I was born in Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, a tiny Eastern European country with a population of just 5.5 million. My upbringing was a blend of cultures—my mother being Slovak and my father from Africa—which offered me a unique perspective from a young age. I grew up in a multi-generational household where I, my brother, and both my parents shared a small apartment with my grandparents. Our situation could be described as middle-lower class at best, meaning life was very modest. I initially included a picture of the area where I lived, but frankly the area looked a little too depressing (think “Soviet housing blocks”). To make matters worse, my parents divorced when I was young, further straining our financial situation. The 90s and early 2000s in Eastern Europe were tough, especially for a mixed raced kid, with limited opportunities for many. I was surrounded by humble beginnings, even by Eastern European standards, though at the time, I didn’t know any different. Running an online business or traveling seemed so remote that I never even dreamed of it.

At the beginning of the summer between school and starting university, I won a cash prize for academic excellence. As an excited 18 year old who also studied German, I used these funds to solo travel around Germany. This sense of freedom and adventure made a profound impact on me, foreshadowing the independence and exploration I would seek in my future. However, I spent nearly all the money I had saved up. When I returned, I needed additional funds for holidays I promised my girlfriend at the time, and despite finishing school, I couldn’t expect any gifts or any financial support from my mother, who worked minimum wage jobs. To raise funds for my first “grown up” holidays in the Canary Islands, I took a door-to-door, commission-only sales job which promised good payday IF you work hard. That sounded like a fair deal to me. While my peers were stacking shelfs or folding clothes with a guaranteed compensation, I was walking for hours, banging on doors, pitching, getting rejected, and closing. The product or “campaign” we were selling were randomly assigned depending on the group you end up in. Unfortunately (or luckily), I was assigned to the most difficult campaign, selling a nature-based charity (during financial downturn) to plant trees, while the other group received free tablets to promote a free, not-so-well known service called Netflix! However, over the course of those two months, I was promoted to a leadership position. This experience was transformative; I learned sales, embraced the “eat what you kill” mentality, and realized the importance of 100% accountability. It strengthened my work ethic and ignited my passion for sales and psychology.

During my time at university, I took an internship at the UK’s largest student job platform, where I was initially responsible for marketing. After being assigned to a single in-person event, I was tasked with developing from scratch and overseeing the in-person event program for the entire year across the UK. This role involved recruiting and training staff and attending student fairs across the UK – quite exciting for a student! I achieved a 300% increase in sign-ups compared to previous records. This experience was invaluable, it was a clear evidence that I can create a sales script based on human triggers and psychology, teach it, and drastically alter business outcomes. Through the internship application process, I also won a mentoring session with Roger Mavity (former Chief Executive of Granada Group’s leisure division, later Chairman of financial PR firm Citigate, and former CEO of the Conran Group), who had just published The Rule Breaker’s Book of Business. Overall, meeting someone with such background was a new and very powerful experience, one that left a lasting impact—though I realize now I probably wasn’t mature enough at the time to fully appreciate the chance to gain even more wisdom from him. He shared his views on career options, business, just as strong opinions on the consulting industry, which shaped my views and ultimately also influenced my choice to pursue more unconventional paths.

As I was ending my time in Durham, I felt even more confused. Instead of learning about influencing people and selling, I realized I had in-depth knowledge about neuroscience, psychophysics, and the human eye. Good to know in academia, but completely useless in the real world. During this period, I was also exposed to a subculture of online marketers who operated outside the norms of mainstream society. The sense of freedom in this subculture was extremely appealing and became an important aspect of my personality. I received offers for consulting jobs in London, but having experienced assessment centers and observed the corporate culture, I realized that I was a contrarian who wouldn’t fit in well. I decided to forgo the expected path of a prestigious corporate job and instead joined a small financial brokerage, where I focused on selling over the phone with a strong emphasis on commission-based compensation. At the time, it felt like a setback, moving from two prestigious academic institutions to a role where most of my colleagues had skipped university altogether.

Looking back, it was somewhat predictable that my colleagues backed down and didn’t take the leap to start a company as we agreed, but in my case, I mentally already made the decision. The deal and commitment to myself to leave was already sealed – so I had no other choice but to leave and march into the unknown! With no prior knowledge of building a product or service, I turned to offering my expertise as a freelancer online: pitch development, lead gen, sales messages, anything and everything sales/marketing related. Winning my first client gave me the boost of confidence to realize my goal of travelling, I knew that if I can close 1 client, I can close 10. I also knew that travelling and need to finance my lifestyle would give me just enough pressure to start turning freelancing into a business. It was a leap into the unknown when I decided to start traveling just months after leaving my job, with almost no savings and only one non-recurring client. The pressure from my family, who urged me to stay for the security of a stable job, made the decision even harder—they, like most families, naturally wanted what felt safest for me. Given the sparse income at the beginning, I opted for a cost-effective destination with beautiful beaches: I left for solo journey to Romania’s coastline!

After several years of managing done-for-you projects and serving hundreds of satisfied clients, I realized it was time for a change. I came to understand that the done-for-you agency model was not always the most effective for clients and limited the number of people I could impact. To better support founders in their growth, I needed a more flexible approach. I significantly downsized my team, leveraged my years of experience, and developed a training program that focuses on assisting clients, while we still help 1-on-1 with implementation. We also expanded our scope to include other B2B industries. This shift marked the transition to a done-with-you model and the launch of The Sales Ecosystem (first version). With this new approach, we are able to deliver faster, more effective results, allowing clients to take greater control of their business and fostering healthier, more productive relationships.

Our done-with-you approach is constantly improving and evolving, allowing us to serve a greater number of clients more effectively, delivering better results in a shorter timeframe. The launch of SEF 2.0, which is still actively refined (now at version 2.4, technically speaking), has been a significant milestone. We have surpassed 450 satisfied clients and developed our own SaaS platform to help clients execute the sales playbooks we help them to implement in their business. Directly within our engagements, we’ve driven hundreds of thousands in revenue and, through our systems/learning, contributed to millions in revenue.