Entrepreneur Intel

This week’s guest started her first successful business when she was 19, became a TEDx speaker, and is now an Emmy nominated, award winning, TV and film producer. Joining the show is Managing Partner at Parliament Studios, Jenny Feterovich. 

Jenny joins host Wes Mathews and shares her inspirational journey as a successful entrepreneur who immigrated to America with just a hundred dollars and a suitcase. She shares her belief in the power of self-reflection, hard work, and persistence as key driving forces behind her success. 
 
Takeaways:
  • Having unwavering self-belief is the silver bullet for success, even in the face of doubt and discouragement from others. It's crucial to persevere and find solutions, despite the challenges encountered along the way.
  • Despite limiting circumstances, entrepreneurial individuals display resourcefulness by finding ways to work around their circumstances. The core principle of entrepreneurship is leveraging existing assets to generate income and pursue ideas.
  • Self-reflection and wisdom gained through age and experience can lead to the realization that chasing external success may not align with one's soul's purpose. Understanding this can help prioritize personal fulfillment over societal expectations.
  • Having a clear purpose in life and using platforms like winning an award to share a meaningful message can greatly impact and inspire others. It's crucial to align our desires with our purpose and consider how we can make a positive difference.
  • Building strong connections and staying committed to your goals can lead to remarkable opportunities, like receiving funding for your business, winning awards, and garnering critical acclaim. 
  • Immersive experiential entertainment is gaining popularity, as traditional forms of entertainment are being replaced by more interactive experiences. The future lies in creating engaging content that captivates the younger generation in innovative ways.
  • Success is often perceived as an overnight achievement, but in reality, it requires years of hard work, dedication, and unseen effort. Understanding the behind-the-scenes journey is crucial to appreciate the true significance of someone's accomplishments.


Quote of the Show:
  • “If you're passionate and you can showcase that you are going to make this work, no matter what, and you are going to do it right, I think you will succeed.” - Jenny Feterovich


Links:



Ways to Tune In:

Creators & Guests

Host
Wes Mathews
KC
Producer
Kyle Conover

What is Entrepreneur Intel?

Welcome to Entrepreneur Intel, a podcast where we discuss the most important strategies for success from amazing entrepreneurs. Host Wes Mathews sits down with business owners to learn about how they got started running their own business, what helped them succeed and the biggest lessons they learned along the way.

Be sure to catch new episodes every Thursday morning, and to make sure you never miss out on any insights, don’t forget to subscribe to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, You Tube or wherever you get your podcasts.

This show is sponsored by Stealth Consulting, your Fractional CMO. Stealth provides the roadmap and accountability to reach your business and marketing goals. Learn more at https://stealthconsulting.com/

Wes: So I am super excited for today's guest, a little bit about today's guest. She is a talented entrepreneur with a wealth of knowledge, immigrated to America with a hundred dollars in a suitcase. She started her first successful business when she was 19 and has been a blazing path forward ever since.

TEDx speaker, former EO Detroit chapter president, an Emmy nominated award winning TV and film producer, working to give audiences an up close look at what it means to be an entrepreneur. Producer of probably my favorite documentary, The Russian Five, which actually, believe it or not, and I looked, it has a hundred percent score on Rotten Tomatoes.

That's,

that's

Jenny Feterovich: By critics and people, actually.

Wes: What's that?

Jenny Feterovich: and audiences.

Wes: It, that's amazing. We got to dive into that because in my entrepreneurial journey, you hear you can't make everybody happy, but somehow you did in that. So that's awesome. So Jen, uh, also managing partner at Parliament Studios. Welcome Jenny

Jenny Feterovich: having me, Wes. Excited to be on your podcast.

Wes: I'm so excited to talk to you. I mean, there's so much just on your introduction and just so much that I, that I want to ask, but I want to first start by asking, uh, the big question. So Jenny, you've been a successful entrepreneur for years over the ride. Like what's the one most important thing. And the reason why I asked that it's, you know, what's the smoking gun.

What's the silver bullet. That's what everybody wants. What does that

question

Jenny Feterovich: You know, I discovered that not too long ago, actually, because if you would have asked me, maybe even like six months ago, I don't know, I probably would have answered it differently. So in my course of doing, I'm a motivational speaker now. Um, a dear friend who is in EO Colorado, Keith Roberts, watched me speak.

And he, he came up to me and goes, I know your secret sauce. I said, what is it? He said, unequivocal self belief. And I think that's what it takes because Everybody is going to doubt you. Everybody's going to say, this is not going to work. They're going to tell you a million different things. My own freaking parents doubted me.

I mean, it doesn't get much worse than that. You know what I mean? But for me, it just, it did not matter, right? It just, you keep going forward. Until you just figure it the fuck out.

Wes: So how do, how do you establish that? I mean, the one thing introducing you like immigrated to America with a hundred dollars in a suitcase, like, look, I hear stuff like that all the time. I don't, it's like, is that real or not? But like reading it for you, like, and based on what you just said around, like.

