 You started your business and how long until you started seeing momentum with the attention for the brand and also success through sales? So for me it can be a little bit different than for a lot of other people that don't have a certain platform because of the years of collecting people and stuff like that. As soon as I released Gecko Slashes, a lot of people tuned in and I actually sold out the first week, which was a surprise for me because being 16 and selling out out of like it was only about 200 pairs at the time, but I sold out in about a week. So for me, you know, being 16 and making that little side money, it felt amazing. And you know, first thing I did, I invested back into the business because that's like the only aspect you can really go with. Otherwise, any money, you can really get rid of it easily. So when you invest back into the business, at least like the 60, 70 percent and you just grow it as you go with marketing, etc. So yeah. Just a reminder for the audience, that's a 16 year old's mindset at the time. That's crazy. This episode is sponsored by Bright Tank Brewery. Nobody likes their beer. They love it. So shout outs to Bright Tank Brewery. Mad respect. Welcome to the Sevo show. We have a guest here as we always do. Her name is Olivia. She's Polish. She's a young hustler, businesswoman, worldwide traveler. And now she's found herself in the studio. Thanks for coming in. Thank you so much for inviting me. It's honestly a pleasure to be here. And yeah. First podcast. Founding a podcast yesterday. Amazing. Amazing. Super excited. How did you come across me and why did you think it was a good idea for... I was honestly scrolling through TikTok and stuff like that and I always see your face and you always go to New York and different kinds of places in the world and it's really interesting when people show their life through their eyes and stuff like that. So I came across and I watched a couple of the podcasts and stuff like that and I was like, hey, let me just see if we could work together and here we are. Nice. Excellent. Awesome. And did you know that I was Russian myself? Oh, I had no clue. That's pretty interesting. Pretty cool. Polish and Russian in the building. Neighbors. Yes, sir. It's lovely. But yeah, without going into that whole thing on the other side of the world. I kind of feel like we're just neighbors. I don't even mean it like the history way type of thing at all. Yeah. So tell me about yourself, you're 20 years old and you've got a business and you've lived in another country, multiple countries. And yeah, let's start from the beginning. You're born, you're a baby, great, grew up. How did you go to school? So I actually went to a lot of different schools. I stayed in one school for a year or two and then I would like transition to a different school, which was kind of cool because I would have a lot of friends. But then those friendships wouldn't be like long term, if that makes sense. So I grew up in Poland and I was living there since obviously I was born till being 12 and I used to be a tennis player, which also got me to a really good school in the Perth, which is Apple Cross Senior High. I went there for the tennis program. So I was a tennis player for most of my life. And after high school, I decided to get into like eyelashes business and stuff like that. So that was pretty cool. When I was 16, I decided to become an entrepreneur and stuff like that, watching my parents work very hard and stuff like that. So I wanted to do something different for myself. And that's why I opened like a business with eyelashes. And I know a beauty industry is something that's always growing and women definitely love to feel confident. And that is why I opened my Gecko Slashes company. I love it. I love it. And you did all that in Australia? Yes, correct. So everything started when I was 16. But back then I had kind of no idea how big it can really get. So I was always trying to be on social media and stuff like that. And later turning it into a business aspect. And with the years going on forward, I built an audience and they all kind of tuned in with what I was doing. So that's great. Yeah, amazing. And so at 16, that would have been 2018, 2019. Somewhere about then, yeah. Yeah, you started your business. And how long until you started seeing momentum with the attention for the brand and also success through sales? So for me, it can be a little bit different than for a lot of other people that don't have a certain platform because of the years of collecting people and stuff like that. As soon as I released Gecko's Lashes, a lot of people tuned in. And I actually sold out the first week, which was a surprise for me because being 16 and selling out out of like, it was only about 200 pairs at the time, but I sold out in about a week. So for me, being 16 and making that little side money, it felt amazing. And first thing I did, I invested back into the business because that's the only aspect you can really go with. Otherwise, any money, you can really get rid of it easily. So when you invest back into the business, at least like the 60, 70 percent and you just grow it as you go with marketing, etc. So yeah. And just a reminder for the audience, that's a 16-year-old's mindset at the time. That's crazy. Yeah. We taught you all this. I feel like I taught myself. And the reason for that is because the situation I was in life is my family migrated from Poland. So we kind of started life from nothing against. So my mom had to clean three houses a day and it was quite difficult watching her do such a hard job. And my dad worked very hard as well as a mechanic. So I'm watching them work so hard. And eventually we opened like a hot potatoes business. So we opened a food stall. We were wrapping up potatoes together. And I remember being like 13, 14 and finishing school early just to help them till midnight. So you can only imagine, like I was really tired being 13, 14, 15 and then 16. And I'm like, hey, what can I do to do something different? So I'm already always showing myself on the media, doing a little bit of the modeling stuff. So why not do something to invest into that platform that I have? So that's kind of how I learned to do a business. Amazing. So how did you collect those initial 100 to 200 people? With those people, it was really already all on Instagram. Like those people were already following me and stuff that a lot of girls always liked how I did my makeup. I used to do a little bit of like YouTube videos of makeup tutorials when I used to be popular. So that's how it started like Facebook lives and stuff like that. It really started through Facebook and then Instagram. And yeah, people were just already really liking what I was doing for myself, like just being unapologetically myself because I feel like that's what we have to do. Yeah, authentic, authentic. So when you first started and you had a following before that, tell me about the first day you created your first piece of content on the internet and put it out there. How old were you? I'm not going to lie, I was about like 14 or something. So I was very young being introduced to the social media world, which also did cause some little bit of problems in the future, in the soon future. Because when I was 16, I got myself on this live stream. And that's a story for another day. Oh, come on, we're here. Yeah, we sure are. So I feel like it's OK to share a little bit of this story. I got on this live stream being 16 and it blew up. It had like a million views and stuff like that. So I was just recklessly talking about anything and everything and just it wasn't really too bad. But as a 16 year old and having my friends contact my mom about it and everything, it was like a shock. And then