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Lemonade Leaders
Real stories of turning life’s toughest lemons into something good. Each week, host Riannon Palmer chats with founders and changemakers about resilience, purpose, and building impact from adversity.
Lemonade Leaders
From arriving in the UK with £300 to building 15 businesses
Darya Simanovich arrived in the UK with just £300 and no English - 20 years later, she’s built 15 businesses. In this episode of Lemonade Leaders, we dive into her journey of resilience: 10 failures, 5 successes, and 1 exit. We talk about why failure is a muscle, the “100 Coffee Strategy” every founder should know, and how motherhood gave her the courage to take risks. An inspiring reminder that perseverance turns life’s lemons into lemonade.
Welcome to Lemonade Leaders, the podcast about conversations that do good and feel good. I'm your host, Riannon Palmer, founder of Lem-uhn, A Feel Good PR agency for brands that care. Each episode, I'll be chatting to brilliant people who've turned life's lemons into something meaningful. Today I'm joined by Darya Simanovich, a leader who has had many lemon to lemonade moments from moving to the UK with 300 pounds to launching 15 businesses. She has had her fair share of highs and lows, but today she shares her story of resilience and perseverance. Hi, Darya. So lovely to have you on the podcast.
Darya Simanovich:Thank you so much for inviting me.
Riannon Palmer:Now your life has been full of these lemons to lemonade moments. I think lots of people that I've spoken to, they've had one moment and it's changed their lives. But it seems like your life, from growing up and moving to the uk to all the businesses that you've had, have really been taking life's lemons, and making lemonade. So it'd be great if you could take us back to the beginning of when you arrived in the UK and that moment and how your journey started.
Darya Simanovich:Sure I arrived, in the UK 20 years ago, barely speaking English. Without knowing anyone, 300 pounds in my pocket. in the past 10 years, I built 15 companies from scratch. 10 have failed, but five succeeded, and one exit. So I feel like our role as entrepreneur is creating something out of nothing and like all these little lemons. What you're referring to, we are creating out of lemons lemonade with every single venture we do.
Riannon Palmer:Yeah, and it's not easy. I mean, lots of people have something happen to them and. That will be the end of it or they'll go back to the nine to five job. But yeah, you managed to keep persevering throughout it. I know you mentioned you came to the country with 300 pounds, which is incredible to see the amount of businesses that you've been able to do. Tell us about that journey and how you thought, I'm gonna start a business now after moving here. Which is already really tough in itself, but then to think, to start a business is definitely something even tougher.
Darya Simanovich:I actually started one of my first businesses when I gave birth to my first daughter. back then it was, she's 13 now. There was no hybrid working, so I was working in the corporate world and, when I was about to go back, into workforce, my department closed. And so basically I was made redundant and I was craving to do something around my kids. And so that's how I started the Chelsea Swim Spa with the swim school. That's how I started, the property management company. And later on I set up a Chelsea Creparie brand. So it was like a coffee shop in Chelsea. I wanted to scale to 40. I guess hospitality is so hard. I was 20 years late to that party, and so I decided instead of scaling, I decided to sell it.
Riannon Palmer:Yeah. And you had that Creparie brand in the pandemic, didn't you?
Darya Simanovich:Yes. And actually pandemic was our best year. We were allowed to operate on delivery and Uber eat and people could do takeaways. So Kensington and Chelsea Council, they actually gave us 50,000 pounds to cover the costs. So actually it was the best year for our hospitality business.
Riannon Palmer:Yeah, I think you hear a lot of that actually. Like, we started in the pandemic. And it was one of those times that actually it connected you to lots of people that you might not have usually been connected to. 'cause usually in my world, that you have to go to meet people in person and spend lots of money on the pitches and the proposals. But the pandemic did unlock the opportunity to be able to actually speak to people virtually and present yourself against these big agencies, are in the same league, which would be impossible if it had not been for the rise of the digital age. Obviously the pandemic had lots of hardships for people. But in the business world and for us entrepreneurs, it did unlock some opportunities. Obviously you've had some real huge successes, but what about some of those businesses that didn't quite happen or that didn't quite, become as successful as the other ones.
Darya Simanovich:I had quite a few failures. I launched a product business where it was a social enterprise. We wanted to, basically the concept was buy one, give one. So every pair of socks you buy from us, we give a pair of socks to homeless people or people in need. I don't have much experience in product. Paying ads is a completely different animal and I was spreading myself way too thin. I enjoyed the process. I enjoyed the launching. I enjoy the zero to one thing, but that was never achieved Past one year. So I had to close it and there was like multiple other companies and the projects I launched like a cooking school for kids and cooking experiences for adults. And we launched multiple dark kitchens which was a collaboration with Deliveroo, which was a great idea on paper, but never worked out. We launched some Mexican cuisine, like a Tasty burrito. another failure, like tried for three months, but I feel like that's the the muscle we develop. You know, now they say the business of the future with AI is actually launching different business. like closing nine when one succeeding. I guess now everything is much quicker. Testing ideas are much quicker. So plenty of failures.
