Irina Hengst (Penzina)

I have a master’s degree in Public Relations and more than 13 years of work experience. I helped organize a publishing house’s 35th-anniversary concert with dozens of Russia’s top singers and bands as well as a Halloween party for preschoolers. I taught advertising to university students and the alphabet to seven-year-olds. I integrated a newspaper into 5 popular tv shows and myself into 2 foreign cultures. I’ve lived on 3 continents, in 3 countries and 4 different cities. I speak 4 languages. I’ve traveled to 12 countries and hiked more than 500 km within them. For the past four years, I’ve started my morning with a yoga session.

At the age of 31, I finished cs50 Harvard on edX, and at 32, I completed a full-stack coding Bootcamp with Le Wagon. I just finished Google Project Management Professional Certificate. I find self-expression in Photoshop, and on the website, I developed Hungry Vegetarian.

09/2021 -
Present

Cleveland, Ohio, USA

    Hungry Vegetarian

    Product Manager/ Web-developer

    Define project vision and set website goals. Develop user profile and product roadmap. Utilize Trello to create a product backlog. Brainstorm and implement website visuals and logo. Design product prototype on Figma and lead product launch. Write website code in HTML, CSS, Vue JS, and JavaScript. Oversee website responsiveness across multiple devices. Identify and troubleshoot issues. Analyze data and insights to implement website changes where necessary. Produce website collateral and publish content.
  • Developed website from scratch, including website imagery and content.
  • Obtained over 1000 views within one-month post-launch.
  • Received site interaction/engagement from users located across 11 countries.
  • Generated over 1756 page views within three months.
  • Increased social media presence and organic search rate.
  • Developed personal website, benjaminhengst.com.

06/2019 -
07/2021

Shanghai, China

    Shanghai University - MOD'ART International

    Program Developer/ Lecturer

    Developed curriculums and taught Advertising, Copywriting, Costume History (two parts), and International Fashion (two parts) to Chinese nationals and international students aged 18-25. Created effective lesson plans, prepared materials for the lessons (PPTs and handouts) and tasks/projects for students – helped and guided them through. Prepared, conducted, and assessed final examinations for each subject. Wrote final performance reports for each student on each subject by the end of the semester.
  • In two weeks developed an entire "foreign" four-subject summer program for new incoming students.
  • Rewrote courses' objectives and created new curriculums after further analysis of similar courses in International Fashion and Costume History.

03/2018 -
06/2019

Shanghai, China

    Phinnie Education Group

    Public Relations Manager

    Developed company narrative in coordination with the sales department. Drafted event calendar for future usage and drove end-to-end management of each event, including project planning, scriptwriting, requisite management, vendor coordination, design management, and practice. Collaborated with a graphic designer on event collateral. Assessed event progress and outcome. Partook in conflict management meetings.
  • Secured 100% of student contracts for the following year.
  • Drove a 20% increase in students by end of tenure.
  • Strategically allocated minimal budget to effectively execute events.
  • Generated an inbound marketing plan detailing the creation of special events for current and future students.
  • Developed two websites, ipenzina.com, and storybook.style.

08/2017 -
11/2017

Shanghai, China

    FABERNOVEL ASIA

    Project Manager

    Managed coordination of logistics and negotiations with various vendors. Created content for a website and cooperated with designers and branding personnel on event planning. Designed interactive tech-playground comprising the use of VR headsets, Microsoft HoloLens, and various other devices. Facilitated activities between internal and external teams. Recruited personnel and reviewed attendees. Corresponded with industry professionals from high-end fashion companies across China.
  • Liaised with multiple industry professionals, including speakers from Alibaba, Microsoft, Jing Digital, Parkflu, and Fabernovel.
  • Recruited over 100 guests from top-tier companies in addition to sourcing small and large sponsors. Post event communication.

09/2015 -
06/2017

Shanghai, China

    Shanghai Oriental Ladder Bilingual School

    English Teacher of Native Mandarin Speakers

    Taught the English language to elementary bilingual students ages 7-9 years old (basic reading, writing, and oral English skills). Created and implemented effective lesson plans, prepared materials for the lessons (PPTs, games, handouts, etc.), attended to students' different learning styles, and used productive classroom management. Assessed students’ language abilities and wrote final reports to each student at the end of the semester. Met with parents when it was necessary to improve students’ behavior or learning approach to help them to achieve better results.