I didn't realize how internet really spreads. Like I don't want to say like a disease, but it does spread like something that's wildfire. I'm sorry. Exactly. That's that's a perfect word for it because you really do have to be careful with the way you say and stuff like that. So I had to learn the hard way, but it also made me more tougher skin and stuff like that. So I feel like that's that's that. Talk, talk to yourself. Yeah, talk to yourself at 16. You're about to go live. What do you tell that 16 year old self? I really am a hard believer of everything happens for a reason. And as much as I don't want to be the type of person that bad publicity is also good publicity because I don't really support that. It caused a lot of trauma to the 16 year old self of me. But I really had no other choice but to toughen up and realize, OK, we all make mistakes. And it's not like I said anything politically wrong or anything like that to disrespect anybody, but just myself in a way. So that's really that. But I had to learn from that. And and I feel like it's it's not even remembered anymore. People, you know, they will make you feel like your world is ending. And the next day, it's like not that they forget. But when you work so hard for yourself, you create this whole new image and people respect that. OK, so you got out of that trauma. Yeah, definitely. But you're more careful now. I would say. Yeah, OK, but I definitely love being myself and I don't want to cut my wings down for anybody. If that makes sense. Everybody's going to be asking what you did, though. But if you don't want to talk about it, that's fine. You know, I was 16 at the time, and I was just too many things to just say one. But I was just really talking and the things didn't really make sense and stuff like that. Yeah, that's that's really it. OK, OK, OK. So you push through, you rebranded. Yes, sir. You learned from it. And you don't get any. Any bad. Of course I do and not from that particularly, but people always have something to say. And I feel like that's a normal human thing to do is to like, you know, give the constructive criticism. But I feel like it's it's it's good to get that because it motivates me if anything. Like if I see people say, you know, she's she's a little bit to this or to that. It's OK, though, because this is who I am and I am who I am and I am myself. So I love myself for who I am. And I feel like as long as I am a good person and I'm not causing problems to nobody, then, you know what I'm saying? I don't I don't think it's a problem. That's it. Yeah. Not many, not many 20 year old girls say that these days. And it's such a relief to hear that. Yeah. So what happened next? You're you've released your your brand. You sold out in a good way. And then you reinvested. Then what happened? Then it kind of just grew from there. And it was amazing because I was getting all kinds of makeup artists from Perth, Sydney, Melbourne, contacting me like, hey, we use your lashes and the band is super strong. It lasts us like 30 wears. Wow. I even know what that means. Yes, it's pretty funny because I started wearing lashes when I was like, I don't want it to sound wrong. But when I was like 14, 15, I started like putting little, little pieces of lashes on my eyes and going to school with it every day because I was like, this is me. And it makes my eyes look better and stuff like that. And at the time, my parents were like, hey, you're going to school to learn and not to, you know, go for like a fashion show. But for me, at least it did work out in a good way. I dropped out of high school after year 10. So I did a beauty therapy diploma. So that kind of did keep me in a loop of beauty industry and stuff like that. But I didn't really see myself as a cosmetologist, but more like as an entrepreneur. So that's why the geckos lashes really worked out because I felt like I had no other option but to succeed. And when that is your only option, I'm not saying for everybody to drop out of high school, because that is not definitely the way for everybody. And I feel like it's good to get your education for sure, 100 percent, because life can take you so many different places and humble you really quick. But for me, it worked out really great. And geckos lashes really just kept selling out. So I was just messaging my supplier that we're just running out of stock at all times, which was great because I was, you know, 17, 18 and not worrying about like other jobs because I was putting on my time, you know, people say, quit your nine to five to do your own business. But your own business is a 24 seven type of work. And people do like it as as a little bit more like an easier way of doing things. But I feel like it's a lot harder and you really have to have the right tough skin for it. What was it like at school before you left the the year the year of you leaving? What was that like? I was never really the type of person to. Like books and stuff like that in a way. And I don't want to say it like I'm not smart because being intelligent and the books smart, you can be both. It's OK if you're not. I feel like. You're more straight smart. Would you say you're more straight smart? It's OK to be that, I guess. Absolutely. Yeah. Absolutely. I think that it's like. Book smart is theory, straight, smart is practical. It's good to have a little bit of both, though, because I feel like you can get lost by just having either of them, just one of them, you get what I'm saying? So it's good to it's good to have a little bit of both. And I feel like balance is the most important thing in life. So yeah, exactly. I mean, you could always hire someone to be the book smarts for you. That's definitely true. And assistants definitely did pay a big role in my business. So that's a big part because sometimes you feel like you can't do everything yourself. And when your business gets rolling and you do have that bigger audience, you definitely like an assistant or someone who's going to help you in certain aspects. Yeah, I mean, you've got your marketing, you've got your operations and you've got your finance, you know, the trifecta. It's very hard to manage all three, especially when you're trying to grow and scale it. So the year that you left, I mean, did you miss the did you miss school? Did you miss your friends and the teachers? Or did you just go forward and not look back? I really hate to say it that way. But I didn't really have any friends in high school like that. I obviously have few people that I keep in touch of that are my great friends. But I really didn't see myself there as someone who was valued by other people and stuff like that, by other friends and stuff. So I was always like a loner in a way, but it's not like in a bad way. I feel like it's OK to be on your own grind and just like focusing up on that. So yeah, you find your people. Yeah, for sure. Have you do you feel like you've started to find your people? Yes, definitely. I have a very small circle of friends, but it's kind of good for me because I feel like every time I do open up to new people, somehow, you know, it just gets done wrong and stuff like that. So it's better to keep your circle tight. And I feel like family is such a big factor. And of course, it's not a thing for everybody because everybody has a different relationship with their dad or mom or the rest of their family. But I am very fortunate that my family is very close with me and without them, I'll be very lost. Honestly, yeah. It's not the worst thing to be to open yourself up to more people coming in and networking because you never know. Of course, it's actually great to network. I network all the time. But when it comes to a friend aspect where you really I look at it as a friend, as almost