Andriy Andreyev: Astronaut Dreamer to WordPress Leader

‘Leaders aren’t born, they are made’ – Vince Lombardi

And in this leadership journey, WordPress has been a phenomenal platform for all of us around the world. And just like a leading platform, it has also improved its capabilities and focused extensively on making our life easier. 

From coder to non-coder, even for people who wanted to be Astronauts! 🤔

Now, you must be wondering, what? Astronauts?

Here in this following article, we have featured Andriy Andreyev, CEO of Crocoblock. A born and brought up European who dreamed of becoming an Astronaut during his childhood, however, ended up being one of the finest WordPress Development leaders.

So our Wpmet marketing team reached out to Mr. Andreyev for a rapid interview session. Which includes his hobbies, childhood, interest, success story, leadership, etc. One of the fundamental parts of the interview is, What are the initiatives one should take to start a WordPress business.

And we’re truly overwhelmed with the response, that he agreed to spare some time from his busy schedule for the interview session.

So, let’s jump into it… 

💡 Q&A: Valuable Session with Andriy Andreyev

Before we get into the session let us give you a quick overview: Andreyev is a Ukrainian citizen, who had started his career as a respected freelancer.

Then find his interest in PHP, and finally started his own remarkable company Crocoblock. He also appreciates the significance WordPress has put throughout his journey.

Meet Andriy Andreyev, CEO of Crocoblock

Also, known as a passionate Freelancer, comprehensive Developer, inspirational Leader, and last but not least a WordPress Enthusiast…

Now, without further ado let’s look into the interview 🚀

✅ Quick bio (Including your childhood, how you spend your free time, your typical day at work, etc)

✍🏼 Andreyev Answered:

As a child, I dreamed of being an astronaut, and I could never imagine that I would spend so much time in front of the computer, like many IT specialists decades ago, I freelanced a bit, wrote code, worked with HTML, JS, then CSS, etc. All this was interesting and fascinating. But at some stage of development, this toolset became too limited, and PHP turned up by chance.

After that, it became clear that the thing that started as a hobby transformed into the main profession occupied over 90% of the brain’s resources and charged more than everything else taken together. WordPress played a significant part here too.

Apart from developing, I like hiking (it’s a nice activity to do with my family), designing other business projects that are not connected with WordPress, and hanging out with my friends.

My typical day at work…well, managing everything in my department?

✅ What do you have to say about the importance of work-life balance?

✍🏼 Andreyev Answered:

Work-life balance is critical for a productive personal and professional life. I’m sure that if the employees feel they control and bear responsibility for their lives, they do perform better and improve relationships with management. The people who do not have work-life balance issues (yet, I believe there are very few of them) are more likely to feel motivated and less stressed at work.

Without a doubt, employees with, let’s say, calibrated work-life balance increase company productivity and reduce conflicts between colleagues and management due to lower stress levels.

Last but not least, you as an employer promoting work-life balance often have a higher retention rate and a lower turnover rate.

✅ What do you do to solve your problems?

✍🏼 Andreyev Answered:

Well, I just think a lot… But okay, I’ll share my seven steps for solving any problem: forts, identify the problem (some might be just temporary inconvenience, not a problem itself), and study it thoroughly. After analyzing the problem in detail, it is time to set a goal — what will be the criteria for solving the problem?

Then, it is time to look for a solution. The more ways to solve the problem, the greater the chance to find the best way for you.

When solutions are identified and evaluated, the time has come to select the most appropriate one that meets the criteria. When a solution is chosen, it is necessary to prepare a plan for bringing it to life. After this, evaluate the results.

✅ Who is your idol and how do you think he/she motivates you?

✍🏼 Andreyev Answered:

I don’t have any idols; that isn’t my rhetoric. Many people can motivate me, such as my family and co-workers. I prefer more relatable role models instead of some spherical Elon Musk in a vacuum.

My primary credo is to be myself, not some copycat. The only person you have to compare yourself with is you in the past.

✅ Why did you agree to publish your success story?

✍🏼 Andreyev Answered:

I am sure that sharing experience is essential for many reasons: inspire someone, show that you’re not alone with your doubts, encourage somebody to change one’s life, etc. My success story might be helpful for someone and absolutely useless for others. It only depends on the things people are looking for.

✅ What are the startups and businesses you have been a part of? Share your story.

