Growing up in Kazakhstan, Aya Kikimova (MBA ‘11) had a special connection to small businesses. While her mother climbed the ladder in real estate, her grandmother ran a bustling small deli. Kikimova never imagined that watching her family build success would lead her to helping small businesses thrive.
At age 16, she moved to the U.S. on a student visa. While later pursuing her MBA, she worked her way up in big business, from insurance companies to marketing agencies to Microsoft. However, she could never quiet her entrepreneurial, small-business mindset.
“I was initially working at different corporations, primarily because I was on a visa and had to have a company sponsoring it,” she explains.
Once she obtained her permanent visa, she decided to pave a path independent of large companies.
“I thought that maybe this is a perfect opportunity to start something of my own,” she says. “I wasn’t sure what it was going to be, but I knew that I wanted to leave the corporate world and try an entrepreneurial venture.”
After parting from Microsoft, she helped a small, local client referred by mutual friends. With success after success and referral after referral, her small business-centered agency, LeapEngine, was born.
“LeapEngine provides accessible digital marketing services that are affordably priced. Small businesses are usually priced out with larger agencies, so I wanted to make high-quality marketing accessible. These are real people and by helping them, I see the impact right away.”
Her human-centered approach makes LeapEngine stand out from other agencies.
“All of a sudden, our clients can pay their mortgage,” she says. “They can take a vacation that year. They can grow. They can hire somebody, and they can be happier with their family.”
Kikimova reflects on how Baruch College helped her get to where she is today.
“I moved to New York without a job, without any offer, and as an exchange student from a different country,” she notes. “I visited Baruch and thought that it was great. It was instrumental with its incredibly strong career and mentorship programs—I found two mentors, and one of them led me to an internship with a global advertising agency. The second helped me get my first job.”
In her career journey, Kikimova has made a big impact—one small business at a time.
— Erin McLaughlin-Davis