Listen to this episode of the Great Greeks Podcast where Ilias Kosmidis and John Papas interview me.

Ilias Kosmidis and John Papas of the Great Greeks Podcast interviewed me for their show - talking about my business ventures and all things Greek. I dove into my experience of launching my real estate business in Greece, having my reputation challenged in the Greek media and covered some fun topics about food, culture and travel. These gentlemen have great energy and the conversation was great. Have a listen above or via the links provided. Listen to this episode on all streaming platforms: Apple Podcast, Spotify Podcast, Google Podcast, Amazon Music.

“I had an absolute blast chatting with the gents at the Great Greeks podcast. Ilias and Paparazzi are doing some great things and uniting us globally.”

— George Stroumboulis

Episode 16 is NOW UP. George Stroumboulis from Toronto Canada, has lived all over the globe and has been a fixture in the lighting business for a while now [see what we did there? Haha] … designing and mass producing customized products across multiple industries.

He’s launched several successful ventures both locally and abroad which made him quite the fascinating entrepreneur to interview on our show. We were very honored in having him as a guest. Have a listen and join us in getting to know him a bit and how he can Invigorate Your own Business with some of his expertise.

Follow him on his IG here: @GeorgeStroumboulis
His Website: www.stroumboulis.com
Other Links: https://linktr.ee/Stroumboulis
His Company: IG @ideoligroup, https://ideoli.com
His Podcast: https://www.stroumboulis.com/podcast
On Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3LV69IM

Great Greeks Podcast: @GreatGreeksPodcast @EliasKosmidis @1Paparazzi
#GreatGreeks #GreatGreeksPodcast #TheGreatGreeksPodcast

#Greek #Greeks #Ελλαδα #Ελλας #Ελληνας #Ελληνες #Hellenic #Hellenes #Hellas #GreekRecipes #Greekfreak #Ellinides #Ellinas #Cyprus #Cypriot #Κυπρο #Κυπρος #Κυπρεος #GreekCulture #GreekMusic #GreekInfluencer #GreekInfluencers #GreekFood #GreekEntrepreneur #GreekEntrepreneurs #GreekNetwork #GreekPodcast

READ THE FULL TRANSCRIPT BELOW:

Great Greeks Podcast

You're now listening to the Great Greeks Podcast hosted by Elias Kosmidis and Paparazzi, also known as John Papas.

Elias Kosmidis: Welcome. Welcome, my friends, Carlos Orissa to another episode of the Great Greeks Podcast. My name is Elias Kosmidis and I’m once again here with my friend, Paparazzi, also known as John Papas from New York, the US of A. John, how are you, my friend?

John: Hey, what's going on, man? It's a blessing to be here again with our awesome listeners and you, of course.

Elias Kosmidis: Thank you very much. I appreciate that. It's always a pleasure, you know. We speak quite regularly now, off air, on air. So, but every time I hear your voice, it's like, ‘there's John again’, you know. I feel… I don't know, I feel something special. I’m just going to say that on air and we'll leave it at that. Anyway.

John: Okay. Okay. You feel like a camaraderie.

Elias Kosmidis: That's right. I do. I do. It's important to express these things, I think. You know. Anyway.

John: I appreciate it. It feels mutual, buddy.

Elias Kosmidis: We've got a very special guest with us today, John. George Stroumboulis. Now, let's go through the list of things that George is doing. I mean, we've got entrepreneur, podcaster, document maker. A documentary maker. Apologies. He's doing a lot of things, so we'll get into all the things he does but I think he does a lot of things that people will find very interesting and informative.

John: He's also a CEO and a podcaster as well.

George Stroumboulis: Thank you very much. I’m excited. I’m excited to be talking with you guys. And I guess I have a question. We have Australian and an American, so if you guys are ever facing off in the World Cup, is the friendship and the love still there?

John: Oh. Who's interviewing who here, buddy?

George Stroumboulis: I’m curious…

John: Oh.

George Stroumboulis: I don’t know. Go ahead, Elias, you answer that. I’ll give you the…

Elias Kosmidis: It's a very good question. It's a very good question. Look, my first choice of team I support is the National Greek team. I’m just going to put that out there. If Australia is playing the USA, it's okay. I think we'll find a way to…

John: It's okay?

Elias Kosmidis: It's okay. It's all right. Yeah.

George Stroumboulis: Well, it depends. What sport are we talking? What sport?

Elias Kosmidis: Well, there's only one World Cup.

John: We're going to do World Cup Soccer.

John: World Cup Soccer. All right. I already know Elia's answer other than the ethnic your mother.

Elias Kosmidis: But ethnic yours. And yourself, John?

John: I’m ethnic your mother, hands down, like you, but… that's a really good question, man. That's tough. I support my fellow Aussies, I support America as well. I think it'll be a good match. I don't know, it's a good question.

George Stroumboulis: I’m with you guys. Listen, you always want to be part of where you're not at the time. When we're in Canada, I grew up in Canada, born and raised. You know, you always try to show you’re Greek. When you're in Greece, you want people to know you're from Canada. I live in the States, I want people to know I’m Greek-Canadian. It's just this, you know, it's support. It's always the national team first, right? And then the home country after.

John: So, George, Elia has been getting used to different people's accents, so, especially, you know, Canadians’ accents and he's trying to pinpoint what the difference is between Vancouver versus Toronto versus Montreal and he can't really figure it out. The same thing goes for the US. He has a hard time pinpointing. So, I’m trying to pinpoint because I’m usually good at it. I take it you're from…

George Stroumboulis: Let's hear this.

John: Toronto.

George Stroumboulis: Yes, yes. Born in Toronto, raised in Niagara Falls but I’ve been living in the States like, 15 years, so even to this day, if I’m talking with someone or a client and the word ‘about’ comes out, it's like, ‘oh, are you Canadian?’ I’m like, ‘really, after 15 years?’ so, yeah, there's still some words that trigger that.

John: You're not that heavy though. You don't say ‘aboot’.

George Stroumboulis: Yeah, I tone it down. You know, depending on the audience, I’ll play it up or tone it down.

Elias Kosmidis: I’ve got to give John a big tick for that because I never would have picked it but then again, being in Australia, I guess I’m excused from being able to recognize the differences. I am starting to understand the differences within the US when I heard your accent, George. I’ll say, first of all, it's… I’m going to get attacked for this. It sounds the cleanest accent that I’ve heard in a while.

