Listen to this episode of the Greece Chats with Tony Kariotis Podcast where Tony interviews me. To listen to the podcast, please click here: https://www.greece-media.com/greecechats

Join Tony Kariotis, founder of Greece Media (@greece on Instagram) as he interviews inspiring Greeks. Tony is a Greek-American entrepreneur that likes to get his hands involved in just about everything. Aside from real estate and investing, Tony is now working on his latest passion project called Greece Media. Tony travels around Greece, creating content that represents Greece, Greek culture and the Greek diaspora. He's over visited 35 Greek islands.

You can follow Tony on social media:
Instagram/Twitter: @iamgreece
TikTok: @iamgreece_

Listen to this episode on all streaming platforms: Apple Podcast, Spotify Podcast, Google Podcast, Amazon Music.

“Growing up, there were things that embarrassed me as a child about my culture and my family. Now I look back, and those are the things that make me so proud of my upbringing.”

— George Stroumboulis

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

READ THE FULL TRANSCRIPT BELOW:

Greece Chats with Tony Kariotis - George Stroumboulis

George Stroumboulis: I'm proud of seeing where Greece is today after where it's gone through just in our lifetime, the last 10 years, 20 years. So, just being Greek is something that's important culturally.

Tony Kariotis: In today's episode of Greece Chats, I am joined by George Stroumboulis. George is the founder of Ideoli, a lighting company that specializes in custom design interior lighting. George is also the host of the Invigorate Your Business podcast, a serial entrepreneur, first generation Greek Canadian. George has had his hands involved in many business ventures. Join me as I talk to George about all his business ventures, his Greek upbringing and roots, how often he's back in Greece, and much, much more. Join me for this conversation with George Stroumboulis.

Speaker 3: Are you ready to call Greece your home? Greece Media is here to help make that happen. Greece Media is a company that specializes in helping individuals obtain Greek citizenship. Their team of experts will help work with you every step of the way from the initial application to the final approval. We will ensure that all required documentation is in order and provide you with the support you need to navigate the complex process of obtaining Greek citizenship. Don't wait any longer, contact Greece Media today and take the first step towards your dream of becoming a Greek citizen. With our help, you can call Greece your home in no time. Visit Greece-Media.com to learn more about how Greece Media can help you achieve your goal of Greek citizenship. Greece Media, the key to unlocking your Greek citizenship adventure.

Tony Kariotis: Hey, George. What's going on, man?

George Stroumboulis: Tony, how are you?

Tony Kariotis: I'm great. Just living the dream, man. Look at this. Look at behind me. Where am I? In Mikonos.

George Stroumboulis: You're in Mikonos. And I know this is definitely your photo, right? You captured. And I've had...

Tony Kariotis: I wish I was there.

George Stroumboulis: Yeah. Many drunken nights on those steps behind you over the years.

Tony Kariotis: Yes.

George Stroumboulis: But I'm not diving into that.

Tony Kariotis: A frozen moment in time behind me. No, but I'm in Greektown, USA actually. I'm in Tarpin Springs, close enough.

George Stroumboulis: Perfect. That's perfect. I'm down here in rainy California right now. But yeah, all good. All good. I'm glad we got to connect today

Tony Kariotis: For sure. Likewise. Why don't we just get started? Why don't you tell my audience a little bit about you and we'll jump into things.

George Stroumboulis: Absolutely. So, George Stroumboulis, born and raised in Canada. Greek Canadian. And university time came around, studied over in Europe. First job out of university brought me to the States. Typical story, my mom's like, no, no, you got to come back home. I'm like, ma, just give me a couple years in New York and I'll be back home. Now almost 20 years later, still living here in the States. My mom still thinks I'm coming home in the next couple years. But yeah, I live down here in California right now. Wife and three kids.

Tony Kariotis: Amazing. Clearly, entrepreneur life is what this has become for you. Talk to me about that. What led to it? Is that something you've always dreamt of, or is it something that just fell upon you and said, this is me?

George Stroumboulis: Yeah. You know what? I think it's probably cliché what I'm about to say, but the Greek heritage, right? Doesn't matter where the Greeks are around the world. The majority at the time, those who left Greece were poor, right? The wealthy weren't really leaving Greece. They had to hustle and come up with stuff, right? So we're all born in that mentality of, you figure it out, figure out your own business, you pay your own bills, right? So, from a young age, you're born into that lifestyle, seeing your parents running different businesses and restaurants and being thrown into that environment. So, I think it's ingrained in me personally and in our culture. So, that's pretty much it. Like, I grew up in the restaurant industry and I remember the first entrepreneurial moment was during the 1994 World Cup in the States. We were going to go to Boston and we did go to Boston to see Greece play Nigeria, right? That's kind of a side story. I was 12 years old at the time and I remember going to that, several months before, I'm like, oh, okay, it's going to be really hot there. You know, something came in and I want to start selling those fans, those motorized water fans that you spray. So, at 12 years old, I'm trying to find it. Like, the internet wasn't there at 12 years old. So, I'm trying to find vendors overseas that could supply this and starting to contact freight companies to ship this in. And I got down to the pricing and everything, and right there, I knew like, I love doing this type of stuff. Wasn't able to get it in time. We still went and saw Greece get destroyed by Nigeria in Boston. It was a great experience. But long-winded way to say, like, that's when I knew that I really enjoy the all odds against you try to figure something out and build it by yourself.

