The Hellenic Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (HACCI) committee hosted a luncheon to celebrate the achievements of Melbourne’s influential and successful Greek Australian women in business at The Press Club on Tuesday 21 June.
The successful business women that attended the lunch were: Helen Kontouris, designer; Maria Ganis, Enosis International; Varvara Ioannou, Food for Thought Network; and Katerina Nellis, The Invitation Gallery. All these women discussed their inspirational stories of adversity and hardships to get to where they are today.
Designer Helen Kontouris talked candidly about her three failed attempts at business before she realised her passion was in design. While working in interior design, Kontouris began to notice her attention to detail was in the product. Fast forward ten years and she has a successful business, won Designer of the Year in 2009, won Best Product for the ADEX Platinum Award, and designs for clients such as Alessi, De Padova, Schiavello and Palamont.
Katerina Nellis said her “life has been one big wedding”. Marrying her photographer husband three months after meeting him, she said they immediately got into the wedding business. Varvara Ioannou talked about her highly successful Food for Thought network and her work as a strategic diversity specialist while Maria Ganis, coaching and consulting expert said women need to be empowered and mentored by in their role.
A success story that came to light was the one of Jyana Tioulis, relationship manager, Bank of Cyprus. When Tioulis first started at the bank as a graduate, managing director George Tacticos immediately saw the potential. He watched her rise to every challenge, jump every hurdle and take it on with the grace and maturity only a young woman can exude. Tacticos showed just what can be achieved when you empower a woman with trust, belief and give her the self-confidence to do great things. Bank of Cyprus have a managerial team that is 50 per cent women and 50 per cent men. Tacticos agreed that the contribution women make to upper management is invaluable.
Also in attendance were Athos Christou, Beirut Hellenic Bank, and from HACCI, president Nick Mylonas and director of operations, Roula Tsiolas. Another shining example of what women can achieve is Roula Tsiolas. She has been nominated for the 2011 Telstra Business Women’s Awards. Apart from the tireless work she does for HACCI and for the Greek community, Tsiolas is the CEO and managing director of the Australian Industrial Systems Institute.
HACCI discussed in great detail their internship program with business and students of Greek Australian background. They are hoping that these internships will inspire and create more influential and successful Greek Australian business women that we can celebrate in years to come. For more information on the HACCI internship program email hips@hacci.com.au