Riannon Palmer:What would you say is the biggest lesson from those failures
Darya Simanovich:Biggest lesson, have a fear, but do it anyway. I would say it's about asking yourself a question. When you are a hundred years old, 120 years old, are you gonna regret not. take a shot on it or will you, regret later. do it anyway. have no regrets. That's my biggest drive I would say.
Riannon Palmer:You said when you launched your early businesses that you had recently had a child. Do you think that becoming a mom had changed your attitude? And I think for some people, maybe you'd become more risk averse, but actually you were there like, I wanna take risks for my child and maybe achieve a better life.
Darya Simanovich:I mean, obviously being a mother, it does change you. For who you are. I have three kids and I feel like with every single birth I almost like launched a business. And, I guess for me, I enjoy diversity. I want to challenge myself and, are all different. And some mothers, they just enjoy being at home, being with the kids. And I feel like it was important to spend a lot of time with the kids. you do have flexibility when you work for yourself. I didn't wanna stay bored and I feel like now the kids. are pushing me and challenging me, and they're like, mummy when is your book coming out? You know, you wanna be a better leader, inspire them. if you don't have fear, you keep building these small businesses. I feel like they have this example. And I hope they will be trying, for themselves as well.
Riannon Palmer:Yeah, I think it's really powerful, especially, when we were growing up there was less female role models and you didn't think that I could start a company and actually now there's a huge array of them. and just getting that profile and that conversation of female founders shows that the next generation that they can be it. I think you have to see it to be it.
Darya Simanovich:Absolutely.
Riannon Palmer:And tell us about your, book launch. It sounds so exciting, and it sounds like you've got such a wealth of experience on all these lessons that you can now give to the next generation.
Darya Simanovich:Oh Thank you so much. Yes, it's super exciting. The book is called The Immigrant Entrepreneur, kissing 100 Frogs or 100 Coffee Strategy. So now I see. Speak to 400 founders a year. I host multiple events. I do events for female founders, for LGBTQ plus community, for other communities as well. I'm a business mentor for British Library and I've done a bunch of accelerators like Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses growth program. I've done JP Morgan, female Forward, accelerator. So I understand the importance to work. on your business rather than always in your business. Kind of to step back in order to step up. So I'm sharing 19 practical hacks, what helped me to grow, to grow my business and what is helping to all the founders I speak with. Top, tips I usually share. It's this 100 coffee strategy. So meaning if you wanna grow your business or if you wanna gain clarity in, or start a new business, challenge yourself. Have real conversations with real people. It could be virtual coffees, Coffees in person. you know how they say knock on 100 doors, 10 will open. People are like, oh my God, they take this a hundred coffee strategy and next time I see them, they're like, oh, you know, I've done 20 now. 80 to go. And they feel more confident and people see me and they are like, if she can do it, I can totally do it. That's what I want to translate.
Riannon Palmer:Yeah, I think you need a role model to, to believe that you can do it yourselves. why do you think that maybe people don't just kind of naturally think, I'm gonna go out and go for coffees with people. Do you think that the attitude has changed?
Darya Simanovich:I am not sure if the attitude is changed. I think all the people are, different, lots of introverted people, they actually rather spend months on building their perfect website, on nailing their perfect branding and perfect colours, et cetera. But they wouldn't actually ask a real person for any feedback. They wouldn't even know if the people would buy them. So asking the question, how can you test if you are onto something as cheaply as possible, as quickly as possible? That's your gold and people are. scared of having no customers, they're scared to receive the feedback. So I guess it's the mindset inside, which is holding them back and that they're definitely not alone and encouraging them to go just to have one coffee a week, or even one coffee a month is better than no coffees.
Riannon Palmer:Yeah, I completely agree. you need to find out who your customers are and that market research is such a big thing before building a brand. You can't have a good brand if you're not speaking to your customers. How long in the making was this book?
Darya Simanovich:I would say three years. the recommendation is not to write a book, but write a book proposal first and try to pitch it to literary agents. That's what I did. I had two literary agents who contacted their contacts in the publishing world, but because entrepreneurship is such a saturated world now, unless you have a platform where you have 1 million followers. Unless you have exited like eight figure exit or built a unicorn or dragon, with the first book, the probability that you will get, publishing deal is very slim. so I didn't get the book deal. And I decided to just self-publish. Now you have such a quality, like for example, my editor, she's a penguin editor, so works freelance, she works for top publishers, and she's helping me with publishing my book. The same with the book cover design. You could find like gold, or again, freelance. So. it's been three years and someone else actually inspired me exactly what you say. You know, we need to see a role model. And I saw, and I felt like green envy, and then I said to myself, oh, if she can do it, I can do it.
