and their voices dismissed. No matter how I rose up in the ranks, like most women around me, I had to prove myself over and over again, When I decided to leave my role in corporate, I knew I wanted to work on something that made an impact for women. I really longed to change the narrative about women’s leadership, ideas, and accomplishments. But I had no idea how to do that.

I spent 2 years exploring: mentoring, coaching, volunteering, doing speaking engagements and nothing felt quite right. I had a vision of women banding together to uplift each other. I wanted to leverage the collective power we already have, to raise the tide for women. To me, the key to making a lasting shift was that we had to be focused on the community of women, not just our own successes.

I saw the statistics of how many women were leaving the traditional path to build businesses, build content or build their professional brands. Women who are pivoting were all around me, and I was one of them too. And we ALL needed more visibility to succeed in whatever we were doing. I was in multiple communities where women were asking to be amplified, without much success. I knew most women wanted to help other women, but were being pulled in too many directions.

I was so fixated on solving this question of what I was going to do next, that I thought about it every minute of every day. And one evening it finally came together. What if I gamified asking for amplification? And made it foolproof that to be amplified, you had to amplify 5 other women? I devised a rewards system to enforce that.

The idea was to build a platform where women were rewarded for amplifying each others businesses and initiatives, and could in turn use those rewards to ask to be amplified. All pivoting and pivot-curious women needed visibility and they had the power to create that for each other. I realized that we also had to form genuine connections to make the women care about each other, and my idea was to include community events to learn, connect and advise each other.

We had a 4 month-long beta period during which we refined the product and interviewed our users. And just last week we re-launched Hype HQ, a week shy of the one year anniversary of that evening when my idea came together! This year has certainly been a wild ride.

Polina, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am Polina, Founder of Hype HQ. We are THE headquarters to help women build their visibility while uplifting each other. Hype HQ is a community approach to increasing your engagement with the aim of amplifying women and the amazing things we are all doing.

I became a founder building on my background as a leader and software engineer for iconic brands like Disney, ESPN, and Rosetta Stone. I spent over 20 years building software products and building high performing teams of software engineers. I didn’t plan to go into tech, instead I longed to work in a job that would allow me to travel the world. I tried out a few misguided careers, then my curiosity and passion for problem solving drew me to technology.

As I became a leader, I was also drawn to bringing women together for connecting, inspiring and learning from each other. I started a Women in Tech group, and I knew I had found my true passion! This passion ultimately ignited the spark for Hype HQ.

Today, I am dedicated to fostering an ecosystem where women unlock new opportunities, build meaningful connections and celebrate collective triumphs.

Beyond my role as founder, I am a mentor, a proud mom, and an avid traveler, walking the talk of Hype HQ’s mission every day.

I am most proud to see my vision for women uplifting women coming to life. Not only did we launch Hype HQ in just 7 months, but our re-launch events last week proved we are on the right track. Our events featured many of our members who found collaborations in the community. They said so many things that just warmed my heart – connections were authentic and organic, that they felt invested in each others’ success, that engagement they received felt authentic. I can see we are building REAL connections, valuable and empowering. I couldn’t be happier!

And we are starting to monetize! I look forward to getting my first paycheck from Hype HQ :)

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

My life has not been linear, it has been a series of pivots. I’ve come to recognize that this is who I am – I am an explorer, and I go in the direction that I feel pulled. And that has never steered me wrong!

I majored in Political Science in college, with the intent of working for the State Department after graduation. When I flunked the State Department test, I instead joined a group of friends who were heading to Alaska (from Boston!) to find jobs because none of us wanted to start “real” life yet. After a stint working on fishing boats, I pivoted and went to work at a Travel Agency. This was also not a very-well thought-out move – I quickly found out that I needed more challenging work.

I started taking web development classes and my curiosity was ignited! I got a job as a technical producer at ABCNews.com, which was later acquired by Disney. I loved this job, and really focused on learning and growing, and soon I was a back-end software engineer building the Disney Identity system. Then came another unexpected move, as I was encouraged to move into team management. Over the years I rose up to the level of Director of Software Engineering, before I became disillusioned and left the corporate world.

When I left in April 2021, I didn’t know I would become an entrepreneur two years later! This is another surprising pivot and I am still getting used to wearing so many new hats.

If you told me the day I graduated from college that I would 1) go into tech or 2) become a director of Software Engineering or 3) become an entrepreneur and launch a platform for women, I think it would have completely blown my mind. None of those paths were even remotely on my mind. The incredible thing I have learned is that 1) I can always trust my gut to lead me to where I need to be and 2) I can learn, and I can trust that I will learn what I need to know

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I don’t actually have that much of an audience on social media. I can tell you the usual stuff – be consistent, follow trends, find your voice, engage with people who are well known in your niche, create collaborations, use tools for scheduling and AI to save time. I’ve heard ALL the tips, attended all the workshops. I think all that stuff definitely works,

But what I really want to put out there is that everyone else also has these tips, and the field on every social platform is very crowded. This is why for women trying to build their audience, I would suggest that you come to Hype HQ! Having other members hype you exposes you to new audiences, the engagement is meaningful and authentic and you will build a loyal posse of women who want to support you. So that’s my suggestion, join us!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://hypehq.io
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hypehq.io/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/polina-ruvinsky/