August 21, 2025 • 18 mins
Ready to retire the empty rhetoric? Olga and Svetlana—survivors-turned-architects of reform—lay out bold proposals to flip the system on its head: two-year renewable visas, merit-based citizenship scoring, and removing the shortcuts reserved for the wealthy. Tackling jealousy within immigrant communities and the myth of scarcity, this episode delivers a rare combination: inside-knowledge, innovation, and hope.
Timestamps:
- (00:00) Beyond Reform: Why America Needs a Reboot, Not a Repair
- (03:50) Visas That Earn Citizenship: The “Credit Score” Model
- (11:36) Belonging vs. Paperwork: What It Means to Be “American”
- (15:02) Language Power: English as a Gatekeeper
- (15:52) Struggle as Strength: When Hardship Becomes Asset
Connect:
Olga Kay: https://mooshwalks.com/
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/olgakay
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/olgakay/
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@olgakay
- X: https://x.com/OlgaKay
Svetlana Newsome: https://thelightfreedom.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelightfreedom/
📢 Solving America’s Problems Podcast – Real Solutions For Real Issues
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Alex (00:00):
"After surviving America's immigration maze themselves, Olga
and Svetlana aren't just sharingstories—they're stepping up as architects.
Picture this (00:08):
two-year visas that prove your worth, a credit score for
citizenship, and honest talks aboutwho should get a shot at the dream.
In this segment, we dive intotheir fresh takes on reform that
challenge what we think we knowabout borders and belonging."
Jerremy & Svetlana (00:25):
So I think now is a really beautiful time to just start
making this unique pivot into would youtell others who are working on coming
into this country other immigrants whoTo experience the exact same life and
opportunities and freedom as yourself.
What do you start tellingthose people presently?
Olga Kay (00:49):
I'll say don't unless you times over.
First of all, it's a lot harder.
I've been here for 25 years.
Everything is a lot more expensive.
There is more opportunity, butthere's also less opportunity.
The way I see it, a lot ofindustries are collapsing from
my end, from where I came from.
I had this conversation with my brother,I immigrated my mom here eight years ago.
(01:14):
I was talking to my brother becausewhen conflict between Russia
and Ukraine started my brothersaid, maybe I'll just leave.
And we had a conversation.
I realized I don't think I'll haveto support my brother, because I
think it's gonna be really hardfor him to break into this country
at his age and build a new life.
Jerremy & Svetlana (01:34):
So beautifully said.
I would say that America is definitelya country of dreamers country
of entrepreneurs, visionaries.
It is not a country of safety.
It is not a country for workers.
(01:56):
And if you do not have thisentrepreneurial spirit within you,
if you are not able just to movewith the waves of the politics and
unsettled energies and still holdthe vision, this is not the country.
There are other countries toimmigrate that are a lot more stable.
(02:19):
America has never been stable, butalso it is still, in my opinion, the
greatest country that exist in a worldwith no matter how many problems we
are experiencing right now, opportunityfor the ones that are feeling their
within and the desire to bring theirdream into the reality exists here.
Olga Kay (02:44):
And I
Jerremy & Svetlana (02:44):
I like that.
Olga Kay (02:45):
is for the younger crowd, maybe I'm projecting, but imagining
myself immigrating now in my forties,I think it would be a lot harder.
But when I was young and I was justfull of energy and no fear of anything,
like anything goes, this is just gonnabe another lesson I'm gonna learn.
(03:06):
I feel like I'm a lot more safe now.
So if you're young, there'sstill a lot of room.
Jerremy & Svetlana (03:13):
I so agree with that.
People ask me all thetime, how did you do it?
How did you immigrate?
Weren't you afraid?
I'm like, no, I was 19 delusional.
Life is amazing.
Nothing can go.
I'm wrong.
Everything is working out for me.
Like you need to have this like young,naive optimism to keep believing, right?
I feel like the people who have beenreally put down by life, it becomes
(03:36):
so difficult to believe and when youare young, you just rise up and you
keep believing and you really need tohave that quality to make it in us.
Olga Kay (03:46):
I agree.
Jerremy & Svetlana (03:47):
I'm extremely interested about
the answer to this question.
So if both of you amazinghumans could redesign.
Just one step in the path from arrival tocitizenship, what would that change be?
Olga Kay (04:05):
First of all, I love my struggling story.
I feel like it makes me who I amtoday, so I would not change anything.
However, let me think about this.