Believing in yourself, like how much of that ties into, you know, when I look at a hundred dollars in a suitcase, like that's just, that's just

unbelievable.

Jenny Feterovich: I mean, I think a lot of it ties into it. Just like, migrants, immigrants, refugees, right? I'm a refugee. And we always make fun, like, a bunch of refugees get together. It's like a competition. Well, I got here with 17 cents. I got here, like, who got here in the worst position type of deal, right? It's almost funny.

Um, I think couple factors paid attention. Even though I just said my parents doubted me, I also watched my mother. Start her life over and over again several times. I watched my mother being unafraid. Yes, I came here with those 100 and a suitcase. However, I was 13. It was truly my mother At 45, making that decision, right?

And it was pre internet, right? I think it's a lot, not a lot, it's easier now because we have access to information, but really my mother making a decision of packing up our life, leaving everything behind, going to a country where she spoke no language, didn't understand any concept of it, right? And she's done it several times in her life, even prior to this move.

And I think it's, it's watching her get up and say, I'm just going to do this, right? I'm going to figure it out. That has a lot to do with it. Um, and I think as far as immigrants that come here with nothing, we don't have a choice. We have nothing else to rely on. We're not going back. We're here and we're going to make it.

Wes: So immigrated from

Jenny Feterovich: Yep, it was still Soviet Union back then. Now it's not. Yep.

Mm hmm.

Wes: So were your parents entrepreneurs or where, where did you get that bug? Where

did this

Jenny Feterovich: So, entrepreneurship was against the law in the Soviet Union. Literally,

Wes: against the

Jenny Feterovich: the law. You couldn't own a business. It was going to be punishable by prison time, actually. Everything was owned by the government. Um, but of course, you can't stop the spirit, right? Some people were still entrepreneurial. They found their, their ways to work around the system.

I also thought about this recently in my reflection, which I'm a huge fan of reflection. I'm like, well, if I grew up in a place where it was illegal, when was the first time I realized what this concept was? And the first time I realized this concept is watching my grandma. Take all the things she already had and make something from it and go sell it.

In this case, she took sugar and she takes some, she took some forms of chicken and she made lollipops that she then sold outside of the subway station when she needed money. So, I thought about it, I was like, I would help her do this, but that's entrepreneurship at its core, right? You have an idea. You might want to start with things you already have, and it could be a simplistic idea.

As easy as making candy. All you need is sugar, you need to boil it, pull it in a form, take a stick, and boom, you have it. And you go out there and sell it, and she got money that way whenever she wanted to party. Yep.

Wes: migrate over, you said you're 13. Don't speak. English, or like what, what is your, your family doesn't speak English, you don't speak English, you show up with a suitcase at a hundred bucks, and you somehow land in

Jenny Feterovich: Yeah, so, you know, the only thing I knew how to say in English was absolutely useless, which is what time it is, like, who gives a shit what time it is when you don't know anything else, right? So, yeah, we ended up in Michigan because we were a part of the Soviet Jewish refugee, um, camp. Over a million 1. 5 million people were leaving the Soviet Union because we were highly discriminated against.

And when we got here, we were met by the Jewish community. The reason we ended up in Detroit is we had to go to where there was a base for some of the Jewish community to help us, try to help us to assimilate. And my uncle was here teaching at Wade State high level physics. So we got here and we had six months, an apartment for six months, and then you just have to figure it out. I mean, that's, that's just what it was. You gotta try to learn the language, you gotta try to understand why the fuck is everybody eating in their car or wherever they're going, right? Like it was a very foreign concept. I remember going to a store not knowing what anything was on the shelf. Can you imagine that?

Like you go to a store and you have no idea what any of these things are. It's like you have to start everything like a baby all over again, basically.

Wes: Yeah, so how'd you navigate that? So 13, I'm assuming you're probably landing like 8th grade ish, right? Coming into America,

Jenny Feterovich: Yes, I turned 14 when we got here and I went to high school. It was about 30 of us in a class. You know, they put you in English as a second language. There was also one Chinese student there. I think she learned Russian before she learned English. Um, you know, luckily we traveled sort of in a pack, in a group.

But it was really hard. I mean, listen, people were very mean to us in school. They threw food at us in the cafeteria. We were very different, right? We didn't have clothes, like, think about it, right? It's a crazy concept when I talk about it. We had very limited resources. We didn't have furniture. We didn't have anything.

Let alone we're in this new place, new country, new people. So high school was really rough until I went to high school in California and people were a lot nicer there. So that was, um, I moved to California for a little bit, uh, to Napa Valley. And that was a very different experience than the one that I had here in Michigan.

Wes: wow. So you navigate through that school, at some point, wanna talk a little bit about Parliament Studios, and like what, what led you down the path? I mean, obviously, was there a couple things beforehand in terms of entrepreneurship before you landed

in

Jenny Feterovich: Oh, there was a million things.

Wes: or like, what was that track?