like a family. If I really, really am close with you. But that's why I don't let too many people too close because I like to be close with my friends. You got what I'm saying? So yeah. Yeah. So where is your business at now? It's a funny twist how it went because when I moved to U.S., I kind of. When did you do that? What year did you do that? 2021. So I moved to New York and. Was it just after the pandemic? It was actually during the pandemic. So. Oh, dear. Yeah. I like to take risks. I guess. OK, OK. My whole life as a kid growing up, obviously, I was the type of girl to really like, you know, California and Los Angeles. And it was always like the the movie style of lifestyle that I imagined myself to live and to become a big star. But reality is quite different. And I feel like when I left and stuff like that, I wanted to take on the world and stuff like that. But it's just a different reality. And I feel like living in New York, living in Los Angeles and Miami. Just a month before I left, they legalized gun laws for 16 years old to carry guns without a license, which is that itself is enough explanatory, you know. So you still went there and you went there by yourself. Yes, yeah. And you survived, thankfully. I'm so glad that I did because it's it's it's definitely it's a different world that you enter. A lot of different factors that that you're open to. And it's like, wow, you know. Yeah. So what did you stay in New York first week? Tell me about that. Yes. So the first week was pretty crazy, you know, going to Times Square and you obviously play the song, you know, you were in New York and you did all the sightseeing. You know, you're paying a lot of rent there. Whereabouts did you stay? Absolutely. So I was staying in the Manhattan area and there is absolutely ridiculous. It's really crazy. About like 3,000 a month, but it was a very small place. It wasn't anything too luxurious because, as you know, 18 years old at the time, I was freshly 18. So I just obviously buy from my businesses and stuff like that. You can get something more expensive. But what is the point of getting a place that you can barely afford, which a lot of people does and it's OK to do that. But I did have that smarter mindset of like, hey, let me just put certain amount of my income into the rent and the rest of it into investments and stuff like that. But as someone who was 18, I was more into like, hey, let me just travel and see see the places and stuff like that. So how long were you in New York for before? So I was living there for about like one year. But I was going to Los Angeles throughout that time as well, which is really great, but I'm not going to lie. I always imagine Los Angeles to really be like the dream place to be. And I did come across a lot of unfortunate people that were dealing with drug abuse and stuff like that on this street, which is very sad to see because those people are just very lost. And I just wish that they were able to get the help that they need. And I feel like that help isn't there for them. So it's it's it's quite a side of rain because it's a it's a sad thing to see. But back in New York, you're paying three thousand a month. How are you staying afloat? So as an influencer, I was getting a lot of like paid deals from Instagram stuff like that. So it was all different kinds of factors that were making me stay stay on track and stuff like that. But overall, it's like tying one end with the other. So it wasn't very easy. And of course, inflation went up crazily at the time. So I felt like, oh, my God, like it's crazy. But luckily, my business was still doing really good, which was in Perth. And my mom was kind of like running the business for me. The girls were coming by to pick up lashes or she was sending them out. So that the help from the family was definitely there. But it was just a crazy experience overall. Who was managing you as the influencer in New York? Did you have someone to help you or was it just all you know? I never really wanted to get into a management type of vibe. Not that it's bad or anything like that. But over there, contracts can look a little bit interesting. Yeah. Interesting is a good world. The interesting is a good word. There's a there's a friend of mine and he Julian, shoutouts to Julian. He's a he's a lawyer. OK. And he's got a creators for creators by creators law firm that helps creators of this problem. So Julian, if you're listening, shoutouts to you. Shoutouts to Julian. He helps like and he he doesn't take much at all, like of a cut. He wants the creators to succeed. And like those contracts you're talking about, he he sees the contracts and they're very fine print. Very interesting. And they can buy you from working for the next five years as a creator. All your content is the IP to the business or brand. You're signing with it, just evil. So speaking of evil, you went from New York to L.A. You found a lot of interesting people there. Very interesting people. But you would have come across a bit of evil there, too. And it's really crazy how, yeah, it's pretty crazy how evil sometimes can come across in the most beautiful form and the most beautiful things and stuff like that. So. Go on, spill it. What happened in L.A.? I don't want to say that I almost got traffic because that would be a broad subject to get into. What's your experience? What did you observe? There's no wrong. It's OK to jump into that one because I was just shopping at Rodel Drive just doing the usual thing that that a tourist does, you know, just walking around the streets and stuff. And I come across this person. Yeah. And it's pretty interesting because they came across as someone who's just like selling. Hermes bags and stuff like that, like Kelly's and like, you know, all the type of Hermes bags. You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. Yeah, I feel like it's OK. Like it's a lot of other things that happen. This is kind of like the top of the iceberg. So it's OK to touch up on that. OK. It was just a really difficult kind of time because not that I was I was always like, hey, don't trust people. Always be careful, be safe. But some people come across to you as like, I'm your friend. Like everything is good. Like what are you talking about and stuff like that? So I came across someone in Los Angeles who actually turned out to be into like some crazy things. And I completely like figured it out before it even got to me. So that's that's great. Like I speak about it. I'm shaking. Yeah, I can see that's why because it's a really tough time to help someone to help someone in your scenario back back then, who may not be as fortunate or smart enough as you, what gave it away? It's really the sometimes it's really hard to see what it is. But for me, it was like the luxury of things. I feel like some people own things that you're like, hey, what do you do? And they can't really make it make sense of what they really do. So I don't want to beat that person to say it. But a lot of businesses that, you know, people that have 12 car garages and all the type of things like that, they can be doing a lot of different types of things and stuff like that. So I'm not a tough person to get myself involved in one of that. I'm very like, just be good to everybody. So it's a reason. There's a reason why they made a lot of money. Yes, exactly. And it's not a good reason. Basically, yeah, yeah. But that's that's nothing that's new or not normal. You come across that all the time. You can go get your nails done and the whole nail salon is a whole different opposite kind of business. Yeah. Yeah. So that's kind of scary. So how did you how did you survive? How did you like obviously like it's really because if it wasn't for like my family and for my silly