Riannon Palmer:has there been difficulties and challenges that you've faced and that you've learned some new lessons?
Darya Simanovich:Yeah, and I feel like, you know how they say the book, which is going to change your life is not the book you read, but the book you write yourself and it's, challenges every day. can you write every single day, even one paragraph is better than, no paragraphs every single day, you know, analyzing what is your ideal routine. I mean it's constant challenges, I thought I'm such an easy person and I would find my graphic designer and the book cover. I would just agree with what my editor suggested to me. And actually, unfortunately, I had to change three graphic designers. Like work a lot with AI to actually finalize the one I really want. I feel like lemons we see every single day and it's managing our expectations. Working on your inner dialogue with yourself, like having Lemons is totally but you can do it. You could turn it into lemonade.
Riannon Palmer:Yeah, definitely. I mean, you balance so many different projects. You've got this portfolio of different businesses and now you're writing a book. what advice would you give to people that wanna be able to, maybe they've got a full-time job at the minute and they've got this side hustle that they're interested in, but they're finding it difficult to find the time to do both of them. Have you got any advice?
Darya Simanovich:yesterday I was having a conversation with a lady who has no kids. We are same age, and she resigned from her full-time job and she's now building her business full-time I would prefer them to have a full-time job and develop it as a side hustle and her argument was no, it's impossible for me, to actually do it because I'm so exhausted, after full-time job. I cannot do it in the evenings and I cannot do it on weekends because I'm so tired. We are all different with our energy is different and I feel like I reflected myself, I have three kids, I have multiple businesses, I have a full-time job and I'm actually publishing a book. But everybody has different energy levels. You know yourself best and yes, for someone it's actually resigning from a full-time role taking chances on yourself. But for someone, it's staying in a full-time role, testing the side hustle and you know, and, working around the full-time. Can you move maybe to four days a week? Can you make it part-time? and also everybody is different, in terms of their savings, in terms of their time, in life. They're like, if not now than when? So they take a bet on them. There are different ways, but I would say have a honest conversation with yourself. Meaning that manage your expectations and ask yourself uncomfortable questions if in six months time the side hustle doesn't bring revenue, or you can't show traction in terms of users, maybe it's time to pivot
Riannon Palmer:Yeah, a hundred percent. Have you had any big moments where you've had an original business idea and then you've pivoted and it's been completely different.
Darya Simanovich:I wanted to go into business coaching and business mentoring for small business owners. I feel like, my story from zero to 15 businesses and, I've done a few coaching, degrees like from Institute of Leadership and Management. So I thought this is gonna be my next business, but it feels like. I swim in the red ocean rather than blue ocean. There are so many coaches and my clients are not the wealthiest, so small business owners, they're not necessarily have the biggest budget. So I tried that, but I saw it's just a hobby. and I liked it so much that I started to like, maybe I could do it part-time or full-time. And then basically that's how I Work full time for London and Partners Grow London local. I speak to founders every single day. I host events. And you know what? It works for me, for my lifestyle. I really enjoy it.
Riannon Palmer:Yeah, I think it's about finding what's right for you because like you said, it's not a one size fits all, and I think it's that idea of starting a business sounds really incredible and you've got the flexibility and the control, but it's not for everyone. And I think, it's making what works for you work, which is really important.
Darya Simanovich:And what about your beautiful story? What other lemons you squeeze?
Riannon Palmer:Yeah, well, it's very on brand. I started the company because I was working in the pandemic. PR is a crazy industry anyway. 91% of PR professionals have mental health struggles each year. I wanted to work for a better type of agency that cared about its employees and worked with better brands, but there wasn't one. So it was taking that real mental health struggle in the pandemic. And starting out on my own and creating Lem-uhn which has all the highs and lows as you know, in running a business. But, I think working for yourself and building something that you're really passionate about is really important. I think having that passion behind what you do is really key. I speak to some people and they're starting a business 'cause they wanna make money and I think that's obviously always really nice. But at the end of the day, if you wanna be passionate and keep building a business, I think you need to have something that you really care about.
Darya Simanovich:Absolutely.
Riannon Palmer:is there one of your businesses that you started that you were really passionate about that came from something that happened in your life
Darya Simanovich:I reflected on my journey and I feel like for me it's about problem solving. I really enjoy creating something out of nothing and, my first degree is math, so I problem solve in the world. And yes, pretty much all of them, they come organically. I took my first daughter for swimming lessons and the swim school was so far away. it took me one hour to go there and one hour to come back. We already had the pool in the basement, so it was a easy, organic way to start the business. And similar with the coffee shop I acquired. I was thinking about that space for that would be an amazing for. Space for food business. I was thinking about it for three years, sharing with my friends and then when my third daughter was born, I knocked on the door and said, would you be able to sell? Are you selling the business? And the owner was like, make me an offer. And The rest is history.