Tony Kariotis: Man, you just took me back with that World Cup 94 thing, because during that World Cup, my dad had a shop on the street set up leading up to the stadium where he was selling Greece apparel because he had Diadora account and he was selling the warm-ups that the players are playing, t-shirts that said World Cup 94. He had the Slovakia going. It was literally like a [Greek term] of Slovakia Greece apparel.

George Stroumboulis: That's amazing.

Tony Kariotis: Yeah. So, does that ring a bell? You walk through the game and seeing this [crosstalk] so maybe we crossed paths.

George Stroumboulis: Well, a hundred percent. So, this is the beautiful part. So, we drove that summer, my cousin comes from Greece, right? And that was the same summer that Greece made it to the FIBA Championships in Canada. So, in that tournament, Greece was the only team to hold the dream team, like the original dream team to under a hundred points. Every other team was just getting slaughtered. Right?

Tony Kariotis: Yeah.

George Stroumboulis: So, that summer, my dad's like, let's go to World Cup. So, my sister, dad, my cousin from Greece, we drive from Niagara Falls, Canada to Boston. It was an amazing experience. The day of the game, Greece is playing Nigeria. So, Greece lost four nothing. Four nothing. And then two nothing to Nigeria. Right. Amazing showing. This is why they sucked. The day, my cousin was friends with, I think it was number four, Apostolopoulos was a defender on the national team. The day of the game, the day, like they're playing a World Cup game.

Tony Kariotis: Yeah, I know where this is going.

George Stroumboulis: Yeah.

Tony Kariotis: Let's hear it.

George Stroumboulis: My cousin goes, hey, we're going to go to the [Greek term], the hotel and we're going to go meet the team and Apostolopoulos. And I'm like, wait, this is the game day of like, the biggest tournament in the world, and we had access. We pull up, I don't remember what type of hotel, but it was like a Holiday Inn type thing. We show up, Tony, and in the lobby is the coaches, the players. And this is ingrained in my head and I'm like a 12 year old dork right now. I have the Greece hat, I have the Diadora shirt. Right? And I'm going around getting autographs from everyone. Everyone's signing it. Soccer ball. I was in heaven. And the biggest thing that resonated was the players [Greek term] smoking and coffee, the day of the game, like the coffee, okay? And they're just sitting there like, you know, fast forward, this is why they were horrible.

Tony Kariotis: Yeah.

George Stroumboulis: But it was like, the best experience. We go to the game, Fox borough Stadium, I think it was at the time.

Tony Kariotis: Yeah.

George Stroumboulis: To stand. So, I don't know, maybe we crossed paths, but like...

Tony Kariotis: Yeah, we possibly could have, because everyone that was going to that Greek game walked by our shop that we had on the street there.

George Stroumboulis: Yes. And were you guys selling like...

Tony Kariotis: I remember we made the cover of the local newspaper, because Greece World Cup, and it's a picture of us like, holding the apparel that my dad was selling.

George Stroumboulis: No way. Was it legit apparel or like, off the boat?

Tony Kariotis: No, it was from the Diadora comp-- because my dad had a... our family business is a screen printing embroidery sporting goods shop. So, he had a Diadora compact back in the day. And then after the World Cup, after he had pumped out all the hats and stuff, he was still stuck with like, 1500 Diadora hats. So, every now and then, someone would come by the shop, here, take a hat, take a hat, here's a case, here's 24 hats. Give them all to people in Greece. My uncles, before they'd go to Greece, would stop by and grab hats. I need, I need hats to give to the village.

George Stroumboulis: Dude, that's an incredible story. I still have that shirt. I still have my hat, like with the signatures. Unreal. And so, you guys were in the sporting, not to dive off, but the...

Tony Kariotis: Yeah.

George Stroumboulis: The basketball tournament you have now is in honor of your father?

Tony Kariotis: It was, yeah, it is. It's an honor of my dad, because he was a big staple of the Greek sports community in Boston. Coaching, youth programs and all that stuff. So, after his passing, it only made sense to start something in his memory in covering sports and the whole community united, and we bring in 30 teams to compete over a five day event every year now.

George Stroumboulis: Geez. And the name of the tournament is in your dad's name?

Tony Kariotis: Yeah, we calling it the Teddy K Classic.

George Stroumboulis: Teddy K Classic. That's amazing.

Tony Kariotis: This spring is 15 years of it.

George Stroumboulis: 15 years. And then the funds that you guys raise go to like, local...

Tony Kariotis: We give out a grand scholarship to one student that participates and any other student that applies gets a small fraction of the rest of the proceeds.

George Stroumboulis: God bless, brother. That's amazing. Yeah, I see it in-- I guess that's the connection, right?

Tony Kariotis: Yeah. Yeah.

George Stroumboulis: Wasn't planning to go down that memory lane.

Tony Kariotis: No, it's all good.

George Stroumboulis: That's amazing. That's amazing.

Tony Kariotis: Sure. Yeah, I didn't expect you to bring up World Cup 94 and then that just brought back memories of selling Slovakia and Greek apparel.

George Stroumboulis: Amazing.