Go ahead with Lana.
Jerremy & Svetlana (04:20):
So if I were in a position to change the immigration
reform the way it is right now, Idefinitely would not send people.
Back to their countries because tocome into this country, especially to
go through the borders, to go throughthe rivers, to go through the oceans,
(04:40):
you have to be so desperate withouthaving any opportunity in life really
see a little bit of glimpse of lightthat exists in this country to do that.
And if someone has raised theirlives, relationships, everything.
They put everything in theline and they are already here.
(05:02):
And America has been acountry of opportunities and
believing in their dreams.
would grant them anopportunity for a dream.
And the way it would look is thatI would give, it'll be something
different like a new type of visa,a visa that doesn't exist yet.
(05:23):
And it would be for the people whoare here illegally now they have this
type of visa for two years they willneed to renew it every two years.
And obviously if there is anycrime two years, they cannot renew
it and they have to be sent back.
But with that visa, now you have,maybe it's not social security,
(05:44):
maybe it is a different card.
You are able to pay taxes.
So you are paying intothe system of America.
You are not just being paid underthe table and then in two years
your visa no, that visa gets renewedand you have another two years.
And so you can start creatingand building life in America.
And around eight yearmark, believe it is a.
(06:08):
Time that you've proven that youwant to be here, that you are a good
person, that you are paying yourtaxes, that you are working very hard.
And during that time, you canapply for the green card and then
within two years you'll receive it.
So it'll be a 10 year immigration process.
And yes, there are so manydifferent parts to it.
(06:31):
I believe yes, childrenshould go to school.
The healthcare, none ofus gets any healthcare.
We all pay for the healthcare.
So those people will needto pay for the healthcare.
So I do not believe that we needto give them anything extra than
the American people are getting.
And it's okay to have a harder conditionfor them, but at least we can give
(06:54):
them an opportunity to do and makesomething of themselves in this country.
Olga Kay (07:00):
Yeah,
Jerremy & Svetlana: This is what I would do. (07:00):
undefined
Olga Kay (07:01):
and it's like building a credit score.
I like your system a lot.
You're building your credit score, you'reproving that you're a reliable person year
after year, and you get more opportunity.
yeah, the problem is that there'ssuch a long wait to get a green
card or to get any kind of response.
I have a friend who is under the asylumcase right now for eight years and similar
(07:24):
situation, pay the lawyer this muchfee, pay more if you want it expedited.
She's not able to pay more.
So she's been waiting and she finallygets her letter saying, come for.
They interview her lawyer says,I don't have time because we have
so many clients we have to takecare of, so we have to delay it.
(07:47):
Which I don't know how long she'snow stuck in that waiting line.
Jerremy & Svetlana (07:52):
It may just bring something up.
is all of the problems of poor people.
This is all of the problems ofthe people that do not have money.
Because if you live in another countryright now and you have $800,000 to invest,
you have your green card in eight months.
This program been around forever.
It is still here.
It is still available.
So everything we are talking about,the opportunity is so hard, it
(08:16):
doesn't exist for regular people.
If you have wealth, can be thebiggest douche on the planet earth.
And yes, you will get a green card andyour spouse and your children under 21,
the game is played very differently.
And that angers me a little bit.
so you brought up a very good, interestingpoint though that is gonna create a little
(08:38):
bit of confusion because you mentionedthat in order to be here in America,
you need an entrepreneurial spirit.
And guess who the people are.
They're gonna create the wealth indifferent countries who have the
amount of money to pay for that visa.
It's gonna be people that have theentrepreneurial spirit, are the
people that have the money in theircountries to come over and pay for that.
(09:01):
So you're rewarding the exact same people.
You're just doing it faster.
I hear your point, and I agree withyour point, and I agree with a part
of the point because it is alsopeople that are not entrepreneurial.
The ones that come from a rich family,the ones that have been given everything,
the one that didn't make innocentout of themselves and their country.
(09:21):
And that is a majority of them,they have money, not because
they started from ground zero.
Like a lot of people do in America andthey become something, it's very hard
to start from ground zero and become amultimillionaire in Russia, in Kazakhstan,
in Mexico, especially doing it a right waywithout mafia, without corruption, without
(09:43):
all shady stuff with the government.
So while I love the idea that those areentrepreneurial people, the majority
of those people are just being bornwith a golden spoon and the people
that come from wealth, and thereforemoney gives them this opportunity.
