Meet Our Confident, People-Focused Atlanta Area Manager, Daniel Kourchenko

lly became to have a family, and while being a surgeon sounded awesome, I saw their lives, and while they could afford to take care of their families, they were never there. It played a big role in my getting into this company, where I saw my boss have all the time to be with his family and at the same time be successful professionally, as well as offering me the opportunity to one day get to his level in the company.

With plans to be a long-term leader in our industry, what skill would you say is your greatest asset that will allow you to thrive continually?

Transferring energy to others and building people’s confidence.

Since starting with us, how has your career grown?

I now run the Atlanta market, and I get to make daily decisions on the course/direction of where we are going.

What’s been your favorite thing about working with us?

The people. Getting to help everyone who works here achieve their personal goals and watching them develop both personally and professionally is the best feeling in the world.

Describe what piqued your interest in our company in the first place.

I have always worked at restaurants as a server/bartender, where you are surrounded by people complaining about their job or a customer or something personal that has no place in a work environment. So what originally attracted me here was the work culture of like-minded individuals who all have the same goal of striving to make something of themselves.

Daniel, you are very team-oriented, which isn’t surprising as you grew up playing sports. Share a little about your leadership style.

I believe in leading from the front. I never ask people to do something I wouldn’t do or haven’t done. Why would anyone want to be led by someone they have never seen be proficient at what they are asking you to do?

What values are important to you in a teammate?

Integrity, I need to be able to trust who I work with. And timeliness; if you can’t wake up on time, why would I trust you with any responsibilities?

You’ve noted that the COVID-19 pandemic had a positive effect on your career. Explain more.

It had a positive effect because it forced us to be solution-oriented, made us a lot stronger, and definitely grew our confidence to be able to make it through anything; we are a lot stronger because of it today.

It’s clear that you’ll never waver in the face of adversity and will always find a way to hit your goals. What short-term and long-term goals are you currently working on?

My short-term goal is to take my mom on vacation this year, and my long-term goal is to have a daughter. A trip with your mom is definitely something to look forward to!

With growth comes setbacks. How do you handle constructive criticism?

It definitely depends on where the criticism is coming from, but I like to face it head-on positively to move my own performance as a leader and move my team and organization effectively.

You’ve accomplished so much over the years. But what would you say has been your greatest achievement?

I would say having the confidence to change career paths was an accomplishment in itself, and had I not done that, I wouldn’t have met the people I needed to or developed myself into the person I am today. I’ve yet to accomplish some big goals, but turning myself into someone who can make those goals happen is my biggest accomplishment to date because now I can do anything I set my mind to.

Let’s circle back to your mom. What is an important lesson she taught you?

I think my mom taught me indirectly by example always to follow through. If she said something, she would do it. So I am very careful of everything I say I am going to do because, to me, your word should be unbreakable. I was very lucky to have her example of this growing up.

She is such an inspiration! Who else has inspired you over the years?

My grandfather! He was always the leader of my family for many reasons. He has definitely inspired me to be a leader and what holds our family together.

“I believe in having a positive mindset towards everything you do in life, as our subconscious mind will dictate our actions. If I feed my subconscious with negativity, that’s what will grow and what I will become. Everything that ever was started with a thought, so you better make sure you have good ones.”

To wrap up, we want to concentrate on self-accountability. How do you measure your performance and success?

I measure this by looking at the lives other people are able to live because of me. If their lives are good, then mine is. My measure of success is how many people you can impact. Bill Gates is successful because everyone has a computer at home. How many people has that impacted? So the more people I am able to help, the more successful I’ll be, whether it is just morally or financially.

And lastly, what advice do you have for others looking to overcome their circumstances?

I would get rid of the victim mentality first, take a look at myself, and take accountability for where I am in life. You will always be exactly where you are supposed to be. You can’t control most things in life, and the sooner you learn that the happier you will be. You can, however, control yourself. If you want to change your circumstances, you have to change yourself. You are the common denominator of everything that will ever happen to you; change that, and you will change your outcome. So the way to think about overcoming anything is by asking yourself, “What is in my control that I can do to affect this” and being proactive instead of reactive to the situation.

Daniel, we are so proud to have you as a part of our OLN Inc team. You are making a huge impact as our Atlanta Area Manager, and it’s only a matter of time before you move up to even greater heights in your career. Thank you for all you do and for answering these questions! We know your responses have motivated us to push out of our comfort zones, and we are confident they’ve done the same to every reader.