With a career spanning global media, travel tech, and organizational transformation, Elena Belova now runs a consultancy in Portugal dedicated to helping small businesses grow smarter and faster.
My professional path started 25 years ago in advertising – a world that shaped how I think about communication, structure, and growth. By 2012, I was managing the media investment division and later the creative business of Havas Communication Group in Russia.
Havas, founded in Paris in 1835 by Charles-Louis Havas, began as the world’s first news agency and evolved into one of the largest global communications groups, uniting creative, media, and health & wellness services to help brands connect meaningfully with audiences. Being part of that story gave me a rare kind of education. I learned how businesses across every imaginable category – Luxury, Automotive, Retail, FMCG, E-commerce – scale up, adapt, and stay relevant. Working with teams across Europe and the US opened my
eyes to how strategy and creativity coexist in different markets. It was an incredible chapter – challenging, dynamic, and deeply formative.
“I learned how businesses across every imaginable category – Luxury, Automotive, Retail, FMCG, E-commerce – scale up, adapt, and stay relevant.”
My next step – into Travel Tech – was not unexpected. My passion for travel, combined with executive experience and operational expertise, made it a natural choice. I joined a global curated marketplace of guided experiences. There I am building an operational system and business development. With the help of technology, travelers can find local explorers that help them to discover any location on the globe.
That same curiosity brought my husband, our kids and me to Portugal. We wanted the experience of living in another country – of challenging our perspectives and starting a new chapter. Arriving in 2022, we immediately fell in love with Portugal’s landscapes, heritage, and the warmth of its people.
While continuing to work remotely, I explored how to bring value to the local business community and set my roots on Portugal land. I found it in helping entrepreneurs – people with vision and drive, but sometimes lacking structured expertise on scaling sustainably. That led to Business Design, my consultancy. It always starts with Business Therapy: we are mapping the business, defining goals, and identifying bottlenecks. From there, I help design operational and technological solutions – team roles, tools, processes – that create clarity, efficiency, and sustainable growth.
I also mentor at Unicorn Factory Lisboa, Portugal’s leading startup ecosystem. Staying connected to that community keeps my perspective fresh and forward-looking, especially as AI and automation redefine how small businesses scale.
What businesses get in return? At a minimum, a professional consulting solution showing how to transform the business, grow faster, acquire more clients, and improve service. In the maximum scenario, we implement those solutions and make them live, turning strategy into real-world results.
And for me, this chapter is about belonging – contributing experience to a community that values creativity, courage, and hard work and is shaping the future for our kids.
Business Design & Growth Consultant
This article is purely for information purposes. It is not to be taken as investment advice, financial advice, legal advice or any type of advice.
