Etchin spent the first part of her career at Mosproekt-1 institute, where she worked on the construction of new microdistricts in Nagatino valley during the 1960s. As the head of “brigade,” Etchin supervised the work of Oktyabrina Lebedeva and Rimma Aldonina. Their brigade developed the trajectory of highway and subway line across Nagatino valley (1961-1962), and the building of NIIT Avtoprom.

In 1970, Etchin became the head of a workshop in Mosproekt-2. Her workshop was responsible for the construction in Ulaanbaatar, designing and constructing multiple buildings in the center of the city. The hardships of travel and work in Mongolia, where she was spending much of her time, reportedly affected Etchin’s health, leading to a disability and eventually death (Posokhin 2012).

She was married to celebrated Soviet architect Boris Mezentsev (1911-1970).