George Stroumboulis: That’s it. Bravo. Can we say that one again?

Elias Kosmidis: You can copy paste it, you can use it as an audio clip to condemn me on the internet.

John: In all fairness, your accent isn't as heavy as some that I’ve heard, so I do have to concur with my partner here.

George Stroumboulis: Yeah. Well, look, growing up, I moved out of Canada. At…

John: ‘Out’ there it is. There we go.

Elias Kosmidis: There it is, yeah.

George Stroumboulis: I’ve lived in Ireland, France, you know, so it's toned it down over the years before coming to the States but man, I lived in New York City for 10 years and to this day, that accent is just raw and awesome.

Elias Kosmidis: Because, George, in Australia, we don't really have such differences in the Australian English accent.

John: I disagree.

Elias Kosmidis: You disagree? It might be then something we don't notice because we're here. There you go. Okay.

John: You, Elia, my friend, probably are one of the clearer of Australian accents that I’ve dealt with.

Elias Kosmidis: Oh, okay. I didn't know.

John: So, you said you lived in New York, George. Whereabouts?

George Stroumboulis: Yeah, so 57th and 11th…

John: Oh, Manhattan then?

George Stroumboulis: Yeah, I was in Manhattan, I used to be Connecticut. I used to work in Ireland. They switched me over to the States, you know, in typical story, ‘Ma, I’m going to be in New York a couple years and I’ll move back to Canada’ and, you know, that's that. 15 years later, married with kids, you know, still down here. But yeah, New York is amazing. It's just an amazing place.

Elias Kosmidis: What part of Greece are you from?

George Stroumboulis: My mother's side's Kalamata, olive capital of the world, the mecca. And then my dad's from Evia. So, Khalqidada south.

Elias Kosmidis: Beautiful.

George Stroumboulis: Right. It's like, an island, hour away from Athens and I’ve listened to all your episodes, so I know where you guys are from. It's incredible. Right?

Elias Kosmidis: It’s beautiful parts of Greece for sure.

George Stroumboulis: Is there a bad part of Greece?

Elias Kosmidis: No, well, there's not.

George Stroumboulis: Even the crappiest village that you go to, you're going to find something that's beautiful, nostalgic. Like, it's just… it's an amazing place.

John: So, I want to hear about your idea of when you lived here, what was your consensus on seeing the Greek life here versus the Greek life in Toronto?

George Stroumboulis: Oh, great question. So, it's incredible. New York. Let's start with New York. It's just… it's massive, right? I grew up Canada, Niagara Falls, so Greek town was one strip Danforth, which is amazing, right? The greatest memories. And over the years, as you go, it dwindles down and down and fewer Greek restaurants, other people move in, fine. When I moved to New York city, my now wife was living in Astoria, so that was my connection to Astoria and going there and literally would spend more time there socially and the Greek town there is just massive. There's blocks after blocks of it. And I remember the first time I’ve ever been there, it's incredible. Like, it's straight out of the movies, and the trains above you and, you know, Astoria is just… it's an incredible place and then when we decided we were pregnant with our first child in New York, we come here. There's a lot of amazing Greeks here. Amazing people, you know, amazing communities and churches but there's no central hub. And I always ask myself this, if Greece… when Greece wins the next Euro Cup, you know, and I’m in California, I don't know where the heck we're going to go and celebrate.

Elias Kosmidis: I don’t think we’ll be here when that happens again, George. We might not even be here, to be honest.

John: We may not even be here.

Elias Kosmidis: But anyway.

George Stroumboulis: Exactly. But so, that kind of sums it up.

Elias Kosmidis: But it's an interesting question, it's a good point though. Yeah, I see what you're saying. A central hub of the Greek world for that city.

George Stroumboulis: Yeah, absolutely. Like, in Melbourne, I’ve been there for our honeymoon. We ended up going there. Amazing Greek town, right? Like, you guys have a place to go to.

Elias Kosmidis: Oakley. Yeah.

George Stroumboulis: Yeah. Oakley. Exactly. So, yeah, it's incredible. You know, even in France and Ireland, there were small little pockets of Greek town. But yeah, California does not have that hub where everyone can go to and spend a weekend or whatever. I’m going to get the haters and kubati yelling at me but it's just a fact.

John: I'd agree with that. From my experience, going a few times to LA, I’ve witnessed the same thing. It's… they're very spread out, the Greeks and…

Elias Kosmidis: And our previous guests have kind of echoed what you just said, George. It sounds to me like it's New York Boston and Chicago. It seems like those three are the main three Greek communities in the US.

George Stroumboulis: Believe it or not, Elia, from the Bostonians that I’ve been speaking to, they're very spread out as well.

Elias Kosmidis: Awesome. Look, I’ve never been to the US, George, as you may or may not know listening to previous podcasts. I keep mentioning it in case someone is listening and saying, ‘I’ll give you a free flight to the US’. You never know.

George Stroumboulis: We're going to work out, we're going to start a GoFundMe today.

Elias Kosmidis: Oh, I like it. Always thinking ahead, George. I love it. But, you know, you're describing this place, an hour south of LA. It just sounds interesting to me. It sounds fascinating. USA has not been a destination that I’ve seriously considered growing up. I’m not sure why. You know, we're influenced by the US in many ways. Obviously, you guys know, but just saying it. As an outsider from the US, obviously the US is a nation that we are influenced by through movies, through music, through entertainment. Let's call it at the very least. It's a place that we feel like we know on one level but after having spoken with John so much recently, and others from the US, I’ve had this new perception of the US that it has so much more than I already thought it might have there just seems to be countries within countries in the US, cultures within one nation.

George Stroumboulis: Absolutely. I’ll tell you a quick little story. So, Greek-Canadian citizen and I’ve been living here as a green card. Loving it. Right? Living in New York, it was great. Met my wife, we get married and I’m still traveling with my Canadian passport, she's traveling with her US passport and we have our first child, we have our second child. And just the ego in me was like, I don't need the US passport, I love the country, I respect it but I don't need to be an American. That was my mindset. And a few years ago, I applied for it and I got it quickly and I remember the night before, I told my wife, ‘hey, tomorrow, I need to be in LA five in the morning, I’m being sworn in’. She's like, ‘sworn in for what?’ I go, ‘oh, I’m getting my US citizenship’. She starts freaking out, this is amazing. We got to come with my two daughters at the time and in my mind, and I’m not saying this unappreciated but in my mind, I’m like, ‘it's not a big deal, I’m going to get that, I get the passport’, whatever. I’m coming from a first world nation, right? Canada. So, anyways, we go there and there's 6,000 people being sworn in as Americans in this big convention center. There's 5,000 guests. So, we have 11,000 people in one room. Obviously, pre-Covid. And, you know, the minute they start playing the anthem and I’m looking around and you have Filipinos and people that have struggled to get to this spot, right? And I was sitting there, taking it for granted and then I got all emotional and you just see everyone cheering and you're like, ‘man, it's a beautiful thing’. I love where I’m from and I respect my cultures but I took it for granted and this country is really amazing.

