Meet Peter Szlivics | Entrepreneur & Full-Time University Student

We had the good fortune of connecting with Peter Szlivics and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Peter, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
Balance is perhaps the most important thing in the life of an 18-year-old entrepreneur studying in college. With three separate businesses under my management, combining the everyday tasks with the tasks associated with being a full-time student is something majority of my peers cannot imagine doing. However, I have come to realize the very simple concept behind balancing out what’s important with what’s enjoyable. See, in my experience, many people enjoy their comfort zone within their everyday lives. Going to the same job, talking to the same people, and even listening to the same radio are all a part of the “daily ritual” millions of people practice worldwide. It’s quite self explanatory why we as humans grow to find comfort in doing the same thing every day, we are familiar with what we are doing and we know the expected outcome. The issue lies when something goes out of order in this daily machine of routine tasks, most people are not used to their routine taking an unexpected change and that’s when mental issues start arising, like anxiety, depressions, and things alike. There are however people, who try to mitigate getting too comfortable with their daily lives by going to the gym, for example. Pushing yourself beyond the limits of comfort trains your mind to do so outside the gym which directly correlates to your daily life. Balance in my life began it’s journey to perfection in my senior year of high school. This was the time when I had a part-time office job after school 5 days/week from 3-6pm. I decided to start the very first online project of mine, MList. The idea came from a hobby and I quickly created the necessary strategy for growth that I’d imagine would work and got to it. A few months later, I had an opportunity to start managing a few social media platforms for a local Senior Care Office which sprouted the seed that now has grown into my Digital Marketing Agency – PQR Media. A few months later I was fortunate to meet one of my current business partners through MList who has taken me on a journey starting with a BMW Exclusive Marketplace and now to us being partners in a Private Jet Management Company – Luxor Aviation. This was all before my very first day of college in Mid-August of 23′. Once I got to Binghamton University, the workload associated with school collided with my daily tasks required by the three businesses that I own. Each project requires time, effort, thinking, and most importantly the devotion of attention. Our daily lives in 2024 are filled with things that are created to capture our attention, like our phones, advertisements, events, and so on. Through a few weeks of meditation I have come to the conclusion, at the time, that it is all in fact possible to balance, however, sacrifices had to be made. Of course as you would imagine, college was trying it’s hardest to get me to go out, party, and “enjoy the college experience” which in fact I dipped my toes in but realized I didn’t get the same kick out of it as I did from seeing my projects prosper and move in the direction I wanted to see them move in. By simply eliminating what was not important, and really giving all of my attention to what I found needed it most, I was able to achieve a wonderful balance that allows me to this day not only to get all of my work done, both in school and in business, but also to enjoy my day-to-day just like a “regular” person would.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Being the owner of three businesses requires a lot of hunger and motivation. No, those two things are not the same by any means. My hunger fuels me in the long-term, it frankly decides how far I am willing to go even if I reach my set goals. My motivation, on the other hand, allows me to complete my daily, weekly, and monthly tasks that I set for myself and my projects. I will discuss each business, why it’s important to me, and why I believe that my participation in those businesses even exists. MList has been started entirely as a hobby. I have enjoyed BMW M cars, and everything that has to do with them since I was a little child. Whether it was working on these cars, building them on online configurators, or even staring at them when they passed me on the street, have all been a part of my life since I was a little boy. Finding a niche that I believed was available in the space of BMW M sales was a break-through moment in my life as it allowed me to shape my day-to-day surrounded by these cars and like-minded enthusiasts that have grown into a network of personal connections down the line. I was never, and still am not money-hungry when it comes to MList. It’s an entirely free service that I see as incredibly useful and helpful in the car-enthusiast community. MLists’ purpose is not to generate income for me or the team, rather it’s a platform that does not exists anywhere else in the world that helps people find and sell their dream cars as well as communicate and discover like-minded enthusiasts – frankly a goal I have had myself long before creating MList. Moving onto PQR Media, it’s another hobby-motivated business that unlike MList has a goal of profit maximization with of course service perfection as a main goal. We serve a variety of clients helping them grow their online presence, whether they are a company or a personal brand. I have been into tech and film equipment since my early teens so being around drones, fancy cameras, and other very exciting equipment makes work into a pleasant experience that I value so much. Our team at PQR Media is full of enthusiastic creators who enjoy making something out of nothing and bring real value to the table of the online world. Luxor Aviation, though never would I think i’d be a part of the world of aviation, exists due to the partners I am lucky to work with. The two partners that I have who alongside myself brought Luxor to life are some of the most enthusiastic and hard-working people I have ever come across. Once you feel that someone is on the same page of life as you working with them becomes nothing but a joy, which is why I value the ability to co-own Luxor Aviation so much.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Living minutes away from New York City, things to do are frankly infinite. Whether it’s Comedy Clubs, Piers, Astonishing Restaurants, or Breathtaking Views, all of it is just a few minutes away (despite traffic). On Day 1 I would take my friend to an Italian Restaurant in North Bergen, NJ by the name of Trattoria La Sorrentina. The pizza is out of this world and the pasta is quite the cherry on top. Day 2 we would hit up the New York Comedy Club for an evening of laughs and a stroll through the city. Day 3 would have to be the Weehawken Boardwalk to really take a look at the city from a 3rd POV. Day 4 we would spend in hoboken, perhaps taking a look into a couple of bars and getting a majestic desert later in the evening. Day 5 would be wrapped up by a Ferry across the hudson river and the experience at the Museum of Modern Art.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My mother has been my biggest supporter in all of the things I ever did. Growing up without a father since the age of 4, she has been both the mother and father figure in my life, in the most balanced way possible. When I was 11, my mom’s father got sick with the Parkinsons Disease. Living in Ukraine at the time my mom was beginning to struggle with paying for the house bills, supporting me, and now having to pay for my Grandpa’s medical expenses. She has decided to pull the trigger and move to the USA, all on her own. The plan was initially to stay for 3 months, make some money, and come back to me and my family who were all left in Ukraine. After searching for a job for 1 full month she realized that 3 months was not nearly enough time to make any sufficient money that she was counting on so she decided to overstay her Visa and bring me to the US as well for support. In her mind, this would also help me see the country I have only seen in the movies until then as well as pick up on some more English that I was actively studying with various tutors as I was growing up. Long story short, the 3 months turned into what now is coming up on 8 years of me and my mother’s journey in this foreign country. We have grown to greatly appreciate the opportunities offered by the United States and have made the best of it. Today, my mother is an owner of an incredibly successful cosmetology studio, and is currently in the works of releasing her own line of cosmetics. Seeing my mom work so hard to not only help me prosper and grow up in the best conditions possible, but also build herself while helping our family back in Ukraine has been the leading motivator in my life. I consider myself the person in my family who has to make it, one way or another. Too much effort has been put into me for me to fail not only my family, but my own mother. In every single venture she is the one person who helps me make correct decisions and motivates me to keep going when there seems to be no way to push through.

Website: https://mlistco.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peter.zl/

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/peterzl

Other: https://www.instagram.com/pqrmedia/ https://luxoraviation.com/