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Welcome to The Vici Code, where we unlock real stories of small business owners who've battled chaos, crushed doubt, and conquered their challenges. Faith, family, and finances. No fluff, just raw, honest conversations that decode the path to victory one story at a time. What is up? Thank you for joining us today as we explore our latest Purpose Driven Journey, Precision and Purpose, where we travel from Moscow to Victoria, navigating the highs and lows of immigration, mastering technical leadership, and building multi-industry wealth. What does it take to move halfway across the world in your 20s, master a highly regulated technical profession, and then disrupt the residential service industry, It takes a unique blend of precision and grit. Alex Gorlik is yet another member of Dan Martell's elite coaching group, and I'm excited to bring his story to you today. He started his land surveying career in Alberta in the early 2000s, working primarily in the oil and gas sector. Alex received his commission as an Alberta land surveyor in 2015 and was also commissioned in British Columbia and Saskatchewan later that same year. He currently resides in Sydney, British Columbia, and is involved in various residential surveys, including topographic and legal surveys, as well as larger commercial and construction projects. And if that wasn't enough, Alex is also the owner of a residential cleaning company, Squeakly, in Victoria, British Columbia. Today, we explore the immigration advantage by diving into how the discipline of land surveying informs the leadership of cleaning company and how to maintain the Vici pillars while managing two distinct businesses. This is the definition of immigrant grit, and that fuels purpose-driven leadership. From the oil patches of Alberta to the shores of Sydney, British Columbia, we're mapping out Alex's path to personal and professional breakthroughs. Alex, my man, welcome to the show. Wow. What an introduction. Thank you, Joe. That was amazing. Amazing. Thank you. Well, there's a lot to talk about with you, and we had to really trim it down. And when you trim it down, there's just a lot there. So, I like to really just jump right in. And we really like to talk about the breakthrough. We all have that moment where we have a breakthrough. And for years, it starts when you were in your 20s. Alex, you immigrated to Canada in your early 20s and have been open about the highs and lows of that journey. Looking back, what was the single most difficult low that forced a breakthrough in your character and prepared you for business ownership? Oh, you know, as you were introducing me and going through my story, it was a pretty nostalgic moment. I'm thinking about this and I'm kind of starting to remember what happened back then. I would say the first 2 years, I wouldn't call a single moment, but first 2 years of immigration, it was really soul-searching. It's a completely different environment for someone who just came in. And I was very young, just fresh out of university. I only worked maybe 8 months in Moscow, and then I kind of I got in Canada, no experience, limited English, and you start resorting to typical vices. You start drinking beer, you're not being active, and that was happening for a bit too long. I wouldn't say that I was still working and everything, but I got fat, I got very unfit, and my relationship with my wife was not that great, not as great as it is right now for sure. And that was probably the lowest moment. And I constantly thought about how can I get out of it? And Again, I don't think there was any single turning point. I would say finding the job in my industry related to land surveying was a step out of it, a step towards good health and good relationship. And then somebody talked to me about, oh, maybe you can become a professional land surveyor. I started thinking about that, started on that path. And then finding a job where I felt like I belong and actually getting my professional designations, that was definitely the next step. Move to Victoria was pivotal moment, absolutely pivotal moment for me. And that's when I started thinking about— I moved here to be with a large company, which I didn't necessarily like, and I started thinking about entrepreneurship and owning my own business. And I don't think there would be a turning point. It's a slow, gradual process when your mind slowly shifts towards something great. And I am in much better mental and physical shape right now. Being in my 40s, I can certainly outrun physically myself in my 20s, 100%. Yeah, I feel like, you know, I can relate. You know, I've had those moments. You. Know, my 20s and 30s just felt like I was lost. You know, to be fair, I was dealing with a divorce and I had 2 kids. It was not the best of situations and I just kind of like lost who I was. And I can say right now in my 40s, I'm 42. I'm in the best shape of my life. My mental game is sharper than it's ever been. I'm happier. So I can relate to that story. Now, can you tell us how, how did the transition from the Alberta oil and gas sector to municipal infrastructure change your perspective on community and leadership? Oh, You know what, Alberta oil and gas sector, when I moved to Victoria, it was in a rough shape. And, uh, first of all, when you work in such an industry, uh, you feel like a cog. You're not— you don't, you