THE STORY BEHIND PRIMEPRESSQ
Good stories take you places.
Ours took us around the world.
From brand activations in Los Angeles and the world of Swiss luxury to Wall Street, an American road trip, an unexpected love story, and a new beginning in Croatia.
PrimePressQ was born from different careers, different countries, and a shared belief in the power of a good story.
Here's ours.
CHAPTER ONE · THE BEGINNING
It started with a woman who
loved building brands.
Long before PrimePressQ existed, Lejla was already doing what she loved most: building brands, bringing ideas to life, and finding creative ways to make people care about them. Back then, she was known as Lejla Sertovic. A few plot twists later, she's Lejla Olk. But we're getting ahead of ourselves.
As Chief Marketing Officer of one of Croatia's most successful startup stories, a Silicon Valley-based femtech company that attracted significant international investment, she worked across brand strategy, creative direction, and global expansion.
Her career took her from brand activations in Los Angeles and celebrity and influencer dinners at Nobu Malibu to pop-up experiences in Miami, Florida, and international collaborations involving some of the world's most recognizable names, including the Kardashians.
But somewhere between building brands, creating campaigns, and bringing ambitious ideas to life, Lejla kept running into the same frustration. She could control the campaign. The creative. The experience. The story. But not when that story would reach the media.
One particular evening in Nobu, Malibu made that painfully clear. The event had been planned down to the smallest detail. A major influencer guest list, the setting, the brand experience, the entire narrative. Everything came together exactly as intended. Except the press coverage. That arrived three weeks later.
By then, the dinner was a memory, the moment had passed, and the story had lost the timing that made it relevant in the first place. Lejla began asking a question that would eventually change the direction of her career.
What if brands could choose the media, know what they were getting, and plan their stories around the moments that actually mattered?
The more she explored the idea, the more convinced she became that there had to be a better way. One built around access, transparency, timing, and guaranteed media opportunities.
She didn't know it yet, but the foundations of PrimePressQ were already taking shape.
CHAPTER TWO · THE UNEXPECTED TURN
And then an American with
an RV entered the picture.
Long before Matthew Olk became part of PrimePressQ, he was busy chasing the American Dream. The degree. The respectable career. The house. The kind of life you're told to work hard for. And for a while, he did exactly that.
He moved to Chicago, built his career in the mortgage industry, and eventually joined JPMorgan, the kind of milestone where most people would have considered the American Dream officially achieved.
But somewhere along the way, Matthew started questioning whether the life he'd worked so hard to build was actually the life he wanted. So he decided to take a rather different road. Quite literally.
He left his job, sold his Chicago home, bought an RV, and set off to explore America with his dog. And, somewhere along the way, himself. It was during this chapter that he met Lejla. What started as a platonic connection across continents eventually turned into a trip to Europe. The plan was simple. Three weeks in Europe, a little exploring, finally meeting Lejla in person, and then back to America. But three weeks turned into three months.
Somewhere between a friendship that turned into the greatest love story of their lives and a country he never imagined calling home, Matthew's life took a rather unexpected turn. He came to Croatia with a return ticket. He ended up with a wife, a new home, a poodle and a completely different future.
Remember Lejla Sertovic from Chapter One?
Well, mystery solved. As their lives came together, so did their shared passions: a love for nature, an endless curiosity about the world, a fascination with different cultures, and a belief that the best stories are often found in the people you meet and the places you discover.
Lejla had already been exploring an idea born from years of experience in brand building and international communications. Matthew brought his background in finance, a different perspective, and a willingness to build something new.
What began as conversations between two people with very different professional backgrounds gradually also became a shared business adventure.
CHAPTER THREE · A FULL CIRCLE MOMENT
The one who was there
before the Day One
Every ambitious idea needs someone who knows how to turn a thousand moving pieces into something that actually works. For Lejla, that person had a name long before PrimePressQ did.
Ana Metelko.
Their story goes back to Lejla's CMO days, when Ana became the person she could count on through ambitious international projects, impossible timelines, last-minute changes, and everything that happens behind the scenes before the world sees the finished result.