Jenny Feterovich: There was a million things. Oh my god. I just always knew, I loved the idea of taking nothing and having an idea and turning it into something. Right? Like, I always knew that. I opened my first business, so I became a DJ very early. And I knew that not too many people are going to give me a chance.

So I started throwing my own parties. So that was really my first foray into entrepreneurship, right? Because throwing a party, throwing an event, I mean, that's entrepreneurship. It's not like people paid me to come and DJ. I took the money at the door. I rented the places, you know, I, my first big concert was a complete failure.

I lost 25, 000 being 19, and that was like, really painful. Um, my second business was a resale store, but during the course of that, I owned kitchen, bath and door showroom. I was involved in a factory that was building furniture. I mean, I've done all kinds of things. I, I've owned, I mean, as a DJ, that's also a business, right?

I traveled the world as a, as a musician. Uh, all of that happened before Parliament Studios. As well as, you know, it was very important to my parents that I bring them a piece of paper and I get a college education. So I got an education at Wayne State in something I never used a day in my life, information system technologies.

So I have a degree in IT. Um, I paid somebody for my final project. Which was, by the way, a very good business idea. I wish I would have implemented that back then. Um, I've dabbled in real estate. I've done all kinds of things. Um, Parliament Studios didn't happen till, what, about 13 years ago.

Wes: So, DJ, like, are you talking, this is in the 90s, or like, what year? What year did you

start

Jenny Feterovich: Yeah, so I started DJing, I'll tell you. I started DJing professionally when I was getting paid for it, probably in 94, 95.

Wes: So you're talking like in the, from the Detroit era, if I can remember, I'm, I'm like in eighth or ninth grade and the

Packard

Jenny Feterovich: Oh yeah, yeah. Yeah, right.

Wes: you were in, you were in

Jenny Feterovich: I was in that scene, yep, I was in the house techno scene, but interestingly enough, I didn't really DJ in that scene until a while later, because again, like, I don't really speak English that well, the way I look, like, I'm not really a part of that culture, you know, so it took a while to be accepted into that scene, and most of the parties that I was doing were really geared towards my culture, right, because I knew that there were other kids like me, There were Soviet Jewish kids that had nothing to do.

So that's how I started my event promotion. Yeah,

Wes: that now segue into? Parliament studios are like the next phase of your entrepreneurial evolution. Like I just, I now look at you like this rave party going on and kind of, it's, I remember those, I remember those times. It's, it's, it's unreal to think about, but yeah, I'm, I'm really curious around like, then what propelled you to get to like that next, you know, that next phase.

Jenny Feterovich: so I've had all kinds of businesses while I was DJing. Some succeeded, some failed. Um, most of them actually failed. Um, so I started DJing professionally. I mean, like touring, making good, very good money, right? But then I realized I'm always working for my money. My money is not working for me. It's very hard to maintain any good relationship, right?

Because in order to really succeed at this. You need to be traveling and you need to be all over the place, right? So I simply got sick of it. I mean, honestly, I remember being on tour with David Guetta and Akon in South Africa and there was 15, 000 people standing in front of me. I was playing, which is sort of like a pinnacle, right?

You're like, Oh my God, this is amazing. But it stopped being amazing because from something that I loved, it became a job. So I said, you know what, I'm really, I'm kind of over it. I'm not over the DJing and the music part because I actually still do that. But I was over the fact that this is how I was making a living, per se.

This was my business. So during that time, there were tax incentives that were coming to Michigan that were geared towards the film industry. Um, and like many things, a friend of mine came to me and he said, Hey, do you want to open a business around film incentives? And I said, sure, why not? Uh, and I opened my first business actually before Parliament Studios, which was called Filming in Detroit.

And we were supplying extras, automobiles, and locations. to major Hollywood productions. Very quickly, I learned that's not something I wanted to do because Hollywood is very hierarchical and we were at the lower kind of totem pole. So I opened Parliament Studios, which was a production company. And at first we were doing commercials, music videos, you know, like most production companies start.

Wes: So it's interesting. You talk about like, you know, being on stage in front of 15, 000 or so people. Like to me, like. Whether you go the corporate route or an entrepreneur, like, like how do you get. And maintain that kind of energy for what you do moving forward. Right? Like I've never experienced anything like that.

It's gotta be huge to kind of boost you. But I think your comments really interesting in the sense of like, it started to feel like a job. And at some point, right. And I think in entrepreneurship, a lot of people chase certain things or certain types of revenue or concepts, but then they realize like once they obtain that, it's like.

Is that really what I was doing it for? So like, how long did that take you to like, with that kind of journey to, to then getting to the parliament and where you're like, how long did that take you? Cause I, I feel like it is tough as an entrepreneur. Everybody's like in the world we live in today, they want it now, now, now.

Amazon overnight ship, everybody wants information, but what was like the timeframe for that? Even you mentioned something earlier on, like, Oh, I just had the realization six months ago, but you've been on this really long journey. It's really

fascinating.

