Olga Rudakova

Once upon a time, in the vast corporate lands of Financial Audit (PwC), Retail (Tesco), and FMCG (Mars), there was a finance professional who thought she was doing just fine.

Over a decade, I served as a finance business partner, supporting marketing, sales, commercial, operations, and leadership teams. Together, we enjoyed analysis and decision-making, blissfully unaware of the dark secret I harbored: my charts were... let's just say, not gallery-worthy.

Yes, I confess. My visuals were the kind that made data yawn and insights take a nap. I had the naive belief that a quality content was the sole ingredient needed for persuasive visuals and insightful dashboards. The essential ingredients of cognitive psychology and graphic design were sadly overlooked in my recipe for success.

My passion for storytelling, nurtured through years of involvement with Toastmasters and classical storytelling, eventually drew a parallel to presenting business insights. The realization hit me when "Storytelling with Data" by Cole Knaflic fell into my lap. This was the catalyst for a change. Eventually, I ditched the snooze-inducing visuals and embraced the art of data storytelling.

I've since had the privilege of creating data narratives for clients across diverse sectors—banking, pharmaceuticals, automotive, energy, utilities, retail, FMCG, technology, manufacturing, telecommunications, and many more. This journey taught me a vital lesson: Data Storytelling and Dashboard Design are skills that can be learned—quicker than you might think. So, if you're ready to turn data into compelling stories that drive action, I'm here to show you how.

Because at the end of the day, every spreadsheet and every dataset has a tale to tell, and YOU are the storyteller they've been waiting for.