luckiness because I got myself into certain situations that I didn't even get myself into. And then it was really just having got by my side really. That's that's the best way to explain it. OK, OK, we want to help people that may not have that fortune on their side. And I did get lucky because there's a lot of times where you're like getting in a car with a new friend. And this actually did happen to me in Miami where I met some girls of Instagram and they were influencers, you know, like really known girls and stuff like that. So you would expect them to not be on the bad side of things or maybe at least I thought that. And then we go out for dinner and stuff like that. And when I want to get dropped off home, I'm like, I'm going to take an Uber. And they're like, we can just drop you home and I live five minutes from the play. So it was like, I don't know if you're familiar with Berkel, but it was just in the middle of Miami. It's a very nice area and you would think it's super safe. But so they said they dropped me home and as soon as I get into the car. They're like, you're not going home. What? I'm like, you're joking. You have to be like, stop playing with me because, you know, at the time you're thinking like, this is not happening to me. Like I'm not going to like end like that. So I'm like, I know you're joking. So we're all laughing. I'm giggling and I'm like, OK, so my address is da, da, da, da. She's like, you're not going home. What are you talking about? Shit, what happened? Literally, like my body, you can tell how like it's still it's still a trauma to this day, but it's something that I'm comfortable to speak about because I got myself out of the situation. So, yeah. Don't leave me on red. How do you do it? A lot of those things, I just can't disclose, but I let's just say to summarize the story. I got myself. In in a place for five hours from Miami. And and if it wasn't the red, this is the thing. I don't know if you're familiar with like the Jeffrey Dahmer documentary stuff like that. Yeah. So I'm really sometimes can like overlook things a lot. And and even though I was like really unable to do much, they were like, oh, she's just, you know, she was just parting and I'm the type of person I never drink alcohol because it just doesn't work well with my body and it's OK for people to drink. It's a social thing to do. But personally, I just I don't enjoy alcohol. So with that being said, that was the one night I decided to have like one drink and it wasn't doing well for me. And yeah, and I got myself into this place. That was like four hours from Miami and it was super crazy because the police didn't really nobody knew much. My my mom was calling the girl. They found from I was all the way from Australia from pair of calling these people and trying to figure out like let her out and stuff. So I'm glad she took care of me because she wanted to, you know, take care of me and stuff like that. That's what it seemed like. So I'm happy she she took care of me. But it really wasn't it's hard to get into. It's hard to put it in words and stuff like that. But eventually we got so many phone calls because people really were worrying about me. And eventually I got myself out of that situation with the help of second time of police coming to the place. So you managed to get a phone call out and your mom managed to figure out. I mean, I told the rescue team I want out. I want to get get get home. Rescue team. Yeah. So the rescue team was like a police slash people that take like check up if something's wrong with you or whatever. So I really don't go out very much. So like introvert and stuff like that. So with that situation, it was one time you go out and something like this can happen to you can happen to anybody. But that's really just like a situation that you live and learn from and stuff like that. So I wanted to tell the story just for anybody watching. I know a lot of people do like to go out and that is OK to do so. But please do go out with your friends, people that you really trust and keep your eyes behind your head because you have to. That's a good preventative preventative advice. But there's one element that I'm still curious about. I know you said you can't go into detail. How did you go from being four to five hours outside of Miami and having a rescue team find you? So the way it happened is because my mom was blowing the girl's phone up. Other people at the time that I was close over blowing her phone up and she was basically blocking everybody and they're like, you know, we do know your phone number. Like you have to like make it make sense. And because so many people got involved, it was she eventually gave in to give the information. She told me, you know what? Like you might as well just get out of here. Like what are you doing? Like and stuff like that. So it was very much like a situation where she felt like too many people knew that I was I wasn't alone. So for a lot of people that do travel, they are by themselves, which is a great target because if you don't have anybody care for you, it's easy to go missing and stuff. But I had like 10 people reach out from all different types of genres to make sure I'm not going down because I'm not saying this would happen to me and I'm not saying that's my situation, but trafficking is a big thing and it's really scary. I'm so glad you made it out. Me too. What was what was there? Like was it what did they make? Did they put you in a room by yourself or anything or? It was a very friendly environment. It was very family environment. It was like like they were just taking care of me in a way. So like I wasn't well and I was living five minutes from the place and I told her to drop me home. I was able and stuff like that, but it was just safer at the time to drop me there. And I was like, it was really, it was really, I'm glad there was nobody there, but that woman and stuff like that. So it was like a really crazy situation, but I feel like I'm done with this story. Yeah, you're good. The reason why I wanted to go a bit deeper is and thank you for sharing is purely for people to learn, to not get into it. And if somehow they find themselves into it, all the things that they need to do immediately to get themselves out of it. So you managed to do that. So lesson to all the people, all the young people specifically, have people know where you are at all times. I know you don't like your parents knowing where you are at all times. You want that privacy, you want that independence, but this is exactly why you should have someone at least know where you are, multiple people, the more the better, because situations like this, you are in a lot of trouble. So... And I'm sorry, the last thing is sharing your location with at least one friend or one family member is something that can literally save your life. And the line between your privacy and your life being in danger is just so big. So sharing your location can literally save your life. So that's great. I love that. Thanks for sharing. So now that you got home, you're back in Perth. Yes. When did you go enough of this and back in Perth? I feel it was a lot of different factors. I definitely missed home, not seeing my family for two years that I was super close to my dog and stuff like that. I'm sorry that I said it in that type of form. I met my family friends and my dog. I was really missing home and home always feels like home. It's good to travel. I love LA. I love all those places that I've been to, but home is so heavenly. I love Perth and I feel like it's such an underrated place because we really have heaven on earth here and a lot of people don't realize that till they get a taste of the real world out there. So yeah. I get Perth sick pretty much