don't feel like you contributed much. It's, it's, it's a huge industry. Oil and gas is, is very ruthless. Uh, we were on outskirts of oil and gas, of course, as land surveyors, uh, not in the middle of it as a service company to oil and gas, but you feel it. You work in the field, when you work in the field and those oil rigs and whatever, it's a ruthless industry and it's not fun to be in, not always fun to be in. And of course, when I moved here and I started working in the municipal sector, you feel the difference. I actually found this passion and part of my Instagram content right now is educating landowners on what land surveying is. And there's no way I could have done it in the oil and gas sector in Alberta because you just— nobody, nobody cares. And here, um, I finally— I'm finally doing what land surveying is. You're working with, uh, real people. You're finding their boundaries. Yes, sometimes you upset them by, um, by telling them that their boundary is not where they think it is, But you feel purpose that way when you have an ability to explain what's going on. And I find it very fulfilling. And I think it's important for a community and in the place where you live in. I find it very fulfilling to explain people something and hear something in response like, Oh, now I understand. Oh, that makes sense. Hopefully I answer your question, but this was a shift and I feel like it's certainly more fulfilling and I do enjoy that part of that. Absolutely. Working in municipal infrastructure, you're dealing with people, everyday people that people, whether they work there or they're just part of the community, they're traveling through those areas. So I can imagine that this does feel more fulfilling than to being on the oil fields and the gas sector, for sure. It's just industry versus community, totally different setting. So I can imagine just the fulfillment in making that switch. Um, there's another industry you're also in, uh, on the surface, land surveying and residential cleaning seem worlds apart. However, they both rely on extreme attention to detail. How does the technical rigor of legal survey at Polaris influence the Squeakly Clean standard you've set for your cleaning company? Well, so we started Squeakly together with my wife who, uh, who is in the same industry. She used to be a drafts person for all these land surveying companies. And of course, funny enough, attention to detail can be your friend and can be your enemy. With cleaning, you have to understand your limits because you're working within certain timeframes. You have to complete the job quickly. Yet you have to provide the quality. And we, as a cleaning company, we say this a lot. We have a wow factor. Our goal is for our customers, our clients to say wow. And this wow is about quality and is also about speed. When attention to detail is your friend is when you build systems. When you actually design workflows in the company that work. And one of the things is cleaning systems. Like, we really put a lot of effort into designing cleaning systems, and I wouldn't say we designed them all on our own. We obviously use some help and some mentorship from other cleaning companies. However, we want the best out of the best. So we design in our cleaning system that there's no mistake. So we deliver consistent clean. So there is a checklist, there is a certain procedure when you clean. And of course, I'm not in the field, I don't clean, but. It has. To be top to bottom, left to right. You use specific tools. We color code our tools per area so there's no cross-contamination. And this There's a lot to it. A lot of people think, oh, what's cleaning? Cleaning is easy. Anybody can do it. Sure, anybody can do this, but there is a difference between anybody doing it and when you accompany and actually utilizing systems. And that's where this attention to detail comes in. And this is, this is why it matters. You, you have to have a system. In, in cleaning even more than in serving sometimes, actually. Yeah. And, and speaking of, um, you know, as a partner and owner, how do you delegate effectively so that you are the owner of Squeakly and not just another operator? Funny that you ask. I have this, uh, piece of paper on my desk, uh, it's called, uh, it's my, my internal thing It's called the 5-minute clarity check. You have to, when you delegate, there's 5 steps here. What does done look like? When is it due exactly? What does good look like? Who owns the task? And what cannot or must be done? And I do have this if anybody is interested, I would would be glad to share. But basically, you have to exactly outline what you expect, and it has to be exact clarity. And all these 5 questions, they're very, very important. My favorite is what does good, good enough, or good look like? When you delegate something and ask somebody to do something for you, you have to tell them what is good enough for you. What do you actually want? And what does done look like? You have to say, well, if we whatever, get 2 clients, we're talking about sales, for instance, then it's done for today or whatever. So all that has to be communicated and not only communicated, but ideally on paper, there has to be document and then delegation becomes easier. By no means I'm going to say that I'm perfect at this. I don't think one ever can be perfect at delegating, but I am certainly moving towards the point where