Elias Kosmidis: I’m just going to say that's the stuff we want to hear about, George, and that's why I kind of bring it up every now and then because people in the US, for exactly the reason you mentioned, people in the US may take such experiences for granted, especially us outside of the us. You know, we just don't know what's happening and to hear a story like that, it definitely puts things in perspective.

George Stroumboulis: For sure.

John: Let's deep dive a little bit, George. I know you're putting together a documentary of your life and the journey as being an entrepreneur. So, this chat right here will assist in that and kind of laying a foreground to that to get people to know George a little bit. George Stroumboulis, would you like to discuss a little bit on what type of entrepreneurial skills you have and you being a founder of a company and stuff like that?

George Stroumboulis: Yeah, absolutely. So, basically, with my company now, we made it a point. Everywhere we go, just grab a GoPro and there's a story that could be captured, right? So, my main line of work is custom lighting products and our clients are large international brands. You know, the Teslas of the world, the WeWorks and Abercrombies.

John: And the name of your company?

George Stroumboulis: It's Ideoli group. I D E O L I, which again, root of a Greek word ‘idiolipsis’ which means obsession, so there's Greek as well because we're obsessed with what we do but just from day one, I was like, you know what? We're going to just record little stories, little snippets. We wanted to capture that just entrepreneurial, we all grew up immigrants, not just Greeks but there everyone's an entrepreneur. They had to hustle and do something in their own framework to make money, right? So, my whole thing was I just want to capture it, share it socially, tell a story as we go and build this company to where we're going right now.

Elias Kosmidis: How did you get involved in wanting to sell lighting solutions to customers exactly? How does that come about? Did you have a history of it?

George Stroumboulis: Yeah, no. So, anyone in the industry never wants to come into this industry but…

Elias Kosmidis: Why?

George Stroumboulis: So, my first job out of university, I studied in France and Canada, was a job in Ireland, in Northern Ireland, Belfast and it was executive coaching and I was the marketing guy. I studied business and marketing. So, I got into that, they transferred me to the US to open up an office in Connecticut and then from there, always looking to do stuff and that's when I got into the real estate side in Greece and I launched Greek property exchange. At the time, it was the biggest website in Greece for people looking for investment outside of Greece. So, you're sitting in in Sydney, Australia and you want to buy a house or look for a house in Greece, GPE 360 at the time was the biggest site that I created to help people outside of Greece find it.

Elias Kosmidis: So, when did this happen, George? Because this is probably one of the main things I wanted to ask you about today. The specific, you know, endeavor. A lot of Greeks at the very basic level outside of Greece would, I imagine, have at the very least thought about purchasing property in Greece as a dream, let's say, at the very least. Many, many of those people take the next step and begin researching it. So, first of all, it's a great idea. And secondly, how do you even begin to create some sort of platform for those people to be able to, you know, make that dream a reality?

George Stroumboulis: Yeah, absolutely. Great question. So, it all started, like, everyone… and I’m sure both of you when you were younger, now, whenever, ‘oh, it'd be nice if I had my own apartment or house or land or whatever it is in Greece’, right? Every time you're there, you get motivated, you want your own place. I was no different. So, probably, 12, 12 plus years ago, I’m in Kalamata and, you know, we have the Patrick Ospiti and everything from the village but I wanted to get my own apartment and I asked my… Theo, my uncle, who's in construction, ‘where do I even go to look for it?’ and he looks at me and he says, ‘go to the Colonna and the Platia and you'll see like, what's for sale pasted on the walls and the posts’ and I’m like, ‘what third world country are we in?’ right? And then, you know, there was newspapers and so on. I’m like, ‘man, I’m not the only one that doesn't live in Greece full-time that's looking for property’, so I leave there and the process I found something and the process was just… I felt like everyone tried to have their have their hands in my pocket when we started trying to buy the property and it was a simple small one-bedroom apartment and well, you got to pay this guy and if you want this, you got to pay that and there was no clear process, right? And it's just the typical Greek, it's like, ‘You know what? Forget it, I’m going to get screwed, everyone's trying to screw me’. So, I left that summer, I returned back to New York studio apartment and I’m like, ‘You know what? I’m going to create a website and we're going to get people in Greece to list their properties and my job is I’m going to advertise it to 20 plus countries around the world’ and that was the genesis, the idea. It was good timing and it was bad time, because we'll talk about the media storm and just… you try to do good and you get your name rocked but... so, anyways, I build this platform, I’m working with my development team overseas and we're building this and we're creating the maps. Like, Greece didn't even have a proper mapping system. Any prefecture could be spelled seven to ten different ways, it was just kind of a cluster, right? It was just typical Greek. There was no land registry and it was just sloppy. So, I started centralizing everything, created a beautiful platform, great back end and then I needed properties, right? So, there was a trade show in Athens later that fall that I went back and my Greek now is fine, right? Because I’m talking, I’m learning with the kids all this. But back then, it was very broken, very spasta. And I go to this trade show and I’m going from booth to booth with this idea. I’m like, ‘hey, can you just upload your properties for free? We'll even do it for you, you don't have to pay a registration, I just want your properties on my platform’. ‘I don't want to do this, I will look at it’. Like, just, you know, skeptical Greeks, right?

Elias Kosmidis: Yeah.