Tony Kariotis: So, you obviously grew up in a Greek family owned business.

George Stroumboulis: Yes.

Tony Kariotis: In the restaurant industry.

George Stroumboulis: Yeah.

Tony Kariotis: Give me some of the experiences. How does that shape you as the businessman you are, the family man, even as the individual?

George Stroumboulis: Yeah. So, actually great question. In so many different ways. From the business side of it, exposed to the economics of produce and the economics of paper bags and don't do this and don't put too many ketchup packages. Like, that's ingrained from a young age. Like, I started working there with my sister, five years difference. I remember from like six, seven years old, we would get the egg crate and put it up so I could reach to get the fries out of the fryer and stuff that today would be child labor laws, you know, in Canada or here, where there, it was just normal. And it shaped like a lot of things because you understood that if we didn't do well that day, you know, there was no paycheck from a big company. So, you would see like, my parents every day on their feet, 12, 14 hours a day, seven days a week. I started playing travel hockey. Barely, rarely my parents could come to the game. So, I had to go with all the Canadians' parents and, you know, you just realize like, family functions, never took family vacations together. It was always like, the kids go or the mom goes, or...

Tony Kariotis: Yeah.

George Stroumboulis: You know, so you see that, but it also made us stronger as a unit, like very strong. And then like, transcending that into my family now, you try to overcompensate and make sure that you're there for everything. It's an interesting dynamic that we always look back at, and it's like such an amazing upbringing to be there with your parents, right? And at their feet and understanding everything. So, the restaurant was great. And then there was the other aspect of, there's embarrassing aspects to it when you're a kid. Like, hey, why are you guys talking Greek when my friends are coming around?

Tony Kariotis: Right.

George Stroumboulis: Dad, your accent's so thick, they don't know what you're saying. You know, when you're insecure and you're 12, 13, 14, I had that aspect and then going to school and having these elaborate lunches when little Timmy and Mikey are having peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and you think it's weird at that time, and then as you get older, you're like, man, that's amazing. You know?

Tony Kariotis: Yeah.

George Stroumboulis: But it takes time to go through that. So, the, the restaurant life is the only life I knew and I wouldn't change it for a thing, because it kept us close as a unit, which we still are today. And you just learn so many life lessons as well. And then the other thing, Tony, actually is the interaction. Like, I would see my parents, my mom specifically, how she would interact with every customer. And my mom could have been tired, she could have had bad news from the motherland that someone passed away. And when she was in the restaurant at the till and hundreds of people are coming through every day. Like, I saw her put her game face on every day. 'Hey Susie, how are you? How are the kids?' Da-da. And she's like, suffering or she's tired and you just saw, like, she just made happen. So, that was a big lesson on like, hey, the world doesn't care what you're feeling. Just do what you need to do and, and don't put it out there if you don't need to, is something that resonated.

Tony Kariotis: That's amazing. So, after fast forward is, did you go right from the family business to what you're currently doing, which we'll talk about now? Or was there other ventures that led to that? And what you're currently operating right now is your lighting company, Ideoli.

George Stroumboulis: Ideoli. Yeah, absolutely.

Tony Kariotis: Ideoli.

George Stroumboulis: Yeah. So, from the restaurant world, I studied locally. So, I was still working multiple jobs. You know, you wanted to save up money. And I did an internship at my university in Cape Kedah, Corfu, Greece. So, when I was 19, I moved to Corfu and for one year, I was working for the European Union Business Development Office. So, my job there was for all the Ionian offices, islands, which are seven islands. Anyone that wanted to get funding from the European Union to start a business would come to our office. And at 19, I'm sitting there helping them pull together marketing plans, business plans, strategies. And it was just a cool experience to see. And at the time, they were just printing money from the EU. So, you would have like, [Greek term] walk into the office right in between shifts from the [Greek term], pull out a napkin, right? His business plan, and he would put it on the table with our director of the office, Manos Zenithis, great guy. And literally, it would just be scribbles like [Greek term] 300 hotels, ba-ba-ba, I need 20 million Euros. Like, this is his plan. And I had to make that into a cohesive document so he wouldn't get laughed at. And the funny part is, a lot of these things were getting funded at the time. So, that was my first like, government, working in Greece.

Tony Kariotis: Yeah.

George Stroumboulis: And then I interviewed, I'm like, oh, Greece, I want to move there. After doing that one year experience, I'm like, I'm good. Like, I want to go back to North America. I love Greece, but I'm glad I got that experience early on, because everyone gets excited, like, I'm going to move to Greece, it's the best. Everything's amazing when you're on vacation, right?

Tony Kariotis: Yeah.

George Stroumboulis: When you have to...

Tony Kariotis: No, for sure. And that's what everyone tells me every time. Oh, you don't want to be a year round. You just see it as a vacationer. But I guess they're on to something.

George Stroumboulis: Well, and listen, you're younger too. You don't need the medical system, [Greek term] you don't need education system or anything. I think once you have to rely on that, dynamics change, right? It's getting better, but it's definitely different.

Tony Kariotis: Yeah. For sure. All right, let's take a quick break and when we come back, we'll talk more about your lighting company and a bunch of other fun stuff on this episode of Greece Chats. We'll be right back.