Dave (10:02):
And Jerremy and I talked to a top immigration attorney, our last
series on this, uh, a couple of weeksback, and she agrees with Yu Laa.
Like we, we need a different set of, uh.
It needs to be different.
Like for instance, if you are a worldclass entrepreneur and you wanna
start a business in a place like theUnited States, it has rule of law and
(10:24):
it has like actual like the peoplethat you need in order to build that.
You can't get a visa.
If you're a top salesperson, if you,if you're running a business here
in the United States and you're topsalesperson is in Mexico or Canada or
Europe, they can't get a visa like it.
Sure.
If you're a scientist,yeah, you can get a visa.
But if you are anything else, like,if you want to build something that
(10:46):
is unique in America, forget it.
It's incredibly difficult.
So, Svetlana, you and, and a topimmigration attorney completely agree,
like we, we can't have this tieddirectly to business because businesses
also feel very shackled in this.
We need this, tied to theperson and what they can do.
And that's, that seems veryAmerican to so many people.
But what I, we also hearda lot from you about.
(11:09):
Sacrifices and scams and uncertaintyand fear and this medieval bureaucracy.
I, first, I am, I applaud you.
Like the amount of bravery that it wouldtake for me to even think about this
at 16, 17, 18 years old is nowhere.
Like the bravery that it takesfor somebody to pick up and be
(11:30):
like I'm going thousands of milesaway and I'm gonna give it a shot.
Thank you.
That's amazing.
And tell me a good story aboutyour immigration journey.
Was there a moment whereyou said, wow, this is home.
Jerremy & Svetlana (11:45):
The moment I got a passport and the tears were
rolling down my eyes and my cheeksand just I remember going yes.
And my passport and going into theceremony and going through the citizenship
and just recognizing that moment.
Everything that it tookat that point already.
(12:06):
My first husband he died andthat was another crazy thing.
It was that if you are married, youget a green card, and then if you're
still married, then it is three years.
You can apply for citizenship,not if your husband dies.
Now you have to wait longer.
So there we are three more yearslater, and I felt like so much life
(12:28):
happened by daytime, so much grief,but so much also amazing things.
And really being there and being inthat energy and recognizing, wow,
like that was a moment of freedom.
was a moment of, from this pointon, do anything I wanted to do.
I can create all the light,I can create any business.
(12:50):
I can really step intomy voice, into my power.
Because you have those papers.
You are always looking back andwondering if it's going to be
taken away and at what moment.
Olga Kay (13:03):
Yeah.
And for me, that happened 15 yearsinto my journey in America, which
it doesn't change at this point.
I am an American in my heart and I'm stillworried what's gonna happen next because
I don't have this paperwork aligning.
But I remember thinking, oh, yesI have all the American spirit
and this is my country, and I'lldo whatever it takes to be here.
(13:24):
For me, it was September 11th.
I remember waking up in the morningand we had to do a circus show that
morning and the plane hit the buildingand I remember feeling so I will do
anything for this country to protectit, to be here, to fight for it.
And that was my moment where Iknew that I'm definitely gonna
(13:46):
stay in this country forever.
Dave (13:49):
We did a series.
In this series we talked tosecond and third generation.
They described a phenomenon thatJerremy and I had never heard about,
and I think they called it Jerremy.
Do you remember what it was called?
It was like crab potting
Jerremy & Svetlana (14:02):
Yeah
Dave (14:03):
and I, believe it or not, I heard it last night from my brother, from another
mother, because his father is Austrian.
And it's the, I did it the right way.
I did it the hard way.
And damn it, like it has tobe hard for other people too.
Almost like pulling theladder up behind you.
Have you experienced that incommunities here in the United States
(14:25):
or with other people like yourself?
Olga Kay (14:27):
I mean always talk about how I did the hard way and every time
I recognize there is an easier routebeing taken, I am upset about it.
'cause I had to work really hardand I have to be and figure out
ways and, have a second job.
Do whatever it takes to make it work.
And when somebody is.
(14:49):
Saying, oh, for example, my whole thingis when you come to this country, I
remember I spoke zero English, andI would sit in my circus trailer
with a dictionary and I would study.
That was my goal, to study 10 words a day.
I instructed all of my Russianfriends do not speak Russian to
me because I'm in this country.
(15:10):
I have to be able to speak the language.
And I didn't speak to anybodyfor three months because I was
studying, trying to get better.
