Aris: From launching a volunteer organisation in Greece, to setting off on an entrepreneurial journey in Silicon Valley as a Stanford MBA student.
This interview is a part of the Millennial Champions series featuring the most creative, hard-working and successful young people globally. More info here. Brought to you by HeySuccess.com .
1. Hey, Aris! For our readers, let me tell you that Aris was my long-term roommate whenever we travelled to various youth programs (even once a tent mate at the World Youth Forum in Russia which is a camping actually). Before we move to volunteering, your area of expertise I want to ask you something else. How did you turn yourself from a “regular student” who was doing only things he was supposed to do in the first year of studies, to a young person with a completely different approach? By the end of your studies you participated at dozens of student events and travelled to countries at four continents (with all costs covered of course) and at the end launched your own social enterprise. That’s impressive, and we would like to hear from you how did you change your approach in your 20s, how and why did you start over everything?
To begin with, I had always been a very good student at school. Like any other kid in my age, I was trying to follow my parents’ advice. Always doing my homework, getting good grades, participating in class. However, I could also describe myself as a “restless spirit”. I remember doing lots of things outside school, such as playing music in bands, playing sports, hanging out with friends, etc. In the tight-knit community that I grew up, top students were expected to just “do their job” at school and nothing more, often viewing extracurricular activities as distractions and not as opportunities to shape characters, personalities and gain skills.
I managed to do really well in the national exams and entered the Business Administration department of the Athens University of Economics and Business first among my class. This was a huge accomplishment for me at the time being and, unfortunately, I fell into the trap of being overconfident about my potential. So, when I moved to Athens, I started living the life of the typical first-year student – no need to get into details here, but I can tell you that I had a really good time – thinking that, since I made it there, life was going to happen by itself, until…
…one Sunday afternoon in May 2010, when I received a phone call from an old friend of mine. He wanted to share with me a business idea. I said “OK” and went to his house. Until then, I hadn’t participated in any entrepreneurial endeavors. Maybe because I believed that one day I would magically wake up with an awesome idea that would make me rich.
When we met, the first question he asked me was “What do you want to do after you graduate?”. “I will become a successful entrepreneur of course”, I replied. Then he asked “And how much money would you like to earn?”. “Millions!” I replied without hesitation. The 3rd and final question struck me. “Do you have a plan for this?”. I froze and continued to stare at him for a minute or two. I actually didn’t have one. I started thinking that maybe I was just another university student who was doing all the things he was supposed to do, expecting that the pieces of the puzzle would somehow come together and make his wishes come true. That thought terrified me.
So, I started a professional partnership with my friend and I became a sales person. I hadn’t sold anything before, (except for a couple of Pokemon paper drawings that I used to sell for 50 cents each when I was in elementary school), so at first it wasn’t easy at all. I started reading tons of books on sales and personal development and I realized how much I enjoyed learning and how much this learning process helped me in my personal life, too. On top of that I started getting out of my comfort zone and found myself chatting with random people on the street. Expanding my personal and professional network became something like a hobby. Last but not least, I understood how being patient and calm can be valuable in difficult circumstances.
After almost a year and a half, I was hitting thousands of Euros worth of sales every month, and more importantly, I had become more social, more efficient, more confident and smarter. I had finally started thinking and acting like an entrepreneur. I can still recall my decision to stay in Athens in August, instead of going on vacation, to focus on my personal growth. I would wake up at 8:00am every morning, grab a bunch of newspapers, business magazines and my laptop, and spend the rest of the morning browsing, reading, and writing down ideas, while drinking my espresso. Then I would get back home and watch the next “Best business movie of all time” on my list.
Then one day, I came across a Facebook post about the Athens Startup Weekend University startup competition. Since I didn’t have anything to lose, I applied without even having an idea to pitch. There, I met Kostapanos, one of my classmates in college, who pitched his idea for launching a website that would connect volunteers to event organizers. I joined his team and we won the 2nd place launching GloVo (now Ethelon). I was officially an entrepreneur!
However, despite all the good things that were happening in my career, I was still feeling there was something missing. I always wanted to travel around the world and attend international conferences and global events, but I didn’t have the resources to make it happen. Once more, the universe provided. In 2013, I participated at the Clinton Global Initiative University in St. Louis, as one of the 12 Greek university students that had been selected to join the Angelopoulos Fellowship. I visited the US for the first time (deciding to set a goal to move there in the future), and met a bunch of very interesting people, including Milenko.
When Milenko told me about HeySuccess and explained how he was travelling around the world for free, I went crazy. How come I hadn’t discovered that earlier? After CGIU, I started using HeySuccess and, between July and October 2013, I travelled to three continents and attended conferences, summits, workshops and festivals at the US, Russia, South Africa, Ireland, Denmark and Serbia. And most importantly: For free. Apart from travelling to places I had never visited before, I also became inspired by the stories of young people that I met, who were changing the world through their projects and organizations.
And now, after four years of hard work and many sleepless nights, I’m finally in the United States, doing my MBA at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and living right next to the Silicon Valley, the heart and soul of entrepreneurship and technology. Good times!
2. You said that travelling around the world and attending conferences, such as the Clinton Global Initiative, gave you inspiration to dream big. Now, you are studying at Stanford University, in the world’s most selective MBA program. How did you make this ambitious goal happen and why did you decide to make such a big transition?
