Our Founder and CEO, Alisa Zotimova, shares her personal and professional journey in the latest feature by Prime Resi. In this insightful profile, Alisa discusses the pivotal moments that shaped her career—from her relocation to London and the bold launch of AZ Real Estate in 2012 and AZ Alliance in 2025, to the challenges of navigating the high-stakes residential property market while balancing the realities of motherhood. You can read the full piece below.
The biggest change?
The biggest moment that shifted my professional life was moving countries and property sectors. It was a huge leap.
I had been working in Moscow for five years letting vast office buildings and then asked for a work transfer to London, a city I loved every time I visited. But immigration was a huge milestone: starting from scratch, learning to thrive in a new culture and adapting to a very different work environment. The Russian market was much more balanced in terms of genders and career pathways moved faster.
Alongside this, I also took the plunge in terms of entering the residential market. I had to learn fast but the underlying principles remained the same: price, location, future growth. And of course always remaining focused on delivering exceptional customer service.
The impact on my career?
This set me on the path to launching AZ Real Estate in 2012 without any outside capital.Total control of my destiny. Incredibly exciting but also terrifying.
On a personal level, I had my son Leo quite late in life, a milestone of milestones as any mother knows. That shifted things significantly and was a challenge, as in residential agency, everyone knows you are typically always available for clients. I am pleased to say I have found a balance and 95% of the time, I still manage to put my son to bed.
My piece of advice to others: You’ll never know until you try. And what’s the worst thing that can happen anyway? If you persistently think about it and can put some meat of specifics onto the bones of an idea, know your field, and have some savings or a good circle of people to lean on then build your dream castle and see how far up you can take it.