And then I went out, I went to ourwardrobe lady and I decided to practice
my English, and she responded back andshe was so excited because the first time
I spoke and she's blah, blah, blah, blah.
I was like, oh my gosh, I'm notspeaking for another six months.
This is too intimidating.
(15:31):
But I remember, so anytime I seepeople in this country who are not
putting that type of effort, I getvery frustrated because I remember at
16 I could have been running around.
Spending my money at the mall, butI was sitting in my trailer learning
how to speak this language so I canrespect this country as a foreigner.
Jerremy & Svetlana (15:53):
I feel and I really believe that at some point we
need to put down the hardship storybecause otherwise it's just going to
penetrate more and more hardship intothe world and it's never going to end.
If you come in America as animmigrant, it's going to be hard.
It's going to be difficult.
It is new.
(16:14):
Yes, there are easier waysand they exist right now.
People immigrate, people wingreen cards, and they come here
on a green card that they want.
But guess what?
It's still difficult to figureout this world to figure out
America and how it works.
And so even though their journeynot as difficult as ours or the
way, my mind might perceive whathustle and struggle needs to be,
(16:37):
everyone goes through their struggle.
Who am I to say that your struggle isless of a struggle than my struggle?
And why do we need to be so attachedto everyone's freaking struggle and
being broken apart in order to bedeserving or worthy of something?
So yes, maybe at some point weneed to start leaning more into the
(16:58):
healing versus just attaching to thestory of how difficult my life was.
Therefore, everyone else'slife supposed to be difficult.
It needs to be difficult becausethis is a story that creates so
much distortion in the world.
Is the story that creates.
It just creates so much warand so much trauma all over the
(17:19):
world, and not only in America.
And at some point we'll need tostart creating a different story.
We had it hard.
We can help out other generationto stand on our shoulders.
We can guide them and we can showthem a little more different way
so that my children do not need tohave it as hard because guess what?
(17:40):
They will figure out.
Their heart life will be life.
be doing itself for them, and everyonewill have an experience to grow into
what they need to be grown into.
Olga Kay (17:50):
That's a beautiful point of view, hearing the struggle
stories for me gives me more hope.
I know it's possible when I hearthat someone overcomes something.
And for sure, our childrenobviously are not gonna experience
the hardships that we had.
Have at easy just by being born here,
Jerremy & Svetlana (18:09):
We hope so.
Olga Kay (18:11):
That's true.
We hope so.
Oh my gosh,
Alex (18:13):
"These ideas—from rethinking visas to calling out the crab-pot mentality—show
how experience can spark real change.
But ideas need muscle to work.
In the next segment, we tacklethe bottlenecks holding everything
back, like those 4 million pendingcases, and explore smart fixes
using AI and redeployed resources.
(18:33):
Stay with us to see how we couldmake the system actually deliver."
"After surviving America's immigration maze themselves, Olga
and Svetlana aren't just sharingstories—they're stepping up as architects.
Picture this (00:08):
two-year visas that prove your worth, a credit score for
citizenship, and honest talks aboutwho should get a shot at the dream.
In this segment, we dive intotheir fresh takes on reform that
challenge what we think we knowabout borders and belonging."
Jerremy & Svetlana (00:25):
So I think now is a really beautiful time to just start
making this unique pivot into would youtell others who are working on coming
into this country other immigrants whoTo experience the exact same life and
opportunities and freedom as yourself.
What do you start tellingthose people presently?
Olga Kay (00:49):
I'll say don't unless you times over.
First of all, it's a lot harder.
I've been here for 25 years.
Everything is a lot more expensive.
There is more opportunity, butthere's also less opportunity.
The way I see it, a lot ofindustries are collapsing from
my end, from where I came from.
I had this conversation with my brother,I immigrated my mom here eight years ago.
(01:14):
I was talking to my brother becausewhen conflict between Russia
and Ukraine started my brothersaid, maybe I'll just leave.
And we had a conversation.
I realized I don't think I'll haveto support my brother, because I
think it's gonna be really hardfor him to break into this country
at his age and build a new life.
Jerremy & Svetlana (01:34):
So beautifully said.
I would say that America is definitelya country of dreamers country
of entrepreneurs, visionaries.
It is not a country of safety.
It is not a country for workers.
(01:56):
And if you do not have thisentrepreneurial spirit within you,
if you are not able just to movewith the waves of the politics and
unsettled energies and still holdthe vision, this is not the country.
