About Yuri

Born in Moscow, Russia, I came to the United States in 1988 at the age of 13 with my parents and brother as refugees escaping persecution in the Soviet Union. Salt Lake City, Utah, was where the family settled because we had family there. In 1993, I graduated from East High School in Salt Lake City, and in 1998 from University of Utah with a Bachelors Degree in Musical Composition. That same year, I started my mortgage career (what else do you expect of a musician?) and in 1999 I started my own company.

In 2004, I came to Wisconsin, once again for family reasons. I could not be happier about the move to a place where I came regularly to visit, and felt like I was moving to my favorite vacation spot.

Upon coming to Janesville, I continued to do mortgages, networking and getting to know my knew home. As a way of building the company’s brand in Janesville, I got more involved with community service, joining Janesville Toastmasters and Janesville Noon Lions. Also, as a way of creating my own reputation, separate from other mortgage originators, I began writing a regular column for the Janesville Messenger, looking to educate readers on issues involved with credit and mortgages.

Gradually, I realized that what I enjoyed most about the mortgage business, was helping people and being involved in the community. This led me to run for a seat on the Janesville City Council, a seat which I won in 2008 and then was re-elected to, in 2010.

As the mortgage origination industry collapsed, it was time to continue my education. I enrolled at UW – Whitewater Communications program from which I graduated with a Master of Science degree in 2011.

At the same time, I re-established my two other strengths: playing music and languages. As a solo piano player, I perform in retirement communities, nursing homes, restaurants and private engagements. As a bilingual Russian/English speaker, I am provisionally certified with Wisconsin Supreme Court and work as a court interpreter. Both music and interpreting take me all over Southern Wisconsin and Northern Illinois. Finally, looking to put the MS degree to good use, I have been teaching a communications course at Madison Media Institute.

On the personal front, my fiance Inna is an RN at Mercy Hospital in Janesville, and I am a father of Isabelle, 5th grader at Roosevelt Elementary. We have a french bulldog, Archie and a cat, Merlin.