George Stroumboulis: And I remember going to the Remax booth and they had 20 plus agents and it was very intimidating, right? Because I had this service offering that still wasn't worked out, my Greek was horrible at the time and you're trying to present it and I’m like, ‘You know what? Whatever, I already flew here, I spent the money’. So, I ended up getting a few of the agents on a personal level from Remax. I’m like, ‘Yeah, we'll give you your properties’. So, instantly, I had thousands of properties on this website over the course of a couple months, right? They agreed to it. And from there, it was easier now to start advertising with, you know, at the time, it was like the Papa's Post and The Greek Reporter and, you know, started getting out there like that and creating this platform. And from there, we started getting traffic and, you know, thousands of visitors, you know, and then the competitor at the time really had financial backing in Greece, so we're going at it and this whole time, I’m running this website while I have a full-time job in New York city from my studio apartment at night time, working through my developers overseas, right? Like, acting like we're this big real estate company but we started helping people find properties and connecting them and making zero… Like, my revenue model was zero at the time. I wasn't asking for commissions, I just wanted to create a platform and then we'll figure out the finance side of it later, right? So, that's where the marketing side of me is like, ‘All right, I need to really promote this’ and I came up with a television show, reality TV show to show internationals coming to Greece to search, filter and buy property. So, I created this basically like, a house hunters international. It was called ‘Hellenic Home Hunting’ and I shot this pilot episode and then I returned back to the states, we edited it and then I started pitching it to networks in Greece because I wanted to get it on air. We ended up striking a deal with antenna satellite which at the time had over 2 million subscribers around the world and they picked up the show and they're like, ‘Yeah, you know what? We'll do six episodes with you’ and that's when we really brought like, attention to the site. I went back and on my vacation of 10 days, we produced six full episodes filmed from Athens to Mithilini to Larisa to Kriti. Stoopa I mentioned. And Evia.

John: Would you say it was easier for you to get in this business with a Greek citizenship or do you not need a Greek citizenship? For those listening, you know, I’m sure they they'd like to know.

George Stroumboulis: Yeah, so I… for me, when I was doing that, it had nothing to do with the citizenship but it had to do with the drive because even, you know, I was building my business here, I’m making my money here. Why am I going to spend tens of thousands of euros to produce a show for a network that's not really globally recognized? It's your passion for your homeland. That's the only reason. You know, I wasn't doing it to get rich. It became a profitable model and everything. So, to answer your question, no, you do not need a citizenship and especially now, I don't think that's true.

Elias Kosmidis: Here's the thing, George, as well. Just quickly, you mentioned that there was some bad press and stuff like that, you know, but I had a similar backlash from people in Greece when I mentioned I was, you know, looking to buy property in Airbnb and things like that. And what I responded to them was, ‘Look, Greece is going through a difficult time, isn't it better for Greeks outside of Greece to potentially purchase some of this property as opposed to non-Greeks?’ and I don't want to sound racist or anything but, you know, there's still Greeks, right? That are purchasing your property, because you had your show on antenna satellite, right?

George Stroumboulis: Yes.

Elias Kosmidis: That's how I chose to see it. And when you… when I said it like that, a lot of them kind of thought, ‘You know what? That makes sense’, yeah.

George Stroumboulis: Yeah, you know what it is, Elia? At the time, and again, we're talking about 10 years ago. I’m 40 now, at 30, you think differently and I didn't have anyone to go to, so when I have… literally I was on, you know, Fourthy and Lenny talk shows or seven minute segments just bashing me and they're doing segments on this. I’m like, ‘man, just let me come on and try to defend myself or talk about it’ and, you know, I’m sitting in an apartment in New York and you can't really defend yourself at the time but then they're talking about it. But again, it was great because it drew so much attention, traffic and I was very lucky that the Wall Street Journal thought it was a worthy story to put it on the bottom fall to the front page and it brought a lot of attention and, you know, why not?

Elias Kosmidis: People are very scared to purchase property in Greece and what you're describing here has bridged the gap between the dream and the reality. You know, I was talking about the dream before. That's what I see.

John: Why is there fear?

Elias Kosmidis: Well, a lot of people were basically saying ‘Oh, you know, things are different there, you're going to purchase property there? Why?’ It was very negative. It was very negative, you know, as opposed to purchase property here in Australia.

John: Do you think it has to do with the distance of not being able to take care of the property and you being so far away or what do you think of this?

Elias Kosmidis: No, I think it's a couple of things, John. I would say number… that's one thing for sure. I’m not going to disagree there. Of course, that's an element. I also think Greeks outside of Greece, I’m going to speak specifically about Australia, I don't know about the US, but Greeks outside of Greece, that generation above us is a generation that wants to make it clear that their choice to come to Australia is the right decision and they do have a bit of a complex. I’ll be honest. Some of them. And they also, in many ways, I think, don't want to risk losing the next generation in any way to Greece because I believe they do recognize that Greece has a certain pool for youth. Although there are logistical justified reasons like you mentioned. I think there are also some non-logistical reasons that they may push this fear onto people that are looking to buy property in Greece. And to be honest, you know, it might be more difficult than purchasing property in Australia and George can confirm all this. He knows more about it than I do. I’m just telling you about my experience but I think at the end of the day, if you want something you can make it happen. And we're not talking about some third or fourth world country. Greece still has a process, it's just not as streamlined I would say as US, Canada, Australia maybe but it's still there, you know.

George Stroumboulis: Guys, it's come such a long way, I’m not even involved in that element anymore because so many other companies have come up and I did, you know, I did the show, I brought awareness. I would like to think the few dollars that were invested from my marketing efforts helped stimulate, not saying drove the economy but it helped contribute in a way. And Greece is on a great track now. You're seeing all these major hotel brands. Now with my other company, from the lighting side of it with the hotel brands and, you know, West-in's and W hotels and Nobu and all these major US brands going to Greece and setting up shop.

John: So, George, would you say that that backlash that existed for you is now over? Because we want Greeks to reach out to you and you possibly do collaborations and work with them.

George Stroumboulis: Yeah, the backlash is done and the backlash in hindsight wasn't backlash. It was me… because you could say anything you want, it's your words. Why should that change how I feel, right? Like, just in life in general, but when you're younger you don't see that and you take it personal but then part of it was like, literally, articles and all this stuff and, you know, now when I look back, it was a great chapter. It doesn't mean anything now. It's like what, you know, what's the next chapter? And real estate's thriving and it was just like a good step on that. My next thing I would love to do is highlight, you know, setting up a business in Greece and documenting that and making that into, you know, a television docu-series because a lot of people ask me and I’ve set up businesses in Greece right now with Idioli. I just opened up an office in Marusi. We have just over 10 employees right now and that whole process is something that I think a lot of Greeks would… Greeks living outside of Greece would gravitate to.