There are other countries toimmigrate that are a lot more stable.
(02:19):
America has never been stable, butalso it is still, in my opinion, the
greatest country that exist in a worldwith no matter how many problems we
are experiencing right now, opportunityfor the ones that are feeling their
within and the desire to bring theirdream into the reality exists here.
Olga Kay (02:44):
And I
Jerremy & Svetlana (02:44):
I like that.
Olga Kay (02:45):
is for the younger crowd, maybe I'm projecting, but imagining
myself immigrating now in my forties,I think it would be a lot harder.
But when I was young and I was justfull of energy and no fear of anything,
like anything goes, this is just gonnabe another lesson I'm gonna learn.
(03:06):
I feel like I'm a lot more safe now.
So if you're young, there'sstill a lot of room.
Jerremy & Svetlana (03:13):
I so agree with that.
People ask me all thetime, how did you do it?
How did you immigrate?
Weren't you afraid?
I'm like, no, I was 19 delusional.
Life is amazing.
Nothing can go.
I'm wrong.
Everything is working out for me.
Like you need to have this like young,naive optimism to keep believing, right?
I feel like the people who have beenreally put down by life, it becomes
(03:36):
so difficult to believe and when youare young, you just rise up and you
keep believing and you really need tohave that quality to make it in us.
Olga Kay (03:46):
I agree.
Jerremy & Svetlana (03:47):
I'm extremely interested about
the answer to this question.
So if both of you amazinghumans could redesign.
Just one step in the path from arrival tocitizenship, what would that change be?
Olga Kay (04:05):
First of all, I love my struggling story.
I feel like it makes me who I amtoday, so I would not change anything.
However, let me think about this.
Go ahead with Lana.
Jerremy & Svetlana (04:20):
So if I were in a position to change the immigration
reform the way it is right now, Idefinitely would not send people.
Back to their countries because tocome into this country, especially to
go through the borders, to go throughthe rivers, to go through the oceans,
(04:40):
you have to be so desperate withouthaving any opportunity in life really
see a little bit of glimpse of lightthat exists in this country to do that.
And if someone has raised theirlives, relationships, everything.
They put everything in theline and they are already here.
(05:02):
And America has been acountry of opportunities and
believing in their dreams.
would grant them anopportunity for a dream.
And the way it would look is thatI would give, it'll be something
different like a new type of visa,a visa that doesn't exist yet.
(05:23):
And it would be for the people whoare here illegally now they have this
type of visa for two years they willneed to renew it every two years.
And obviously if there is anycrime two years, they cannot renew
it and they have to be sent back.
But with that visa, now you have,maybe it's not social security,
(05:44):
maybe it is a different card.
You are able to pay taxes.
So you are paying intothe system of America.
You are not just being paid underthe table and then in two years
your visa no, that visa gets renewedand you have another two years.
And so you can start creatingand building life in America.
And around eight yearmark, believe it is a.
(06:08):
Time that you've proven that youwant to be here, that you are a good
person, that you are paying yourtaxes, that you are working very hard.
And during that time, you canapply for the green card and then
within two years you'll receive it.
So it'll be a 10 year immigration process.
And yes, there are so manydifferent parts to it.
(06:31):
I believe yes, childrenshould go to school.
The healthcare, none ofus gets any healthcare.
We all pay for the healthcare.
So those people will needto pay for the healthcare.
So I do not believe that we needto give them anything extra than
the American people are getting.
And it's okay to have a harder conditionfor them, but at least we can give
(06:54):
them an opportunity to do and makesomething of themselves in this country.
Olga Kay (07:00):
Yeah,
Jerremy & Svetlana: This is what I would do. (07:00):
undefined
Olga Kay (07:01):
and it's like building a credit score.
I like your system a lot.
You're building your credit score, you'reproving that you're a reliable person year
after year, and you get more opportunity.
yeah, the problem is that there'ssuch a long wait to get a green
card or to get any kind of response.
I have a friend who is under the asylumcase right now for eight years and similar
(07:24):
situation, pay the lawyer this muchfee, pay more if you want it expedited.
She's not able to pay more.
So she's been waiting and she finallygets her letter saying, come for.
They interview her lawyer says,I don't have time because we have
so many clients we have to takecare of, so we have to delay it.
(07:47):
Which I don't know how long she'snow stuck in that waiting line.
Jerremy & Svetlana (07:52):
It may just bring something up.
is all of the problems of poor people.