Ana was there for the big moments. And, perhaps more importantly, for the hundreds of little ones that made those moments possible. She learned the pace, understood the expectations, and developed that rare ability to know what needed doing before anyone had to ask. And Lejla noticed.
Years later, when the idea for PrimePressQ began taking shape, there was one person she already knew she wanted by her side.
Ana was the first person she brought on board.
Today, as the youngest member of the core team, Ana is at the heart of PrimePressQ's operations, coordinating projects, managing client relationships, and keeping the details, deadlines, and people connected. But also bringing her sharp mind to the overall vision.
Outside the office, she's an active Rotaractor with a genuine commitment to humanitarian work and giving back to her community. Youngest on the team? Yes.
The person who makes sure everyone knows what needs to happen next? Also yes.
And for Lejla, there's something particularly special about building a company alongside someone whose potential she recognized years earlier.
Different chapter. Same trust. A whole new story to tell.
CHAPTER FOUR · MAKING IT REAL
An idea is one thing.
Making it work is another.
By late 2024, Lejla had already begun testing the idea in the US, bringing the first clients on board and turning what had started as a personal frustration into something with real commercial potential. Matthew, with his background in finance and business, was quick to recognize that there was something worth building here.
Lejla brought the media relationships, the creative vision, and years of experience on the brand side. Matthew brought a different perspective, a sharp eye for the business model, and the financial thinking needed to help turn an idea into a company.
And as they decided to make Croatia their home, continuing the adventure together made perfect sense.
What started as an American pilot gradually grew into an international business, with one industry in particular responding to the concept: hospitality and travel. While the early projects included brands from different industries, it was hotels, hospitality groups, and destinations that began to reveal the model's real potential.
The introduction of curated listicle projects became an important turning point.
Instead of building every media opportunity from scratch, PrimePressQ began bringing together carefully selected hospitality brands and destinations within shared concepts, creating a more accessible, clearly defined way to participate in international media.
For participating brands, the value was tangible: a defined publication, a curated story, a guaranteed placement, and a clear understanding of what they were investing in. The first destination marketing organizations came on board, and what began with projects in Croatia soon developed into opportunities across other European markets, including Switzerland, Austria, and Italy.
By February 2026, the pilot had grown into something that deserved a home of its own.
PrimePressQ d.o.o. was officially established. A company founded in Croatia, shaped by two very different professional backgrounds, and built to connect remarkable brands and destinations with international media.
And they were only getting started.
CHAPTER FIVE · THE PERFECT TIMING
Sometimes the right people find you
at exactly the right time.
Some introductions turn into a pleasant conversation. Others turn into something much bigger. Jenna Baudenbacher came into the PrimePressQ story thanks to a mutual business connection who had a feeling that she and Lejla would make a particularly good match.
As it turned out, he was absolutely right.
At the time, Jenna was at a professional crossroads, preparing for her next chapter after an impressive career in luxury PR and communications with The Estée Lauder Companies. And impressive might be putting it mildly.
With nearly a decade of experience in the DACH market, Jenna had spent years developing communications strategies, influencer relationships, press activations, brand launches, and high-profile partnerships for some of the most recognizable names in luxury beauty.
La Mer. Tom Ford Beauty. Jo Malone London. Kilian Paris.
The kind of brands where every detail matters, every experience is carefully considered, and the difference between good and exceptional is rarely accidental. She understood how luxury brands think, how international media relationships are built, and how to create experiences that people actually want to talk about.
Lejla, meanwhile, was building something with international ambitions and looking for people who could bring their own expertise, perspective, and vision to the table. The two connected immediately. The timing couldn't have been better.
Today, as Chief Communications Officer and strategic partner at PrimePressQ, Jenna leads communications, media partnerships, and business development across the DACH region, bringing her network and experience into the worlds of luxury hospitality, wellness, travel, and destination marketing.
And her arrival has opened the door to something even bigger. There are plans. Quite a few, actually. But we'll save those stories for when they're ready to be told.
For now, let's just say that one very well-timed introduction turned out to be an amazing business opportunity and one new, beautiful friendship.