John: I agree as well. I think Greeks from diaspora and Greeks in Greece and Greeks anywhere would be interested to possibly learn how to go about that process to start or possibly give back and just put more money back into the Pateridae, so yeah…

George Stroumboulis: Absolutely.

Elias Kosmidis: Awesome incentives, George. Really awesome. And whatever backlash there was, I’m sure they recognize the value of what you have done.

John: Let's call a spade a spade though, Elia. The Ellines are very forgiving people, so I’m sure…

Elias Kosmidis: I don't know about that but anyway. I’m not being mean, I agree on a …

George Stroumboulis: I’m not messing with a Cretan or Maniati, that’s it. Oh, there we go.

John: Eventually, I’m sure that over years, they see what George's intent was that there was no malice and, you know, just another Greek trying to be positive and strive.

George Stroumboulis: Greeks are so supportive. Like, push comes to shove if they know you're sincere and whatever you're trying to do, right? You're going to get good support if you're just sincere and you're not trying to show different motives or anything.

Elias Kosmidis: Tell us a little bit about this podcast you've also started, George, if you can. I just noticed. Well, I noticed a while back actually that you've started a podcast. How's that going and what's the purpose of the podcast, may I ask?

George Stroumboulis: Absolutely. So, I travel a lot, right? Pre-pandemic, I was doing 300,000 miles a year.

John: Gaining those credit card air miles.

George Stroumboulis: Getting amazing air miles and then dumping them back into Greece to take the family and then building them up again.

Elias Kosmidis: Awesome.

George Stroumboulis: But literally, you know, a day trips to New York. I’ve even done a day trip, Elia, you'll appreciate this, from LA to Sydney, partied with some friends in Sydney. Did a day trip the next day to Perth for a job site that we were doing.

Elias Kosmidis: Oh, goodness.

George Stroumboulis: Flew back from Perth to Sydney later that night and then direct back to LAX, all within like 40 to 48 hours. Like, just insanity but I do a lot of that and along the way, I’m meeting a lot of different people, a lot of clients, a lot of partners and, you know, everyone has a story when it comes to business, right? I, at eight nine years old, grew up in the family restaurant like most of Greeks in the restaurant industry and we were learning about the economics of bacon and lettuce and what you should do and shouldn’t do. There's business to be learned in everything, right? So, the podcast that I’m launching, and we've already filmed seven episodes that we're going to start releasing soon, is sitting down with just professionals in whatever industry they're in. So, we have negotiation experts, manufacturing experts, sports broadcasters, athletes and talking a little bit about their story but then just trying to understand well, if someone's listening and wants to get into that industry, you know, what's some advice that you could provide them? What's the business side of it? So, that's what excites me and it's just a pet project to get it out there, you know.

John: It's very exciting. It's similar lines to what we're kind of doing. Kind of, you know, uniting Greeks in that aspect of different fields and genres of whatever they do to kind of help them succeed.

George Stroumboulis: Absolutely.

John: I’m glad we shared the similar, you know, views and motives on that. That's amazing, George. That's something to be proud about. Something to be very proud about.

George Stroumboulis: Appreciate it, guys. So, I guess my question for you, are you guys going to start doing a few more episodes a week? Because the content is fantastic, right?

John: We're working on it. Together, Elia and myself, we put together a whole list of Greeks that we find through the grapevine. We are open to anyone who submits, you know, somebody who may be good for the podcast and hopefully, we can get, you know, two maybe three episodes a week but right now, we want to focus on each individual and kind of give them a whole week to shine and give them the platform that's well deserved because George, there's Greeks who don't have access. Don't look at us who you and I are on this, you know, side of the world. There's Greeks from all over the place who don't have the access to breakthrough, for example, like, an actor, right? They don't have that gateway to Hollywood, you know. So, hopefully, through our podcast, we could kind of open up a door that wasn't necessarily given to us and be able to give it to them a bit. So, for right now, for the time being, it's going to be, you know, every week released episodes.

George Stroumboulis: So, let me ask you guys. What… any advice? Since you guys have started this and it's taking off, like, do you have any advice for, just in general, doing this? Has there been anything that's shocked you guys or you weren't expecting?

Elias Kosmidis: The advice is to just get started. Because, a lot of people… I think one of the dangers is a lot of people with any venture, even, you know, especially creative ventures and putting yourself out there, a lot of people believe that has to be perfect from the get-go and you're not going to…

John: It doesn’t exist, right?

Elias Kosmidis: It doesn't exist, first of all, and you're always getting better with every episode. I mean, we can tell we're already getting better with every episode. So, that's my advice. I don't know, John, it's great. We're getting some questions back today. John, this is awesome.

George Stroumboulis: Yeah, no, you guys have good chemistry. It's just you're missing like, a Canadian aspect. You got the US, Australia.

Elias Kosmidis: Yeah, I like it. I like it.

George Stroumboulis: No, no, you guys are killing it.

Elias Kosmidis: The thing is as well, George, you know, and I’m sure you under… you appreciate this more than probably both of us. I would say the biggest reward, because the financial rewards of this podcast are non-existent, to be perfectly honest at this point and hopefully, at some point, we can make this financially viable. But the rewards, the non-financial rewards of this podcast have been…

John: Manifesting. Manifest that, Elia. We will and we shall.

George Stroumboulis: And you should.

Elias Kosmidis: It will happen. And we should. Correct. Correct.

John: And we have already. We've gotten one sponsor, so shout out to Mediterranean Foods. Astoria, New York.

George Stroumboulis: Congratulations. That's huge.

Elias Kosmidis: Yeah. And George, perhaps you can help us with that part of our business because I’m sure, you know, lots about that sort of thing, so I’ll just throw that out there.

George Stroumboulis: Absolutely.

Elias Kosmidis: But this is my point. This is part of the rewards. Having spoken with all these people so far and yourself now, first of all, I’ve just met some beautiful human beings that I’ve never met in person that I feel connected with because of the podcast. That in itself for me, is a massive reward and that just keeps us going.

John: Not only for you, for me as well.

Elias Kosmidis: I said ‘us’ yeah.

John: Oh, you said ‘for me’. Anyways.

Elias Kosmidis: Okay.

John: [Inaudible 33:17] For us, it's for cultivating relationships and building bridges and networking not only the guest with a potential, you know, person, client, whatever but just all of us. We want to make the world a little smaller, let the Greeks know what we're, you know, our powers. So, George, to my understanding, with your connections for the listeners, is it possible that you could assist people with getting Greek citizenship if they want it?