Jenny Feterovich: I mean, I think it takes time. And I think if you start practicing self reflection, you probably get there faster. Right, which is not something that most people do, and it's not something that I did, right? I think I just physically got tired of it, right? Like, and again, when you stand on stage in front of that many people, or actually any people, it's a rush, right?

It's something that really feeds your ego, where none of us are gonna lie about it, right? You have massive control. I mean, I can make people have fun. I can slow things down. I can bring, right? It's just, it's, it's a A very powerful thing, but when you start to realize what it takes to get to that moment, right, as you get older, you get wiser.

Wisdom is the only thing we could get with age. I don't care what anybody says. You can read many books, you could do many things, but wisdom only comes with age and life experience. The more experience you have, the more wisdom you have. And when you realize what it takes to get to that moment, Sometimes it's just not worth it. And then when you self reflect, I also realize, and I talk about it in my inspirational talk, is you're chasing something that's called success, but what's your soul's purpose? What is your soul asking you to do? And for me, eventually it became, do I love music and make people dance? Yes. Do I want to make a living this way?

Not really. So you see the difference, even though there's a success. But my soul's purpose also became about something else once I realized what that is.

Wes: Now, like, I want to dive in a little bit on that self reflection, because I think, to me, like, you learning that's a helpful shortcut for myself, right, like, how do you get to self reflection, like, what does that actually mean? Like, are you sitting down and, is it more like gratitude, is it sitting silent in the morning, or like, what, what works specifically for you that, that's got you in this mental headspace?

Cause I can see it when you say it, like you, you, you speak with extreme clarity and self reflection, super powerful, but I'd love to just know how to, how to get to

that

Jenny Feterovich: Yeah, I think, honestly, for me it was EO, 100 percent Entrepreneur's Organization, because at the first level, that reflection is introduced in a forum concept, right? When every month you start talking about your top 5%, your bottom 5%, then all of a sudden you're forced to analyze what has happened in the past months of your life, which majority of people don't do that, right?

Before you all, I never stopped and I was like, okay, what, right? Because you are running, you are building. You've got family, you've got friends, you've got obligations, you want to have some fun, right? At what point do you stop? I mean, now I stop regularly, and now I stop daily, right? And for me, I've done quite a bit of research on this.

It's really journaling coupled with self reflection and analysis, right? Because that is the key, and journaling by hand, you guys, is extremely important. Because there's actually scientific analysis that proves that when you take a piece of paper and a pen, and when you write things, there's pathways that are being built into your brain to retain information in a different way.

For the same reason when you go on vacation, or you do certain things in your life, and you vividly remember them as a picture. And sometimes you don't remember any of them. It's because you had a chance to reflect. But when you have a chance to reflect and contemplate, right, you're in a different ballgame.

Completely different ballgame, right? Because if you couple with that, what's your goal? Like, I don't compete with anybody. I only compete with myself. How can I be better than I was yesterday? So anything I do and realize, I'm like, okay, what could have I done better? So it's not my ego that's feeding it, right?

I'll get off, got a standing ovation. My last motivational talk, 400 people in the room. I got off there as, as nice as it is and balsamic for my ego. My first question is. For somebody who I trust in the audience, what could I have done better?

Wes: Always striving, right? I mean, you're always trying to, what, what, so what is that? So let me piggyback on that. So like, there's, there's a lot of questions, a lot of ideas around success or chasing and. But like, you have 400 people standing, cheering for you. You just did a phenomenal job. And what I hear you say is there's head trash.

Like, you know, you're kind of doubting yourself or like, there's fear. Like, how can I improve or do better? Like, how hard is it to accept like, man, I just did a good job and I killed it. Like, you talk a little bit about that.

Jenny Feterovich: Ah, um, I can't. And I don't think it's trash. I think it's just me striving to always be better. Um, I am much better about celebrating success now, which is something I didn't do before, right? Like, like I'm going to the Emmys on Friday. Um, and I don't know how many people with a hundred dollars in suitcase that arrived to America end up.

On the red carpet at the Emmys two years in a row. Right. And I feel inside of me, I was like, God, like I need to stop and consciously celebrate that moment no matter what, but it's something that I have to learn. You know, what's very interesting. It's a big problem that women have, by the way, because I did quite a bit of research with one of my projects, Girls Gone Vinyl, about female DJs.

And I've asked a lot of women and you would see. a halfway mediocre male DJ talk about how incredibly great they are and you could see them sort of climb and get better gigs and you'd see a lot of women who all their life generationally have been told to be humble all the time. Get off the stage and be in a very different way.

And there's something there, and I talk to a lot of women about this. Women don't celebrate their successes nearly enough. So for all the women that are watching this and listening to this out there, I really want you to stop and celebrate whatever success that you have. Because I guarantee you I've done a lot of research on that.

So I have consciously, so it's not a doubt, it's not fear, I think it's my strife to be really good at something. And it's me now making conscious choices to stop and celebrate and not move on to the next thing.

Wes: That's great perspective. And I think as an entrepreneur and a lot of the entrepreneurs were very similar in the sense of EO Detroit. I feel like that's a lot of EOers or entrepreneurs have that same type of emotion and feeling where you kind of have to stop and kind of pause to reflect. So I think it's super powerful talking about self reflection.

