Kalashnikova has over six years of experience in business development at Hyve Group, an international events company headquartered in London, where she worked across a portfolio of 50 events. During this time, she developed growth strategies, built partnerships, and supported market positioning as part of a high-performing senior team.

She later transitioned into more flexible roles to remain closer to her passion – technology – gaining direct product experience with consumer-focused companies. This path led her to a strategic leadership position at AI startup DataMilk, where she helped shape the company’s positioning and communication strategy.

Her blend of strategic thinking, product design, and deep immersion in the e-commerce ecosystem enabled her to identify a market gap – an insight that laid the foundation for Storra. The venture is now being built by a team of six people who share her vision and are working alongside her to bring it to life.

In this Q&A, we learn more about Storra and the inspiration behind it, what makes the wishlist app stand out from competitors, and more about the journey so far.

What is Storra, and what was the inspiration behind starting it?

A shopping wishlist tool, for now, Storra aims to grow into the ‘Spotify’ of e-commerce – a place where users can craft their own personal shopping universe and enjoy a more intentional, joyful shopping experience every time.

The inspiration came from observing how mature and crowded the market has become. Online shopping offers unlimited choice, and where there’s that much choice, there’s both room, and a need, for its own ‘Spotify’: a platform that helps make sense of it all.

I love finding a ‘pearl’ – something that feels truly special and uniquely mine. I’m not drawn to what everyone else has, it has to feel like me. That’s why I spend a lot of time researching and reflecting on what I find – discovering unique brands and hidden websites, reaching far and wide, from small makers in Georgia to independent labels in Japan or Germany – sometimes so niche they don’t even offer easy international shipping. I don’t make decisions quickly, I need to let the options sink in until one feels like the right solution.

That mindset shaped the concept really: it’s about helping people stay in control of sophisticated shopping trails.

What is Storra’s mission?

Our mission is to support the growing trend of multi-store shopping by helping people make convenient, confident choices. We believe shopping should be about surrounding yourself with the brands you love and enjoying every purchase, not feeling overwhelmed by an endless sea of irrelevant options.

We want to build tools that empower people to organise, control, and simplify their shopping experience, bringing more clarity, confidence, and calm into every decision.

What makes Storra different from bookmarking tools or other wishlist apps on the market?

What makes Storra different is that it doesn’t impose anything – it follows the lead of the user. It’s a broad tool, not limited to shopping, but made for anyone navigating digital chaos and striving to shape spaces around their own needs.

As I use it, I often find myself creating collections that go far beyond products – like training courses for myself – and I’m excited to see where else Storra can go. We’re not trying to push more content or products; on the contrary, we want to offer a hand in making sense of the endless options.

What challenges have you faced on the journey so far?

With startups, challenges happen every day. You have the idea – you need an MVP developer; you validate the concept – you look for a bigger dev team; you launch the app – you realise your comms should’ve been running uphill by now. It’s constant motion. Surprisingly, I'm kind of zen about it – there’s no other way at the start of the journey, and we don’t expect it to be any different.

The only rule is: just keep going.

What have been the highlights of the journey?

The answer is the team. You can’t overestimate it – I felt it very vividly with Storra, how everything gets stuck when a key competence isn’t there. You can’t build a startup on your own (especially when you’re a non-technical founder). That’s why the most inspiring moment in the whole journey was when we formed our team – high-level professionals and grown-up personalities who believed in the idea, took responsibility, and are now moving forward side by side with me.

Are there any upcoming features or expansions you can share?

The next big development area is a public profile, so you can add it to your social media and share your finds and recommendations with friends and followers.

These days, there are so many great accounts offering valuable advice in every direction one can imagine: how to clean your home efficiently, build a high-performance gaming setup, or curate the perfect evening makeup routine… As a user, I’d also love to access a ready-to-go basket of these products – just click through and buy. That’s exactly the kind of experience we want to make possible with Storra.

What’s next on the Storra journey?

The next big step is making the tool known to users.

Today, with app stores flooded with countless tools and apps, releasing an app is no longer enough. It’s a whole new challenge to make people aware of the app and its features – to actually get them to land on it and see its value.

That’s our focus for the coming year: growing awareness, reaching the right users, and making Storra part of their everyday digital life.

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