“We’re Legit Fuckuppers”: Alla and Maria on Turning Failures into FuN
Founders of Fuckup Nights Limassol Speak to FastForward About Destigmatizing Failure, Building a Bold Community, and Changing Cyprus's Business Culture
Successes are always fun to share. But who said failures can't be fun to share too? FuckUp Nights is a global movement that challenges society's perception of failure—especially in today’s world, where scrolling through social media often makes you question if you’re good enough. Luckily for us, FuckUp Nights has been in Limassol for a while now. Their next event, scheduled for December 10 at 7 Seas, promises to be a night filled with stories, fresh perspectives, and, most importantly, genuine human connection. We spoke with Maria Sibirtseva and Alla Reveko, co-founders of FuckUp Nights Limassol, to delve deeper into the initiative’s goals. Here’s what we discovered…
Maria: How we brought Fuckup Nights to Limassol is our favorite story. I was a speaker at Fuckup Nights Almaty, and after coming back from Kazakhstan in February 2024, I was actively sharing my experience with friends and colleagues.
One evening, we met with Alla for a glass of wine and decided to fill out the franchise application form. The next day, we signed a contract and dived all in to organize our first event in May.
Since it was our first experience creating such a big event with a team of only two people—me and Alla—we didn’t have big expectations and wanted to give it a try. Two events later, we’re seeing immense feedback from the local audience on how this format changes the business landscape and impacts people's mindset. And this is true. Fuckup Nights is more than a series of events. It's a global movement that aims to destigmatize failure, create a community of bold, like-minded people, and lead honest conversations.
Most events in Cyprus mostly focus on success stories but rarely share the other side of the coin—business failures
Alla: Adding to Maria’s words, I would say that we have attended many great events in Cyprus and noticed one common theme: they mostly focus on success stories but rarely share the other side of the coin—business failures. However, these are just as important as success stories. We realized that this untold side needs to be shared openly, as many people are afraid of failure and hold back from pursuing their business ideas out of fear. Our goal is to show that failure is normal and an essential part of the learning process on the path to success. With each event, we see people becoming more open to sharing their stories—not with shame, but with pride in their valuable experiences.
Maria & Alla: The December event is going to be full of surprises. It will be our last event in 2024, and we aim to make it the loudest, funniest, and most inspiring so far. First of all, we have an inspiring speaker lineup: Gala Grigoreva, CMO at Adsterra, organizer and host of TEDxMolos and Women in Tech Cyprus; Elena Krutova, CAO at Remedica and a certified Business Failure Speaker; Raluca Ioana Man, a founder of RSEVEN Ltd and the Business Society Accelerator; a secret speaker, whose story many of people will find relatable and touching. Secondly, we’ll have a panel discussion with a guest moderator between the speaker presentations to inspire our audience to ask more questions and participate in the discussion. And lastly, we’ll have a lot of gifts and surprises for our guests to make the event memorable and FuN.
Maria: I recently heard an interesting quote from my coach while discussing the importance of staying connected to reality and fully experiencing life's ups and downs. She said, “Rose-colored glasses often beat the glass inwards.” This resonates deeply when we think about failure in professional settings.
Social media heavily promotes polished success stories, setting unrealistic expectations towards different achievements. This can create a distorted vision, especially for those at the start of their careers, making them believe that work life should always be smooth, and success should come quickly. In reality, the path to success is rarely linear; it's full of setbacks, learning experiences, and moments of doubt.
Rose-colored glasses often beat the glass inwards
Sharing stories of failure is crucial because it normalizes these challenges. It helps professionals in different career stages understand that failure is not the opposite of success—it's an integral part of it. By talking openly about setbacks, we can create a healthier professional culture that values resilience, learning, and authenticity over perfection.
Alla: These stories also serve as powerful learning tools—not just for the person who experienced the failure but for the entire community. They provide real-life lessons, demonstrate resilience, and highlight problem-solving strategies. Our audience is very interested in self-development, which is why our events often turn into coaching sessions where you can laugh, learn, and gain insights to avoid common mistakes—helping you progress faster in your professional journey.
Maria: Creating an environment where people feel safe and ready to talk about failure takes a lot of diligent work and attention to detail. For instance, at Fuckup Nights events, every aspect is designed to foster openness and connection.
We start each event with welcome drinks. This allows attendees to get comfortable with the space, meet new people, and unwind over a glass of wine before the presentations begin. We also refer to our attendees as “legit fuckuppers”, which helps create a strong sense of community, unity, and shared values.
Another key element is our speaker curation process. We carefully select speakers and meet with them in advance to discuss their stories. These stories must strike the right balance: be honest and relatable, yet inspiring. They should celebrate recovery and resilience. Instead of focusing only on the outcomes, we highlight the process—the lessons learned, the resilience shown, and the creative problem-solving that emerges from failure. All these things together allow us to create a one-of-a-kind event in Limassol and become that safe space where everyone can share their failure story without being judged.
Alla: For us, connecting with people is just as important as organizing the event itself. We make a conscious effort to engage personally with everyone who attends, communicate directly with them, and respond promptly on social media. This shows that we’re not just event organizers but part of a larger community of like-minded individuals. Bringing together people from different nationalities, languages, and countries to create meaningful connections fosters a sense of belonging. We believe this is key to making people feel safe—both during the event and in general—by reminding them that they are not alone.
Maria & Alla: The Cyprus business community is relatively closed and traditional, so we have an ambitious mission to change that. We aim to promote the values that lie at the core of the Fuckup Nights movement and that, by a lucky chance, Alla and I have as the basis of our personalities—openness, honesty, and playfulness.
The Cyprus business community is relatively closed and traditional, so we have an ambitious mission to change that by promoting openness, honesty, and playfulness
We want to normalize discussions about failure and encourage more authentic conversations in workplaces and social circles; all to develop a greater culture of innovation, collaboration, and resilience across Cyprus and its diverse community.
Maria: For the past 10 years, my personality and career have been shaped by many mistakes and failures rather than one big moment. Each time, I learned a lesson that hit hard but was incredibly valuable later.
You know that moment when you’ve been doing something for a while and start feeling super confident, almost invincible? That’s often when failure strikes.
I’d been giving presentations at online and offline events for a few years and received plenty of positive feedback from audiences. Ahead of one big event, I had a “brilliant” idea: I didn’t need to prepare. After all, I was already good at public speaking, right? On top of skipping rehearsals, I also neglected to promote my session to conference attendees.
When the time came for my presentation, I found myself standing on stage speaking to just one person—who happened to be my colleague. Can you imagine the mix of disappointment and embarrassment? I failed to draw an audience (while other sessions were packed) and missed the business objectives I was hoping to achieve at the event.
This situation taught me to always stay humble and consistently put effort into what I am doing, no matter how experienced or skilled I think I am. Success is built on hard work and attention to detail, every single time.
Building something meaningful takes a team, and having the right people by your side is what truly makes the difference
Alla: I've always been drawn to the idea of running my own business, which has led to a few ventures along the way. My first attempt was a custom cosmetics brand that I launched solo. However, I quickly realized that logistics, taxes, legalities, and accounting don’t magically sort themselves out. It became clear that I needed a team to manage these complexities.
My next step was to re-enter the beauty industry as a distributor, this time with a team. Unfortunately, we lacked the essential skills to keep the business sustainable. These experiences, along with my rewarding collaboration with Maria, taught me an invaluable lesson: success in business and partnerships hinges on understanding and utilizing the resources, skills, and expertise at your disposal. Building something meaningful takes a team, and having the right people by your side is what truly makes the difference.