It's so easy to let time go by and just kind of do your thing and not realize the impact you're having. So, well, I have to ask, like, I'm not too educated on Emmys, but they sound amazing and I'm, I'm pretty confident it's around producing shows. Like what is, I mean, The Emmys, what I know is a, they're, it's like a really, really high award in that industry.

Congratulations. But like, what does that actually mean to you? And like, how, how does one create something out of vapor and a hundred dollars in a suitcase into an award winning nominated show

that

Jenny Feterovich: Yeah, it means a lot to be, to be here with our peers, and specifically it's because we're an independent production company, right? We're not backed by a network. Nobody's spending money for us to be there. Nobody's doing any of that. Right? So two people, essentially me and my business partner had this idea.

And with a group of incredible people, trial and tribulation, sucking at something, then getting better progressively. Now we're here two years in a row in various categories, you know, enjoying the nominations of our peers. What's interesting is I was there last year and I saw a lot of stressed out people, right?

Like you get in there, right? There's the red carpet, this and that. And then you see a lot of tense energy in this room, right? And everybody wants it really bad. I didn't, because I did some self reflection. I was like, why am I here, right? So let's really talk about this. Why am I here? If I win, what does it really mean?

And what it means, it tied back into my purpose, right? So my purpose in life is to help people become better versions of themselves through storytelling. Whether I make content, whether I play music, whether I'm motivationally speaking. That's what I want. So I was like, what does this mean? So the win means only one thing to me.

When I get on that stage, I get a massive microphone to share my message. Whatever that message is, whatever that message would have been last year, if I win this year and I get this microphone for one minute, what am I going to share that's going to impact people greatly? Because this microphone is now amplified.

So essentially, it's not about holding a statue. It's not about my ego. But interestingly enough, I asked several people why they wanted this so bad, and they didn't have a deep answer. They just wanted to win. They wanted this, right? Like, so I, I implore people to, to think about when you really want something or when you're in a position like that, why is it, and how are you going to use it and how does it line up with your purpose, right?

Because I saw that clear distinction. And once I realized that I wasn't stressed out, I was having fun. I was like, I don't really care whether I win or not, but if I win, this is what my message is going to be.

Wes: That's awesome. You mentioned, you know, um, it's you and your partner and there's like, sounds like there's not like the big company behind it, you guys sort of bootstrapped it. Can you talk a little bit about like parliament? Studios focus, your entrepreneurial show and kind of what that means. And I believe it's on

PBS,

Jenny Feterovich: so, uh, Startup is on PBS primarily, but it's in 35 other countries. You can catch some of our earlier seasons on Amazon Prime. If you go to pbs. org, you can stream it, you know. And it's a show about entrepreneurs following their dreams. And we completely bootstrapped it, right? We've never done this before.

Uh, Gary Breda, who is my partner in this particular endeavor, because I do quite a few different projects. Um, he came to me with this idea, and we knew each other through the world of techno. He made a documentary called High Tech Soul. He came to me and he said, Hey, I know some people that are doing a local Michigan show.

I'd love to do a local Michigan show. That's how we were going to start about entrepreneurship because nobody was doing it yet. This was 2012 when he came to me. So Shark Tank was just starting. Entrepreneurship wasn't that trendy. It wasn't a thing that people were talking about. And I said, sure, why not?

Right. Neither one of us have ever made a television show before. And frankly, we were not equipped to do it, but we got some friends out of our production companies that were Okay, right? Like, I don't want you to watch the first season of Startup. It's painful. Um, you know, and we've set up, set out on this quest.

And by season one, we ended up having a national television show that was already being watched by a couple million people, which is That's insane, right? Because it's a really big concept, and that's what I want people to understand. Everything is figureoutable. It seems like, oh my god, it's a television show, but somehow two people that have never done it before figured it out and raised shit ton of money to do this because this was not a cheap endeavor.

Wes: Yeah. And that's, what's fascinating to me, right? Like, how did you guys raise all that money? Or like, there's a lot of things going on with what you just said, but the reality is of like, number one, finding cool entrepreneurs that you can spend the time with, I'm sure maybe you can touch on how long that experience lasts with that entrepreneur, but then.

You've got to get the capital somehow. So it's either coming out of your pocket, Gary's pocket or sponsors. Like, what is, what does that process look like for two entrepreneurs with an idea that are like, all right, let's, let's go day

one.

Jenny Feterovich: Yeah, it was really insane. So we shot a pilot at our own cost, right? Pilot is an episode that you want to show what the show would look like. We took it to the local Detroit PBS station. They're like, wow, this is really great. It could be a regional show. So we backed up. I had a Scion back then. I love that car.

I don't know why. 2010, um, you know, one of those box Scions. We took my Scion and some other weird car and we load it with gear. Went to Chicago, shot another pilot. Came back, they're like, oh my God, you guys are going national. So that's when they dropped, but this is PBS, public broadcasting. So the only people in my opinion who get their money a lot of times on hands, uh, from the, from that pie is like Ken Burns and a lot of bigger producers.

