“Don’t force yourself, find your own.” How sport helps Dmitriy Kolesnik build his business

Work and personal life are completely intertwined in my daily schedule. I think that’s a plus – there are lots of quick switches and no routine. I don’t like routine. That’s probably why I didn’t go into sports professionally. But it’s always been a part of my life.

I start my day at 7:00 in the morning, acting as a cook.

Because of the large amount of work, frequent business trips abroad and the busy schedules of my family, I have to get up early. I prepare breakfast for the family and then go for a walk with the dog. My wife jokes, “When else would you walk for two hours every day in all weathers?”.

Since the production of our bikes is in Asia, and the working day starts five hours earlier there, I have to get down to business on messengers in parallel with all my morning home rituals.

I try to spend my free time with my family as much as possible. Recently we got a summer cottage, and with it: cross-country biking, pitbike, ATV, fishing, mushrooming and sauna. Seriously considering buying a snowmobile.

I put time, effort and money into the dacha for the sake of the family – so that the children will keep the points of interest in the future. So that they would have a desire to come to us with friends, other halves, children.

In the near future we plan to build a multifunctional sports ground with tourniquets, a streetball ring, mini-football goals, badminton and tennis stands. If the size does not allow, we will limit ourselves to a squash wall. A table tennis table is also in the plans.

Sleeping at least 7.5 hours, electric guitar, dog, sauna and amateur sports are the things that allow me to relax and switch.

Once upon a time, like many Soviet kids, I dreamed of becoming a professional athlete. In my case, my idols were Fyodor Cherenkov, Ilya Tsymbalar, Gianluca Vialli – in soccer; Igor Larionov – in hockey.

My parents invested a lot in me both by personal participation and by buying equipment that was scarce at that time. I started skating at the age of three.

The story of soccer began a little later, but at the age of 6-7 years old I passed the selection in FSM (Football School of Youth soccer club. – Championship note).

In the village in the summer I was respectfully called Maradona, but perhaps because of my stocky figure and 13-spoke adidas boots, which were considered a severe deficit at that time.

The main problem was transporting me to the places of training, so I switched to hockey and went on my own to the Torpedo stadium. I had a huge backpack and had to take a bus to get there.

The second wave of love for hockey hit me when I already had a comfortable car. It became easier to quench my passion. I was 28 years old, and I returned to hockey in a Night League format. I had to reacquaint myself with modern equipment. It was fun.

Of course, like all teenagers in the 90’s, after the Chuck Norris and Jackie Chan movies, I was introduced to the karate and taekwondo sections.

I didn’t end up becoming a professional athlete. But I fell in love with many sports and if I don’t practice or play them myself, I continue to watch as a spectator.

What do sports teach us? Hard work. If you don’t have talent, it often not only compensates for it, but even surpasses it.

In my case, it’s ambiguous. Thanks to my “bright head” I had a talent both in soccer and hockey. I could “read” the field, development scenarios and manage them, like chess, on the move. But these qualities were not supported by persistence and desire to prove my worth. And without good sports anger I was uncompetitive.

But, on the other hand, when my weight problems started, I bought a season pass to the swimming pool and went there daily for a year, and then regularly for several years. What is that if not sports anger?

Now sports are also an option for weight control. I have a predisposition to being overweight, so physical activity and tracking my diet has become an integral part of life.

How do I implement weight management? As far as food is concerned, I divide my day into three parts according to the degree of unhealthy food consumed. You can eat porridge, cheesecakes, bread and sweets (within reasonable limits) until 12.00 noon. Meat and cereal – until 18.00. Then – either fruits and vegetables, or a light dinner. Provided there was no lunch.

The problem with physical activity is that the carbohydrate window is wide open afterward! So cardio exercise alone works better for me. Ideally in the afternoon, around 3:00-16:00. So that I don’t eat too much at night.

In practice, for a month of light cardio exercises and vegetable salads for dinner, I shed 1 kg per week steadily.

I have no interest in marathons or lugging iron daily. I try to be active 3-4 times a week. I find it easiest to run outside, and I go to fitness mostly on the ellipsoid and bike stand.

My club has a great cycling room, both with virtual races and “slaughter” workouts. And the bike stand is almost a real sports bike in terms of fit, unlike a typical exercise bike.

I really like the “live” bike, but the opportunity to go to the sauna and shower after the gym and then go to work is a higher priority for me.

I am interested in education and self-education, I try not to stop, I fight laziness.

For example, I regularly study English and Chinese. I work in the first one. The second is necessary for everyday life. I often visit China. I study the language out of respect for my partners. To be able to communicate directly with them and their families.

In addition to literature and language learning apps, one of the main “places of strength” in terms of getting information is video blogs, because information in this format is also visualized.

You can find school curriculum topics, travel channels, history, sports, food and music blogs. My task is to surround myself and my children with informative information. Including in an entertaining way. I think this unobtrusive way of presenting information helps to accept it with less skepticism.

What advice would I give to those who want to change their lives for the better? Try to be in balance and avoid stress. Alternate activities throughout the day and find new hobbies and activities that fill up your resource when it dwindles.

I realize that someone reading this will exclaim, “That’s easy for him to say. He doesn’t sit in an office from morning to night like I do!”. Yes, I love my job and I don’t get tired of it. But I created myself, so you can too.

