In this Business Blast podcast episode, host Tyler Wagner interviews Natalia Sokolova, founder of SGG World and strategic investor in blockchain and smart‑city technologies. Natalia shares a pivotal personal story about surviving a near‑fatal car accident at 17, which reshaped her view of time, responsibility, and resilience. She then offers industry‑specific guidance on blockchain ICOs, emphasizing thorough research of a project's concept, team track record, and especially regulatory compliance with SEC rules. Her broader business advice centers on relentless persistence tempered by smart decision‑making, viewing each "no" as a step toward a "yes". When reflecting on advice for her younger self, she stresses balancing health, business, and fun, and pausing before major decisions. Natalia defines happiness as a life rich in experiences, emotions, and love. She recommends self‑help literature, notably Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits and Eckhart Tolle’s The Power of Now, and shares a simple meditation practice to stay present. Her favorite guiding principles come from Don Miguel Ruiz’s The Four Agreements. The episode concludes with her contact information: LinkedIn (EnzoColova), the SGG World website, and her upcoming YouTube channel ROKGRL.
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Welcome to the Business Blast podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. This episode is brought to you by Authors Unite. Authors Unite provides you with all the resources you need to become a successful author. You can learn more about Authors Unite and join the free community at authorsunite.com. Now let's jump into the episode.
Alright everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner. Today I have Natalia Sokolova with us. She is the founder of SGG World, a strategic investor, single-family offices, and advisor to several proprietary technologies and ICOs for smart city connectivity, allowing for the facilitation of IoT platform platforms. So welcome to the show.
Thank you very much, Tyler.
Of course, grateful to have you here. We'll jump into the first one, Natalia. The first question I have for you is, what is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
Well, it's hard to pick one, to be honest, you know, from, from my personal life, I would say almost dying in a car accident when I was just turned 17 really changes your perspective. And value of life because you really learn your lesson very early that time is the most precious thing and you have to use it twice and that everything that you do, you know, you have to really be responsible for. And so I don't think I would have been as successful as I am in business if not for that experience in my childhood or, you know, in teenage years, because it really forces you to perform and also work on yourself. To overcome the insecurities that, you know, can you imagine being 17 in a wheelchair? You have tons of insecurities then and really be much stronger. So I would say this is probably the one thing that definitely changed my life. And even though it was the worst experience anybody can imagine, it changed it for the better.
Thank you for sharing that with us. The next one I have for you is what's the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?
Uh, well, with this expertise, I'm talking about the blockchain ICO because it's such a big hype in the last couple years, uh, that I would say it's, uh, so important to really know who you're dealing with, to do a research on underlying concept of the company, not only on reading the white paper, uh, to study and research the average team member and their track record, making sure that they actually know what they're doing. And also, which is probably the most important one, is really understanding regulation, not only hiring a great law firm, but also making sure you understand it. So you're completely compliant with all the SEC regulation. Does not matter what jurisdiction you choose to operate in.
And, uh, what's your best piece of overall business advice? So not necessarily industry specific, uh, business advice. Yeah.
Business advice would never give up in persistence, but not to the stupidity level, of course. But a lot of people get discouraged when they hear no, you know, especially if you're in a fundraising mode or, you know, looking for a job or anything when you have to deal with other people, whether trying to push your technology or, you know, get different partners, investors, so on and so forth. It's really every single no is getting you closer to a yes. That's always keeping your attitude positive. And keeping your head high.
And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?
That's a good one. Um, uh, just really, uh, well, live, live your life to the fullest without making stupid mistakes, meaning like health-related, because looking back, you know, you only look back at the experiences that you had. So try to balance your life with, you know, both business and some fun as well. And I would say that most of the mistakes I've done in my life were because I did not think them through and it was really a fast decision. So my most advice would be, you know, take a breather before saying yes or no, or deciding how to do something important because you might regret it later.
And it could kind of lead in nicely into this next one. So in your opinion, what is the key to happiness?
I think that's a great one. I think that the key to happiness is really looking back in your life and saying, you know what, I actually had a pretty damn good life. I know I've made mistakes. I know it's been ups and downs, but I actually lived it and I had a chance to experience many different things. So I would say experience and emotions and love, uh, the thing that you remember the most.
And what is the best book that you've read, and what was the number one thing you learned from that?
Gosh, I love reading. So I, I, from my car accidents, I had— I read a lot of self-help books. I like reading on the psychology and on brain development. And I think that Probably the good that everybody can benefit from would be Stephen Covey's 7 Habits. And there are several of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Families, and so on and so forth. And they're all great. I've read them all. And as well as Power of Now, because it's so important to not to get caught up in the past or future, but also enjoy your present moment, whatever life brings you, because that's how you can remember moments looking back at them.
So I'd like to dive a little deeper here real quick. So to get— because I think a lot of people struggle with this, like, for you to get into the present moment, like, do you have any like tips or what do you do to stay present?
It's this meditation, let's say. And I'm not, I'm not talking about, you know, sitting down in the pose and really focusing down. I mean, just really taking a few moments, closing your eyes, or when you close You can close your eyes if you're in an office situation, you can just focus on your breathing and gaze on something without focusing, you know, kind of looking at the edge of your nose almost, and just focus on your breathing and kind of separate from every single thought and emotion and everything that comes at you. And that's ground, and that's kind of a very grounding effect that helps you to bring into now Sometimes, you know, like, it's not easy to do, but the more you do it, the easier it gets, like everything else.
Yes. Got it. And what is your favorite quote and why?
My favorite quote? Well, it has to do something with never giving up.
Got it. And it doesn't have to be word for word either. Could just be a mantra. So is it kind of just like never give up?
I would I'm totally spacing out on them right now.
No, no worries. I know. That's why I always say too, it doesn't have to be word for word as well.
Well, I would say that maybe not really a quote, but from the book Four Agreements, it's kind of like a quote. It's like four mantras in a way. Let me see if I can remember them. Don't take anything for granted. Don't make any assumptions. Do your best and don't take anything personal. Oh yes, I did remember. So I think those four are really great rules to live by.
Absolutely. I agree. And thank you so much for coming on, Natalia. The last question that I have for you before we let you go is where's the best place for people to find and/or connect with you online?
So I use my LinkedIn from social media more than anything. So it's LinkedIn and then /EnzoColova, or everybody can reach me through my work site, which is sggworld.com, or I'm starting a rock, a YouTube channel, which is ROKGRL. So hope to see everybody there.
Perfect. Thanks again for hopping on.
Okay. Thanks so much. Tyler Wagner.
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