Alex Fox was born in Ukraine and grew up in Italy — moving from the Veneto countryside to Milan and Lake Como, and later to Rome. This life between two worlds, steeped in Italian artisanal tradition and Ukrainian resilience, became the foundation for everything he would build.
In 2012, a Euro football championship sparked curiosity about Ukraine. In August 2013, a BlaBlaCar ride opened a door to a world of possibility. By January 2014, in the middle of Ukraine's revolution, Alex moved to Lviv — drawn not by safety, but by possibility.
"When was the last time you did something for the first time? If it takes you more than ten seconds to think of it, it's been too long."
This passion for first times — for building bridges between nations, people, and possibilities — would define his entire life's work.
In Lviv, Alex discovered an 1882 Austro-Hungarian book factory — a building that had printed ideas for over a century. He saw not a relic but a symbol. A factory that printed books could become a factory that printed innovation.
That building became OK Factory. The LED sign "Everything Will Be OK" he installed on its facade became a philosophy. James, an Australian, became the first coworker. A cat named Jira became "Senior Kat Advisor." The seeds of delayed gratification were planted deep.
Then came Ernest Airlines — Europe's first low-cost carrier connecting Italy and Ukraine, funded by a Minecraft co-founder, managed by ex-Armani talent, planes named after founders' children. Then the pandemic destroyed it. Then war came.
War didn't stop the mission — it accelerated it. When borders closed, Alex opened trade routes. When systems failed, he built Faktorist. War-Life-Balance wasn't theory; it became daily practice.