Riannon Palmer:Yeah, I think our lived experiences are so key for what we end up building and creating. Like you said, if you didn't have those experiences, you wouldn't have known. But actually so many of us share those lived experiences that can really. Help. I think there's been such a huge conversation recently about the lack of funding into female founders though, and then with the lack of funding and the lack of VCs that are women, it's not shaping as many companies that are helping women. what are your thoughts on the funding for women and how do you think that we can, improve it and get more funding for female founders?
Darya Simanovich:Yeah, absolutely. And the stats are appalling. It is less than 2%. I love concepts similar to buy women built. So I try to support women the way I can. Angel invest for myself. I am sourcing female founders. I work with founders every single day and, I see less confidence in women. So I see my role in uplifting, and showing examples. it's not an easy, solution and lots of companies, they say they want to support female founders, but when you dig deeper, it's not an easy road. I guess we, as women, we just be an example. I also, am still a big believer in collaboration. Like in all my businesses it's family investment. So my husband was a massive help in terms of like capital. it's about collaboration as well, you know what I mean?
Riannon Palmer:Yeah, definitely. I think you have to be optimistic as a business owner, but especially when you're a female founder, was there anyone growing up that you saw that was a woman in business or was there any role models that started this entrepreneurial pursuit that you've gone on to and done it incredibly 15 businesses already.
Darya Simanovich:I think entrepreneurship, you either have it in you or not. maybe it's a skill we can develop. growing up, I had no examples. it's a desire to test if I can do it, I would say the models were probably like Richard Branson with his businesses being a scanner rather than a diver like, Steve Jobs. one of my favorite ones, of course is a Spanx is Sarah Blakely. You know, her stories self-made billionaire before 30. incredible. her story she was doing lots of sales before, I feel like this training for you as entrepreneur is so powerful. And also her dad asking her and her brother every week, what did you fail at this week? And if they have nothing to share, he would be disappointed. That mindset really helps So yeah, for me, Sarah Blakely is probably the top entrepreneur. I admire her she didn't stop. she's a billionaire, Spans is so successful, and now she's building a new brand. it's beautiful.
Riannon Palmer:Yeah, it is incredible. And I think when people look into the entrepreneur lifestyle, they think, oh, you just go and start a business and it's all successful. But actually there's so many challenges and failures that people experience.
Darya Simanovich:Yeah.
Riannon Palmer:and I think talking about that story is really important because it's not all sunshine and butterflies. It's actually all those challenges that make us who we are. is there anything else that you think is really key for, for founders to have?
Darya Simanovich:I would try to enjoy the journey. when you are in entrepreneurship, you basically learn so much about yourself, treat it as a self discovery. the dialogue with yourself, it's all about mindset and like feel the fear, but do it anyway. I would say managing expectations, I hear lots of founders come to me and they share how this client is unhappy or that client is unhappy. But 100 clients, it's guaranteed that someone is gonna be unhappy and you know, if you are so upset about that one client, work on it, you will have it So it's, working on your mindset, I would say, and use AI as a business coach. We are lucky now.
Riannon Palmer:Yeah, it's been incredible. I've been trying to get my head around AI for the past few months, and I think it's really useful and everything, and there's so many free resources out there. and it's so important to get ahead of all these trends and actually get left behind and, and not know how to use it.
Darya Simanovich:I know.
Riannon Palmer:And if you were gonna take yourself back to when you arrived in the UK with that 300 pounds and lots of ambition, but no businesses, what would be the advice that you would give to Daria back then?
Darya Simanovich:I would give this advice a hundred coffees is your answer. Take an action. you know how they say about confidence. It's not gonna be built by sitting and thinking about it. It's about taking action and, go for 100 coffees and, you will get a job, you will get, a boyfriend, you will build your social wealth.
Riannon Palmer:thank you so much for being so open about your story, and I'm sure it'll be quick. Incredibly inspirational for lots of people that have been in that situation. Where can people find you? If they wanna read your book or find you on socials or your website?
Darya Simanovich:Oh, thank you so much for having me. So I'm Darya Simonovich. You could find me on LinkedIn, on Instagram, So yes, please come to my book, launch party as well in November. I'm super excited for that.
Riannon Palmer:Amazing. Can't wait to read it. Thank you so much.
Darya Simanovich:Thank you so much for having me.
Riannon Palmer:Thank you so much to Darya for being so open with our story. If you enjoyed today's episodes, please follow and like the podcast for weekly episodes of lemonade leaders. Until next time, keep making your own lemonade.