I'm very comfortable at delegating because I just simply know the proper steps to get there. Relying on your systems. Yeah, you know, the same systems that, you know, that define what, uh, your company is as a cleaning company compared to another one's. Having those standards in place, um, are also how you can step away and actually manage the company versus being, you know, stuck in the company. Yeah, this is our ultimate goal we're working towards. We're still, my wife especially, still in the trenches. There are challenges, of course, but our goal for this summer is to take complete time off, and she's working hard on building the systems that will allow her to do that. And I know we're going to be there because we're well on the way. But ultimately, this is what you want to do. If anything, I recommend a book, Clockwork by Mike Michalowicz, the author of Profit First. Must read for anybody who is building a business and trying to get systems going. Clockwork is exceptional. I will be rereading it after my wife finishes it, so I'm kind of waiting until she's done. But, uh, I've read it a couple times already, and, um, it's, it's a, it's a, in my opinion, it's a must-read. Of course, there's E-Myth by Michael E. Gerber. Uh, however, I think, uh, and it's a great book too, but Clockwork in, in now world, I think it's, it's just more you can adapt to any business. You can just take it and use it. And I would highly recommend that, yes. Got it. And this question, I think, I'm curious, I think the whole audience wants to know, what was the aha moment that led you to believe cleaning, that a cleaning company was the right move along the side of a surveying career? Again, I don't know if there was a moment. I think right now we're in the stages where realizing that yes, it is a real thing. Yes, it's been— let me take you back a little bit. I won't be long, but we started this as a short-term rental cleaning company. We had short-term rentals on our own and we were we felt the pain of finding cleaners and making it work. So we decided, you know, we're going to do it on our own. And we started a company in April of 2023, and it all went— it went well. It was going— it was a great busy summer. And then in September or October, the news broke that British Columbia bans Airbnbs pretty much completely. And we were pretty much— we would be out of business by May 2024 because that was the date. And 80% of our clients were downtown Victoria, and downtown Victoria would be pretty much shut down. And we decided to pivot. We pivoted in residential cleaning, and that was a very difficult financially and mentally move for us. I think about now, well, for the last few months, we're realizing, yes, it was the right move and yes, we can make it work. Yes, we'll make it work. It's actually, it's actually going, going in the right direction. I guess takeaway from this, don't be afraid to pivot. I would say don't quit pivot. Yeah. And I think that's the entrepreneurial spirit that you notice, and it can be a double-edged sword. On one hand, once you've kind of figured out the formula for starting a business, really it is solving problems. You noticed a problem, you filled it with a solution, and you identified it and went after it. And it turned out to be the solution that is what you're doing now. The other side of that is just because you can doesn't mean you always should, right? It's easy to get distracted as an entrepreneur because you just are like, "Oh, well, how come someone's not doing this? Maybe I should do it." And you got to learn to pump the brakes, but you're right. Letting go of something that's not going to pan out the way you hope it was for something that's more favorable, you gotta be flexible. You gotta be able to admit that, you know, not defeat, but that like, we're pivoting, we're making a change in how we're doing things. And I think you guys did a fantastic job at that. I want to get into a little bit of, you know, family, fitness, stuff like that. Your personal journey involves a lot of outdoor activity and staying active in the beautiful Sydney area. How does the fitness pillar help you manage the cognitive load of running a surveying firm and a service business simultaneously? I couldn't imagine I could do it without what I'm doing with my exercising. I'm big into running now. I started to run about 12, 13 years ago as a means of maintaining my weight that I lost shortly after my second was born. And I needed to do something in order to keep it off. And I started running and it wasn't— it was just basically a hobby, nothing too serious. And right now I feel like I really I really, really love it and I want to make it my thing. And being in my 40s and going in my 50s, it's— there are a lot of fast people here, so I have a lot of work to do. I just ran a race as part of our Vancouver Island running series. I was 8 kilometers. I'm going to talk metric. I'm sorry, Joe. I know you're in the United States. I lift weights, so sometimes you gotta compare kilos to pounds. I'm with you, man. So yeah, and I, I run my 8K, um, uh, in just under 32 minutes, which is, uh, under 4 kilometers, uh, per, uh, under 4 minutes per kilometer pace. Uh, don't know how it converts to miles, but it's, it's good. I'm thinking already that that's a 20-minute 5K. That's strong. Yeah, it's under— it's under 20-minute 5K. Yeah. And I was 15th in my age category, 40 to 44. 