Speaker 3:

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Tony Kariotis: All right, so talk to me about Ideoli. Like, I know it's a lighting company, but give me a little bit more about it.

George Stroumboulis: Absolutely. So, Ideoli, my background is lighting, right? Lighting products on a commercial, industrial, international scale. So, launched the company eight years ago with my business partner. And we were part of a previous start-up in the lighting space, and that was successful. Sold, went public on the New York Stock Exchange. And overnight, we were part of a big multinational company, and that wasn't really our style. Right? Working within that framework. So we decided, hey, how could we change the lighting game a bit? How can we bring something dynamic to our clients? So, we launched Ideoli, the actual root of the word comes from [Greek term], the Greek word for obsession, because we're obsessed about the quality.

Tony Kariotis: It might be why I pronounced [Greek term] the first time.

George Stroumboulis: There you go. Yeah, there you go. And that's where it comes from. So yeah, we launched this and what we do is we're a manufacturing company of lighting products. We design with the clients, we ship around the world, and we're talking lighting from your one-off high-end steakhouse in New York City to the Tesla Gigafactory in Austin, Texas to multinational retail stores around the world. So, that's our expertise. And it's fun, man. Being able to design something with a client, when it's just a box of a store or a space or a restaurant, and we get to sit with the designers, the architects and bring the lighting aspect to life and then prototyping it, manufacturing it, shipping it. And once it's installed and you're sitting in the space, like, that's the most exciting part, right? Just being a part of that.

Tony Kariotis: That sounds amazing. And if I'm not mistaken, did I see that your lighting made it on Curb?

George Stroumboulis: Curb your enthusiasm. Yeah, absolutely.

Tony Kariotis: That did happen, right?

George Stroumboulis: Yeah, that did happen. Yeah. You're a big fan of Curb?

Tony Kariotis: Oh, huge fan. Huge fan

George Stroumboulis: Huge, right? So, you were a Seinfeld fan as well?

Tony Kariotis: Yes.

George Stroumboulis: Yeah. Yeah. So, but naturally, you know, it took me years. I didn't start watching Curb until probably season three or four...

Tony Kariotis: I'm the same way. I got in late and I got in late to Seinfeld too because I was a bit younger when it first came out. I got in late to both. But once you're in, it's like, no getting out.

George Stroumboulis: Yeah. Yeah. It was amazing. Yeah. So, we did one of our big accounts is a multinational office building space. So you go, you rent your office, your space for the day, for the month, whatever. So, the specific headquarters for Netflix was all our lighting. And there was a scene where they're walking through and it was like, it was just cool. It's just cool to see that type of stuff, you know?

Tony Kariotis: Amazing. Now I know where to get my lighting when I set up my podcast studio.

George Stroumboulis: 100%, Yeah. Exactly.

Tony Kariotis: But then again, a podcast studio keeps you stranded in one spot, so I need to be mobile. I got to come up with a mobile solution for it.

George Stroumboulis: Exactly. And you know what? For lighting like that, yeah, we could figure something out. For you.

Tony Kariotis: Perfect.

George Stroumboulis: You're everywhere, man. Never mind.

Tony Kariotis: Perfect. So, you've obviously launched a ton of ventures. Obviously, Ideoli is what you're working on now, amongst some other things. What inspires you to do all this? Because obviously, taking on and filling up your plate takes some sort of inspiration.

George Stroumboulis: Yeah, I think it goes back to my parents being on their feet 14 hours a day, providing for us, right? And again, a lot of the stuff that I'm doing, it's not financially driven. I'm not doing it because I want to. You know, like, to be honest, right now I'm sitting here, every dollar I make, I'm throwing back $2 into the business for Ideoli. Right? We just launched our European offices six months ago in Athens, Greece. We launched an office in Toronto. We have an office in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Our offices and factories are in Asia, China, Vietnam. Right? I'm here in California and our headquarters are in New York. So, every dollar we get, we're reinvesting into the company, it's self-funded, myself and our business partner. So, it's just that motivation to see, hey, where can this go? And once you start having kids, you start thinking differently, right? It's not about what kind of car you want to buy. For me specifically, it's not about cars and all this stuff. It's about, hey, can we teach them now to be self-dependent and learn the basics of finances, and so they could be responsible as they grow up? Like, my mindset has totally shifted the last few years with three young daughters as well, you know?

Tony Kariotis: For sure. And running worldwide ventures like this requires a ton of travel. And I'm assuming you probably have an office in the air at this point.

George Stroumboulis: Yeah, exactly.

Tony Kariotis: And balancing a life with family. And I know you have this thing called the three day or less rule, so talk to me about this.

