Today we’d like to introduce you to Sergey Ivannikov.
Hi Sergey, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My story in the United States began in 1995, when I immigrated from Uzbekistan with an education in engineering, an entrepreneurial mindset, and a determination to build a meaningful future. Like many immigrants, I arrived without an established professional network or a clear roadmap. What I did understand was the power of information, relationships, and community.
In 1997, I founded my first business, a digital printing shop that eventually evolved into Russian American Media in Sacramento. My goal was to help Russian-speaking and Slavic immigrants navigate life in America, find local resources, connect with businesses, and become more engaged in their new community. What started as a small printing business gradually developed into a multicultural media, communications, publishing, marketing, and event-production company.
Under my leadership, Russian American Media expanded to include the Slavic Business Directory, the Russian-language newspaper Slavic Observer, and New Times Magazine, an English-language publication created to introduce influential entrepreneurs, professionals, civic leaders, and community organizations to a broader audience. Through our print publications, digital platforms, marketing campaigns, and community partnerships, my team and I have helped businesses become more visible while connecting people who might otherwise never have entered the same room.
Our work eventually expanded beyond traditional media. Today, Russian American Media produces major community and business events, including the International Kids Festival and the Best Business Awards Ceremony & Gala, featuring the Miss California International Grand Finale. These platforms bring together thousands of families, entrepreneurs, corporate executives, nonprofit leaders, elected officials, and emerging talent.
The road was not always easy. Building a media company while the industry was being transformed by the internet, social media, and rapidly changing consumer behavior required me to constantly reinvent both the company and myself. I learned that longevity does not come from protecting the original business model. It comes from understanding the real mission behind the business and finding new ways to fulfill it.
For me, that mission has remained consistent: to inform, connect, recognize, and empower people. Nearly three decades later, I am proud that Russian American Media has grown from an immigrant-focused initiative into a multicultural media and community-engagement platform. We do more than publish stories or produce events. We create visibility, build relationships, and open doors for people and organizations doing meaningful work.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has definitely not been a smooth road. When I arrived in the United States, I came without money, without English, and without an established professional network. I had to rebuild my life and professional identity from the ground up while learning a new language, adapting to a different culture, and understanding an unfamiliar business environment. As an immigrant entrepreneur, I quickly realized that credibility would not be given to me automatically. It had to be earned through consistency, results, and years of showing up for the community.
Another major challenge was the transformation of the media industry itself. The business I founded in 1997 began as a digital printing shop, but printing alone could not remain the long-term model. Technology changed, traditional publications came under increasing pressure, and digital media and social platforms completely reshaped how people received information and how businesses promoted themselves.
Consumer behavior changed even more dramatically after COVID-19. Audiences became increasingly digital, businesses reconsidered how they reached customers, and community engagement shifted in ways that required us to adapt quickly. I had to make difficult decisions, embrace new technologies, develop new platforms, and repeatedly reinvent the company without losing its original purpose.
There were also the everyday realities of entrepreneurship: financial uncertainty, limited resources, long hours, changing markets, and the responsibility of supporting a team while continuing to deliver results for clients and community partners. Producing large events created another level of risk. Months of preparation can be affected by circumstances outside your control, yet the audience still expects everything to appear seamless.
One of the most important lessons I learned is that obstacles do not disappear as a company grows; they simply change. Every stage requires a different version of you as a leader. I learned to adapt without abandoning my values, turn setbacks into new directions, and build a company around a mission larger than any single publication, service, or event.
Those challenges ultimately made Russian American Media stronger. They pushed us to grow from a printing business into a diversified media, marketing, publishing, and event-production company capable of serving both multicultural communities and the broader business community.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Russian American Media, Inc. is a multicultural media, marketing, publishing, and event-production company that I founded in Sacramento in 1997. Our mission is to inform, connect, recognize, and empower people while helping businesses and organizations build visibility, credibility, and meaningful relationships.
Our media network includes the Business Navigator Sacramento Directory, the Russian-language newspaper Slavic Observer, California Live Podcast, and New Times Magazine, our English-language publication featuring entrepreneurs, professionals, civic leaders, innovators, and organizations making an impact in California and beyond. Through print and digital publications, editorial storytelling, social media, video, advertising, branding, and strategic marketing campaigns, we help our clients reach both multicultural audiences and the broader business community.
