Iman Gadzhi is a Russian-born British entrepreneur, online educator, and content creator whose first side hustle began at age 15, when he started trading Instagram accounts to help support himself and his mother. He is best known for founding IAG Media, his digital marketing agency, and for building a portfolio of education and software businesses that teach people how to earn a living online.
Over time he built a large audience by sharing ideas about entrepreneurship, digital marketing, wealth creation, and skill-based education. His story is often discussed in the knowledge business space because it reflects a modern path many creators now follow: build an audience, package expertise, and turn practical skills into digital products and courses.
Gadzhi was born on January 3, 2000, in Dagestanskiye Ogni, Dagestan, Russia. He moved to London at age 4 and has spoken publicly about growing up in modest circumstances, which shaped much of his public story around self-education, independence, and entrepreneurship.
At age 15, he began buying and selling Instagram accounts. That early side hustle introduced him to social media growth, digital attention, and the value of online audiences. It also helped set the direction for his later work in digital marketing, agency services, and online education.
Gadzhi’s business model is built around several connected areas rather than one single company. His career began with agency work through IAG Media, where he provided digital marketing and advertising services to clients.
He later expanded into online education through GrowYourAgency and Educate, packaging his agency experience into training programs around marketing, sales, entrepreneurship, and online business. More recently, his public work has also included digital products, software, creator commerce, and brand-led ventures connected to his wider business portfolio.
This layered model reflects a common path in the knowledge business space: start with a practical skill, turn it into a service, build an audience, and then expand into education, software, and scalable digital products.
In 2017, Gadzhi founded IAG Media, a boutique digital marketing agency focused on social media marketing, online advertising, and sales funnel optimization. The agency helped establish his reputation in digital marketing and became the foundation for much of his later education content.
After his agency work, Gadzhi expanded into education through GrowYourAgency, a training brand built around the SMMA, or Social Media Marketing Agency, model. Agency Navigator became one of the best-known programs associated with that education business, teaching students about client acquisition, digital marketing, and agency operations.
That work later developed into Educate, an online education company focused on teaching monetizable skills such as marketing, sales, copywriting, and entrepreneurship. Educate reflects his broader message that practical, skill-based learning can give people an alternative path outside traditional education. That philosophy places him alongside figures like Eben Pagan, who built his own programs around turning expertise into career-ready skills.
In 2019, he launched GADZHI, an eyewear brand originally focused on blue-light glasses and related products. The brand has since evolved into HILLS Eyewear, with a more refined identity built around premium frames, minimal design, and a stronger visual direction.
Flozy is a software platform associated with Gadzhi’s business portfolio. Originally connected to the agency-focused platform AgenciFlow, it later developed into a broader operating system for digital businesses.
The platform is designed to help online businesses and agency owners manage client relationships, billing, chat, project management, websites, funnels, onboarding, contracts, invoices, and workflow operations in one place.
Gadzhi’s business interests have also expanded into advisory, online education, and creator commerce. Consulting.com currently lists him as CEO and connects him with the company’s work in online education and business training.
He is also a co-owner of Whop, a creator-commerce platform for selling digital products, memberships, software, and online communities. This connection places his current work beyond agency training alone, extending into digital products, creator platforms, and online business infrastructure.
Gadzhi’s career fits into the larger knowledge business movement, where entrepreneurs turn real-world skills into courses, coaching, communities, software, and digital products.
For KnowledgeBusiness.com readers, his path is relevant because it shows how a creator can move from a simple online service business into a broader ecosystem of education, software, media, and brand-driven ventures.
That is also why his work connects naturally with topics such as digital marketing, funnels, online education, personal branding, and scalable digital offers.
Iman Gadzhi and Russell Brunson are both connected to the online business and digital education space, but they are known for different strengths.
Brunson is best known for sales funnels, offer creation, and ClickFunnels. Gadzhi is best known for agency education, personal branding, digital products, and teaching people how to build income around practical skills.
Their audiences overlap around side hustles, online business, funnels, digital products, and the idea of turning expertise into scalable offers. This makes the connection relevant without implying a formal partnership or forcing it into the biography.
Gadzhi’s philanthropy is closely tied to education access. Pahar Trust Nepal has publicly documented the Janaprem Secondary School project in the Baglung District, including the rebuilding work needed after earthquake damage.
His school-building work in Nepal has become one of the most visible parts of his public philanthropy, connecting his business message about education with real-world access to learning.
Members of the Educate team also participated in a marathon fundraiser to support education-related work in Nepal and South Africa. Gadzhi took part in the effort, using the campaign to bring more attention to education access in under-resourced communities.
A separate charitable partnership in South Africa is also part of his public philanthropy. This work has focused on supporting meal programs for children, adding another education-related element to his charitable activity.
Gadzhi has built a large and engaged audience across YouTube, Instagram, and other platforms. Many followers credit his content with introducing them to digital marketing, agency work, online business, and the idea of building income through practical skills.
At the same time, his business model receives the same scrutiny often directed at the online education industry. Some online discussions question the promises made by course creators and caution that success in agency work requires real experience, consistent outreach, client delivery, and long-term skill development.
As with any paid education program, readers should review the offer, understand the refund terms, compare alternatives, and make sure the training fits their goals before enrolling.
Gadzhi’s career reflects a modern online business path: start with a practical skill, turn it into a service, build an audience, create educational products, and expand into software, platforms, and brand-led ventures.
From an early side hustle to a portfolio connected to digital marketing, online education, software, eyewear, creator commerce, and philanthropy, his story helps explain why many creators now see skills, audiences, and digital products as the foundation of a knowledge business. A similar knowledge-business arc can be seen in educators such as Tony Robbins and Dean Graziosi, who have built large education businesses around courses, events, coaching, and business-training programs. Their Mastermind Business System is relevant here because it focuses on helping people turn expertise, experience, and practical knowledge into scalable education-based offers.
This also connects his work naturally with the broader world of funnels, offer creation, and online education, where entrepreneurs package expertise into scalable digital offers.
For more practical tips on side hustles, digital products, online education, and building a knowledge business inspired by creators like Iman Gadzhi, Russell Brunson, Tony Robbins, and Dean Graziosi, sign up to KnowledgeBusiness.com newsletter.
Resources
Iman Gadzhi makes money through several connected business areas, including digital marketing services, online education, digital products, software, creator commerce, and brand-led ventures.