Once, the troupe of the famous wrestler Ivan Poddubny arrived for a tour in Nikopol and stayed at Madame Yushkova's hotel. To avoid carrying heavy weights, they left them in the backyard, not worrying about theft, as such a burden is hard to carry away. However, their assumption turned out to be wrong. Poddubny, looking out the window, saw a little girl playing with the weights, tossing them in the air and catching them. The surprised wrestler hurried to the hotel owner with questions. It turned out that the girl's name was Agafya Zavidnaya, and she worked as a loader.

Ivan Maksimovich persuaded Agafya's parents to let her join his circus troupe. The girl quickly became a star. Tall and physically developed for her age, she amazed the audience by bending iron rods, tearing chains, and juggling weights. As Zavidnaya grew older, Poddubny began to write separate acts for her. Her "reprise" with a railway rail was particularly successful: Agafya would place it on her shoulders, and men would sit on the ends, dancing with her. By the age of 18, her height reached almost 2 meters, and her weight exceeded 150 kg.

However, their collaboration soon came to an end. The reasons for the split between Zavidnaya and Poddubny are unknown, but the girl left the troupe and began to tour independently, including abroad. Her performances in Germany were successful, but after the revolution, she was forced to return to her homeland.

In the devastated Nikopol, Agafya performed not for money but for food, as the population had become impoverished. Age also took its toll, and she could no longer perform complex tricks. Zavidnaya died at the young age of 50. It was said that the cause of her death was a serious injury when she was allegedly struck by a drunken Petliurist with a sabre near a tavern.