George Stroumboulis: I do not, but there's really good lawyers that I have access to, you know, if anyone wants to find out, we could share that information.

Elias Kosmidis: When you came to Australia, what did you… what was the some of the things you noticed that you hadn't expected?

George Stroumboulis: Yeah. So, great question. First time I ever went to Sydney was with my wife. And nine years ago, for our honeymoon, and we were going to go there for a few days and then fly back to Fiji. We do that and then in the forecast in Fiji’s 10 days of raining, like, okay, how many filakia can you do? We're going to kill ourselves after two, three days. So, we're like, ‘let's go back to Australia’, we go to Melbourne and it just… it blew our mind because to me growing up, never going to Australia, I was like, ‘ah, it's a nicer climate of Canada, it's part of the commonwealth’. I’m not like, I’m not crazy to go see it because I just felt like it was a Canada, whatever. We go down there and my God, the culture, the cuisine. Like, that was the first thing I really noticed that. It was very eclectic. You had every culture. Asian influence, a lot of Italians, the Greeks. So, it was just cool from that standpoint, really cool.

Elias Kosmidis: What about taste wide? All right, come on, this is a Greek podcast. We got to talk about food a little bit. I want to know what was the differences with the food?

George Stroumboulis: So, Elia, do you do you want to outline that first from your standpoint?

Elias Kosmidis: Yeah, we… John and I have had… discussion… we want to hear it from George's perspective. Yeah.

John: I want to hear it from George who's experienced both US, Canadian, you know, Australian, you know, even European. Like, the different styles of, I guess, Greek cuisine or Italian cuisine, you know, American Italian versus…

George Stroumboulis: I’ll tell you that.

John: Please enlighten me.

George Stroumboulis: I’ll tell you the worst cuisine, and my Irish people are going to hate me for this. Like, living in Ireland for two years, like, you lose your taste buds. Like, it was just…

John: Oh, no. Really?

George Stroumboulis: Yeah, it was just… you know, just in general…

Elias Kosmidis: That's what Guinness is going to wash it down. Sorry, go on. Yeah.

George Stroumboulis: And that's exactly it. So, that's when I started eating Indian food and all this but…

John: Because of Irish food, you started…

George Stroumboulis: That's when I started eating Indian food, which was just crazy.

John: Wow.

George Stroumboulis: But I’ll tell you what, I’ve become very lame in my cuisine because I go to Asia a lot and if you go eat their foods and you're only there for a day and they're on a flight back, the last thing you want to do is mess with your stomach. So, I become very lame in my meals like, at the hotels and that just because I’ve had bad experiences but for me, hands down, nothing beats a good Greek meal and I’ve had Greek food in South Africa, Dubai, Indonesia, Shanghai. We've had… like, I love going to just Greek restaurants and seeing in local markets and the beautiful part is it's always good because Greeks are everywhere. So, even though there's a Greek restaurant in Shanghai, the staff, there were Greeks working there. So, the food's amazing and you always get that feeling.

John: Would you say that the taste in these restaurants are different or would you say one nailed that Greek taste, you know, better?

George Stroumboulis: First of all, if my mom's going to make it this far into this episode, nothing beats my mother's food, right? So, that's number one.

Elias Kosmidis: Mrs. Stroumboulis. Shout out to Mrs. Stroumboulis.

George Stroumboulis: Yeah, Mrs. Stroumboulis. Even her boiled water will kick your mother’s boiled water. No.

Elias Kosmidis: That’s awesome.

George Stroumboulis: No, no. Cuisine wise, I mean, no, nothing beats like, in Greece, your local taverna, you know, if you're in Greece. But here…

John: What I’m asking is, okay, in New York, right? We have awesome Greek food, right? Not every place but we have our places that are like, ‘oh, wow, this is great Greek food but we can't duplicate how it tastes in Greece’, so I’m curious.

George Stroumboulis: All right.

John: You've been to Australia. Do they come closer to that authentic Greek taste? Does Canada come closer? Does, you know, what would you think?

Elias Kosmidis: Does Fiji?

John: Fiji.

George Stroumboulis: Yeah, you're absolutely right. You can't duplicate the ocean, the sea, your mindset, right? So, I think that's what it is. Nothing beats just being even a coffee in Greece. I can never enjoy it the same way here or anywhere I go.

John: You think it's the environment, it's the overall ambiance that does it.

George Stroumboulis: And mindset and where you're at in that day. Are you pissed? Are you not? Like, for me, it's always that. Like, it could be the best meal and if I’m not in a good mindset, it might as well be fish and chips in Belfast.

John: That's funny.

George Stroumboulis: No offense, Belfast.

John: What I loved in Australia, for me, it was even the Asian food, even… it was just… it was so good and so many options. Breakfast, I don't know. Elia, was I just drunk the whole trip or?

Elias Kosmidis: No, no, I think you're right. Look, Australia has been a multicultural country for quite some time now and there was a period up until about maybe 2000, I would say, where it wasn't as much the case. It was almost finding its feet. A lot of that international cuisine. But from 2009, I noticed this shift where people were demanding quality international foods and it was coming out. Before that, only certain people would eat Chinese food or Asian food or Indian food, really.

John: See, George and Elia, in my head, I would think that Australia has probably, because I’ve never been, a better meat quality. So, I would assume, you know, the chicken and the beef and, you know, even the lamb or whatever in the Greek food, I don't know, it just… I think it would have a better taste. Again, that's my opinion.

George Stroumboulis: Have you ever had an egg outside of Greek… Like, the eggs in Greece, you know, you're going to…

John: With that deep orange yolk.

George Stroumboulis: Those chickens, it's just… it's amazing.

John: It's so orange, it's red.

George Stroumboulis: Yeah. Yeah, it's red.

Elias Kosmidis: Even tomatoes over there, George, you know, I can't replicate that here.

John: You can't see… In the States, we can't get the tomatoes as red and as juicy.

George Stroumboulis: Exactly.

John: It's insane. I don't know about Canada. Is that is that the same thing up there as well?

George Stroumboulis: Canada's even worse. They're bringing it in from California, you know, Niagara falls has some greenhouses and stuff, you know, strawberries great seasonal. John, I got to ask you your opinion. Astoria, top Greek restaurant? Your last meal… and you're probably going to start wars.

John: I’m going to start wars. I don't know if I can answer that question.

