A motivated and passionate pianist, Oksana Kolesnikova is a highly-acclaimed artist, educator, franchisor, and philanthropist. She’s traveled the world, bringing wonderful music to a wide variety of people and cultures. Oksana Kolesnikova is the Founder and CEO of three prolific companies, including Oksana Franchising International, Oksana Management Group, and the Oksana Foundation. With love for performing, teaching, and composing music, she inspires students to see and learn music on a deeper level.
Oksana Kolesnikova was born in Siberia to highly supportive parents that worked in the education field. She showed an early talent and passion for music, so her parents signed her up for piano lessons in Kazakhstan. With the guidance of lessons, her talent quickly blossomed, and she started winning piano competitions. After the Soviet Union dissolved in 1993, her family emigrated to the United States, which further expanded her potential for musical endeavors. In St. Petersburg, Florida, she attended high school and college, where she won the Florida State Young Artists Symposium Competition. With this honored achievement, she received a scholarship to the esteemed Florida State School of Music, graduating with honors in 2001. While pursuing a higher degree at Florida State, she met her future husband, Alex, who has since supported her with music, business, and life. With an excellent dynamic, they joined forces, and Alex became her dedicated career manager.
She traveled overseas to perform for and entertain the U.S. Navy, which marked her as the first Russian-American female pianist ever to do this. In September of 2003, she also embarked on a solo tour and provided entertainment for U.S. troops. Countless more successful tours in Asia and Europe brought Oksana widespread acclaim and achievements in her early career. In 2004, she performed in many Asian countries, including Korea, Guam, Japan, Singapore, and Okinawa. Upon becoming an official U.S. citizen in 2006, she and Alex relocated to Beverly Hills, California, where she embraced a highly honored pianist position at the legendary Polo Lounge. For seven years, she regularly played for celebrities in the business and entertainment industry. As she continued to play exquisite music each week, stars began recognizing her talent and desired her to play at private venues. These high-profile people also reached out to her for piano lessons. As Oksana taught various celebrities and their kids, she developed a love for helping and teaching young people.
In 2009, she became the mother of a boy named Alessandro, whom she cherishes very much. With Alessandro in the family, she felt the need to trim down her performance and travel schedule, shifting her focus towards business endeavors. Efficiently employing her business knowledge and connections in Los Angeles, she sought to meet schools and parents’ needs and develop her brand. In 2010, she founded the Oksana Management Group, also known as OMG. Through this business, she solidified her presence as a successful entrepreneur as well as a prolific musician and artist. On top of sharing art and skills with audiences, she found joy in educating students and running her businesses.
With further strides, she founded the Oksana School of Music, which received an award for Best of Beverly Hills in 2014. This widespread recognition led to an abundance of celebrities seeking lessons for themselves and their families. Efficiently inquiring ways to teach out-of-town and overseas students, Oksana began utilizing skype lessons. One of the ideas that she values highly is working only with people she admires and respects.
Oksana® Management Group offers a broad range of educational opportunities, including music lessons for guitar and piano, and language lessons for Spanish, French, and Italian. On top of that, OMG provides tutoring for math and many other subjects. Growing these businesses through franchising, the family created Oksana® Franchising International. As a highly-caring individual, she also founded the Oksana® Foundation, a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization that provides education for disadvantaged youths. The Oksana Management Group currently comprises numerous students, instructors, and affiliations with various school districts in Southern California. With a primary focus on quality and honor, she handpicks instructors that have high prestige.
After over a year of focused collaboration with the best franchise specialist, she kickstarted a franchise opportunity for her scholastic and arts education program in 2019. Through this expansion, her innovative programs reached a national and international level. Her achievements led to recognition at the 2020 pre-Grammy Awards party, where she received an Award of Excellence in Education. This party took place at the Los Angeles Chargers Penthouse Headquarters, and she performed a few original piano compositions.
In terms of her music, Oksana released eight C.D.s, featuring original, popular and classical styles. Her most popular CD, called Free Floating, won Best Classical Album of The Year on SoloPiano.com. On her albums, she also collaborated with several famous music artists. In addition to that, Oksana has a YouTube Channel called “Oksanabella,” which has nearly 3 million total video views.
Please tell us a bit about your company. What are the company’s central goals?
We’re a national franchise operation called Oksana® Franchising International, DBA Oksana® Enrichment, that awards our franchises to individuals and entrepreneurs that want to be independent business owners in the thrilling private education industry. We train our franchisees on our thriving business model, which outlines how to provide music lessons and after school enrichment programs. We also teach Foreign Languages like Spanish, Italian, French, and Chinese. With our program, young people, grades K-12, can access all subject academic tutoring, Sports, Financial Education, Drama/Acting, Dance, and many more things, which we offer to the public, private clients, charter, and private schools, school districts, and municipalities.
Tell us a little about your life and what led to starting this company?