08/2013 -
11/2014

Moscow, Russia

    Arguments and Facts Publishing house

    Public Relations Manager

    Participated in planning the annual strategy of PR activities, and advertising campaigns for the publishing house. Wrote annual strategy of media collaboration and got Chief Marketing Officer’s buy-in. Determined the most effective communication channels for informational support of projects and promoting products of the publishing house. Led media collaborations: evaluate, initiate, lead negotiations and all follow-up documentation, oversee the partnership. Wrote and distributed press releases and announcements of the new issues (weekly). Analyzed and visualized data for top management. Led and coordinated graphic designers, video/audio producers, and web developers to produce PR materials for the publishing house.
  • Led product placement of newspaper Arguments and Facts into popular TV shows on Russian TV channels, including Channel One Russia , Russia-1 , and Ren TV .
  • Took part in organization of the concert shooting which was dedicated to the 35th anniversary of the newspaper. The concert was shown on the most popular TV channel in Russia – Channel One Russia
  • Increased citation of the newspaper Arguments and Facts by 28%. With this figure the newspaper headed a list of the TOP-15 periodicals according the increase of the number of citation in 2014

08/2011 -
08/2013

Moscow, Russia

    Stream Television Company

    Public Relations Manager

    Participated in planning the annual strategy of PR activities, and advertising campaigns for the company. Wrote annual strategy of media collaboration and got Chief Marketing Officer buy-in. Led media collaborations: evaluated, initiated, led negotiations and all followed-up documentation, oversaw the partnership. Vendor management: Wrote Requests for Proposal (RFP) and Statements of Work (SoW). Wrote different types of PR texts about and for the company, speakers, and the CEO and tracked their placement. Annually conducted sentiment analysis wrote reports and visualized data for top management. Organized internal and external teams’ collaboration to update the company's official website. Created annual exhibition calendar. Prepared all necessary documentation for each exhibition, worked with a designer to create a stand, collaborated with the marketing department to create PR materials for it, and hired vendors.
  • Created a new company website that met all the top management requirements.
  • Increased the number of published positive materials about the company by 25%.

04/2011 -
08/2011

Moscow, Russia

    TV- channels: Ocean TV, Galaxy

    Public Relations Manager

    Created PR materials (articles, press releases, interviews, presentations, etc.) and tracked their placement in media. Collaborated with graphic designers, video/audio producers, and web developers to create PR materials. Led media collaborations: evaluated, initiated, led negotiations and all followed-up documentation, oversaw the partnership. Created content for the company’s website and social media official accounts (Facebook, Vk, Twitter, YouTube). Prepared the company for exhibitions participation: prepared all necessary documentation, created PR materials and hired vendors, and represented the company there.

01/2011 -
03/2011

Ufa, Russia

    Ministry of Communications and Mass Media of the Republic Bashkortostan

    Leading specialist of the Department of print media

    Wrote PR materials about the ministry’s and minister's activities (articles, press releases, etc.). Organized press conferences and briefings. Tracked critical reporting and publications about the ministry and the minister. Wrote responses to critical publications in media and tracked their publication. Updated materials on the official website.

01/2010 -
01/2011

Ufa, Russia

    Ufa City Municipal District Administration of Bashkortostan Republic

    Leading specialist of the information and analytical Department

    Prepared PR materials (video/audio materials, articles, press releases, interviews, presentations, etc.). Organized weekly press conferences for the mayor and different city departments. Followed-up post-press conference further journalist questions and publications. Tracked critical reporting and publications about the city and the mayor. Wrote responses to critical materials in media and tracked their publication if necessary, requested extra information from different departments. Annually conducted sentiment analysis wrote reports and visualized data for the mayor. Prepared daily press reviews for the mayor.

07/2009 -
01/2010

Ufa, Russia

    Image Consult LLCs

    Public Relations manager

    Manager of the International PSA Festival “Gorodskaya SReDa”

    Recruited and worked closely with the festival’s jury from all over Russia. Chose, recruited, negotiated terms, and followed up with speakers from different parts of Russia. Created posts on social media and reached out to different universities and colleges to recruit festival participants. Approved the layouts of outdoor advertising, promotion brochures, and souvenir products. Created PR materials’ concepts and coordinated and cooperated with video/ audio producers and web developers. Wrote articles, press releases, interviews, etc. Managed vendors: catering, printing, delivery, restaurants, hotels, taxi companies, etc. Cooperated with the governmental agencies. Coordinated external and internal teams. Followed up with media requests for interviews and comments. Organized post-event communication.
  • Leveraged social media as a tool to attract more participants and recruits during tenure as Project Manager at of International PSA Festival Городская Среда.
  • Increased the number of participants by 30%.
  • Expanded festival from Russian to International status.