Polina Nioly: “Being an Immigrant Gave Me Determination and Courage”
Polina Nioly, owner of the marketing agency Nioly Media Group, is a master of branding, communication and transformation. When it comes to case studies, her best could arguably be herself. In the span of just a year and a half, Nioly morphed from a young immigrant to a millionaire businesswoman in New York.
Hello, Polina! Your story reads like a fairytale. You came to a foreign country so young and somehow, beat the odds to achieve massive success. How did you do it?
My life is no fairytale. Anyone from my inner circle or anyone who has read my blogs from the very beginning would confirm that. I am the creator of my own life and there is no magic. Instead, I see my life as a structured system of daily steps to achieve my goals.
I was born in a very small town in Russia to a poor family. It was just the three of us: my mother, myself and my younger brother. We constantly moved, lived in between home repairs, and I never had a room to myself while growing up. Because of that, I was always embarrassed to invite my friends over and had no choice but to come up with different excuses.
After graduating high school, I got a scholarship to a university in St. Petersburg to study Sociology. I finally had my own room, even though it was old and infested with cockroaches and I had to share the kitchen and shower with roommates.
I realized that I needed to take charge of my financial future and I started by getting a part-time job as a waitress. I remember how back then, my only dream was being able to buy a cheap studio apartment. In four years, thanks to a lot of hard work, I managed to purchase an apartment for my mother and brother, and later, a multi-bedroom apartment in New York for myself.
The main turning point for me was an exchange trip to the US, where I was exposed to a completely new way of life for the first time. At that moment, I realized I wanted this kind of life, too! I wanted to be able to go to restaurants, not for a special occasion, but just to casually have lunch. I wanted to be able to freely walk into a store and buy a new iPhone—or anything else—for myself or my loved ones without thinking about the price. These realizations became my main motivation to continue taking action and radically change my life.
You left Russia in 2019, opened your first company, Nioly LLC, in the US in 2020. Two short years later, opened your own agency, Nioly Media Group. How have you achieved such big, complex goals so quickly?
I don’t believe in “big and complex goals.” To me, all goals are the same in terms of implementation. I just break them down into sub-goals and everyday, I take at least a small step to achieve each one. Along the way, if I happen to lack a certain expertise or skill set, I hire specialists to help me fill in the gaps. This way, I don’t get stuck.
Today, there are many celebrity musicians among your clients. How did Nioly Media Group win their trust?
In the beginning of building my business, I would do cold outreach to foreign bloggers. At that time, my own blog was growing like crazy and I had record-breaking numbers, so attracting those clients came relatively easily. At the end of 2021, I was invited to Richard Branson’s island and met the guys from One Republic. I checked out their Instagram account and was shocked to see that they had fewer followers than I did. I thought to myself, “This is a world-famous band, how is this even possible?” Immediately, I realized that there was a gap I could fill. I contacted all of my musician friends and offered to take them on as marketing clients for a trial run. Once my first music client started taking off, people began to notice. At that point, I stopped looking for clients because I was receiving so much inbound business, including world-famous musicians, actors and celebrities.
You have a 10-minute rule. What is it?
My team knows that if I have a cool idea, we start working on it within ten minutes, no later. This is my fail-safe principle. I believe that bold ideas should be executed this way and this way only. Otherwise, they are simply postponed and oftentimes not carried out at all. I don’t like doing this to my ideas.
I have another principle that became very valuable for the company and it is that the words “no” and “impossible” are not part of our vocabulary. While other teams shy away from difficult projects, we love a challenge. My team is fueled by problem solving, breaking down complex issues and taking decisive action. I believe this is why we now have a long list of clients and partners who are willing to wait months to start working with us.
I have the same principles and values for my company as I do for my own life. They were my guiding light when I was still in Russia, dreaming of a better life, and they have continued to serve me while building a successful business in the US. Nowadays, it gives me great satisfaction to share my ideas and help my clients achieve the same results.
