From a marketing agency to recruitment in Leeds — through relocation and a family partnership
Today, I am a co-owner of the recruitment agency PPower and an entrepreneur driven to build a systematic business with predictable results. I was born in Kyiv, and now live in Leeds, England. Although business feels like a natural environment to me today, my journey began without any “entrepreneurial tradition” in my family. No one close to me was in business, and for the first few years my parents sincerely did not believe it could be serious.
In 2012, I first ventured into entrepreneurship—we opened a marketing agency. Over time, the business grew to a team of more than 20 people; we launched a printing operation and developed an IT division. This was a very important stage: my first real experience of responsibility, managing people, and building processes.
Then came the move and a complete reshaping of life. I closed my previous business, briefly returned to employment, and during that time my wife launched PPower. At one point, we sat down and honestly asked ourselves a simple question: where could each of us be most effective, and what would be the best investment of our time, experience, and resources?
That is how I officially joined my wife’s business as a partner. From that point on, the agency began to change: it gradually evolved from a “little startup” into a systematic, well-managed, and scalable business.
Partnership is one of the most important themes in my life. Especially when it comes to partnership not only in business, but in family life too. Honestly, there is no universal formula that works for everyone. But the fact that my wife and I met as adults shaped a lot for us. We were both 35. We were mature, accomplished, and had our own experience and well-established values.
At that time, my wife was already leading a large international nonprofit organization. She worked her way up literally from scratch—like those stories about McDonald’s, where someone starts at the very bottom and years later becomes the CEO. She followed exactly that kind of path—over 12 years.
And perhaps the main secret to our partnership is very simple: find someone at your level of maturity. Not in terms of status or money, but of inner maturity. Because partnership—in business, in relationships, and in parenthood—works only when two people can be equal partners. If there is a strong psychological or emotional imbalance, it is very difficult to maintain balance.
Of course, we have conflicts. Sometimes very intense ones. But I clearly distinguish conflict from an argument. Conflict is a clash of two opinions. Two people can completely disagree with each other, and that is normal. An argument, though, is about hurtful remarks and the roles of attacker and victim.
In a partnership, the most important thing is not to avoid conflict, but to be able to hear each other. Even when, inside, you are thinking, “I completely disagree.” You still respect the other person’s opinion and look for a solution that will get results. For me, that is the foundation of a healthy partnership.
Life puts that foundation to the test. Especially when children come along. We have two children close in age, and honestly, it is a serious challenge. I once heard a joke: the first child takes up 80% of your life, and the second takes another 80%. At the time, it seemed exaggerated. Now I understand there is a lot of truth in it.
That is exactly why a foundation of trust, respect, and support becomes critically important. Without it, neither a family nor a business can last.
We are also working on a partnership agreement. Although I understand perfectly well that no document can protect anyone on its own, I still consider it an important part of a mature partnership. Perhaps because I have had a negative experience in business: partners simply took the team, clients, and money—and there was practically nothing you could do about it. So I take these things much more seriously now.
When I think about the future, I can clearly see two things five years from now.
The first is personal. My older son will be about ten, my younger one eight, and we will go to Disneyland Paris. For some reason, this is a very vivid and heartwarming picture of the future for me. It seems like the perfect age for the kind of memories that stay with you for life.
The second is business-related. We definitely see PPower becoming an international company with offices in different countries. We already have a five-year development strategy written down and several new business areas we want to launch.
And what is most exciting is that we are currently growing faster than we forecast. Looking at the numbers, as recently as the middle of last year we were about three times smaller in terms of scale. At the same time, we are not inflating the team—we have redesigned our processes and changed the business model so that profits are now growing much more efficiently. And that is very inspiring.
Charity and social projects also have a special place in our lives. We are a Christian family, and it is important to us to support people doing genuinely good things. For many years, we have supported various initiatives, including children’s projects in Lviv. Of course, we also support the army—this has become especially important in recent years.
And perhaps if there is one topic I would really like to talk about more, it is partnership. I see how much it affects both business and life in general. It seems to me that people do not talk about it enough.
Once, an American pastor and mentor who had been married for more than 50 years told us something very simple. We asked him, “What’s the secret?” And he answered, “First, spend at least an hour talking every day, without phones, without children, without anything else—just the two of you. And second, go on a date every week.”
And I think this applies not only to family, but to any partnership. Communication and regular face-to-face contact are the foundation. Sometimes people think they are communicating when they exchange messages on a messenger app. But that is not really the case. Nothing can replace a live conversation.
An honest conversation about where each person is most effective—and how a “little startup” became a systematic business
How did the business idea come about?
My wife launched PPower as an operating company. She built all the processes, while I was heavily involved in marketing, strategy, and finance because I had relevant experience.
At one point, we simply sat down and had an honest conversation about where each of us could be most effective. By then, I had closed my marketing business and IT division after moving, but I knew I had a lot of experience and resources that I wanted to put to use.