I’ve always held a high interest in children’s education and providing opportunities for them beyond schooling. Also, private education is a multi-billion-dollar sector. There is an abundance of parents that involve their kids with sports, art, music, drama, and tutoring.
I recognized that with the creation of Oksana Management Group, Inc., I could scale my business model in light of this demand. Though it took us 10 years of trial and error to get to this point of expansion and accomplishment, our franchisees can now minimize the learning curve and get to the same point while avoiding costly mistakes. We implemented a proven formula, an excellent operation for other entrepreneurs to come out on top. With our highly affordable franchise model, we efficiently operate this virtual and home-based structure. Furthermore, it’s an “intellectual knowledge” business with no storage of physical goods, expiration dates, or other elements.
Regarding after-school Enrichment programs, it’s no secret that vast amounts of music, arts, and foreign language programs have been cut out of school curriculums nationwide. Upon enrolling my son into a new school district, I hoped to have him participate in After-School extracurricular programs to learn a new subject or skill. I soon realized that none of these activities were readily available, not only at my son’s school but in countless others.
I learned that many parents wanted the same choices as I did, so I designed affordable and exciting group programs and presented them to several schools. I received a fantastic reception for the idea of After-School Enrichment Programs, which many schools throughout L.A. and Beverly Hills have implemented.
What are some of the projects that you’re working on at the moment?
I’ve always dreamt of owning my own Foundation, through which I could perform charitable work for various areas, to give back to neighborhoods that have supported my own goals and desires. I have always held a burning desire to help disadvantaged youth by providing educational opportunities that they otherwise can’t afford. These visions became a reality from the unfortunate events in our modern-day world, and we found ourselves launching my non-profit Oksana Foundation.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, the Oksana® Foundation has provided free online music programs to children aged seven to thirteen, who are stuck at home because of social distancing practices. Countless children have participated so far in our virtual classes each week to learn a new craft, and we’ve welcomed all students wishing to join us, regardless of their location.
Describe what your average workday entails.
I’m a more content person when I’m building my empire. Interestingly enough, due to my nature, free time stresses me out and makes me restless. I constantly seek to do different things because of my broad dedication and passion for my mission. I value my career so much that I never wish to retire. My typical day goes like this: I awaken at 4:30 am to meditate and organize my long- and short-term goals over a delicious cup of Urth Caffè coffee. I then read some inspirational material, which sets my day on the right path and produces a winning mindset.
From around 8-9 am, I perform some outdoor exercises while listening to my favorite music. I fully support the idea of maintaining a “Healthy Body, Healthy Mind.” After some physical activity, I craft a healthy breakfast and get prepared and presentable for the day.
From 9:30- 2 pm, I operate my businesses, do media interviews, hold meetings, hire new members, and attend to my responsibilities as a CEO. From 2-3 pm, I revive my energy by enjoying a tasty lunch, which my husband, who has impressive cooking skills, often prepares. Then I meditate or watch inspirational public speakers for the rest of the time.
From 3-7:30 pm, I manage our classes taking place at multiple locations. I also work with clients and students, train my team, and compose, practice, and create music. From 7:30-9:30 pm, I dedicate time to my family, especially my son. I’m the happy mom of Alessandro Concas, an already successful and ambitious young entrepreneur. He authored two books; one called The A to Z’s of Fighting Boredom which he wrote at the age of eight. He also recently published another book in the Sci-Fi genre called, “Life of the Time Cat,” inspired by his cat Bijou.
Alessandro has also developed to be a talented young pianist himself, entertaining people with his impressive abilities on the keys. I love spending time with him and teaching him music, business, and other essential life skills.
At 9:30-10:30 pm, I analyze, contemplate, review my day, and assess goals I have reached and gotten closer to achieving. For the rest of the night, I practice gratefulness as I fall asleep around 11 pm.
What top 3 skills do you think are most important to be a flourishing entrepreneur, and why?
If you do what you love, you’re more likely to be successful. I’ve had plenty of naysayers in my life, claiming that I’ll never be successful with a music career. Other common things I’ve heard are, “Starting your own business is too dangerous.” “9 out of 10 businesses fold.” “Too much competition will keep you from being successful.” “Many people are better at this than you are.” “It takes lots of money to get money.” In the long run, I’m glad I didn’t succumb to these words. I continued doing my own thing and loved it every step of the way.
Nothing will happen without direct action. Accomplishing anything significant in life takes massive amounts of perseverance, energy, and hard work. Of course, some people hit the lucky jackpot, but for others, overnight endeavors take years. Even with high hopes and dreams, people who remain passive in life won’t get very far. You have to draw resources from your environment actively, taking time to plant and harvest seeds. These trees full of fruit will put food on your family’s table for years.
