Peter: I'm joined by Olga and Alex of Essential Moments. They've been amazing clients for the last 10 months and have an incredible story. Give us a little intro.

Olga: We've been doing weddings for 13 years. Nine of those were in Europe, and this is our fourth year here in the U.S. When we first talked to you, we had shot barely three weddings here and had no bookings and no advertising. I knew we needed a system to get inquiries, plus marketing and sales, but I didn't know how to handle all of it. Then we found you through an ad. Ten months later, we have more than 40 weddings and about $170K in sales, and we understand how to predict everything and how to make more.

Olga: We'd been in the U.S. for three years, shooting weddings, YouTube channels, and commercial work for almost no money. I remember our first call. We were in a hurry to go somewhere, and I said, "No, Alex, we need to talk to this man." After 30 minutes, we sent the deposit.

Alex: Olga had a YouTube channel where she interviewed entrepreneurs. She always asked people who'd been in the U.S. a long time what they'd recommend for new arrivals, and one told her to get a mentor. But we never trusted promotions on Facebook or Instagram. We thought they were frauds. Olga said, "We're going to at least have a conversation, and then we'll decide."

Peter: What felt different about what we do compared to what you'd seen before?

Olga: I researched three to five coaches. Then I watched one of your interviews with a woman who had been a schoolteacher. It was about 40 minutes, and she answered all my questions. She explained that you run the ads for her and help with scripts, preparing for consultations, and handling objections, and that there's a community of people in the same field. I said, "This is it. We need to go there."

Peter: You had a successful wedding business in Ukraine, but when you moved here, it was like starting over, and it just wasn't taking off.

Olga: It's totally different. People talk differently, explain things differently, and have a different mindset. In some ways it's easier here, because we can do more for people than they expect. But there were so many details I never would have imagined. Couples have questions they'd never ask you outright. Because I have a template for how to ask and talk with them, I know how to lead the conversation, understand them completely, and give them exactly what they're looking for.

Alex: When people ask me whether I recommend working with you, I say, "We've been there 10 months and we're still there. If something were wrong, I'd have left." We have the numbers for those 10 months, and they're incredible for us in the U.S. market. Honestly, we were desperate when we signed up. We put everything into it, and it was a lot of money, but it was one of the best decisions we've made here.

I've met a lot of Americans who are very talented, creative people, even better than us, but they don't have clients, so they end up working for us. They're waiting for clients to see their work and come to them on their own. I've been there too. But you teach how to be confident and be a bit of a leader in the conversation when you're selling.

Olga: We're never stopping. We'd need to hire three more people to do everything your team does. I told someone in our community that you'll never find one person who charges the same amount and does all the work Peter's team does. And because you only do this for wedding photo and video, I know you're very experienced in it.

Olga: I sold more than 30 weddings with only three weddings in my portfolio. So there's no excuse about not having a portfolio. Shoot for two couples, and you'll have one. You have to do your part, of course, but when you're good at your work, it's easy to run the system.

It wasn't easy from day one. For the first two weeks, we had just one sale, for $1,500. I remember you told me to be humble, that we might not make more than $60,000 a year. I like that you're straightforward and don't promise things that won't happen. Sometimes I didn't want to send my consultation calls for review, but the feedback changed how I talk with people, what I change, and why people do or don't understand me. All those details matter.

Alex: When Olga started, your team sent us scripts for talking with clients. English isn't her first language, so at first she was reading them very carefully, word for word. It was a little awkward, but we were ready.

Olga: At the beginning, I had 60 to 80 calls and 20 to 40 Zoom calls a month. I was exhausted, but I told myself, "This is my training. I need to go through this."

Olga: When I texted you, we were at $162,000. Since then, we've made $12,000 more, so we're at $174,000. I actually can't believe it.

Peter: $174K in 10 months, in LA, one of the most competitive markets in the country, where English isn't your first language, and you had to learn how to sell in the American market.

Olga: It's not our first or even our second language.

Peter: What are the biggest lessons you've learned along the way?

Alex: Practice, ask a lot of questions, listen, and change. In Ukraine, our business already worked, so sometimes we got a little lazy. When we moved here, we realized that doesn't work. We started asking people who had already succeeded what they'd recommend for new arrivals. I worked a job shooting video reviews in wealthy people's homes, and I always asked them for advice. About 90% said the same thing: "Learn English and work in the American market. Don't look back at who you were or how many stars you had. Right now you're starting from zero, so go ahead. Don't stay only in your Slavic community. Go into the American market."

Olga: A lot of photographers think they were something. When we came here, we thought we were something too. We had 14 years of wedding experience. Before the war started, we had 25 employees and 40 clients consistently paying us every month, and the year before the war, we made $778,000 in revenue in Ukraine. Coming here, we had to start from scratch. It's hard to accept that you need to do things differently and that you're not 100% right.

Alex: And we always gave clients more than they expected. They'd expect photos at their engagement session, and we'd also shoot video and drone footage. When they got that video, they were so surprised that they wanted to work with us for the whole wedding.

Peter: You were literally fleeing your country because of the war, leaving what was basically a seven-figure business, and you had to start over. And you're on every single group coaching call with questions, always eager to learn.

Olga: I write questions in my notes every day. We have four children, and two were born in the last three years. For the first six months of the program, Alex sometimes worked as an associate for other companies, and I was closing the door and talking to clients on Zoom while the baby was crying, using noise cancellation, because I had to be on time. Those six months were so hard. Now that she's in daycare, it's so much easier. I'm grateful to every client who decided to work with us, and to you first of all. I think God put you in our lives.

Peter: When we first talked, you wanted to do about 30 weddings a month. At this point, it's kind of inevitable.

Olga: I think we'll get there in maybe three years. Now it's clear how to do it because of this system. Like you said at the beginning, business is just math. You count the numbers and see how much more you need to invest to get more people and more sales.

Peter: If you want to double your weddings, you double your calls, and to double your calls, you spend more on ads. Now that you have the foundation, it's more about hiring and managing.

Peter: What would you say to a photographer watching this, the way you were a year ago, who thinks it sounds too good to be true?

Olga: Feel free to think that. I was skeptical, and Alex was always skeptical. Even now, he sometimes says, "Maybe we should find someone else," and I say, "No, no, no."

Alex: There are times when it feels like you're getting nothing, but you still have to pay for advertising. You have to believe in the future. First of all, we're believers in God and Jesus Christ, and then we believe in what we're building. We never trusted ads like this, but we tried it, and it worked. Now we're confident in our work and in how we can double it.

Olga: Some photographers are doing well, maybe 40 weddings a year. But there will be high times and low times. If anyone wants advertising, it will definitely be great for them, especially with you, Peter, because you have a system, not just leads. Even if it doesn't work at the beginning, it will work. It's a mindset. Not everyone wants to build a business. Some people just want a hobby that isn't predictable.

Alex: And it's a lot of work for the photographer. You don't just get leads and have them already booked.

Peter: Being a great photographer isn't the same as being a great photography business owner. If you want to build a business, you have to do the things you're describing.

Olga: At first I didn't want to share your system with our associates, because I thought they'd go build their own businesses and stop working for us. Then I realized not everyone will do what we're doing. If someone succeeds, I'll be happy for them. If not, I'll be happy to give them work.