We had the good fortune of connecting with Oleg Kovalov and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Oleg, what inspires you?
I am inspired by my goal, a vision of my Ukrainian family and my loved ones being taken care of. Have a happy life and not worry about anything they need to live a better life.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I started by being invited from Kyiv, Ukraine, to the USA to play Division I basketball. After graduation, I couldn’t pursue my basketball career due to injuries. But my father always told me to prepare a Plan B and plan C in life if plan A doesn’t work. I have started doing motivational speeches to compare and contrast a life in Ukraine and life in the US. My message was Americans should be appreciative of what they have, and that is the opportunity to do whatever they want if they put their mind to it. After a few successful speaking events, I’ve got to be invited to work in marketing and sales for multiple companies I started learning social media marketing and understood that creating social media post imagery and videos can move people by sharing some fantastic stories, and when I picked up a video camera, I fell in love with the video production. After learning what I could via YouTube and Google, I’ve started freelancing. The hardest part was doing free work for companies for little to no money. Still, persistent creativity year after year brought me to spot where I started my own video production company and got a chance to work with big brands like Chick-fil-A, NBA Allstar players, and some cool companies overseas. From all the work and journey that I’m still on, the most significant achievement I am very proud of is that now I am capable of supporting and providing a better life for my parents. I know I still have a more to go to get to the next level of video creation, but i am so happy about this achievement.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I really don’t have a favorite spot as I travel a lot. If a friend comes over I love to cook. And my favorite things to do is ride onewheel and go on nature or urban casual video shoots with creative friends.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Everybody has a journey, a story send do you have characters in it that support you when you’re down and try to bring you down to make you stronger (at least this is how I see it) and to all of them thankful. Thankful for playing a role in my story. My biggest supporters were and are my Ukrainian family.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/video.hook/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYk9gW9X-YoeWNqVTFIr3fw

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutArizona is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.