I always wanted to move abroad. As I told you, in 2013 I decided that it was going to be the United States, mainly because of the wealth of career opportunities that you can find there. Also, my goal is to launch my own tech startup, so there is no other place on earth where I would want to be. When it came down to applying to universities, I didn’t follow other people’s advice, which was to apply to many universities so that I could maximize my chances of getting into one. My philosophy is that it’s always better to focus on one or two goals at a time and give it your 100%, than to stretch yourself towards many directions and risk underperforming because of the burnout. So, I ended up applying to only two universities, hoping that I would end up at Stanford.
To get to that point, however, I had to make some hard choices. I said no to things like going out every week, meeting friends, going on vacation, spending my free time watching movies, sleeping a lot on weekends, etc. And although I will be the first one to say that people must have a balance in their lives, some goals are just hard to achieve, and you have to choose what to let go of. What made those decisions hard was that I had to make them every single day. And for a “restless spirit” like me, that was really hard. I still remember the FOMO of checking my friends’ Instagram accounts every night, seeing photos of them having fun, doing things that I would love to do and visiting places that I hoped I could visit too. It is certain that everyone who is struggling to make big changes in his/her life will reach that point where hard decisions will have to be made. For me there was no turning back, so I just kept pushing. Of course, there is no secret sauce, no recipe for success. Life is choice. It has always been choice.
3. You started a social enterprise that has a main topic, so to say, volunteerism. Can you tell me more about that? Why volunteerism? Why volunteer experience can be so beneficial for one young person?
We identified a specific issue in young people’s lives. Because of the economic crisis and high unemployment, many of them would stay home doing nothing, while they could be out there utilizing opportunities to develop themselves, gain new skills and have a positive impact on their communities. So, we tried to find a way to connect those who were looking for volunteer opportunities to those who were looking for people to volunteer for their causes.
The first volunteer organizations were created many years ago and millions of people continue to offer volunteer work nowadays. However, not everyone who volunteers truly understands how much you can get out of this experience and how beneficial volunteerism can be for a person. One of the reasons is that many volunteer groups focus more on the goals they want to achieve and less on the process they follow. The result quite often is bad experiences and volunteers who never come back.
In Ethelon, we try to provide volunteers with memorable experiences, so that they can not only put their skills, knowledge and passion into practice for a greater cause, but also enjoy it and have fun. Starting from the selection process to the training, allocation and management of the volunteers, we always take into account each individual’s skills, talents and interests. It is worth mentioning that almost 55% of those who come to us have never volunteered before. So, providing them with a good volunteer experience is of outmost importance to “keep them in the game”.
As far as the benefits of volunteerism are concerned, I really don’t know where to start from. First of all, volunteerism is a great way to meet people. Countless amazing friendships are being formed every day in our volunteer actions. Personally, I’ve met some of my closest friends while volunteering. Of course, the same applies to professional networks. Many of our volunteers have met future partners, clients and employers while volunteering. It’s easy to tell why. A potential employer can learn a lot about your passions, skills, behavior and attitude when you offer your energy and time for a good cause. That being said, employers do value volunteer experience and it can definitely make a difference when it comes down to strengthening your resume. However, in my opinion this shouldn’t be the only reason why someone would volunteer, simply because there is so much more into offering your service to your community. Last but not least, through volunteerism you get valuable experience from working in teams. You learn to lead and follow, listen, cooperate, manage your time and assess risk, as well as to communicate more effectively. You get out of your comfort zone and become more confident and empowered.
4. What piece of advice would you give to other young people who want to avoid the “Lost Generation” destiny? Any concrete recommendations and tips?
Since the time we are born, we fall down more times than we stand up. Sometimes life hits you in the face and it feels as if it’s the end of the world. Losing a job, failing a test, missing a plane, getting sick, losing a loved one… That’s life – get over it. The truth is that the higher/longer/faster you go, the harder it gets. So, what should you do? Well, what makes you happy?
Is it living a simple 9 to 5 life close to those you love, or is it trying to build quantum computers and artificial intelligence algorithms in a 5x5 room in Palo Alto? Both are fine, as long as they make you happy and are the reason you wake up in the morning. How to get there is no one else’s job, but yours to figure out. We live in a world full of opportunities and amazing technological advancements that make our lives easier and better every day. We are just a few clicks away from every person on earth, so eventually it’s just about the number of opportunities you come across and how many of them you utilize. If you don’t, someone else will.
Finally, because I know that many of those who will read this interview are in the process of applying for internships, graduate programs, scholarships and other opportunities like the ones I was applying for a few years ago, I have a few important tips for you:
1) Follow HeySuccess’s advice and recommendations. They are the best in the world to tell you how do it. Read their articles and watch their webinars. I did.
2) Out of the thousands of opportunities that are out there, ask yourself: “What am I looking for?”. That will help you prioritize better.
3) “What would be the profile of the ideal applicant and how close am I to it? What do I lack and what can I offer that no one else can?”
4) If you want to receive many acceptance letters, don’t submit many applications – submit good applications.
5) Never submit your application once you have finished it, because at that moment everything will seem perfect. Save your work and revisit it after a few days.
Finally, my most important piece of advice. What matters most in every application, every job, every relationship: Be authentic, be honest, be yourself.