within two weeks of leaving. Oh really? Yeah, home sick I guess. Everywhere I go, I love it when I get there. Two, three days in, I wanna go somewhere else. And then about 11, 12 days later, I wanna go home. Yeah, that's the thing about home. It always just feels like home and I feel like with Perth, we have all this nature and city life. It's like a perfect combo of two things that sometimes I don't want to go back to what I was speaking about earlier, but living in Miami, living in a high rise building, the energy is a little bit different when you don't have all that greenery and all the nature. It feels like a low vibration type of thing. So here I feel like the high vibrations and energy is such a big thing that people really should look into because energy is everything that surrounds us. So yeah. So when did you come back to Perth? It was a couple months ago, right? Yeah. Yeah. And what was that like? It was pretty good. I feel like it was great because as soon as I got back, not having to worry that someone maybe is following you which happens or someone pulling a gun on you just to show me like upper power is a great thing because I didn't come from that. I'm not really this type of person and it's okay because if you are born in this environment, you have to learn to be very street smart and I wasn't street smart in that type of genre. So with me, I'm really glad to be home and stuff like that. So yeah. I love it. I love it. So you're going through the kind of traditional influencer opening up a business. I mean, that's already kind of not traditional in a way. Because a lot of influencers, they try it but then they fail because they don't have to grit the drive, the understanding of business. So you went through that. It's okay to fail. I'm not going to say that my business was just straight up like this because it's never like that. Sometimes you take two steps forwards and sometimes you have to take four backwards but that's the thing about business. It's the only people that make it are the ones that don't give up and don't take no for the answer. And that's the thing. And the mold in this day and age, the trend, and we talked about this yesterday. So I made sure you're okay with it. But girls your age who are putting their bodies out to see to the public and getting paid for it, you don't fit that mold. You went pure entrepreneur route. I wouldn't say so. And I'm not saying it's a bad thing. Yeah. But you're going in a non-traditional trending route, quote unquote. And a lot of people would label you like, why not? Or what are you doing? Or how do you feel that? I wouldn't say that I don't. I feel like I definitely understand where you're coming from. And first of all, the world we live in is not so traditional to begin with anymore. And it is up to us young people to make it the way that it should be. But everything is expensive. And I do understand why women pick the industries that they pick and stuff like that. I wouldn't say I'm exactly as traditional and an angel as I portray myself to be. But of course it's something that you just make your own decisions with everything. But one thing that I can say fast money does come with slow problems. So that's something to always look at because we do see a lot of glamour live from the girls that do different types of things. And then the consequences come more like in the future when you want to start the family or have a husband or any type of relationship with people or even friends. It's something that all those friendships and connections they kind of end with not all of them, but in some way. It's good to speak about it the way that it is because it's not all glamour and all flowers and roses. Yeah, I'm seeing a whole new movement of kind of anti-feminist sort of more we want the masculinity back. We want that old school kind of way of living where the man goes out, hunts and provides and the woman stays and helps and nurtures and helps build the family from the floor. I definitely agree with you with a certain aspect of what you're saying because it's good when obviously men and women are very different and we're built in different ways and that's why it's just hard to go into this topic because I wouldn't want to say that feminism is anything bad for women because it isn't. But I feel like we are getting to the point where we sometimes feel like there's a war between woman and men right now where it's like we do think we can do everything on our own but also men have a certain way of thinking that they can do everything on their own. And I feel like if we really collided our world and took the best values of both of us the masculinity of a man and the femininity of a woman it would be beautiful. But I feel like in the world we live in and the economy itself makes both people very masculine and it's kind of hard when there's two... Alphas. Two alphas in the room. Breadwinners. Exactly. When it's a great one, of course it's amazing when a woman can cook and do things like that and I feel like it's a value. It's a high value thing to be able to do because I really don't want to sound so old school because you might look at me and think, this girl is nothing like the traditional woman. You know what I'm saying? Long nails, long lashes and it's something that people of course might look at as taboo in a way but I think those values of family and home and homemade food are such a high values qualities because when I was a little girl I remember my mom cooking and making amazing food that I remember till today's day which is... it's an important quality. I miss Borscht. I miss my plov and my Russian food. I really do. And yeah, like I see a lot of family structured ethnic groups strive when they stay together and as a tribe. But the Western society and this is just me reading a lot of shit on the internet they're constructed to be separate. Absolutely. Divide and conquer, but who's conquering, right? We feel like we are so not self-absorbed but I feel like we can do everything on our own. The way we feel that way is because nowadays a woman has to work and a man in order to provide in the household so it's not like sometimes some women are fortunate enough to have a husband that provides and stuff like that but in most cases in a normal household both people have to provide and that's when it's hard to work and also play the feminine role as well. And I'm not saying that woman completely should be taken care of. If you are in this position that's amazing for you and stuff like that but in the world we live in it just seems like both genders have to work nowadays. How do you feel about that? I feel like you're both going to come to the table somehow. Yes. And we're near in your 20s, even early 30s before the kids come. If the kids come earlier then each to their own but I can't really speak on that because I don't have kids yet but I can observe on it because I used to be a teacher. It's not as optimal because you're still finding yourself in your 20s. And again, I'm not shitting on people that have kids in their 20s. I'm just saying that. I feel like probs to them. It's such a difficult world already and being a kid is like another thing that you have to focus on. Their argument is get it out of the way and then grow together and have a closer gap between each other which is great. For me it's like going back to the woman and the man, the old-school heterosexual structure not going to go into all the other ones. I feel like if the man has been lucky enough to find his sort of path, his calling, his passion and he's found the right woman, vice versa, whatever then if she is able to help him succeed in that passion he would be able to twice over generate that income to provide for both of them. I don't disagree with you at all. I feel like you are right with what you said but how you feel about people that... There's a lot of women that will put all their time into someone and stuff like that. It doesn't work out for everybody. But it's definitely good. If it does make sense, you obviously have to make careful decisions who you really get with and stuff like that to have a relationship. As you said, I can't disagree. I feel like it's not a bad thing. It's good to do a little bit of your own thing but when you are in that relationship you decide to collide into one and not two separate things. So I get where you're coming from for sure. A lot of other factors like I've been reading about the pill, for example. Being on the pill takes away the feminine sort of vibe. It makes you want to be more career-driven. And again, this is another rabbit hole, go down. But the pill is a pharmaceutical drug and it changes your mind. It changes your hormones to be more of a worker because you're not worried about having to be fertile to be ready to make babies to then care for that baby. Again, this is all... That's a rabbit hole to jump into, huh? Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I reckon, well, this is something... I've never personally been on the pill although other forms of contraceptions are very important guys because when you do find yourself being like a young woman and stuff like that we all are humans and it's normal thing to have sex and stuff like that. And I feel like contraception is super important. It's not something to skip but pill is something I was always... I never got on that because I know it can cause different things in your head. So, yeah. So, with that, my wife, she was on the pill for a while. When she got off it, she became less of a career-driven person. She still wants to have a career but she wants to start a family. That's beautiful. She wants to have kids. She's 27 this year and that's all we talk about now. It's a whole big change over the last few years ever since she got off it. And that's where I'm coming from, my own personal observation. And I think over the next couple of years when we do start the families, the families, family, it'll be interesting to see how I play that. But like... I think you'll do great. Yeah, thanks. I really think you'll do great because, you know, it takes a right mindset and stuff like that. And to have a family, it's like... it's good to decide that you want to maybe be with that person for good because it's just... Of course, life comes out different for everybody but if you are able to keep that together and still be happy, it's a great environment for the kids to grow up in. I've had a lot of interviews with different age groups about what they look for in their partner. The younger girls, they say tall, tanned and tattooed. That's what they say. The older women, they say driven and the rest is really just luck of the draw, I guess. Is it really weird that I never really cared for a guy's height? And it's a big thing for women. A lot of us really care for height and stuff like that. I feel like it's so weird. I'm such a... I have a favorite person syndrome. If I pick you to be that person, I'm gonna love you for so, so long, if not forever. It's almost like a psycho thing. I'm really not. I'm joking. It's all jokes, guys. Watch out if you DM her. No, it's... So, yeah, you're in your 20s, early 20s, just turn 20, fresh in. What do you look for in a partner? Currently, I would like to say someone who's respectful and someone who understands you for who you are and stuff like that, because, obviously, a girl like me, I post on Instagram, I post photos in bikinis. I do a little bit of this and that. So, it's not something for everybody, and I understand that. And with that being said, it's for now, I don't really have that in my mind. I really want to focus on my career and helping my parents and hopefully one day being able to retire them, because that's really something that I really want to work so hard for, so one day they don't have to work so hard. That's really my main focus, but love will come along whenever it comes along. I feel like I don't chase nobody or anything like that. But back to what I look for in that guy, he just has to be cool and make me laugh. Like, I just like to laugh. I like to feel happy, you know? So, yeah. Respectful, cool laugh. Yeah. Okay. And what about career-wise? And for career-wise, it's really as long as your business is in illegal types of things, then that's a good thing, you know? A lot of... Legal. Legal. Legal works. You said Anne legal, and it kind of sounded like an illegal. Oh no, no, no, no. I'm so sorry. It's the accent, guys. Of course, it has to be, I'm an illegal being. See, I can't say... Legitimate business. Legitimate, exactly. I'm so sorry. If anybody just sees the clip right there. They're gonna clip that. Yeah, she's sass. Yeah, she's very sass, no. I want somebody who just does something preferably, I would say for themselves, but of course, there's jobs where you can work for somebody else. But the reason I'm saying for yourself is because there's really no end goal. When you're working for yourself, you can create empires. And it's for people that are really driven. So I feel like that's a really interesting thing that I respect. So it is driven. Yeah. For a driven guy. Yeah. You were looking for that word here it is. Ahead of time. Ahead of your time. Yes, yes. All right, so what's been your biggest achievement so far? You know what? It's hard to put your whole life into this one title. You know what I'm saying? So it's a lot of little things. I would say small achievements make big achievements happen. I would say, you know, starting my last company, doing a little bit of modeling, this and that. And the achievement from that was being able to, you know, take my mom on a vacation or do something for her or do something for my dad or do something for my sister. That's kind of the achievements that at least I see myself as. As an entrepreneur, you don't really get like a gold medal or something like that. So it's really the things you do for other people that make you feel like you achieved something. Yeah. And with that, what has been your biggest lesson? The biggest lesson is definitely, I would say too, is to have balance in life in everything you do. And second of all is this might sound bad and I don't want none of my friends to feel weird about this, but don't trust anyone like fully because if you do give someone that power of knowing your problems and stuff like that, it can really like do the most, you know? Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I don't think I showed you my eyelashes yet. Not yet, not yet. No, we're still good, we're still good. We're still good. That's coming, it's coming. So what is what is next for you? In your career, you're going to turn 21 soon. That's a big milestone. Yeah. What do you want to do before you turn 21? Go skydiving. I always want to go skydive. I love adrenaline and stuff like that. So I'm a little bit of like adrenaline junkie. I love roller coasters, all that crazy stuff. Can't fit on them. I'm banned. Skydiving's wicked. I'm so excited for that. That's honestly so cool. Like I love things that are just like, just like that. I think I'm too tall and overweight for that. I think it would be fine to do that. I don't think there's like a height limit or anything like that. You have to skydive. There's a weight limit. There's a weight limit. I don't think you're like, I'm just, really? There's a weight limit. Yeah, I have to go solo, but yeah. But hey, it's something you've got to do before you die. And you never know when you're going to die. So it's when you think about it. Maybe it'll be that day. Oh my goodness, hopefully not for me. I had an opportunity to do skydiving for a collaboration with tourism for Rotnest. But I was like, you need to give me more than you need. I need some insurance money for that. Oh my goodness, right? Because imagine the pirate ship doesn't actually pop up. Yeah, go, leave a widow to make it. It's not that I like to put myself in those type of situation, but I always like dreamed of skydiving and I always wanted to do it. So it's like, it's a cool way to go. Yeah, that's cool. Now, something I don't really like asking early 20s people because anything can happen in the next 10 years. A lot of things will happen in the next 10 years. A lot can happen, yeah. Where do you see your business going from here? I feel like opening, I really was about to spill some tea because something very big is coming soon for Gecko's lashes. But I can't speak about it yet. But we have a big plan for the next upcoming year and you're asking for the next 10 years. I would say just go bigger and see where it goes because as you said, you never know what tomorrow holds. So with me, I like to be pretty much so on go with things and worry about, hey, what are we doing for the next week for the business next month and worry about that because as you said, life can humble you so quick. Absolutely, yeah. Show me the goods. Okay. Are you ready? Yes. Are you ready? I don't think you're ready. Well, I mean, I've seen lashes before. Yeah. The wife's used them before but she's kind of over them now. No, I do not need them. I am all-natural, long lashes myself. Obviously you said you don't want to wear my eyelashes. Made me quite sad. I brought you a different type of gift. I know you are a content creator. And let's see what's in there. It's going to be like a jump scare. Oh, yes. Everyone needs one of these. Oh, branding too. Look at that. Yes, yes. So it works on any phone and stuff like that. It's pretty cool because... Oh, this is a good time. Yes, we have all different modes and stuff like that. And it's pretty cool. You know, here's your phone and whenever you feel like taking a cool selfie and making sure the lighting is on point or ticked up. You can go like that. Or you can go like that. Well, I need to bring your adiva light. The best thing about it is the ring goes over the actual camera bit so it doesn't go in the way and then you can just glamourise it. Yeah, it's sacrilege for me to use the front camera for content but it is still pretty useful. You know, you could grab your watch. If you have an Apple watch, it's a plug for Apple again. And you can get it so that you can see yourself on the watch in real time. It has the camera mode. So you can actually turn it around and you could like strap your watch to your phone. Super ghetto, but yeah. I really wish one day that Apple iPhone have like a little LED thing. Because it's done to put it on the next AirPods case. And I'm like surely a little tiny but that'll make that selfie thing redundant. See, that's the thing. That's why you've got the little ring light. It's really more like for the front camera, for the selfies. And a lot of, you know, a lot of people does like to have like a perfect picture. So it's really cool. Yeah, the girls. But back to the eyelashes. We do have like 10 different styles for 10 different types of vibe because different girls like different things. So you can like extra lashes like myself. All right, let me play, all right, all right. Okay, so explain to me, man, explain to me. Oh, you were born to slay. I was like, I came up with that slogan. I say that, oh, shit, it's got glitter. It does good glitter on it. Fuck, I hate glitter. You can't get that shit out. It's okay, because it's not really designated for you exactly. Great, but I just, I just, anyway. So these are all the one, same. Yeah, so these are all the same lashes. So this is like our most popular cocoa style. I was ready for you to tell me, no, no, no, they're like slightly different gradient. And I'm like, I can't tell. Just like lipstick colors, all the same. Brown, red, and that's it. But this is the thing, you don't really like glitter. That's fine. It's not really... I don't mind glitter, just not on me. Yeah. I just, you just can't get it out, you know? Yeah, you can't get it, that's the thing about glitter. I like that though. It's a different type of thing. That's why I like to put glitter on me sometimes. Yeah, glitter. You can't really get it out. Someone glitter bombs me, they're on the list. Yeah? On the list of no good. Oh no. But yeah, okay, so, well, you just take it off. You use like tweezers or something to take it off. And then you just go, lip. Yes, sir. That's it. It's really easy to apply. As I said, we do have like 10 different types of styles. And you can like short lashes, long lashes, thick lashes, thin lashes. You know, everybody has their thing. So, yeah. How gorgeous. So I feel like packaging is very important to make someone feel very welcomed when they are getting your product. And us women, we do love makeup and we like to feel even more beautiful than we already are. And it's like, this is really like a confidence thing. It's really like I would only call it a confidence boost because you can put that on and you feel like, hey, I'm flying away from everybody's BS today, you know? This is the kind of vibe that it's bringing in. Packaging on point. You were talking a lot just then and I was also trying to multitask. And if you've already said this, I apologize. What is your biggest point of difference against your competitors? From your competitors? This is the thing about eyelashes. I designated my logo the way I want it to be. Every part of it is my own idea. But the thing with lashes people, it's not something you can copy right. It's something you will see other people do something very similarly to yours when it comes to packaging. But when it comes to eyelash itself, the product, I designated a different type of band. So the band is like super strong. So when girls stop wearing the pair of eyelashes that they have, they usually stop wearing it because the band is not strong enough. So it falls apart. It's on the flight. It happens during weddings. It's your wedding day. Surely this is gonna stay on. So how did you find this extra super band? What are you? So I basically talked to my manufacturer. Hey, can we create like double thickness band? And I was having her send me different types of samples. And at first she sent me some that were too thick or too thin. So I wanted to make sure that it all makes sense. So we finally got enough samples where the band is strong enough. So with that being said, it will last you like 30 wears instead of just five or six. So that's really important. Our thick is too thick. It's really. For the girls out there, because I have personal like preferences. And I stay away from giving any opinion of that to my wife. She nails it. She does. She's beautiful. Shout out to your wife. She's really gorgeous. Thank you. But yeah, how thick is too thick? Like what's the, like, cause girls, I see some girls like, they go like way out here. I'm like, how do you keep their eyes open? I say it for the girls out there. You know, there's not such a thing as a lash that's too big or too thick. It's really all about how you feel today. Like sometimes I feel like wearing a short lash. Other days I want to go bold and like today, you know, it's, it's crazy. But that's what I like. And I feel like it's okay. This is unpolite, unpolite, unpolite. Unpolite. I cannot speak. Unpolite. I cannot, I cannot right now. You know, this is so weird. That's right. I'm just myself. And this is where it is. The winged eyeliner. The winged eyeliner, exactly. I feel like it's just whatever