We were nobody. So we had no chance of getting that money. So they said, now go find the money. So we're like any other entrepreneur. We have a proof of concept. We have a great idea. We can execute it, but we need the money. Everybody finds themselves in that position. So we did what anybody would do. We hired somebody to help us get the money.

Cause we figured other people can do that. When six months went by, nobody had gotten us any money. We're like. Now I'm pissed. Now I gotta figure it out, right? I'm like, I, other people do it. So I'm gonna figure it out. So the strategy was I was on LinkedIn looking for anybody and everybody I know who works in a major corporation that would give me a lot of money.

That was literally my strategy.

Wes: That's the strategy. That's the, that's the go to market.

Jenny Feterovich: I was like, okay, so I found somebody who worked at Amex and I wrote him a LinkedIn message. And I said, Hey, listen, I know we haven't talked in 10 years, but can you help me get an exuberant amount of money from American Express? So he responded to me by saying, Hey, actually, you know what? I met my wife at one of your parties and I'm really happy.

So I'm going to help you take a chance, people. Um, so he started passing me around Amex and I got a no and no, I got a lot of no's, like a lot of no's. And eventually I got a call from a woman named Alexa Brand, and she's like, Hey, why don't you come and see me in, at Amex? And it coincided that I was going to premiere Girls Got Vinyl, uh, at Barnard College.

Um, and I seen a film festival in New York. I said, great, I'll be in New York. So basically, I got there and I went. To American Express Tower. I was sitting on the 39th floor overlooking the Hudson River, dying inside. Just dying. I had never asked anybody for more than 25, 000 before. Never. And I was asking for mid five figures. And inside I'm going, what the fuck? I don't have a show. I don't really know what I'm doing. Who is going to ever give me this kind of money? Um, but American Express became the first ever sponsor to get on board. Um, and the reason, and Alexa and me are still friends, we still talk. We actually launched Shop Small for them for Small Business Saturday with our show.

And I asked her a few years ago, I said, why'd you give me the money? I was like, come on, like, I need to know this because it's, like, important for my reflection. That there was something you said to me, you looked me straight in the eye, and you said, I'm a woman of my word, and trust me, this will be one of the best decisions you'll ever make. She said, you said it with such conviction that I knew that you were gonna make this work. Um, and once American Express comes on board, Obviously. It was still not easy, but we had General Motors, we launched a Bolt, but it's a numbers game. And by the way, this is season 12 for us, and we're in it every single year, raising seven figures to make the show a reality.

Wes: So it reminds me of that picture of like. The guy with the, with the pick and the cave that's like digging, digging for that diamond. That's like so close. It's pretty amazing. Cause I mean, to go six months, I mean, how much, what type of emotions were going through your head at some point? You're like, we need money.

Something's got to change, but like you're burning passion. Just, you're like. No, I'm packing up the Scion and we're going to Chicago and I'm, I'm getting in the elevator and, you know, just making yourself super uncomfortable. Like

that, that's

Jenny Feterovich: We go back to question number one, you know, unequivocal self belief. You have to believe. You gotta believe, right? If you believe, and I always say this, where energy goes, everything flows. You gotta believe in yourself. You gotta believe in your project. And that's why people give you money. A lot of times people pitch projects that don't exist.

This didn't exist. So many people go out there trying to get money, launch companies with ideas. But if you're passionate and you can showcase that you are going to make this work, no matter what, and you are going to do it, right? I think you will succeed.

Wes: So I've got to ask, I think when I first met you, so I grew, I'm 42. I grew up in the nineties, eighties, nineties, but like the Red Wings were like everything to me. Right. And I think when I first met you, you're like, yeah, produced the Russian five. I think I just watched it like the day before, two days before that.

You got to share some nuggets with me around that. Like how, how did that. You know, how did you fall into that project? I mean, it's such a, I mean, a hundred percent on Rotten Tomatoes. Number one, maybe we should start there. I don't think I've ever seen a hundred percent with anything on Rotten Tomatoes.

Like how do you make everybody happy and their critics?

Jenny Feterovich: Um, I don't know. You just make a really good film and you put a lot of love into it. Uh, and a lot of care and you hope for the best. I mean, really, for all the people out there that might think it's a hockey film, it's not a hockey film. It's a human story film. And that was important. But it is about hockey, right?

It's about camaraderie. Um, how did I fall into it? I'll answer that first. So, I actually knew all of the guys in the 90s. We all came to America sort of at the same time. And what people didn't know, I played soccer. I was in Olympic development when I got here. I played soccer in Russia with my dad. You know, it's something that I really loved.

And every Sunday and every Wednesday, all the Russian people, mostly men, I was the only woman who would play soccer. So Sergei Vladdy. All of those guys, Konstantinov, they would come to Oak Park, Michigan, in their super fancy cars, while we had nothing. And they would just be our friends and we'd play soccer together.

