The Entrepreneur and the Philosophy of Natural Health

An entrepreneur with an extremely diverse business – that’s how Ivan Lesev is being described, and this is no exaggeration. Indeed, none of his accomplishments is a peak where he remains for good. A person with a restless spirit, he does not stop to experiment and create innovations. He is not afraid to make a sharp turn and has done it many times.

Change

14 years ago, Lesev got sick, he went through many critical conditions, until, a year and a half later, he found himself in the intensive care unit. He survived after a total collapse of his body and started looking for solutions to the problem. He decided it was time he found his own cure. He travelled to China, Australia, Brazil, Hungary, Russia, Tibet… After meeting many holistic doctors and researchers, he was convinced that actually the distancing of man from nature results in the occurrence of serious diseases. This is how his return back to himself began. After stabilizing his health, he made a sharp turn in his career - he left STS Holding, where he was co-founder and managing partner, and started the import in Bulgaria of some of the proven technologies for good health. He created a medical centre in his hometown of Gabrovo, and then moved it to Kyustendil. Four years ago, he closed the centre and got involved in the production of healthy nutritional supplements, supported by scientists who have achievements in finding and applying methods for restoring good health. With the accumulated experience and knowledge, he rushed at creating healthy products and suitable registered trademarks. This is how Medbio+ and the probiotic nutritional supplements for babies, children and adults, nasal drops, joint supplements, etc. appeared. Other supplements are coming out soon, which are also developed by leading scientists.

Know-How from Armenia

One of Ivan Lesev's big projects is the production of the first acidophilus milk in Bulgaria with the bacteria Lactobacillus acidophilus, strain 317/402. Its brand name is Narine and it is a natural probiotic. It was produced as a result of in-depth studies of the various strains of acidophilus bacteria carried out in the 1960s and 1970s at the Institute of Microbiology at the Armenian Academy of Sciences. It is acidophilic because it lives in an acidic environment. A leading figure in these studies is Prof. Levon Erzinkian, and Narine is the name of his granddaughter. In her childhood, she was cured from severe dysbacteriosis with the help of this strain. For more than a year, the Narine acidophilus milk has been produced in partnership with Elvi, with the strains being imported from Armenia, and the starter culture being prepared at Lesev’s microbiology laboratory. Narine has quickly received recognition and won a gold medal from the World of Milk 2018 exhibition.

The One Who Learns, Will Succeed

I haven't stopped learning and creating new things my whole life. I have two higher degrees - for an engineer and for a financier. I am starting a second doctorate, which this time will be in the medical field. In my development as a professional, I had to become an organizer of production processes, I had to study Chemistry in order to know and control the technological processes. For a certain period of time, I managed a machine building company, I also entered the cosmetic industry, then, I created a medical centre and hotels, and now, I produce health products. My philosophy is that no one was born knowing, knowledge can always be acquired, as long as you are motivated to do so. In the era of over-information, the question is how to separate the grain from the chaff, Ivan Lesev says.

Entrepreneur

With all this huge experience behind his back, he claims: There is no single answer as to how to become an entrepreneur. You must have an idea of what you want to do and make sure you will find the strength to bring its practical realization to a successful end. If a person does not dream and look for solutions, if one is not ready to gain experience even at the cost of failure, he or she will not achieve a great goal. The easiest thing is to give up. However, it is sure that eventually you will succeed if you try one more time, and then one more time... When Edison invented the light bulb, he was asked what it felt like to fail more than 1,000 times before succeeding. He replied that these were not 1,000 failures, but 1,000 steps towards the invention of the light bulb.

Risk Taker

An entrepreneur must be stubborn, have knowledge, be a risk taker, but to be sensible and not take a risk one cannot afford. I have made a lot of experiments; I have taken a lot of risks. My colleagues at STS Holding and I were lucky to live in a time that rarely happens. When the great change and the transition to a market economy started, we were at the perfect age - around 30 years old, with the necessary education, knowledge and zeal. The change of the system opened a lot of opportunities. I respect partnerships, because when the right people come together with a common cause, it makes things easier. After we achieved great success together, we faced other challenges and our paths parted, Ivan Lesev adds. He is not afraid to start all over again, for him the lack of experience is not a break. The wide “fan” of activities that he has started includes the Nezabravka Adventure Park with a hotel. Thanks to his efforts, it turned into an attractive place for guests from all over Bulgaria and into a perfect place for green schools.

Where to

Ivan Lesev goes on. Gabrovo remains his wharf for realizing his entrepreneurial ambitions. When he is hesitant, Winston Churchill and Thomas Edison become his advisers, because he keeps their sayings on a prominent place in his office. Success is going from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm, Churchill encourages him. Edison, on the other hand, gives him freedom to make decisions with the words that when life takes us down, we choose on our own whether to get up.