This is all of the problems ofthe people that do not have money.
Because if you live in another countryright now and you have $800,000 to invest,
you have your green card in eight months.
This program been around forever.
It is still here.
It is still available.
So everything we are talking about,the opportunity is so hard, it
(08:16):
doesn't exist for regular people.
If you have wealth, can be thebiggest douche on the planet earth.
And yes, you will get a green card andyour spouse and your children under 21,
the game is played very differently.
And that angers me a little bit.
so you brought up a very good, interestingpoint though that is gonna create a little
(08:38):
bit of confusion because you mentionedthat in order to be here in America,
you need an entrepreneurial spirit.
And guess who the people are.
They're gonna create the wealth indifferent countries who have the
amount of money to pay for that visa.
It's gonna be people that have theentrepreneurial spirit, are the
people that have the money in theircountries to come over and pay for that.
(09:01):
So you're rewarding the exact same people.
You're just doing it faster.
I hear your point, and I agree withyour point, and I agree with a part
of the point because it is alsopeople that are not entrepreneurial.
The ones that come from a rich family,the ones that have been given everything,
the one that didn't make innocentout of themselves and their country.
(09:21):
And that is a majority of them,they have money, not because
they started from ground zero.
Like a lot of people do in America andthey become something, it's very hard
to start from ground zero and become amultimillionaire in Russia, in Kazakhstan,
in Mexico, especially doing it a right waywithout mafia, without corruption, without
(09:43):
all shady stuff with the government.
So while I love the idea that those areentrepreneurial people, the majority
of those people are just being bornwith a golden spoon and the people
that come from wealth, and thereforemoney gives them this opportunity.
Dave (10:02):
And Jerremy and I talked to a top immigration attorney, our last
series on this, uh, a couple of weeksback, and she agrees with Yu Laa.
Like we, we need a different set of, uh.
It needs to be different.
Like for instance, if you are a worldclass entrepreneur and you wanna
start a business in a place like theUnited States, it has rule of law and
(10:24):
it has like actual like the peoplethat you need in order to build that.
You can't get a visa.
If you're a top salesperson, if you,if you're running a business here
in the United States and you're topsalesperson is in Mexico or Canada or
Europe, they can't get a visa like it.
Sure.
If you're a scientist,yeah, you can get a visa.
But if you are anything else, like,if you want to build something that
(10:46):
is unique in America, forget it.
It's incredibly difficult.
So, Svetlana, you and, and a topimmigration attorney completely agree,
like we, we can't have this tieddirectly to business because businesses
also feel very shackled in this.
We need this, tied to theperson and what they can do.
And that's, that seems veryAmerican to so many people.
But what I, we also hearda lot from you about.
(11:09):
Sacrifices and scams and uncertaintyand fear and this medieval bureaucracy.
I, first, I am, I applaud you.
Like the amount of bravery that it wouldtake for me to even think about this
at 16, 17, 18 years old is nowhere.
Like the bravery that it takesfor somebody to pick up and be
(11:30):
like I'm going thousands of milesaway and I'm gonna give it a shot.
Thank you.
That's amazing.
And tell me a good story aboutyour immigration journey.
Was there a moment whereyou said, wow, this is home.
Jerremy & Svetlana (11:45):
The moment I got a passport and the tears were
rolling down my eyes and my cheeksand just I remember going yes.
And my passport and going into theceremony and going through the citizenship
and just recognizing that moment.
Everything that it tookat that point already.
(12:06):
My first husband he died andthat was another crazy thing.
It was that if you are married, youget a green card, and then if you're
still married, then it is three years.
You can apply for citizenship,not if your husband dies.
Now you have to wait longer.
So there we are three more yearslater, and I felt like so much life
(12:28):
happened by daytime, so much grief,but so much also amazing things.
And really being there and being inthat energy and recognizing, wow,
like that was a moment of freedom.
was a moment of, from this pointon, do anything I wanted to do.
I can create all the light,I can create any business.
(12:50):
I can really step intomy voice, into my power.
Because you have those papers.
You are always looking back andwondering if it's going to be
taken away and at what moment.
Olga Kay (13:03):
Yeah.
And for me, that happened 15 yearsinto my journey in America, which
it doesn't change at this point.
I am an American in my heart and I'm stillworried what's gonna happen next because
I don't have this paperwork aligning.
But I remember thinking, oh, yesI have all the American spirit
and this is my country, and I'lldo whatever it takes to be here.