✍🏼 Andreyev Answered:

After university, I started to work with Jetimpex, Inc., then organically raised with the company — from coder to manager and the CEO of the Crocoblock project. Crocoblock transformed into a standalone company after becoming a top seller on the Envato marketplace under the Zemez brand name in 2018.

Also, we sell plugins on the TemplateMonster marketplace. It was my primary business, and I’m proud of being a part of it.

✅ What inspired you to get into the WordPress industry?

✍🏼 Andreyev Answered:

I believe WordPress is the number one platform in the world. It allows you to make very cool sites and web applications. Individuals or well-known world brands use it.

However, the very presence of the platform does not give super results. It is like playing guitar — if you have a guitar of the coolest brand in the world, it will not give you some good music. You need skills, and there will be good music. 

I like WordPress for its elegance and “code is poetry” attitude. Also, I appreciate the flexibility of the architecture combined with the ease of use — nothing extra, but there is an opportunity to implement any idea using plugins or theme functions.

So, I just wanted to give people more possibilities to put their bright ideas into motion with the advanced yet user-friendly plugins.

Apart from that, working with WordPress helps me develop professionally and personally. I learned to see the big picture and think about the project as a whole and not just about some separate problems.

✅ What do you think is the biggest drawback in this industry and how can it be resolved?

✍🏼 Andreyev Answered:

Now, of course, I see a very lack of attention to the developers’ needs. All sorts of tools for automation, API, and helpers allow you to solve repeated problems with a minimum of code. Also, it would be great to have an editor with a set of fixed blocks that can be used from a smartphone with a minimum of body movements without inserting shortcodes.

And there is still a little more transparency in terms of the WordPress future. There is no global leadership that can make a clear road map and leads everyone into a bright future.

The Ideas section on WordPress.org is a bit abandoned, except for Gutenberg, for which Matt personally fits, each new release is like a fog. Yes, someone will say — this is an open-source, dude! Go and do what you need to do.

And I don’t mind. But still, transparent leadership and a clear roadmap would allow better coordination of efforts and plans for big changes. In the current situation, some more or less thorough refactoring is either impossible or can become one of those 6-year-old tickets that weren’t closed.

✅ What is the key to your success and what tips would you like to give to the SMEs of this industry?

✍🏼 Andreyev Answered:

The key to success is to keep trying and implement the ideas, even the craziest ones. Also, it is worth remembering that WordPress is an excellent, flexible, and even unique platform.

And it can do a lot if you approach it correctly. For this, you need to study the core of the system, the code of popular plugins, read the right people, and implement your findings into the ecosystem.

WordPress is not only a software product but also a huge community, always ready to support and share the experience. Many typical problems have already been solved in dozens of different ways and can be taken and applied.

Apart from that, you can become an active member of the community yourself:

• Following the development, you understand how WordPress works and where it moves.
• If you receive income from working with WordPress, you are interested in its development.
• The ability to demonstrate your contribution has a positive impact on customer engagement.
• You can get free tips from more experienced developers and meet them on WordCamp.

✅ What was the biggest defeat of your career?

✍🏼 Andreyev Answered:

Not sure if I had any so-called “biggest defeats” in my career. Any troubles or issues are just some other areas of development. It can be a litmus paper to check if this attempt really contributes to your success and personal growth, or it only causes some bottleneck, and you have to look for other ideas and opportunities.

✅ Any personal tips you’d like to share with your readers?

✍🏼 Andreyev Answered:

The main personal tip I want to share is the following: apart from spending days with your family and friends, always find time for staying alone with yourself. It refreshes your mind significantly and helps to come up with new ideas.

And it’s a Wrap…

Andriy Andreyev is an inspirational leader who has proved that with proper dedication and hard work dreams do come true. WordPress has provided the wings to fly up high, along with Andreyev’s devotion emerge him to the right path.

Each and every word that he shared in the interview is remarkable and motivating. His kind words and story would truly guide and instruct us to work hard, contribute to people’s betterment, and leave an impression on our minds. He also promotes dreaming big and not quitting until you achieve it.

Lastly, we would like to thank and appreciate Andriy Andreyev for such a wonderful interview session.

Finally, if you are a WordPress enthusiast, don’t forget to visit our website for useful WordPress information along with products that will make your life easier and your website better!

Until next time! ✌🏼