Elena - From Canada To Greece Building The Biggest Expat Community In The Country

Elena grew up in Toronto, Canada. She studied Art History & Classics at the University of Toronto and had a career in luxury sales and customer service until she took a leap of faith and moved to Greece to pursue a new life and her entrepreneurial dreams.

5 Things To Know About Elena

I grew up in a small family business - metal manufacturing factory - where I had to do just about everything from make morning coffee to answer sales calls to fill boxes and load trucks! Always having some involvement in the family business, in parallel I began working retail and this is where I learned the art of sales and customer service.

To be honest, I didn't really want to go to university, but my (wise) mother made me go and so I chose to study something that I loved. Something that I couldn't stop reading about, something I could spend hours on end learning more and more and more, something I was inspired by.

I knew that I had to be true to me and listen to exactly what I wanted; listen to my intuition and trust myself. I never really made a switch in careers as I loved what I was doing. I did however dream of creating my own company and moving to Greece. It took me about two years to make the country move possible and another few years to get adjusted to my new way of life in Greece and to finally make my entrepreneurial dream a reality.

There were many moments where I envisioned living in Greece and really thought about it as if it was already real, but there was a very distinct moment that I'll always remember when I made the decision. I was on a hill in Siena, Italy and I thought “This is what I want to see and live everyday of my life. I want to be surrounded by natural beauty and surrounded by everything that makes me feel alive every day.”

With a seed that was planted in my brain, that grew into a vision, that got translated into words on paper, that became a plan, that became a reality, that became work in progress, that became a business. It has taken a lot (really a lot) of strength, perseverance and determination and ultimately trusting myself to believe it is possible and that I can do it. It took me a good few years to make my vision a reality. Coming from an entrepreneurial family I have inherited that state of mind and my entrepreneurial endeavors have changed along the way as I evolved.

I currently run 2 businesses (and a busy household!) in the country I dreamed of living in, Greece.

I am working on growing and developing these businesses, which are both part of a bigger dream of mine.

Read Elena's full inspiring story on Guts & Tales.