George Stroumboulis: Good one, Tony. Yes. Yeah. So, here's the beautiful thing. Especially now, you could be anywhere in the world, the furthest destination with like, a 17 hour flight, right? I could be in Singapore. If I got on a plane right now from Los Angeles, 17 hours later, I'm in Singapore. That's like the furthest, longest flight, I think, in the world. Maybe someone could fact check that. So, you could be anywhere, money aside, right? On flights. With that, you can land, do your meetings for me, because I have three young daughters and I've seen, I've been part of guys that have worked at hedge funds and have lived in Connecticut, and you see, you don't want to be the Sunday father. And that's always stuck with me when I was single and younger. And I would see the dad's like, oh, I got the kids on Sunday. Oh, you know, the kids driving me nuts. And it's like, why? Right? Like, I grew up at my parents' feet all day at the restaurant. So, when it comes to travel, I always make it a point, like, pre pandemic New York City and back within 23 hours. Like, I would leave at nighttime, tuck in the girls, land at 5:00 AM New York, do eight hours of meetings, get back on the plane, and I'm home at nighttime. Destroy your body, but you do that and get back. I go to Greece and back. I'm back in Greece in like, two, three weeks. I land on a Sunday night, I'm back here Wednesday morning. I do all my meetings in a day and a half, I'm back. China and back in two days. So, I do that because you maximize. When you're there, every minute, I'm maximizing the meetings with the employees, the clients, factories, partners. So, you're doing it better. Now, if I was single and I didn't have kids, that three day trip could be a 10 day trip. But you just try to maximize it. Yeah. And it works for now.

Tony Kariotis: Amazing. What do you enjoy most about all this that you do?

George Stroumboulis: The interactions, hands down. It's the interactions. Like chatting with you right now, like, I learned a few things, right? You meet down and talking to a barista at a Starbucks in Spain, you just... It's that interaction. Everyone's got a set of headaches and shit that they're dealing with on a daily basis, right? And then you are trying to work your angle and whatever it is you're doing. Trying to sell lighting, trying to sell burgers, trying to do whatever. I love that interaction with people and just trying to see can we make something work together? And if it doesn't work, hey, can I learn something from you? And if nothing else, like just meeting or hearing the story. I love those interactions. And the toughest part is doing this in markets around the world, right? Because we're not just within the United States, we're doing all this interaction culturally with employees and everything in different markets. So, you have different mindsets. The Greek mindset in Greece is different than the American mindset in America, different than the Argentinian mindset in Argentina, the Chinese and so on. So, there's a lot of nuances, a lot of butting heads, you know, understanding how to communicate. I love that. Right? The world is small and we're just able to access it all.

Tony Kariotis: That's amazing. So, you fill up all your schedule, you do this, you're running Ideoli, you're around the world all the day. You're balancing a family, but there's also some other things you're doing. I know you started a podcast recently, so talk to me about that a bit.

George Stroumboulis: Yeah, so basically, what I was just saying before is the podcast, there's no time for it, right? But I have a great marketing team and it's literally having conversations with the Tony's of the world. It's like, what are you doing? And when you're out here next, I want you sitting in this chair to hear what's driving you, why are you doing what you're doing? I love those stories, right? And you could chat for 30 minutes, an hour, 2, 3, 5 pieces of information will resonate with me personally, because I always like to learn about something. And I think with the listeners as well, and starting to hear positive feedback, it doesn't matter with the guy who's selling, you know, smokes at the [Greek term] or the guy who's selling lighting to Tesla. Everyone has a story and the hustle's the same, right? The hustle is the same. So, we launched it, it's fun, right? And we're just getting it out there.

Tony Kariotis: That's amazing, man. Very inspiring. So, I want to talk a little about Greece, angry culture, growing up as a Greek. But before we shift there, there's one more venture that I noticed about home hunting in Greece.

George Stroumboulis: Yes.

Tony Kariotis: Can you talk to me about a little bit about it?

George Stroumboulis: So basically, what you're doing right now, right? What you're going through right now, yours is on the positive side. Like, you are marketing Greece, you are embodying Greece, the brand. You as Tony and your brand, it's remarkable, right? The amount of followers you have across all platforms, everything, it's so impressive. And it's not your cheesy Greek advertising. Like, when I look at your stuff, you're like, wow, man. Like it's clean. You know, the video's, everything. You know, you're passionate about that, right? Like, what's driving you to do that? I guess I want to ask you first, what's driving you to do that before... and we'll get into the Hellenic home hunting, because I think it's the same nuance.

Tony Kariotis: I guess it's a mix of passion, expression, expressing myself, expressing my creativity. And I guess it's the pride of showing what we have back home.

George Stroumboulis: Yep.

Tony Kariotis: And I just always have grown up in the creative world and just putting stuff out there and always, there's one quote that I don't know who said it, but I know everyone has referred to it at one point or not. I think Kobe Bryant has even mentioned this a million times, is, well, no matter what you do, just try to be the best you can be at it.

George Stroumboulis: A hundred percent. Are you chasing those initiatives with the dollar first in mind?

Tony Kariotis: No, no. It's more of I truly love it. Yeah, it'd be nice to turn this into this company that can support everything, but I don't think that is the first thing in line. No.

George Stroumboulis: But it will come, right? Because you're chasing the passion and that...

Tony Kariotis: Right. And I think that's something that will come by everything else that I do. The seeds that I'll plant, the effort and that will come as-- well, that will follow.

George Stroumboulis: 100%. And a segue into, so over a decade ago, actually a decade coming up, I launched a TV show called Hellenic Home Hunting. Right? And it was something that I self-funded. I was working for a company at the time, and I took 10 day vacation. And during those 10 days, I produced, went to all the locations, we did seven locations cross Greece. And in 10 days with like, lifelong friends now, we traveled to like, Mytilini, Crete, Athens, Stupa, all these locations.

