By Anders J. Hare
For Lena Lumelsky, the journey from Soviet refugee to Charlotte-based entrepreneur has been marked by grit, reinvention and a deep commitment to work-life balance—long before the concept became mainstream. As the founder of Woland Web, a web design and development firm, Lumelsky didn’t just build a business — she built a lifestyle, one that prioritizes flexibility, intentionality and the realities of American life.
Born in the former Soviet Union, Lumelsky immigrated to the United States as a teenager, eventually earning both undergraduate and graduate degrees in computer science from the University of Michigan. Her early professional years were spent scaling the ranks on Wall Street, working as a programmer and eventually vice president in the technology divisions at Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank and Merrill Lynch. But everything changed in September 2001.
“I was on maternity leave with my first daughter when 9/11 happened,” Lumelsky said in an interview. “We lived in New York City, and Merrill Lynch was right across from the World Trade Center. It was terrifying, and I couldn’t imagine going back to work not knowing what would happen next.”
That life-altering moment led her to accept a job opportunity in London, where she lived for three years and welcomed her second daughter. Lumelsky now lives with her husband and three daughters in Charlotte. When she moved to Charlotte in 2005, she said she yearned to reenter the workforce — but on her own terms.
Woland Web was born in her living room in October that year — a time when remote work was far from the norm. “I wanted to work from home, and that just wasn’t a thing back then,” she said. “So I created it for myself.”
What began as a solo operation quickly grew into a team of 10, a collective of designers and developers spread across the country. Her first hire, a graphic designer, remains with the company today as its creative director. Together, they’ve built a culture that prioritizes results over rigid schedules, making room for family obligations, personal growth and mental wellness.
“We still work hard — we just work when it’s convenient for us,” Lumelsky said. “Some team members break up their day to accommodate school drop-offs or take evening shifts to better align with their lifestyles. What matters most is that the work gets done well.”
That philosophy is reflected in Woland Web’s six core values: intention, details, get it done, learn and grow, positivity and balance. “Balance,” she emphasized, “is not just a buzzword. It’s how we’ve built a business that works for real people.”
Her leadership style is shaped by her own lived experience as a mother of three and a woman in tech. In the early years, Lumelsky juggled late nights and early mornings while raising toddlers, growing her company one project at a time. “The early years were not models of work-life balance for me,” she said. “But I made sure my team had it.”
Today, that team includes professionals across the U.S., many of them women who needed or preferred the flexibility to work from home. Long before Zoom calls and Slack channels became standard, Lumelsky was setting up remote systems to accommodate a distributed workforce. That pioneering approach has led to remarkably low turnover and a tight-knit company culture. Lumelsky said the pivot from Wall Street to entrepreneurship was a natural evolution.
“I had built systems, led teams, managed budgets. I thought that prepared me for running a business,” she said. “And in some ways, it did. But it was still a learning curve.”
To sharpen her entrepreneurial toolkit, she joined the Entreprenuers’ Organization (EO) Accelerator in Charlotte and later completed Goldman Sachs’ 10,000 Small Businesses program. Both experiences underscored the importance of four key business pillars: people, cash, strategy and execution. But Lumelsky would add a few more — mentorship, community and strategic partnerships. “Being an entrepreneur can be a lonely road,” she said. “Having a network of like-minded business owners is invaluable.”
Nearly two decades into her journey, Lumelsky is proud of the company she’s built not just for its creative output, but for the environment it fosters. “We’ve proven that you can run a successful, client-focused business while making space for life outside of work,” she said. “That’s always been the goal.”
From a Wall Street skyscraper to a home office in Charlotte, Lena Lumelsky has redefined what success looks like — on her own terms.