Tell us your name and a little about yourself.
My Name is Andrew Kozlovski, and I am the founder and CEO of Brainz Power. A nootropic company I started my freshman year at USC to address the Adderall epidemic on college campuses.
What exactly does your company do?
My company combines natural ingredients to support the brain’s cognitive functions. College students and many other abused prescribed focus medications to meet deadlines but fail to recognize they are consuming very harmful amphetamines. My company works to offer those in need a natural and safe alternative.
What were the biggest challenges you have faced and how did you overcome them?
My biggest challenge was to scale the company in the start. You have little money, which means you are tight in your abilities to experiment with marketing tactics, A/B testing, trying labels, or even adding products when you want to. But when you reinvest over and over again you get to points where those doors open up. So for me, it was important to just put your head down and work.
What piece of advice do you wish someone had given you at the start of your career?
Just know that what others see as impossible is easily achievable with the right mindset. Everyone told me not to start the business when I was a freshman in college, they said I had no experience, I couldn’t balance school and business, I could grow a business with social media. Within 2 months of starting the business I made over 1k in a single day, made over 100k in my first full year, and by my senior year had featured in Forbes, Business Insider, Huff Post, and more. All of which people would say is impossible while being a full-time college student. Don’t let other project their limitations on you.
Who are your biggest influences and people you admire and why? *
There are so many people I admire, truly anyone more successful than me I admire, I really think there is something to learn from everyone. There was not a single person that helped me or inspired me to start the business, but I took lessons from everyone. I read all of the top business books, watched all the interviews I could get my hands on and really went into what I call a sponge phase where I soaked up as much information as I could from those above me.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are?
Probably not what most would expect, but actually my swimming coach in high school. I was an all American athlete and I got to such a high level in the sport that I was forced to start to learn sports psychology, how to deal with negative thoughts, how to set goals, visualization, he gave me books, we would talk for hours on these topics. What I learned then was sports psychology but sports psychology is life psychology and mental strength is essential in the game of entrepreneurship.
What do you see as your greatest success in life?
My greatest success in life was starting a business at 19 and growing it into a very successful company while still in college. It was a risk I took at such an early age before I really knew anything, I just had a large dream, and was willing to work to make it a reality. It was a life-changing and defining, moment in my life.