Tony Kariotis: Yeah.

George Stroumboulis: And we were filming international couples, families coming to Greece to buy property. Basically like, House Hunters International. So, I did that, didn't have a network at the time on where we were going to film this, air it. And that's when someone from the Canadian embassy, who's now a lifelong friend, helped me and we walked it into antenna. They picked it up and I had zero mindset of making this profitable. Right? Like, I was funding everything. It got on air and then the big thing for us at the time, 10 years ago, someone from the Wall Street Journal saw a little write-up somewhere and they ended up coming and interviewing. And I remember when I got back, I'm at Grand Central Station, taking the train, which anyone who's never been there, it's like 'the' train station in the world, right? Like, it's magical. And the morning of, I had to take a train to Greenwich, Connecticut, and that was the day that it appeared on the front page of the Wall Street Journal. It was like, the full spread on this show that I was doing, and they had my face on it. They had the write up with, you know, the family. And it was just the surreal moment sitting in Grand Central looking up and you're like, fuck, man, the Wall Street Journal covered this, positive. I was excited. I'm like, oh my God, this is amazing. Greek media saw this, and then from that point forward, I was on morning talk shows, I was in newspapers and I was like, the villain of Greece for 15 seconds on this Greek American businessman is taking advantage of us Greeks, trying to bastardize and sell our property. It was like, negative media. And at the time, I'm in my late twenties, right? Barely 30, and I'm in a studio apartment in Manhattan. All this stuff's coming at me. Cousins are calling me like, [Greek term] like, what did you do, all this stuff? And I didn't know how to defend myself. I had no platform. And it was just this amazing experience. Looking back 10 years ago, I'm like, wow, man, that was such a cool chapter and I did the right thing at the time. And it was something for tourism. I was attracting, during a very poor economic time, attracting attention and tourism and investment to Greece. Right? And they deemed it as you're taking advantage and whatever. So lesson 101, that was like, the best media training in life at the time.

Tony Kariotis: Amazing. That's awesome. So, what was it like growing up a Greek Canadian in Toronto?

George Stroumboulis: Amazing. Like, just basically, I would imagine the same way as a Greek American in Boston or New York for the main events. Like, I remember going to [Greek term] Come Perform in Toronto. My parents took me there. We met them and the concerts and then the church and the dancing. It's magical, man. Like, Greeks outside of Greece try so hard to hold onto that. And I love that they group in the church, the culture and everything. And we're all first generations. So here, when I was living in New York city, you would see like, third, fourth, fifth generation Greeks, where in Canada, me and my crew, we were all our parents were straight off the boat from Greece. Right? So, it was still tight and you know, it was just a magical upbringing.

Tony Kariotis: Yeah. It's the same with us. I mean, I'm first generation and we grew up around the Greek community, the Greek Church, and the church puts on all these events and it just kept us together three, four times a week with, between everything that we do. And this kind of leads to my next question is, what is the difference between Greeks of the Diaspora and the Greek of Greece? Because we always hear it's the Greeks in Diaspora that hang onto the culture so much as opposed to the Greeks and Greece. So, I'll let you answer what is the difference in your opinion?

George Stroumboulis: Yeah, great question. So, you know who Andrew Tate is, right?

Tony Kariotis: Yeah.

George Stroumboulis: Okay. Nothing to do with Greek culture. But this morning I saw on social media, they were marching for Andrew Tate in the streets of [Greek term].

Tony Kariotis: I saw that.

George Stroumboulis: The Greek youth, 18 year olds were marching for Andrew Tate because for the listeners, Andrew Tate's social media personality, got arrested, whatever. Who cares? But it kind of blew my mind. I'm like, huh, I wonder if these same kids are marching for [Greek term], you know, that pride. I wasn't trying to be negative, but I was like, wow, we're really marching for this guy. So, from the cultural aspect, outside, we obviously hold on. You always try to be something you're not. When I'm in the States and I meet someone, I'm like, oh, I'm Canadian. When I'm in Canada, oh, I'm Greek. When I'm in Greece. Oh, I'm American. You always try to be something what you're not. And, you know, I'm not saying that's good but I know for the Greek culture, we do try to hold on. And a little negative is I also feel like the Greeks in Diaspora also have this elitist mentality a lot of the times as well that because we're there, we think we're better as well. Right? I'm probably going to get a lot of hate messages...

Tony Kariotis: It's all good. It's all good. But I think you might be on something.

George Stroumboulis: Right? Like, we think like, oh, you must do whatever. We go there, we show off this and that. It's like, you know, just be humble...

Tony Kariotis: When September comes around, we're out there. Yeah, you guys enjoy the winter.

George Stroumboulis: Yeah. You're a hundred percent right. So, look, it's beautiful, I love it. I'm trying it. It's harder with the next generation. I have three daughters. Seven, four, and one. And my wife, she's half Greek. It just gets harder with each generation to keep the Greek, right? Because the language, the ‘this,’ the ‘that.’

Tony Kariotis: Hundred percent.

George Stroumboulis: Yeah. And the grandparents get older, they start dying off and they're the glue to all this. So, it's hard, but up for the challenge. Right? If you're really proud, you got to keep it going.

Tony Kariotis: For sure. Well said. Where in Greece do you call home?

