Our story began just a year ago, and this isn’t just an ordinary description of our website or company. This site is my small corner where I can now share with thousands, and maybe one day millions, of people the story of two guys from Ukraine who met by chance after the war started and decided to launch a business.

Let me start with a bit of autobiography. I was 14 years old when I first stepped into Los Angeles Airport. I was born in Ukraine. In 2014, I moved to Kyiv, and in 2022, I had to leave my country to survive. There was no immediate threat from the invasion at that time, but life in the capital became financially unsustainable after the war broke out. My parents decided to apply for a program to enter the U.S. In spring, May 2022, after 29 hours of flights with my mom and sister through several countries, we finally arrived in Los Angeles. We stayed with friends of my mom for the next six months. Huge thanks to them for their help!

In summer 2022, three months after arriving, I attended a summer school for newcomers to the U.S. These were two prep days in July, and on the second day, I met David—my future business partner—and his cousin. David was from Mariupol, Ukraine. He was 15, I was 14. We were alike: two teenagers who wanted to earn money, which was in short supply back then. Our first year in the U.S. was all about adapting. We attended the same school and studied English, which neither of us really knew. We had only a few words, and even simple explanations were challenging. It was tough to start a life in a country where everyone speaks a different language that we had never been taught.

When the next school year came around, we knew we wanted to start making our own money. We had the necessary documents, but the language barrier was a real challenge. David got a job at Taco Bell in spring 2023, but no one wanted to hire me due to my age. By chance, I found an opportunity when I walked into a Baskin Robbins in Mission Viejo with my mom for some ice cream. Many thanks to Larisa and her husband, as our story might not have happened without them.

On August 22, 2023, we decided to start a “business” cleaning windows. We had only an electric bike, a bucket with a squeegee, and two clients. We didn’t know what “business” really meant or what awaited us, but every month we kept growing and evolving. By the following month, we earned $1,000 in a week, which was a huge success for us. At that point, our “business” was just a small dream of two high school students. We tried not to spend our earnings and instead reinvested everything. Of course, some expenses were hard to resist—these were our first honestly earned dollars in the U.S.

Then October came, and with it, two failed purchases. The first was a $300 water filter, which we hoped to use for window cleaning, but it didn’t work for us. We knew nothing about filters at the time. After that, we ordered a professional filter for $3,000—our last money—but it still didn’t work. The company refused a return, leaving us with empty pockets. For a week, we were upset, going door-to-door (D2D), feeling lost. By then, the days were getting shorter, and after school, we had only about an hour to work. It was our first winter in business, and it became clear that cleaning second-story windows while standing in the cold outside was impossible. We made one last attempt—ordering another filter for $1,500 and buying two hoodies for warmth. Our bikes were constantly breaking down, and we were literally braking with our feet because the brakes kept failing.

In November, I quit Baskin Robbins to focus more on the business. In December, we decided to shoot a YouTube video with our goals for 2024, though it never came out. However, December became our most successful month—we earned over $5,000, a big achievement. The beginning of 2024 was tough, with our income not exceeding $2,000 a month for the first three months. By the end of January, I was ready to shut down the company and split everything in half, but after talking with David, we decided to give it another chance. We knew we had to keep moving forward and realized we couldn’t grow the business without a car.

On April 3, 2024, David bought a car, and by summer, our income started to rise. In July 2024, we expanded our services from windows to 15 other offerings. During one of our D2D rounds, we met a marketer named Philip Hovel, but unfortunately, trusting him cost us $1,500. In Ukraine, people say in such situations, “Just forget it and move on,” which we did. In August 2024, after David turned 18, his uncle registered our business for free. David left school, and shortly after, I completed my studies, thanks to our principal’s support.

In autumn, things began to go well, and we started growing confidently. A big role in this success was played by our new marketer, Pasha, who fulfilled all our expectations and helped us reach new heights. This is the conclusion of this brief retelling of our story. Over the past year, we’ve gone through a lot of pain and embarrassment, but it was our only chance, and we didn’t waste it.

Thank everyone who support us.

Kai(Kirill)