15th. There's a lot of fast people here. So anyway, answering your question, I made running a thing. And besides that, I do some exercising and everything, but I prioritize my fitness. I have a plan. I'm preparing for Vancouver Marathon in May. And I just don't skip my training. Like, there's— it's not truly non-negotiable. Whatever. It doesn't matter how my day goes, but I will take my running over solving a business problem. And it might be counterintuitive, but trust me, you go for your run, you get back, you have more energy. Even if it's late at night and you need to get stuff done, you'll get it done. So I always prioritize my fitness. My training over business. Yeah. Take it or leave it. It might sound really counterintuitive, but it just works. You know what? I don't say it out loud, but sometimes I feel like I'm prioritizing fitness over my job also. And I don't think I've ever said that out loud. I've said it to myself. Sometimes I'll go to the gym. My routine is Monday, Wednesday, Friday CrossFit at noon. Um, but you just said it, so I'm, I'm getting on board with it. Sometimes I do feel like it's almost irresponsible for me to leave work, but it never ends up that way. And I never, I never feel like I regret that workout and that it put me in a bad situation. I think that we get tricked into, and we get tricked into believing what we got to solve this problem now. We got to solve the problem now. Oftentimes whether it's something that happened in the morning or something that's looming that I got to deal with in the afternoon, that workout in the middle of the afternoon helps get through whatever I was possibly dealing with in the morning or helps me really be more grounded in the afternoon for whatever I'm thinking of having to deal with then. So, it's funny you say that because I've thought that. I'm like, "Really? Should I really be going to the gym?" But I tell myself, "You know what? I'm not skipping because I know it's going to make me feel better. I know it's going to make me better in all areas of my life. So— You know what's funny, Jordan? Wrong take. You know what's funny? If you skip your workout and keep working on your whatever, your job, your business, your task, you would feel terrible. Yeah. And there's going to be more work. You'll get that work done. You'll get those tasks, but there's always more that fills up that checklist. So, it's like, You've, you've gotten work done, but there's still more work that you're going to probably walk away feeling like, I just don't feel like I got enough done. And you skipped your workout. So mentally you're feeling guilty and down. And 100%, I couldn't agree more. Yeah. And sorry for saying it out loud. Maybe I'm being irresponsible, but I truly feel that way. I truly think that if I don't do it and if I don't do it twice, thrice, it's over. So you just have to do it. For me, I think only time will tell. I think one workout's not going to ruin your day or your week. And like I said, I often think to myself, I'm like, I'm going to the gym in the middle of the day, in the business day. It's a good 2 hours to, you know, drive there, work out, get your breath back, get changed, and come back to work. It's a good 2 hours that you could be doing maybe something, something that's billable work. But you know, there's more to life than work, right? So— 100%. And I feel like that fitness aspect of the 4 pillars makes me, and obviously I can tell with you, makes us better in those other pillars. So, it really is important. And they all, the pillars feed off each other and that's how the fitness one fits in. Exactly. How do you encourage a culture of health and vitality within your teams at Squeakly and Polaris? So, Squeakly, we just found out about a month ago that the charity of our choice will support the Children's Health Foundation of Vancouver Island. They have become an official charity of one of the half marathons here in the area that I've done a couple of times before. And we are completely on board with that. We're going to be forming teams and we're going to encourage everybody on our Squeakly team to participate and run. We can do relay. It doesn't have to be half marathon, so we can each do 5K and, and be done with that. Polaris is different. We're very decentralized team. We all work remotely and we, we don't do a lot of things together. However, it just— because we're decentralized and remote, it allows me to complete my workouts pretty much anytime I need to complete them. So that is the support and flexibility for me. Got it. Now, you've built a life and multiple businesses in British Columbia. When you look at the family pillar, what's the legacy you want to leave

for the next generation of your family? [Speaker: 27:35