George Stroumboulis: Your place, Baby. Kalamata

Tony Kariotis: There you go. I needed to hear it.

George Stroumboulis: Yeah.

Tony Kariotis: [crosstalk] on the record for the podcast.

George Stroumboulis: Exactly. And Evia, my dad, yeah. Beautiful places.

Tony Kariotis: Yeah, for sure. I went to-- I've only been to Evia once and we continued that trip up to [Greek term]. Have you ever been there?

George Stroumboulis: I've never been there. Is that past [Greek term]?

Tony Kariotis: Basically, all the way on the Northwestern tip of Evia, there's like these islands that are shaped like The Bahamas almost. And it's just tiny little islands. They're uninhabited, but like, on one, there's this guy that's got a stand that cooks, makes [Greek term] and makes like [Greek term]. And it's just [Greek term] with like, [Greek term] you know, salads are unreal. You can't stay overnight unless you camp.

George Stroumboulis: Geez.

Tony Kariotis: And then they have a boat that like, takes you around all the tiny little rocks. And it was a really cool experience.

George Stroumboulis: Only you would discover that. You've probably been that guy's only customer. He's only sold one...

Tony Kariotis: No, the place is packed. The place is packed. It was packed. I give you that much.

George Stroumboulis: That's amazing.

Tony Kariotis: But I do like digging out those places no one ever hears about. And then I thought I was digging out one that no one ever heard about. And I think as a tourist, no one knows about it. But I didn't realize that there's a big diaspora in [Greek term] until this year.

George Stroumboulis: Oh, really?

Tony Kariotis: Yeah. Huge. I went there and I was getting messaged, 'that's my grandfather's island', 'that's my dad's island'. I'm like, no way. This is getting reactions like, I'm in [Greek term] or in [Greek term] roads or [Greek term]. Like, I didn't know there was this too many people from originally here.

George Stroumboulis: Right.

Tony Kariotis: And I went there because a few years ago, someone told me that Greece-- a friend of mine was told the story that someone told on that Greece has a little bit of everything from the planet. And he said, well, no, we don't have a desert. And he goes, there is a desert. Go to [Greek term] so you can find a desert. So I'm like, I got to go see this desert. It exists.

George Stroumboulis: That's crazy. That's crazy.

Tony Kariotis: It exists. It's not massive, but there's like, these sand dunes.

George Stroumboulis: I got to check that. I know you will find that. That's for sure.

Tony Kariotis: I had to check it out. So, aside from business trips back to Greece, how often do you get back for vacation?

George Stroumboulis: Vacation is once a year, for sure. And then with business trips, I'm there six to eight times a year. It's crazy now. Yeah.

Tony Kariotis: Yeah. All right. So, I'm going to ask you now to pick, these are some tourism questions. Three islands. Three of your favorite islands.

George Stroumboulis: So first has to be Evia. I'm from there. My father's from there.

Tony Kariotis: Then I'll let you say four.

George Stroumboulis: Okay, four. So, my favorite island...

Tony Kariotis: Get the home one out of the way.

George Stroumboulis: Home one out of the way. Okay. Second one for me is probably Cape Kedah, Corfu. Just because it was a chapter in my life when, you know, you're learning. And that island, I lived there for a year and I loved it so much because it appealed to royalty. Like, literally royalty was born on that island, and then right down to like, the trashy British tourist urinating, you know, in a coffee cup. Right? Like, it was two extremes. And if you wanted to party with them, you could do this. So, I really loved that island. And then from the other islands, everyone has a memory for me. Right? So, it's not like I would want to go back, but I really enjoyed Moni. Have you ever been there?

Tony Kariotis: No.

George Stroumboulis: Okay. First time we went there, this summer, we did a little-- it's one hour from the coast of the father. Right? And Maniatas Cruz, shout out to our good friends, Maria and Billy. Okay? They're amazing. They took us there and we took the Ideoli office. I'm like, just keep us close, [Greek term], and we go an hour, it's uninhabited. It's got peacocks and wild animals running wild and the waters are like Bahamas. [Greek term] like, it was amazing. Moni.

Tony Kariotis: Wow.

George Stroumboulis: Yeah. M-O-N-I.

Tony Kariotis: Writing it down.

George Stroumboulis: And it's a close one. Yeah. So, shout out to them. Maybe I just ruined it. If your listeners will start going there, it's not going to be as...

Tony Kariotis: Everyone keeps telling me, don't tell people about the places you discovered. Keep them private. Keep them private. I need my audience.

George Stroumboulis: No, exactly. Exactly.

Tony Kariotis: I need the views.

George Stroumboulis: Yeah. So, I would go Evia, Cape Kedah, Corfu and Moni is an awesome-- It was cool.

Tony Kariotis: All right. So, three on the mainland, aside from Kalamata.

George Stroumboulis: Yes, exactly. Oh, three on the mainland, aside from Kalamata. I fall in love with Athens every visit I go back.

Tony Kariotis: Same here.