You don’t want to work from morning till night? Then you need to find and, over a couple or three years, develop a skill that will allow you to avoid it. By the way, if you regularly do sports, it will be much easier to do it, because there is a work ethic.

I still don’t understand – I’m more of a startup or a starter… Starting a business at 45 is very late by today’s standards, but it’s my path. Apparently, I was in the right place at the right time.

Creating a previous successful major project in 2015, I was objectively not ready for my own business. Then the pandemic happened. With its end, analyzing the situation in the world, in particular in the Russian bicycle market, I saw a window of opportunity and entered it.

I run my own business and try to rely on my intuition.

When you are at the beginning of your journey and many things are unfamiliar, there is a great temptation to do business in partnership mode. To have someone to lean on and trust with his profile skills, responsibility for the overall result, and equity participation.

But it is important to realize that equity participation means partners who have unique qualities that make them partners, not executors. The lower the percentage of uniqueness, the more we are talking about an ordinary performer, albeit an important one. That’s why I’m glad that there were people who managed to bring this to my attention in time.

What else I wish I had known at the beginning of my journey? In our business, personal selling of your product to dealers is very important. So, at the start, the biggest amount of time was spent on those who ended up not ordering anything at all.

Now I would advise myself at that stage to be guided by a single systematic approach. And also to rely more on intuition. It is a very important tool in business. And in life as well.

Books and movies that everyone should read and watch

Good books and movies, unfortunately, emphasize the imperfection of our world and cause sadness. Humanity is lost… Coolness is considered the best quality, not kindness. So I would advise you to read “Flowers for Algernon” or watch “Harry Potter” with your kids. Very human works.

Speaking of my various hobbies. During the pandemic, I wrote a book as a collection of stories about China through the lens of my own work in the bicycle industry. It’s packed with 25 years of experience.

5 habits that keep me energized – both physically and emotionally

1. A desire and willingness to do what I love to do.
2. A love for children and animals. This is also a lot of work and takes a lot of time.
3. Self-education.
4. Structuring goals.
5. Analyzing problems and methodology of their solutions, variability.

Blitz survey

If you could become a professional athlete in any sport, which one would you choose and why?

Hockey. I “see” soccer on the screen as chess in motion, and hockey as rapid chess. And it’s a pumped up RPG chess game with heroes that have unique skills.

I was greatly influenced by the careers of Igor Larionov, Vyacheslav Fetisov and Sergei Makarov, who at a venerable age reformatted the NHL from a hit-and-run format into a playable league. Smart hockey! I find chess a boring pastime, though. Apparently my brain works better tactically than strategically.

What was your first job and the first ruble you earned?

I earned my first independent money when I washed cars at the Danilovsky market. Then I was able to get to know a group of classmates. They lived in communal houses and earned what they could.

In my family, trading was not the most honorable thing to do. I think my parents saw me as an engineer. That’s why I studied engineering. I got my first paycheck on the job. I was pulling cables in a trench somewhere near Pushkino near Moscow.

But the real first paycheck I consider the money that I was handed by the owner of a shop selling bicycle parts. It was in Sokolniki. There I got a part-time job as a salesman. I still consider this profession honest and honorable. No matter what snobs think about it.

If you had the opportunity to try any profession for one day, what would you choose and why?

Cook. The first thing that came to mind was cooking. I realize that in reality, it’s not a creative job. It’s streaming. But there’s still a veneer of creativity and the opportunity to do something with your hands.

Favorite exercise at the gym.

I like the exercise bike. It’s more properly called an exercise bike. I also like the ellipsoid, the treadmill. And best of all, the pool. I don’t find iron very useful.

What do you usually do to relax after a hard day?

It helps a lot when I walk from work to home or take a walk with my dog. I like a cedar font after a sauna in the country, a Thai massage or a trip to a barbershop. About the massage, by the way. I spend a lot of time in China. So, I can say that network massage parlors are very popular there, first of all – street massage parlors. They work everywhere.

Which sportsman do you consider a cult?

In soccer – Maradona, although my favorite footballer is Gianluca Vialli. Now I will single out Thomas Muller, who made a great career and became another icon of Bayern. For all his simplicity and modesty. He doesn’t advertise shampoos and underpants, so he’s not iconic.

In hockey, I haven’t seen anyone more talented than Pavel Datsyuk. It’s really magic.

In basketball, in terms of specifically iconic, it’s hard not to mention Kobe Bryant. Although Allen Iverson and James Harden are also colorful characters. The NBA is about cults.

And in Russia, in fact, only Andrei Arshavin can be called the best at our level. But hardly a cult… Here I would rather call Andrei Tikhonov.

Messi or Ronaldo?

Messi! God kissed him on the head. But you can’t drag the national team to the World Cup to make Messi a champion at the end of his career. Count how many penalties were awarded in their favor, it’s a disgrace to soccer.

Imagine having to eat the same dish for the rest of your life. What would it be?

Borscht. I’m surprised myself how much I love it.

Do you have to force yourself to play sports? Yes or no, why?

Sports are addictive. In a good way. It tightens you up, organizes you, allows you to set goals. It distracts and mobilizes.

It’s hard to answer whether you should force yourself to do sports or not. I wouldn’t force myself. I would try to force myself to try different sports activities. This will allow me to realize what suits me better. If in the process of trying something you become interested in, you don’t have to force yourself, you can do it based on your desire.