Iliada • The new face of Greece
INTRODUCING
I am a born and raised Athenian and even though I traveled a lot for my work (and still do), I never felt the urge to move abroad. I love Athens, this is my home. I studied marketing, advertising, and PR and then specialized in digital marketing. At the time, that was quite an innovative space to be in. I worked in the corporate world in different marketing positions and ended up as a wholesale manager for a big Greek lingerie brand. In 2012, in the midst of the Greek financial crisis and one of the toughest periods of our Greek nation I received a vision…
“I FELT THIS URGE TO SHOW TO THE WORLD THAT GREECE WAS SO MUCH MORE THAN AEGEAN BLUE, SANTORINI, AND MOUSSAKA.”
5 THINGS ABOUT ILIADA
CONNOISSEUR • DIGITAL STORYTELLER • ENABLING GREEK ENTREPRENEURS • NATURE LOVER • CITY POOLS
LEAP OF FAITH
“I WANTED TO SHOW THE WORLD THE RICHNESS OF GREEK CREATIVITY AND ARTISTRY IN THE FIELDS OF DESIGN, FASHION, JEWELRY, FOOD, MUSIC, HOTEL CONCEPTS, AND SO FORTH...”
Besides my full-time job I started connecting with local entrepreneurs that were doing remarkable things in their fields of expertise, and in the midst of the financial crisis. So my vision started getting more foot on the ground as I expanded my network of truly daring people doing what they do best and daring to move forward with their dreams in highly uncertain times. I saw a big opportunity to show the world the artisans, products, and brands and the richness of Greek creativity, whilst helping my fellow citizens build their brand presence abroad and be able to sustain themselves and their families.
It took me 6 months to go from vision to an actual tangible business. Living Postcards was born.
LIVING POSTCARDS
“MY FAVORITE THING OF ALL IS ORGANIZING EVENTS AND CONNECTING PEOPLE.”
We started with partnerships with global websites, all with the goal of showcasing the new faces of Greece to the world, through strategic product placements and offering services that would be easy to reach bigger audiences. Followed by organizing events and global representations.
After some time we started getting more requests to help small brands build their audiences and awareness and after a couple of years, we attached a branding agency to the platform. Helping all these brands and their people get their marketing, story, social media, press events, and branding strategy right. It all started with a big vision but of course, after some time I had to start looking at it also from a business point of view and how I could generate a steady income stream for my employees and myself to take the company to the next level. We now have a team of writers, photographers, editors, bloggers, and social media managers that are continuously on the lookout for the new faces of Greece whilst assisting our existing clients in all their marketing efforts.
The next phase of Living Postcards is about showing the gastronomy and the local entrepreneurship of Greek cities and regions. The whole project will take place through interactive events in the form of “pop-up stores” throughout the country.
WRITING BOOKS
My first book was about love. I realized that the internet has a huge impact on relationships. Huge! People get to know each other through social media, and they break up through it. So I came up with the idea to collect the status updates I had seen on my personal feeds and wrote all of them in a book.
My second book was about the joy of living; inspired by the sudden death of the great Greek fashion designer Sophia Kokosalaki. I saw so many young people around me pass away and was so deeply touched by this realization that tomorrow truly is never promised to any of us. The book is called “Everything is here” is about life and how we actually have it all and have nothing to chase than just being alive.
My third book is currently in the making, which will be about business. I can’t tell much about it yet but it’s “there”.
Writing has been a passion of mine ever since I was a child. I still have many diaries, poems, and unpublished books, hidden in my drawings.
#DONTACCEPTIT.
One day in 2017, during a music concert in Athens, a man starting hitting his wife in public. This tragic episode got caught on camera and was witnessed by thousands of people. Somehow this scene made so much impact on me. I saw this picture in my head for days, of this woman stroking her man trying to keep him calm and him continuing to physically abuse her. It stayed with me for a couple of days until I decided to do something with it and wrote a post about it on my Facebook page. This post went viral. More than 10.000 shares, likes, and comments within the first 24 hours. I knew I was up to something, there was a huge taboo that needed to be brought to the light and I felt the call to do that. Within a couple of months, my campaign #dontacceptit was a fact, aimed to raise awareness for domestic abuse. We organize events, create awareness both online and offline, and offer a safe space for women to tell their stories and get the help they need. I am very passionate about this project and continue spending my efforts to create bigger awareness through Greece and slowly beyond our borders.
“I AM DOING MORE THAN I HAVE EVER DONE BEFORE, PERSONALLY AND PROFESSIONALLY, YET I DON’T FEEL STRESSED OR OVERWHELMED. I AM VERY RIGID ABOUT WHERE AND WITH WHOM I SPEND MY TIME AND ENERGY.”
FINANCIALS
I didn’t need much money to start as my idea was building on collaborations. So I started collaborating immediately upon launch with entrepreneurs and brands and created a variety of income streams; advertising, branding, personal branding, consulting. I also get paid for speaking.
THE TOUGH TIMES
You need to work a lot and make a lot of hours to make all your dreams come true. And planning skills are essential!
I have so many ideas that I want to make happen yet you’ve got to become selective of where you put your focus. This can be a tough decision-making process to go through.
After all these years in the field, I am now most interested not in the success stories but in working with genuinely good and humble people. I think surrounding yourself with genuinely good people is important in personal as well as in business.
“YOU DISCOVER WHO YOUR REAL FRIENDS ARE NOT WHEN YOU ARE DOWN, BUT WHEN YOU ARE TRULY SUCCESSFUL AND HAPPY.”
5 INSIDER TIPS
Make sure you prioritize love and falling in love in life. The most important thing of all.
Your friends and people around you are so important on any life journey you are upon. Human connections are what keep us going at the end of it all.
The real goals in life are simple, to be good, to feel good, and to do things that are good for the world and for yourself.
When you are focused things go better, faster, and quicker. You have to focus on the things you want to do in life and business and make very solid planning. Planning is everything for me.
There is no right timing. Time passes, so no excuses. If you have a dream, it's only a dream without a plan. So if not now..then when? This is my own motto about everything!
“IF NOT NOW..THEN WHEN? THIS IS MY OWN MOTTO ABOUT EVERYTHING IN LIFE.”
LEArN MORE ABOUT ILIADAwebsite • living postcards • dontacceptit • linkedin • pinterest • instagramfin