Stig_Brodersen] So I have two teenagers. One is still at home. He's in grade 11, and one is on the other side of the country in New Brunswick attending university. And right now, for me, it's crunch time. Maybe I'm a tad late, but it's crunch time for me to make sure my sons are ready and fit for life ahead of them. And that all I can do right now is to lead by example. And your kids, your kids not going to listen to what you tell them. They're going to do what you do. And that's So you have to do— if you want to, if you want your kids doing stuff, you have to do that stuff. And right now I'm just basically— I've never showed up as father before, um, like that before. I, I think my purpose right now is to be an example for my kids. So I, I do what I can to lead by example and show what can be done so they see it and hopefully continue in my journey. I want them to get into business ownership. I want them to get to lead teams and be leaders in community and in business. So that's my, that's my focus right now. And you can only do it by doing it yourself. Does any of that legacy involve, you know, taking over the business? Well, both, both of my kids said no to land surveying a long time ago, so I'm kind of— I kind of lost that hope. That's okay. Land surveying is a very niche profession and not everybody will enjoy it. I don't know. I'm not going to force anybody or push anything onto anybody. So we'll see. Time will tell. My youngest is very interested in marine biology. He's obsessed. He volunteers at the local aquarium. That's going to be his journey. My oldest wants to be a realtor and involved in the real estate. So we'll see what happens. I don't know. I'm not, I'm not too worried about this. I think it will all work out in the end. And if they are in 10 years or 20 years want to be part of our businesses, obviously. Obviously it will work out. We'll see how things shake out. Yeah. So one more thing, how does your roots in Moscow continually influence your leadership style today? Well, I'm very Canadianized now. It's been over 20 years, but growing up in Moscow, it's a 13 million people town. It's different. You learn to survive and this in a good way. Like, I don't mean surviving by living on the streets, but just a general survival. Russia is a very different country. It's a different mindset. And it was different back in the '80s and '90s when I was there. And I think this, the ability to figure things out is what's still actually helping me today. And throughout my years in Moscow, I was constantly surviving and figuring things out. And I think that really helps with business and life. For sure. I think I'm very thankful for actually— well, you can only be thankful for your past, right? You can't really dwell on your past for too, too much. And it is what it is, what shaped me. And I'm trying and using it to my advantage rather than regretting it, right? Absolutely. Yeah, good stuff. Well, we're getting here towards the end. I just want to make some closing remarks and some key takeaways. The power of immigrant grit, right? When you move from a place of comfort to a foreign place, you learn survival skills, you learn how to get it done. And later in life, those skills can really help you in growing a business. So, if you are immigrating from one country to another, or it could be if you're in the US and you're going from one city to the next, culture's different and embrace the opportunity to learn from those changes. And also, the idea that technical precision is transferable skill to any industry. For example, you and I are clearly attention to detail guys, right? I learned that pretty early on when I enjoyed math. And in my precision in being orderly and organized and precise translated really well into the military world because everything's very technical. Everything's very precise because people's lives depend on it. Right. And that's transitioned really well into the accounting world where, you know, every number matters, every comma matters. And The numbers tell a story and people make decisions based off those numbers. So, you know, people can, you know, you can expand, you can, people can lose their jobs. People can, you know, get promoted based off of a detail-oriented business and those numbers. And then also the importance of mapping out your life with the same care a surveyor maps a property. You don't know, you can't reach your goals unless you've planned things out. You're a great example of going to the gym. If I didn't make that a thing, if I didn't plan it out, I wouldn't do it or I would miss it. And I wouldn't be reaching the goals. I wouldn't be able to help as many people and have the same energy for my family and my clients and my team at work., if I didn't plan things out. So planning and setting goals is just really important. Uh, Alex, thank you so much for your transparency, uh, about the immigrant experience and, you know, the dual industry success. Uh, if you're in the Victoria area and need professional cleaning or surveying services, check out squeakly.ca and polarissurveying.ca. Uh, Alex, can you help us a little bit with, uh, some of your other ways that people can follow you and get in touch with you? Yeah, so the easiest is on Instagram. It's alex.gorlik.now, and, uh, my profile has links to both Squiggly and Polaris. Uh, they can be easily found. Uh, I would be happy to connect with, uh, with anybody, and I'm very open to chatting about, um, anything business, really. Or anything like. And yeah, I look forward to connecting. With many of you. Excellent. And we'll leave, we'll leave those links in the show notes. So once this show goes, you guys can check it out in the notes. Thank you so much, Alex. Everyone, Vici Code, stay blessed, stay precise, and keep building. We'll see you on the next episode of Vici Code. Thank. You, Joe. Thanks for tuning in to the Vici Code, where the underdogs rise and the numbers finally make sense. If today's story hit home, share it. And remember, faith fuels a fight, and your comeback is already in progress.