you want to do at the time this is you and this is what you want to do, then go for it. Yeah. That's that. Awesome. And for girls who are 14, who are thinking about, because when I was a teacher, I noticed the, I had a lovely word teacher. Yeah. So cool. The young, I was a high school teacher. So the year eights and year nine girls discovered that they didn't have to put their makeup on if they put their lashes on. Because that was like the, the pop that they really needed. And I remember one girl, shout outs Matty, you know exactly who you are. She would come to school about 15 minutes late every time because she was like, put my lashes on her. And I'm like, okay, whatever. Hey, I'll be honest with you. That has to be an excuse. Cause putting lashes on, of course it can take some time, but at least with my lashes, because of the band and stuff like that, it takes five seconds on my TikTok. You can definitely see that it's super quick. You can put them on and stuff like that. But back in the day, it might've been a little bit more difficult and stuff like that. What about like the single lashes? Do you provide that as a product at all? Oh yeah, absolutely. So we saw all different types of lashes, like tesseries, lip glosses. We're just trying to expand into more beauty products. But as you mentioned earlier, wearing no makeup and just having eyelashes gives that pop that a lot of people is looking for because eyes are such a big important role and they pay such a big part. It's the key to your soul. It's the key to your soul really. You can tell so much from the people's eyes and it's pretty interesting. So making them nice and glamorous. It's pretty cute, you know? What about your nails? You've got like actual stuff on them. It's three-dimensional, show the camera. Call it of different things. What is that? Is it like a... So we have a lot going on, but it's a diamond. A gun on there? Yeah, there is a gun on there. So I was collaborating. Is that your homage to America? So basically the reason I got these nails, I was working. I asked you what you're doing there. I went to Nail Mafia and the lady that actually does the nails, she is Italian. So I asked her to do like a freestyle for me. So she put a gun on it. She put a gun on it. That's freestyle as fuck. No, I love it though. I mean like the way it looks, it's cool. But obviously there's difference between the beauty and the glamour and actually doing the bad things with a gun and stuff like that. So this was a freestyle done by my dear girl from Nail Mafia and she did her thing. You can't say she didn't, you know? Come on, give me the... Come on, give it. Grr-pa! That's going in the trailer. I really can't. Hey, you asked for it. I mean, I had to. No, it's really just all about like the... It's just like a little vibe. I don't condone any violence. I love the shooting range and stuff like that. It's kind of like a therapy for me. But I don't... No, it really is because when you think about it, you just go out there and you just... I think your DMs just blew up even further after saying that, so RIP again. I really don't mean it that way because in a shooting range, you go there for the reasoning of like, hey, I'm going to get a better aim and stuff like that. But overall, it's... Everybody has a different type of therapy. When in Miami. Yeah, there is some here as well. It's really not... Hey, I'll be honest, I never owned a gun. The only time I held a gun was in a gun range and stuff like that. So I always did it in safe measures and not to promote that too much, but it's okay to have different types of hobbies as long as you know you're not hurting anybody. Shoot clay, not pigeons. Yeah, literally, I'm shooting at a target that doesn't have nothing crazy, it's just a piece of paper there, you know? Yeah, that's it. Used to be a tree though. Yeah, but that used to be a tree right there. It's a table now. I didn't kill it, Ikea did. But you bought it. I did, I did. I'm part of it, I'm part of it, I'm part of it. Yeah, we all are. So advice for the next generation who's in school now, who doesn't see themselves in the year 10 going further than that and wants to be the next entrepreneur, Olivia, with their next make-up line or whatever they wanna do. What do you say to them? The most important thing is don't give up and no matter what you're trying to get into if you believe that your product can solve somebody's problem and that you can provide authentic, passionate vibe to your business because it's all about passion. I feel like if there's no passion in the business and it's just for the money, then you're not going to make that money. You have to be passionate about what you're doing. You have to love what you're doing. Because with me, I was wearing lashes since everybody was saying like, you're only like 14, 15, why are you doing this? But I believed that there was a bigger picture for it that I didn't even understood at the time. So it's okay if you don't know what you're doing but as long as you just put your head into it, you got this and that's really that, yeah. Summarizes it perfectly. She's good with that. I can't expand on that. I don't want to because it's perfect. That's what I say to the clients who want me to help them with marketing. Do you do it for a passion, a purpose or do you just do it for the money? I do it for the purpose. Because of course, money does rule the world we live in and you don't need that money. But when it's just strictly without, like let's say if I started like selling like tennis rackets tomorrow and if I wasn't into tennis at all, then it's like, I don't know what I'm talking about but you have to live a little bit of that experience. You have to get into your product, love your product and know that what you're selling is quality. Quality is the most important thing about a business. If I was selling bad eyelashes, nobody would buy them but I constantly have girls telling me, hey, your eyelashes are the best, the greatest and they're nothing like the drag store bought ones. So you have to really sell quality over quantity. It's better to make a little bit less on your business but make sure your customers are happy. So they come back. That's in any type of businesses. You have to sell something good so they come back. And then the brand will speak for itself. Exactly. Yes, sir. Hasla, hasla. Fellow European, fellow Hasla, fellow winner, fellow lover of life. Thanks for joining me today. Thank you so much for having me. I had an amazing time and yeah. Thank you for sharing me all your stories. Oh, God, to me. How do we find your business? So if you head over to geckoslashes.com that is the website or geckos underscore lashes on Instagram and here you guys have it, the greatest lashes of all time with some great things coming and yeah, a lot of things are coming but I just feel like that's something that I have to keep my mouth shut on because it's a business that you have to work as you go. Absolutely. And all the stuff will be in the description in the podcast episode, YouTube episode. And speaking of which, something I should probably have said halfway through the show. If you're enjoying the episodes and if you're enjoying the show and you have a bit of time, I don't really promote anything on here apart from Rytank as a sponsor. That's really it. A couple of moves of your thumb. Give us a review, hopefully a positive one and leave a comment, leave your thoughts. It really does help. And Olivia, thanks again for joining. Thank you so much for having me and yeah, it was really a pleasure to be on your podcast and to all your viewers. Thank you so much for watching this podcast with us and I'm so excited to see when it comes out. I'm super excited. So as always, good thanks.