Elias Kosmidis: So, first of all, you have to mention that the sponsor is number one, John. Okay? Just remember…

John: The sponsor is not a restaurant.

Elias Kosmidis: Okay, sorry. Okay.

John: The sponsor is Adele Bakali, so shout out to, you know, Mediterranean again. But if I had to answer that question… All right, I’m going to give you my favorites in no particular order.

George Stroumboulis: Okay.

John: All right, here we go. I love Taverna Kyclades in Astoria.

George Stroumboulis: So, that's your top, you just said. Okay.

John: No, no. I said no particular order. [Cross talk]

Elias Kosmidis: We want your top, John. This is what John does, George. He doesn't actually shares favorite. This is… no, no, no, we want top.

John: I’m giving you my tops because it's plural. No particular order.

Elias Kosmidis: That's soft but go on.

George Stroumboulis: Let's hear this.

John: Taverna Kyclades is definitely one of them. This other spot that's on the border of, I guess, Jackson heights and Astoria, I think it's called ‘Lukumi’. Another place is called ‘Telis Taverna’. That's another place. And then, if I wanted hiroshuvlaki, I'd probably pick a SVL bar or gyro world. There's so many places off the top of my head that I could, you know, eat for different things, you know, I’m…

Elias Kosmidis: Let's just name it restaurant in Astoria. Okay.

John: No, no, no. I’m not naming every restaurant, I’m naming my top ones. And shadows…

George Stroumboulis: Are you a politician because that was a very diplomatic response.

Elias Kosmidis: Thank you, George. Thank you, George.

John: And shout out to my favorite food truck in Astoria, King Souvlaki. That's all I had to say.

Elias Kosmidis: Okay, okay.

George Stroumboulis: For me, I love Stamati’s. I always love… I love going to Stamati’s and my wife always loved Agnati. Is it Agnati?

John: Oh, Agnati’s another. Thank you for reminding me.

George Stroumboulis: Yes.

Elias Kosmidis: George, you know, talking about food, why Greek food in Greece tastes different and, you know, in Australia and the US in general, my feeling is, having spent some time in Greece and Australia and that sort of thing, it seems to me like it comes back to the root of the problem which is Australia and USA seem to be countries and I imagine Canada that focus a lot on the economy and production and mass production and efficiency for financial goals, let's say. When you go down that path, there's going to be some compromise to food, you know. I think in Greece, it's getting there which is a shame in my opinion but it's not quite there yet. They still have some standards in how food is produced. It's still a bit small time, let's say. It could be more efficient, it could work better with mass production to be a better… a more economic benefit to the country but they haven't gone down that path as much yet. It's changing, for better or worse. For example, I’ll just throw one thing at you. Up until a certain point, I’m not sure if it's still the case. Italian olive oil and Spanish olive oil, for example. Olive oil producers in Spain and Italy, they asked their respective governments, this is something I read a few years ago, if they could slightly dilute their olive oil production for efficiency and financial benefits, so that they can, you know, stay afloat and, you know, improve as entities and go further in their businesses and that sort of stuff because they were struggling. And their government said yes, up to a certain extent, obviously, and still call it 100% extra virgin olive oil. This is what I read. In Greece, Greek producers did the same thing but were denied because the Greek government, sorry, said to them, ‘if it's 100% extra virgin olive oil, it has to be undiluted’.

George Stroumboulis: That's a big deal.

Elias Kosmidis: And this is what I’ve been told why we see a lot of Spanish and Italian olive oils in Australia doing better than the Greek ones, which are much more expensive first of all but they're both, you know, people see both of them called a hundred percent extra virgin olive oil and they're going to go for the Spanish and Italian one because it's simply cheaper.

John: But Elia, I’ve also been told by several Italians that they get their oil from Greece.

Elias Kosmidis: We've got that as well. We've got that as well. Yeah, that's the other thing.

George Stroumboulis: But they appreciate it, right? Like, that culture appreciates it. The majority of Australians or Canadians and Americans buying olive oil…

Elias Kosmidis: Don't appreciate it. Yeah, that's true.

George Stroumboulis: They don't appreciate it. They're frying it, they're doing whatever. You know, I I’m very lucky, my grandmother, 91 years old, every year, to this day, and God bless her, she's still rocking. Every year, goes harvests, you know, on…

Elias Kosmidis: Amazing.

George Stroumboulis: Presses it at the local press and sends us Denicadus to Canada and down here from her hands. Like, it's the most magical that I even tell my wife I’m like, you can't give this away, don't like, this is… every drop is... it's magic to me. [Cross talk]

John: Stroumboulis Olive Oil.

George Stroumboulis: Stroumboulis Olive Oil. Yiayia Eleni’s Olive Oil.

Elias Kosmidis: But being from Kalamata, you'd know more about olive oil than I would, George. It's just something I read, of course. Yeah. When I went to Kalamata, speaking of Kalamata, guys, and we're having this chat here. I was expecting to go to a place that was full of olive trees and, you know, as we have all these preconceived icones in our mind, you know, visions in our mind?

John: And what did you…

Elias Kosmidis: I found…

John: What did you find?

Elias Kosmidis: What I found in Kalamata John was paralias, cafeterias, you know, beautiful beaches. I didn't expect it. I didn't know that's what Kalamata was all about. Amazing place. Just lots of youth, lots of enjoyable cafes, bars, music, summer vibe. I didn't expect it in Kalamata. I’ll be honest.

John: You didn't go swimming in [Greek word]? No?

Elias Kosmidis: There's another idea, John. Yeah, there we go.

George Stroumboulis: You know, anytime I tell someone I’m from Kalamata, they'll always comment yeah, they're also the major producer of something else as well, in all of Greece, they're known for hash and I’m like, all right.

John: Oh, fun fact. The more you know.

George Stroumboulis: For the hash smokers out there, Kalamata’s amazing. It's a nice little big city, it's just… it's incredible. The airport's booming now. There's direct flights from London.

John: Oh.

George Stroumboulis: England into Kalamata. Cristiano Ronaldo when he flies and goes to Navarino, they fly into Kalamata Airport. It's becoming a nice hub. Yeah.

Elias Kosmidis: Fascinating. John, I highly recommend it if you ever get a chance, Kalamata. Yeah.

John: I would definitely love it. It's on the bucket list, amongst other places, such as Kriti which I have never been as well.