(13:24):
For me, it was September 11th.
I remember waking up in the morningand we had to do a circus show that
morning and the plane hit the buildingand I remember feeling so I will do
anything for this country to protectit, to be here, to fight for it.
And that was my moment where Iknew that I'm definitely gonna
(13:46):
stay in this country forever.
Dave (13:49):
We did a series.
In this series we talked tosecond and third generation.
They described a phenomenon thatJerremy and I had never heard about,
and I think they called it Jerremy.
Do you remember what it was called?
It was like crab potting
Jerremy & Svetlana (14:02):
Yeah
Dave (14:03):
and I, believe it or not, I heard it last night from my brother, from another
mother, because his father is Austrian.
And it's the, I did it the right way.
I did it the hard way.
And damn it, like it has tobe hard for other people too.
Almost like pulling theladder up behind you.
Have you experienced that incommunities here in the United States
(14:25):
or with other people like yourself?
Olga Kay (14:27):
I mean always talk about how I did the hard way and every time
I recognize there is an easier routebeing taken, I am upset about it.
'cause I had to work really hardand I have to be and figure out
ways and, have a second job.
Do whatever it takes to make it work.
And when somebody is.
(14:49):
Saying, oh, for example, my whole thingis when you come to this country, I
remember I spoke zero English, andI would sit in my circus trailer
with a dictionary and I would study.
That was my goal, to study 10 words a day.
I instructed all of my Russianfriends do not speak Russian to
me because I'm in this country.
(15:10):
I have to be able to speak the language.
And I didn't speak to anybodyfor three months because I was
studying, trying to get better.
And then I went out, I went to ourwardrobe lady and I decided to practice
my English, and she responded back andshe was so excited because the first time
I spoke and she's blah, blah, blah, blah.
I was like, oh my gosh, I'm notspeaking for another six months.
This is too intimidating.
(15:31):
But I remember, so anytime I seepeople in this country who are not
putting that type of effort, I getvery frustrated because I remember at
16 I could have been running around.
Spending my money at the mall, butI was sitting in my trailer learning
how to speak this language so I canrespect this country as a foreigner.
Jerremy & Svetlana (15:53):
I feel and I really believe that at some point we
need to put down the hardship storybecause otherwise it's just going to
penetrate more and more hardship intothe world and it's never going to end.
If you come in America as animmigrant, it's going to be hard.
It's going to be difficult.
It is new.
(16:14):
Yes, there are easier waysand they exist right now.
People immigrate, people wingreen cards, and they come here
on a green card that they want.
But guess what?
It's still difficult to figureout this world to figure out
America and how it works.
And so even though their journeynot as difficult as ours or the
way, my mind might perceive whathustle and struggle needs to be,
(16:37):
everyone goes through their struggle.
Who am I to say that your struggle isless of a struggle than my struggle?
And why do we need to be so attachedto everyone's freaking struggle and
being broken apart in order to bedeserving or worthy of something?
So yes, maybe at some point weneed to start leaning more into the
(16:58):
healing versus just attaching to thestory of how difficult my life was.
Therefore, everyone else'slife supposed to be difficult.
It needs to be difficult becausethis is a story that creates so
much distortion in the world.
Is the story that creates.
It just creates so much warand so much trauma all over the
(17:19):
world, and not only in America.
And at some point we'll need tostart creating a different story.
We had it hard.
We can help out other generationto stand on our shoulders.
We can guide them and we can showthem a little more different way
so that my children do not need tohave it as hard because guess what?
(17:40):
They will figure out.
Their heart life will be life.
be doing itself for them, and everyonewill have an experience to grow into
what they need to be grown into.
Olga Kay (17:50):
That's a beautiful point of view, hearing the struggle
stories for me gives me more hope.
I know it's possible when I hearthat someone overcomes something.
And for sure, our childrenobviously are not gonna experience
the hardships that we had.
Have at easy just by being born here,
Jerremy & Svetlana (18:09):
We hope so.
Olga Kay (18:11):
That's true.
We hope so.
Oh my gosh,
Alex (18:13):
"These ideas—from rethinking visas to calling out the crab-pot mentality—show
how experience can spark real change.
But ideas need muscle to work.
In the next segment, we tacklethe bottlenecks holding everything
back, like those 4 million pendingcases, and explore smart fixes
using AI and redeployed resources.
(18:33):
Stay with us to see how we couldmake the system actually deliver."
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