George Stroumboulis: Right? Literally, every visit, I'm like, wow, this is Athens to the world is, 'ah, it's dirty, it's graffiti'. Only spend two days there. I hate when people say, 'oh, just two days in Athens', go to the Acropolis and then go to the island. It's like, no man, Athens is amazing. It's world class. It's still very cheap compared to the rest of Europe. Right? And, you know, if you're going to invest there, invest now before they start building all these resorts going on, because property is just skyrocketing. So Athens, I love [Greek term]. I know it's broad, but I fall in love with that even more. We went there with my family during Covid when nobody was traveling. Right? In 2020. And we said, you know what? Instead of getting in and out of planes and boats, let's just get a car, and I was driving my kids around. So with, you know, Stupa and then going to the other side, [Greek term] in general is absolutely incredible. And then the third one, you know what? I'll give a shout out to Baraga. You know, I was really impressed with Baraga. I have no family connection there, but you feel like you're on an island, but it's on the mainland and it's beautiful.

Tony Kariotis: Nice picks. There you go.

George Stroumboulis: There you go.

Tony Kariotis: Give me three favorite Greek dishes.

George Stroumboulis: Okay. So, anything my mom cooks is magical, but let's just say I love my [Greek term]. Like, give me [Greek term] with the [Greek term], I love that. You know what? You got to go with a [Greek term]. I know it's standard. Drunk, sober, it's always good.

Tony Kariotis: Yeah. It's always good.

George Stroumboulis: It's always good. And then, you know, I'm a big [Greek term] type of guy as well.

Tony Kariotis: Oh man, you just made me really hungry.

George Stroumboulis: Yeah. And [Greek term] is like, the ultimate, can't go wrong with like a [Greek term].

Tony Kariotis: All right. And three desserts.

George Stroumboulis: Not a big dessert guy. But I tell you, the [Greek term], I've fallen in love with the last few years. Like, it's so good. I love [Greek term]. And then, you know, [Greek term] is that-- [Greek term] Love them. Love them.

Tony Kariotis: Awesome. All right, a few wrap up questions and we'll put a wrap on this episode. What advice would you give someone who believes an entrepreneur and really wants to just get started?

George Stroumboulis: Yeah. How do I say this? Like, just first shut the F up, right? I see a lot of kids today thinking they're influencers and they're trying to exude fake confidence, right? Socially, and that I know this and I'm a boss man and this, and you know, you're a teenager or you're early twenties and you haven't done anything. Like, just be quiet, grasp on and learn. Like, it's not about the money, right? Like, find that free internship, listen. Like, follow. Hey, reach out to Tony and say, Tony, can I come to you to an island, and can I charge the batteries on your cameras and just shadow? If that's what someone wants to do. Hey, can I come in? We're losing that, people just being humble to learn because everyone wants to be a boss. So, my advice, and I always say this to my kids, like, listen more, talk less, because you're going to learn. Right? And that's my biggest-- drives me nuts when I see kids thinking they're a boss from the day one.

Tony Kariotis: Well said. What is your definition of success?

George Stroumboulis: So, post kids, this has changed, right? So, with kids now, it's you know, being able to financially support a lifestyle that allows me to have more time with the people that I love. Like, to me, that's success. Like, just spending that time and experiences through them and not stressing financially on the day-to-day. And that's a daily grind, right? Trying to get that.

Tony Kariotis: All right. And who or what inspires your work ethic?

George Stroumboulis: Yeah. Parents, a hundred percent. Parents. Like, just seeing that, just closing comment on that like, I helped solve my parents' restaurant during Covid after 40 years of having the same restaurant, other businesses, but this was their main one. And my father into his seventies was still working all day, six days a week. Mother. And just seeing that, and you're like, man, if you grew up around that, there's no excuse to be lazy or to be tired, right? So, that's just ingrained for life.

Tony Kariotis: And what comes after Ideoli in lighting,

George Stroumboulis: Ideoli... Like, you know what? I want to do this as long as I'm alive and healthy in this arena. I love it. Let's post that, you know, to build enough financial freedom to start giving back more and being involved and being able to do that. But what I'm doing right now, there's no end game on trying to exit, trying to sell it. I want to do this as long as I'm mentally and physically able to, for sure.

Tony Kariotis: Love that. All right, one last question. It's what I ask everybody before the show ends. And it is, what does being Greek mean to you?

George Stroumboulis: Man, that's such a hard one. It's such a loaded one. Yeah, the pride. You know, I don't even want to throw cliché type words, but it's just everything we talked about the last hour bundled up into that, right? Like, we have that fight, we have that drive. You know, we have that history of being shit on, persevering, coming up with great stuff. Like, I'm proud of, you know, seeing where Greece is today after where it's gone through just in our lifetime, the last 10 years, 20 years. So, just being Greek is something that's important culturally. Yeah, it's a tough question.

Tony Kariotis: Okay. All right. Thank you. Where can we find you? Where can we learn more about Ideoli? What can we learn more about George?

George Stroumboulis: Yeah, just George Stroumboulis @GeorgeStroumboulisIdeoli.com. And that's it, man. I'm so honored to be a part of this, and I appreciate it, Tony. Keep rocking what you're doing too, brother.

Tony Kariotis: Thank you for coming on. It's been a really fun chat, and thank you guys for listening to Greece Chats. Once again, this was George Stroumboulis, and we'll put all his links and all that good stuff in the show notes of this episode. Thank you, George.

George Stroumboulis: Thank you, brother. Take care.

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