Elias Kosmidis: And Chios, which I hope for to go to this year if I can get to Greece, I’ll… I will make an attempt to go to Chios. A friend of mine is going to Greece as well this year and from Adelaide and he's a Chioti so I’m hoping to check out Chioti, have some Mastica.

John: I’ll show you a little bit about Chios.

Elias Kosmidis: For sure.

George Stroumboulis: You're Chioti?

John: I am. This is what I am. I am half Chyoti, I am a quarter Mitilineo and a quarter Ithaki.

George Stroumboulis: [Speaking Greek] Guys, I have some Mastica gum on my desk that someone brought for me. I try to support but it's absolutely horrible. Don't shoot me for saying that. It's got no taste.

John: I hope you choke on it. I’m sorry.

George Stroumboulis: That's why I’m not even going to…

John: You're having it in its wrong form maybe, George. We got to get you some form that you could enjoy Mastica.

George Stroumboulis: Oh, my God. Yeah, no, no. I like the liqueur, it's fine. I support, I support the…

John: So, Elia, what time is it?

Elias Kosmidis: I think it's castaway time.

John: Yes, it is.

Elias Kosmidis: And I’m assuming George already knows because he's listened to our episode, so that gives him an advantage, theoretically.

John: George, do you know what castaway time is?

George Stroumboulis: No, please tell us.

Elias Kosmidis: Castaway time. Basically, we propose a scenario to… the purpose of this section is to get an insight into people's psyche because that's what we're about here, you know. So…

John: George is very psychological. He's very, you know, strategic, so this would be a very interesting one.

Elias Kosmidis: And like with people that, you know, are into astrology, it's a bit like analyzing people's responses but we take it as a bit of fun and nothing more than that. So, don't over analyze your responses, just go with what flows. Basically, you're on a deserted island. This is the scenario. You're on a deserted island and for whatever reason, some high power has said, right, I’m not going to, you know, just leave you there like that. I’m going to give you the option of choosing one Greek food you can have with you on this deserted island and one Greek music artist that you can listen to. Who would it be and what food would it be?

George Stroumboulis: Okay, so the food I know, right off the bat. The artist, are they physically there performing for me because that would change the gender of who I’m picking.

Elias Kosmidis: That's awesome. I love it. We've had that response before. That's awesome.

George Stroumboulis: Okay.

John: Do not interfere, Elia. Allow him to answer the way that he feels fit.

George Stroumboulis: Okay.

Elias Kosmidis: But he's asked us a question, no?

John: He needs to answer that. He's alone in his desert island, he's alone.

George Stroumboulis: Okay. So, if I’m eating the same meal breakfast, lunch, dinner, I’ve had this conversation with my wife in Greece this summer, it's spanakopita.

John: My man. My man.

George Stroumboulis: Yeah, it's my… hands down, right? You're getting your veggies, it's just incredible. Spanakopita, hands down. The artist, if it's just a radio and I have battery, infinite battery and I could listen to it, it's a toss-up. It's either I’m going, you know, melodramatic Mitropano, but I’m by myself, I need to be happy, maybe I’m going to do a little Sakis Rouvas. Don't judge me. You know, maybe we're throwing that out there.

John: Okay.

George Stroumboulis: And if it's a live performer, we got to switch it up and go maybe prime, Katy Garbi. Yeah, mix it up a bit.

Elias Kosmidis: Beautiful…

George Stroumboulis: Live performance. That's amazing.

John: Getting back to your Spanakopita real quick, are you preparing this Spanakopita or is it already made?

Elias Kosmidis: Yeah.

George Stroumboulis: As long as it's thrifty, I’m okay.

Elias Kosmidis: Oh, awesome.

John: All right, because I want to know. You know, you're on this desert island, maybe Spanaki’s growing, you know, I don't know. Maybe you're making it, maybe it's pre-made. Okay.

George Stroumboulis: Do we have clothes on this island? Because now, the visual is just disgusting. So, I don't even know.

John: Is it Yaya Spanakopita? Is it your wife spanakopita? We need to know.

George Stroumboulis: Oh, it's my Yaya’s, you know. Yeah. In the village, [Greek word] come on. It doesn't get better than that.

John: [Speaking Greek] from yaya's hands and Katy Garbi and you're set for life. We're talking for life now.

George Stroumboulis: Absolutely.

Elias Kosmidis: I was going to say, George, you've given us a lot of your time today. I don't want to keep you up anymore. We really appreciate your time.

John: Any last-minute plugs?

Elias Kosmidis: Anything you want to plug? Anything you want to plug? That's what I was going to ask.

George Stroumboulis: Yeah, the Great Greeks Podcast, you guys are awesome. Keep rocking. Let's grow together, guys. You guys are awesome. Just… my personal website, my last name dot com. Stroumboulis.com. Stroumboulis.com and from there, it just shows stuff that I’m doing, we're doing different initiatives, efforts and yeah, just stay connected, even the social. Like you guys said, even though we haven't met, we stay connected socially, you feel like you're expanding your network, you know.

Elias Kosmidis: Ideoli.com as well for the lighting side of things.

George Stroumboulis: Ideoli.com. Yeah, we do tremendous work. You see some of the lighting stuff. If you think it, you could sketch it, we bring it to life and we make it and ship it all around the world.

Elias Kosmidis: Is that for businesses and corporate gigs or is that a one-off events, weddings and things like that? What's that all about?

George Stroumboulis: Yeah, no, it's also… great question, all commercial type accounts, we do private residence. Right now, we're doing a residence next to Drake, the rapper, in Toronto. 25 million dollar mansion. We're doing all their custom lighting. So, we do stuff like that and then we also do Hilton hotels and Tesla, we just did their gigafactory in Austin with Ideoli's lighting. Email trails with Elon Musk, copied in. Like, just kind of cool stuff. But yeah, that's a conversation for another day.

Elias Kosmidis: Sure. And the podcast ‘Invigorate your business with George Stroumboulis’ correct?

George Stroumboulis: Yeah. Yep. So, that's going to be launching end of this month and we'll definitely have you guys on as well.

Elias Kosmidis: Oh, that'd be fantastic.

John: Thank you.

Elias Kosmidis: Thank you so much.

George Stroumboulis: Awesome, guys.

John: So, everybody, thank you for tuning in to another episode of the Great Greeks Podcast, with our special guest, George Stroumboulis. Elia, it's been an honor again to be your co-host. So, I appreciate you as well. So, stay tuned for the next episode guys and that's a wrap for today.