Russian American Media is also known for producing major community and business events. These include the International Kids Festival, which brings together thousands of families, performers, community organizations, healthcare providers, educational institutions, and businesses, as well as the Best Business Awards Ceremony & Gala, featuring the Miss California International Grand Finale. Our events create opportunities for recognition, professional visibility, relationship-building, and direct engagement with business, civic, nonprofit, and community leaders.
What sets us apart is our ability to combine media exposure, live experiences, strategic introductions, and long-term community relationships within one platform. We do not simply place an advertisement, publish an article, or produce an event. We help clients shape their stories, strengthen their positioning, enter new networks, and remain visible before, during, and after a campaign.
I am especially proud that Russian American Media has remained relevant for nearly three decades by continuously evolving without abandoning its original purpose. The company began by serving Russian-speaking and Slavic immigrants, but it has grown into a multicultural platform connecting people across industries, cultures, and generations.
Our greatest strength is trust. We have spent years building relationships with entrepreneurs, corporations, nonprofit organizations, public agencies, elected officials, community leaders, and families. That trust allows us to create opportunities that traditional advertising alone cannot provide.
I want readers to understand that Russian American Media is more than a media company. We are a connector and a community-building platform. Whether we are developing a marketing campaign, publishing someone’s story, recognizing an accomplished professional, producing a large public festival, or bringing leaders together at a gala, our goal is the same: to help good people and meaningful organizations become visible, credible, and connected.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
Luck has played a role in my life and business, but I do not believe that luck works independently of preparation, persistence, and action.
There is a story about an athlete who won a gold medal. Someone told him, “You were lucky.” He replied, “Yes, I trained for the last ten years, and today I got lucky.” That story closely reflects how I view success.
I consider myself fortunate to have met many extraordinary people throughout my journey. Some entered my life at exactly the right moment and opened a door, offered advice, made an introduction, or helped me recognize an opportunity. However, those moments only became meaningful because I had spent years working, building credibility, and preparing myself to act when an opportunity appeared.
Luck has played a role in my life and business, but I do not believe that luck works independently of preparation, persistence, and action.
There is a story about an athlete who won a gold medal. Someone told him, “You were lucky.” He replied, “Yes, I trained for the last ten years, and today I got lucky.” That story closely reflects how I view success.
I consider myself fortunate to have met many extraordinary people throughout my journey. Some entered my life at exactly the right moment and opened a door, offered advice, made an introduction, or helped me recognize an opportunity. However, those moments only became meaningful because I had spent years working, building credibility, and preparing myself to act when an opportunity appeared. What initially looks like bad luck can also become a turning point. Economic uncertainty, changes in the media industry, the disruption caused by COVID-19, and projects that did not develop as expected forced me to reconsider old assumptions and find new ways forward. Some of our most important ideas emerged because the original plan was no longer possible.
Good luck may open a door, but it cannot build a business, earn the community’s trust, or sustain relationships for nearly three decades. That requires hard work, consistency, adaptability, and the courage to keep moving when the outcome is uncertain. To me, luck is where opportunity meets preparation. You increase your chances of being lucky by showing up, staying visible, treating people well, building genuine relationships, and doing the work long before anyone sees the result. Luck may create the moment, but preparation determines what you can do with it. initially looks like bad luck can also become a turning point. Economic uncertainty, changes in the media industry, the disruption caused by COVID-19, and projects that did not develop as expected forced me to reconsider old assumptions and find new ways forward. Some of our most important ideas emerged because the original plan was no longer possible.
Good luck may open a door, but it cannot build a business, earn the community’s trust, or sustain relationships for nearly three decades. That requires hard work, consistency, adaptability, and the courage to keep moving when the outcome is uncertain. To me, luck is where opportunity meets preparation. You increase your chances of being lucky by showing up, staying visible, treating people well, building genuine relationships, and doing the work long before anyone sees the result. Luck may create the moment, but preparation determines what you can do with it.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.russianamericanmedia.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sergey_ivannikov
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sergey.ivannikov?mibextid=wwXIfr&mibextid=wwXIfr
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sergeyivannikov
- Other: https://www.newtimesmagazine.com/