So I grew up knowing those guys and spending essentially almost every Sunday with them. Um, so they were like near and dear to my heart because like, I mean, I was a young kid, but I knew them. And when they won, I mean, I remember that day was at that game, right? The first cup. What this city has turned into, and then of course, what happens later, the tragedy.

I mean, to me, that was always one of the greatest sports stories that haven't been told, but I didn't think about it until Josh, Joshua Reel, who directed the film, he came to me on the day that I said, I'm never going to touch another project. Of course, that always happens. He came to me and he pitched me this project that I was like, Oh my God, this is the legacy.

We've got to tell the story. But it's incredibly difficult to raise money for a documentary. Incredibly difficult. He tried for years. I was his last stop, and if I wasn't gonna do it, I was gonna die. So I told him that I will go to one person only, and if he gives us the money Then we will make the movie.

I will put my heart and soul into it. And I went to one person only, Dan Milstein, um, that owns Gold Star Mortgage, that happened to have one hockey client at the time, which was Pavel Dotsuk. Now he's got all of the clients. Um, and I pitched Dan and I said, Dan, if me and you don't tell the story, who does?

This is our legacy. So Dan agreed and we went on to a very difficult five year journey to make this happen.

This was a huge lift for many reasons. Um, you know, we had to license the footage from the NHL that didn't want to give it to us. There's 42 minutes of game footage in there. First of all, it took us forever to even get this.

We finally got to the archives of Joe Lewis and they came to my office and they stacked boxes full of tapes Floor to ceiling that Josh had to watch to find the moments that we need, right? It took us so long to get there and when you get there and the NHL goes, no, not only is it cost prohibitive Right because they wanted like I think a couple thousand dollars a minute They said we're actually not even gonna give you some of the footage specifically of the fight and without the fight.

There is no storytelling That's an epic moment, right? So fighting them, fighting, just to get that. And we had to go through several editors, and the best thing that we did, we actually had this edited in Texas by people who are not Red Wings fans, because we started with the Red Wings fans in Detroit. And we started with the hockey fans.

And the first version of the film was a hockey movie. And the best thing we did is we took it to Texas to people who had no ties to this. And they made an incredible film with us that now just appeals to many different people.

Wes: Wow. Yeah. It's interesting that you mentioned it from that perspective, because I mean, it was probably the first movie documentary that I watched and I was like, I told my good friend, I said. You got to watch this documentary. Like it like took me back to that moment in time and you forget all those memories and all those things that were going on at the time.

And, but yeah, I mean, it was, it was, uh, it's, it's amazing to hear because I kind of blindly sit there and I watched the hour and 20 or hour and 40, and you don't realize how much time. An energy and effort that went into that movie. And I think that's big on entrepreneurship in general, right? A lot of people don't see the behind the scenes and what it takes and the

grit.

Jenny Feterovich: You know, everybody thinks they're an overnight success, right? 15 years in the making. Um, I mean, that's the big thing, right? Because nobody sees the long hours, the hard work, right? Because, and if you're not in my business, of course you wouldn't know that we have to watch hundreds of hours of archival footage.

That's if we could get our hands on it. Just like if I'm not in your business. I don't necessarily what it, understand what it takes for you to go through all of the steps for you to achieve that success where people like, wow, Wes is such success, but what's behind that success, right? That's what's really, that's what's really important.

Wes: do you, from your like journey, right? It's, it's, it's, it's an amazing story journey. Like, did you bring any mentors in or like who, I mean, obviously you found EO at some point, a big part of your life, as you mentioned, but like, did you bring any mentors in that, that were helpful to you?

Or

Jenny Feterovich: Yeah, accidentally, because before AO I didn't really stop and think, didn't know how to find them. So my first major mentor that really changed everything, in a startup game for instance, was an accidental one. I tried in my early DJ days, but it was really hard. People were not willing. It was a very competitive sort of business, like even learning how to mix records, right?

Because again, you guys pre YouTube, you're dealing with vinyl, you're dealing with high technology. So it was very hard that, and I did find the guy, I remember him very well. Hardest Cummings, thank you. Hardest. He was the only one that was willing to teach me how to mix records when I really wanted to do it right in a course of my. Startup and television thing, we, we had an accidental mentor. I once got this message, very cryptic on LinkedIn said, Hey, somebody really wants to meet you. But before he does, I need to go to coffee with you and to vet you. I was like, what kind of spy shit is this that's really weird and crazy? I said, but I'm in because I'm into everything, right?

So we go to coffee, we have a conversation. She writes me back, she's like, you passed whatever this test was, you know, come to this address, meet this person. So I'm like, oh my god, now it's a mystery. So I show up, and who's sitting on the other? And this Tom Lasorda, the former chairman and CEO of Chrysler.

So Tom was a huge fan of the show. He really just invited us in to tell us how great it was. And we took that opportunity because I still remember this day was season three and we were out of money. And we were once again going to drive my Scion to Buffalo to shoot something, you know, which shows you just because you've got something doesn't mean it ain't coming down.