And then a simple question came up: why not do it together?
Our skills complement each other very well. My wife is responsible for operations and the recruitment teams; I handle marketing, strategy, and finance.
In fact, I had been involved in the business before, too, but at that point we consciously began investing all our resources in it.
For me, this was a real turning point, both personally and for the company. Before that, it was more of a “little startup” that had operated that way for years. Afterward, it began to take shape as a fully fledged business with a proper management system and a scalable structure.
Remote work in 2015 and helicopter view—strategic thinking as a competitive advantage
What key skills helped you launch the business?
I think one of my strengths is strategic and creative thinking. Before this, I worked at Canadian and European companies, focusing on strategy and development, and that gave me a lot of insight.
For example, back in 2015 we realized we needed to optimize costs, and I suggested moving the team online. At the time, it sounded almost fantastical. Books about remote work were only just starting to appear, and working remotely was associated mainly with large international corporations.
We moved part of the team to a remote setup, and it was not an easy decision—some people simply left. But then 2020 and COVID arrived, and it became clear how right that move had been.
I have always enjoyed thinking ahead in business: what will happen next, where the market is going, and what changes we need to make before they become mainstream. That helicopter view was very helpful.
This was especially critical after 2014, when we lost almost 70% of our revenue because the market changed. We had to adapt very quickly, find new approaches and new opportunities. Strategic thinking was key.
Without a financial model, it’s not a business—it’s a hobby
What were the 3 most difficult challenges you faced in the early years?
The first thing I came to understand over time is that business starts with finance.
There is a very simple difference between a hobby and a business: if there is a financial model, it is a business. If there isn’t one, and everything works on the principle of “we sell some things, buy some things, and there’s some activity”—it’s a hobby.
For years, I avoided the financial side as much as possible. I thought there would always be someone to take care of it: an accountant, a finance professional, a consultant. But at some point I realized that if I did not control the finances myself, I was effectively handing over management of the most important part of the business to someone else.
And when I began to delve deeply into the financial model, it became one of the most important turning points.
I believe that when starting a business, the first priority should be building a financial model: understanding where the profit, expenses, investments, and losses are. Only then should you think about the product or scaling.
Because without the math, the system does not work properly.
Three roles in one family business
What crises has your business faced, and how did you overcome them?
I believe that crises are what help us grow.
Honestly, the biggest crises in life are often not related to business alone. For example, having children is a major transformation for a family. Your whole life is literally reshaped. And not everyone finds it easy.
At that time, my wife was already actively involved in the business. I remember that when we were expecting our first child, we planned to have a partner-supported birth, and on the very day it was all supposed to start, she was still messaging clients. She was rescheduling meetings and writing, “Sorry, I won’t be able to make it tomorrow; I’ll be at the maternity hospital.” The client did not even realize she was pregnant because all the communication was online.
She worked right up until the very last moment—simply because her health allowed it and that was the pace of life we had.
When you build a family business, that is a challenge in itself. You have to keep switching roles and understand when you are spouses, when you are parents, and when you are business partners. These are three completely different roles, and it is important to keep them separate. We did not get it right straight away, either. We are still learning, but we are much better at it now.
Our most difficult crises are usually related to strategy and finance. But in those situations, we always understand that we have to reach an agreement, no matter what. There simply is no other option.
So the main thing is respecting each other and each other’s opinions, even when they are radically different from your own. The second is looking for common ground. We always try to find it.
Investing in our own business and accepting a partner’s mistakes—what led to threefold growth
Which decisions proved most effective for the company’s growth?
The most important decision was to invest in ourselves and in our own business.
Not in real estate or something abstract, but specifically in our own development, our team, and our processes. It sounds simple, but it was a very important stage for us.
The second key point was learning to accept each other’s mistakes.
My partner and I have clearly divided areas of responsibility, and I think that is one reason our family partnership works. But when a mistake happens—whether it is mine or my wife’s—it is important not to look for someone to blame, but to ask, “Okay, how can we solve this? How can I help?”
Especially when it comes to business mistakes, which can sometimes be very costly.
I remember when we began working together full-time and I took on a significant share of the responsibility. My wife said something very simple but important: “I can breathe more easily now.”
When you carry the team, finances, marketing, and sales on your own, it is very difficult. When some of that responsibility passes to someone you trust, you feel supported.
And that is perhaps one of the most valuable aspects of partnership.
English as a teenager—the biggest mistake that later slowed me down
What mistake do you now consider your most valuable experience?
Perhaps it was how much I underestimated English when I was a teenager.
At the time, it seemed unimportant, and I simply neglected it. Then, when English became essential for international meetings and work, I had to make a tremendous effort to catch up.
And at certain points, it really affected my confidence.
I still think that if I had paid more attention to it back then, some things in my life might have moved much faster.
So now I know for sure: it was one of my biggest mistakes—and at the same time, a very valuable lesson.
