How It All Began
Every story has a beginning, mine started in New York City, in 2014. I was 25, trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life (like many of us do in New York). I had no job, no plan, just a lot of curiosity and a few amazing friends who let me stay a bit longer than planned. After a few months of exploring, I realized I actually missed working. That’s when fate, or maybe just good timing, stepped in. I met a photographer Goran Veljić from Montenegro who lived in New York. He needed help in marketing and to organize his first photo exhibition.
A Story Worth Telling
His work was striking, black and white portraits of couples who had eloped to New York to get married. But there was something even more special: many of them were same-sex couples who couldn’t get married anywhere else in the U.S. at the time (this was 2014, before WOKE culture and all). As we went through the photos, I said, “You know, if we position this as an exhibition of same-sex marriages in New York, it will not only celebrate love but also get incredible attention and visibility.” He paused, thought about it, and said, “You’re the marketing expert, let’s do it your way.”
And that’s how it started.
The Project That Changed Everything
I redesigned his website remotely with developers from Serbia, sent out press releases, booked the gallery, reached out to the media, and timed the exhibition for the weekend before New York Pride, to make sure we caught the city’s energy. And it worked. The exhibition was featured in The New York Times, in their “What To Do This Weekend” blog. I didn’t even know until a couple walked into the gallery and said, “We found you in The Times.” That moment, hearing those words, was unforgettable. For a 25-year-old with no job title, no office, and no formal plan, it was proof that creativity, intuition, and courage could build something real. That project, three months of pure passion and learning, was the spark that ignited everything that came next.
The Birth of The Social Formula
It made me realize that what I loved most was helping people and brands tell their stories. When I came back to Serbia, I started freelancing with that exact purpose in mind. And soon after, The Social Formula was born. Sometimes, you don’t find your path, your path finds you. And mine started on a small gallery floor in New York, surrounded by love stories and a big dream.
