Conversations with Denis

Today we’d like to introduce you to Denis.

Hi Denis, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I grew up on Sakhalin Island, Russia, where seafood was life: we fished, salted and smoked our own fish at home, and even the fish you could buy on the island never matched what my dad made.

After moving to the US about ten years ago, I missed that taste badly. I tried every Russian store around, nothing came close. When my mom visited, she’d bring fish from home, and I wouldn’t share it with anyone, that’s how much it mattered to me.

On a trip back to Russia I met an old friend who had built his own fish business. I tasted his products and it was exactly the taste I remembered. He shared his recipes and guidance with us, and I decided to try making something like it in LA, because that quality simply didn’t exist here.

We started small, friends tried it and loved it, and it grew from there. Today Smoke It Fish has shipped nearly 10,000 orders with a strong base of repeat customers. We want to keep growing and open our own place: a cafe and a store.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Not smooth at all — it’s been waves: down, up, again and again.

The hardest part was the start: we took on debt to buy equipment before we had real orders, and we had no idea how to bring in customers — no experience with videos, ads, any of it. I kept my second job so I could keep things moving and cover the gaps when money got tight. And on top of everything, fish is unforgiving: recreating the taste I grew up with, consistently and at volume, took batch after batch of trial and error.

At the lowest point, after months of doing the same work without earning, even my partner was ready to walk — he’d stopped believing in the project. He stayed. Then a few good breaks came: money started coming in, and new people appeared who helped us with product, ads, whatever we needed. Everything started moving again.

It hasn’t been the smooth road I’d hoped for — but every dip taught us something. Now demand is growing faster than we can produce, and the challenge is to scale without losing the taste that got us here.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m the founder of Smoke It Fish, an artisan smoked-fish company in Los Angeles. I run everything except the physical production: strategy, finances and banking, payments, documents, all B2B relationships, video production, and new recipes — I create them and keep the product line moving. My partner runs the physical side — production and getting every order packed and shipped.

If I had to describe my specialty in one line: I’m like the mast of a ship. I hold the direction, and I keep everything connected.

And the core of my work is energy. I believe people feel what you put into what you make. Every time I pack an order or create something, I say, “this is going to be delicious — people will love it,” and I teach my team to work with that same energy. That’s what our customers feel, and that’s what we’re known for: real smoked fish, made by hand, with intention, the way I learned it growing up on Sakhalin Island. I’m most proud of building it from scratch — from batches for friends to nearly 10,000 orders and a loyal base of repeat customers.

Outside the business, I’m also a musician and DJ, I model, and I love fashion, performing and sport — climbing, cycling, staying healthy. Right now my big goal is to build Smoke It Fish into something that runs strong for years — so one day I can fully step into my other projects, and leave something that lasts.

What does success mean to you?
Success, for me, isn’t a number.

It’s energy: when a customer opens an order and feels exactly what I put into it — that taste, that care — that’s success. People feel what you make things with.

It’s durability: building something that runs strong for years, keeps its quality, and doesn’t need me in every corner.

And it’s freedom: when the business can stand on its own, I can fully step into my other projects — music, fashion, sport — knowing that what I built stays, and that something I built will last.

Something people feel, something that lasts, and something that sets me free.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://smokeitfish.com
• Instagram: smokeitfish
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MaestroGreen
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/deezaro