Igor & Irina Ilyinsky
Igor and Irina Ilyinsky, founders, ListenUp
Homebase: Irina: We rented all over Scottsdale, but Igor built our home in McCormick Ranch.
How did your love story begin? Igor: We remember meeting at the age of 25 on the dancefloor of a cruise in the middle of the Carribean Sea, but its possible we met on a playground outside of Rome, Italy at the age of 3.
Irina: It sounds like the beginning of a joke, but the story goes…A Greek, an Italian and a Soviet walk into a bar. The Greek offered to buy me a drink, but when the Italian found out I was born in Minsk, he sent the Soviet in to seal the deal. Our backgrounds were so similar that the courtship was effortless
Favorite thing about one another: Igor: On that cruise, my friend John (the Italian) cut his hand on a piece of glass the dancefloor, and Irina sprung into action. I knew then that she would make a great mother and wife. And she has.
Irina: From the first day, Igor has been finding ways to make me laugh. Sometimes, it’s at my own expense, but his ingenuity, creativity and dedication as a father are unparalleled.
Favorite date night: Living in Arizona, we’ve grown to love spending time outdoors. Walking around town using ListenUp, and then talking about what we discovered over sushi in the garden is the perfect date night.
Favorite tradition you have as a couple: It may sounds weird, but our tradition is to make a major life shift every five to 10 years. It can be uprooting our family to move to a new location, or fully engaging in a new business venture. It doesn’t really matter what we are doing so long as we are doing it together.
What does your happily ever after look like? Our goals are to see our children become balanced and well-adjusted adults in a better world than we grew up in.