So I looked at Tom and I said, Tom, this is great. However, would we really need money? Number one. Number two, we need to understand how do we pitch people like you, CEOs of major corporations, to help us get the money continuously. Basically, I asked them to teach me how to fish. Which is very important. And, and because we had access to somebody like Tom, we were able to flush out some things that helped us much, become much better in creating partnerships with these major corporations.

And then he picked up the phone and at that time called the current CEO of Chrysler and said, I've got this great Uh, you know, company that's doing this in entrepreneurship. So, long behold, Chrysler 300 unveiled, uh, on season three with Kings and Queens Entrepreneurship Campaign. So Tom, really, I consider one of my first major mentors.

Wes: I'm learning a lot from you and, you know, the one thing is you, you brought up something interesting. I even had it happen to me this morning. Somebody invited me to a random meeting to meet this guy who's well connected here, this, that, and the other. He's like, I don't know if you want to come. And I'm like, I'll always take a 15, 30 minute meeting because you never know.

And I think some of the best opportunities come from those, um, meetings or just staying open and, you know, kind of just, if you're passionate. It's all about people. You know, I think the big takeaway I'm getting from you. And this podcast is like, take your shot. You know, I think a lot of people just, you know, they're, they're scared.

You know, you want to live in the unknown, but I think if you just go for it, I mean, what's the worst that can happen? Yes or no, or here's somebody else you can talk to, but it sounds like just that motivation and, you know, behind you has really driven your success of just, nobody's going to do it for you.

Jenny Feterovich: And I'm always excited about the unknown, right? It's like It's almost like a scavenger hunt, right? You meet this person, who knows what it's gonna be, and you're absolutely right. Take your shot, so you're gonna fail. I failed at so many things, oh my god, I can't even begin to tell you how many times I failed.

Right? And everybody fails. Everybody fails. Who doesn't fail?

Wes: Well, that's great. Great advice. So what's, what's next? Like, what, what's in the hopper? Like, what can you tell

Jenny Feterovich: next? Uh, Season 12 of Startup Television Series is in the works right now. What's next is I'm moving really into the future. Um, so I am working on a company that's going to be an immersive space. I think a lot of entertainment is going in that direction. I mean, look at the sphere in Las Vegas. I mean, that's insane.

Wes: Looks

Jenny Feterovich: what it's doing, right? And you see all these pockets popping up. I think the days of people going into a movie theater and sitting there. are gone. I mean, I still think if you're a major production studio and you're pumping money like you pumped into Barbie, you can get people into theaters. However, I think that concept of entertainment is on its way out for the younger people.

And I think we're going to see a lot more immersive experiential entertainment coming in. So I am in that headspace already working on content. Potentially working on the, on the theater space as well. So I'm dabbling in there. Um, otherwise it's all about, uh, right now I'm really enjoying motivational speaking.

So I'm traveling to a few places doing my talk. I'm in the midst of writing a book, which I hope may be 2024. So we'll see, you know, um, and just continuing to inspire people, becoming better versions of themselves for storytelling. That is really my purpose. So I only do things that align with my purpose.

I wouldn't do it just for money. Money doesn't lead, it always follows. Everybody. Say it with me. Money doesn't lead it follows. It will follow you. I promise you. I know people say, Hey, it's easy to say it when you have money, but I didn't have it. Right. And a lot of people didn't have it. They created it.

That's the beauty of this country unequivocally. I'll never get tired of saying how wonderful this place is. Not without a fault. Nothing is perfect, but I'm telling you, this is the only place you can come with nothing and become everything. And it's up to you, only to you. What are you going to make your life?

Wes: Wow. That's amazing. Jenny, I love you. I could spend all day with you. How can people connect with you? I mean, I'm really excited to see, to your future, the book. Can't wait. I'm, I'm, I'm rooting for you for Friday to win that Emmy. You already won though, from my opinion, you've already won that. Um, like how can people connect with you?

Like where can people find you? I mean, you are definitely inspirational. Um, I think a lot of people love to connect with you. So

I'd love for

Jenny Feterovich: Yeah, sure. So Parliament Studios, it's very easy. Jenny at parliamentstudios. com. You guys can shoot me an email. Uh, you know, Jenny Federovich, you can Google me, you can write me a Facebook message, LinkedIn, send me a Pidgin, whatever you want. You know, I'm working on a website that will be jennyfederovich.

com. That's going to come, that's going to kind of sort of outline all the different things that I'm working on and doing. Uh, but for now, yeah, shoot me an email, find me on social media. If you want to connect, always happy to connect with people.

Wes: Awesome. Well, thank you, Jenny. I really appreciate it. Uh, thanks to the audience. If you learned something today or laughed, I mean, Jenny dropped a lot of nuggets. Uh, thank you so much for sharing your story. It's really amazing. Uh, thank you again, Jenny. Uh, this has been another episode of, uh, Entrepreneur Intel.

Uh, good luck, Jenny on Friday rooting for you.