Leonidas holds an MA in International Relations and is currently pursuing an MA in Strategic Communication and Public Relations. At PR ON THE GO, he brings his experience in global newsrooms and brand marketing at 3M to the local business focus.
On the occasion of International Women's Day, I'm especially honored to have Natasha Chondraki in the interview. Natasha is a successful businesswoman who founded the Synchrono Language Center in Piraeus, Greece in 1985. Since 1985, more than 10,000 adults, children and professionals from all walks of life have attended the school.
In the course of Natasa's career, her family business has been honored in terms of exclusive cooperation with organizations abroad such as CNN International, Dynamic English Education, Ladder International, etc. From 1995 to 2008 they represented the BBC New English Course in Greece. They have been involved in the creation of several projects for foreign students in Greece, in collaboration with European universities, among other successful news.
"We work creatively from dawn to dusk, 12 months a year, inspired by our students, because for us, personalized teaching is the secret of our students' success, both in the exams and in the practical use of the language, as well as in their everyday life of work and social contacts."
It’s true that I started working in my school years and by 18 I had realized that I am more creative and productive if left alone! So, when I finished my Business Studies in the UK, I was ready to implement theory into practice i.e. own a business. So I set up my school of foreign languages with the support and encouragement of my husband who has been ever since working on my side taking care of the business accounts while I was in charge of the language teaching programs and their promotion in the city.
To tell you the truth my field i.e. English and in general foreign language teaching Schools provide a friendly welcome to women who are keen on doing business. Factors like the high costs of setting up and running a business, the unstable economic environment as well as lack of any national policy to encourage the setting up of businesses are the real obstacles.
The lessons learnt in a period of almost 40 years of running our business were always very hard like the pandemic that forced us to engage in online lessons, which despite its difficult implementation seems to have opened new opportunities in new markets.
Oh, yes! We’re quite happy to have invested in online learning and to have already setup our platform since 2008 which made it possible for us to overcome the pandemic crisis while maintaining our clientele.
Our commitment to continuously review our teaching methods led to the making of our innovative learning method named Fastschool for adults which differentiated us from the competition.
The list of tactics is endless, but I’ll refer to social media advertising and to mail marketing for this era.
No, I haven’t although there were cases which could be interpreted as being as such. Besides, I never expected any favourable treatment, nor did I allow my gender to have any exceptional impact on my career. After all, having a family determines some specific disciplinary patterns which I have often applied in working. These were more or less effective. One who is committed to working in one’s own business should be ready to compromise as well as to rebel against conventions with all that it ..takes!
In my case, I definitely tried very hard to cope with these roles, sometimes successfully…while some other times…unsuccessfully…. Yet, I’d always encourage women to take up business roles as I find their participation in business ventures has been pretty successful and rewarding.
Women can perform many roles and have learnt that these roles are not necessarily conflicting with one another as men have also learnt how to cooperate and realized that women are their partners and collaborators. I’d advise women to go ahead and demand help from the state which has been very insensitive and unresponsive to women’s family needs.
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