“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”
Everyone hates setbacks, but each trial presents a different life lesson. When things get hard with many setbacks, I don’t let myself become discouraged or defensive, which is a normal human nature trait. I view things objectively. First, I assess if there are any opportunities in disguise, which is very often the case. I then recognize what lesson comes with the moment, so if this setback happens again, I’ll know how to succeed.
What are your plans? How will you continue growing your company?
Oksana® Franchising International, Inc (dba Oksana® Enrichment), aims to scale the current business model and have franchising in over 30 states within the next five years. In the next ten years, our company’s growth will spread to all states and many countries. Our exit strategy is to sell our globally established franchise business within the next 30 years.
How do you get funding? What is your biggest advice for entrepreneurs in the art of raising funds?
I took a long haul called the bootstrap route in my entrepreneurial path, also known as the self-funding route. Though the course isn’t the most glamorous, the approach employs a slow and steady growth. When you reinvest funds to grow your company, you have to be careful, resourceful, smart, and extremely creative.
How many total clients do you have, and at what point do you consider your company prosperous?
For me, it’s not about the quantity, but rather quality. I take pride in the fact that my businesses have received so many fantastic reviews and positively influenced a wide variety of people. Our customer service is exceptional and is at the driving force of everything we do at the Oksana brand.
What were 3 of your biggest mistakes when launching your business, and what did you learn from them?
Surprisingly, there’s nothing I wouldn’t do over again. My mistakes taught me the most lessons! I have a particular approach to every failure that I experience. I learn incredible lessons from my mistakes and usually find a way to turn them into successes. Each mistake I’ve made was a blessing in disguise, leading to other opportunities or giving new light to situations. It might not always be the most enjoyable experience, but, boy, you’re lucky if you discover and implement traits of persistence and dedication. On another note, I’m also highly appreciative of all my mistakes because I can now train my franchisees to avoid them.
How do you market your business, and what’s your ideal form of marketing?
After hearing of Oksana® Enrichment, people soon discover the name and the face behind it all. As a longtime public figure, initially as a performing artist, educator, and business person, I established a lengthy record of all the arduous work, as well as the time and dedication I spent, fueled by the passion and legacy I want to leave behind. My primary marketing tools have been my name, skills, identity, and experience. Everything I’ve accomplished over the years has left footprints, easily detected with a quick search on the internet. When setting out to do something, I pave and pioneer the road to teach it to others, including franchisees, consulting clients, and pupils. Oksana® Brand values integrity, quality, and the ultimate experience of enrichment.
What was the most notable business advice you ever received?
Follow your passion!
Say I want to start my own version of your company. What pieces of advice do you have for me?
Why start with nothing, when you can become one of our franchisees and learn how to avoid a decade of trial and error in just 10 days of training! Avoid expensive mistakes and achieve faster success by using an already proven method! I’m here to assist people by offering my Franchise Opportunity. Our Franchisees’ success is my top priority because when they succeed, we succeed! To ensure this success, we provide several days of comprehensive training and continuous support for people desiring to obtain their own American Dream.
Our competitive advantage is that we have a smooth and easy entry process for Franchisees through an affordable initiation fee, along with royalties and selection of the most extensive protected territory.
What are the 3 most useful online tools and resources you currently use to expand your company?
I hire many experienced experts. Nothing can beat the reputable experience of essential team players. Prosperity directly correlates with the people around you. Working with experts may be costlier, but it’s worth the extra money. Have you heard the saying, “Cheap pays twice?” Mentors are also crucial as they propel you in the right direction, allowing you to have quicker triumphs. Besides offering my business, I also provide motivation consulting services, personally guiding my clients to higher professional achievements.
How do you define prosperity?
When you find yourself fueled by passion, never wanting to retire, doing something you cherish, you bring immense value to your community and touch people in a genuine and meaningful way. To me, this is the true meaning of prosperity.
For entrepreneurs, what books and courses do you recommend?
I recommend the Robert Kiyosaki business course. Some highly beneficial books for entrepreneurs are “Think and grow rich” by Napoleon Hill, and “The 7 habits of highly effective people” by S. Covey.
If you had the chance to redo your whole career, what would you do differently?
I would have started my businesses sooner. I focused on being an accomplished performing artist in my early years, but I later discovered my excellent knack for business years later.
What is your all-time favorite entrepreneurship quote?
My favorite quote is, “Don’t wait for an opportunity. Create it.”
How can the community get in contact with you?
I’m active on Social Media: Instagram: OMGOksana; FaceBook: OMGOksana; Twiter: OMG_Oksana; Linkedin/in/OMGOksana; Youtube: Oksanabella.
And these are my websites:
www.oksana-k.com (artist website)
www.oksanamanagementgroup.com (primary company)
www.oksanaenrichment.com (Franchising venture)
www.oksanafoundation.org (my Foundation)
and finally, www.alessandroconcas.com (my son Alessandro’s website!)
Photography: Daniele Buccheri, DBFilms.net
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