YOUR Life Voice Choice
‘How do you do it?’
‘How did you not only survive your near death experience in 2015, but keep rising from each challenge stronger and more resilient than before, just like a phoenix rising from the ashes?’
‘How did you become a social media influencer and use your social skills to break into the TV industry so easily?’
‘How did you form so many connections with people of influence and create so many opportunities for yourself?’
These are the main questions I often get asked.
To answer these questions, you must first learn about my story. The story of how I overcame life’s challenges and through a transformation of mindset, created opportunities that lead to me embarking on a journey of self-discovery.
Before we get into it, I first want you to get to know me as a person.
A Grateful Heart
First and foremost, I am grateful for my life. This is a gift I do not take for granted.
I am a wife & mother. I laugh a lot, am quirky, love the beach, love having fun, love reading and love people. I truly do. People intrigue me, because everyone has a story to share that can inspire others.
I also love to write. It’s a passion of mine. I write from the heart.
On this page I will share an overview of my story.
Shy Girl to Mic Girl
Ok, so here’s my story.
My parents migrated to Sydney Australia from Greece and the Greek culture and traditions were a big part of our lives. As a young girl, I was shy, insecure, had bad grades in school, and was not expected to amount to anything.
Based on my surroundings in the Greek culture, I was conditioned to believe that it was not typical for women to pursue a career, especially not mothers. I saw the role of a woman to be one that has children and dutifully becomes a housewife.
My childhood was quite challenging, and this escalated when at the age of 16, when I was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease. As you can imagine, this had a significant impact on my feelings of self-worth.
I married at the young age of 21 and by my early 30’s, had 3 children. I enjoyed married life because I was able to slowly come out of my shell. Life was quite monotonous though. I could feel my soul yearning for more out of life.
A series of events occurred when in 2006 and 2008, where I attending Tony Robbins’s 4 day event called Unleash The Power Within (UPW). These events ignited an inner spark within me and were the catalyst for transforming my life. These events changed my life. Prior to the 2008 event I wrote out goals I wanted to achieve from the event.
Overcoming my fear of public speaking was number one on the list. Long story short, Tony picked me the majority of the time to answer his questions, so by the end of the 4 days, I most certainly overcame that fear and was ironically nicknamed, ‘mic girl’ by the attendees of the event, Not realising how poignant that name was at the time, but I walked out a different person.
For the first time in my life, I realised that women do in fact have the potential to pursue something significant and make a difference on a global scale, if they chose to. I then began putting all of my efforts into learning more about human potential, more specifically, my potential.
The only problem was that even though I was now married with children and I appeared to be confident, deep down I was still a shy young woman, with many limiting beliefs.
Igniting The Spark
In 2009, after learning about different ways to earn money at UPW the year prior, I decided to purse Internet marketing. This interested me because I saw it as an opportunity where I could potentially earn money online and not have to exchange my time for money.
This was considerably ideal for me, as my youngest was only 1yr old at this time.
I began learning as much as I could. I attended live seminars, took online courses and read as many books as possible. During this time I learned about Twitter, and was able to build generous following.
This led to an opportunity of me being a contributing author to the book ‘The Relationship Age: The World’s Leading Experts Teach You Proven Strategies for Creating Profitable Relationships in the World of Social Media‘ – a publication which became a #1 Best Seller in the US and earned me the great honour of being inducted into the ‘National Academy of Best Selling Authors’ in NYC in December 2010.
It was after this point that business owners started contacting me asking me to help them grow their social presence. At first, having clients and teaching them how to use social media excited me. Though it wasn’t long before the excitement disappeared and was replaced with depression.
While on the outside it appeared that I’d found my niche and was extremely happy, my internal light had dimmed. I felt unfulfilled. In search of inspiration I recreated my vision board, only to realise after its completion, that 95% of the images on there related to TV and media.
This raised questions within me about direction. I was more and more being drawn to media, but had no idea how I could possibly make inroads into such an industry –by this stage I was in my late 30s with no experience or recognition.
Behind the Scenes to Centre Stage
To my surprise, I got into the industry quite easily. I used my social media expertise to connect and develop relationships with people in authority, and before I knew it, I was booked for multiple things, including TV commercials, TV show appearances, and was featured in multiple magazines and newspapers.
Shortly after, in 2014 I entered a Vodafone competition, and ended up winning, being selected as the VIP Social Reporter for The Voice AU, representing singer Will.i.am and TeamWill.
I was met with an abundance of opportunities after this.
As an abundance of incredible opportunities were represented to me up until 2014, I was was ready for 2015 to be my year, the year that would change my life forever.
Well it definitely was the year that changed my life forever, though not for the reasons I had anticipated.
Even though I felt quite proud of what I had achieved so far, I felt exhausted. Juggling being a wife, a mother, helping with homework, after school activities, housework etc, all while having to manage flare ups due to my Crohn’s disease. Having to manage all these all while trying to purse a career as well.
Stripped Physically & Mentally
In March 2015, a medical mishap found me fighting for my life in intensive care. Even though I required immediate life saving surgery, it wasn’t possible because I was too weak and wouldn’t have made it alive out of surgery. Having had lost 15kg (33.06 pounds) and gone down to 39kg (85.9 pounds), I was literally skin on bones. Many of my organs had already started shutting down as well.
Doctors had no choice but to give me a multitude of mediations and nutrition intravenously, to strengthen me enough to undergo surgery I needed.
While laying on my deathbed, I was forced to have a good look at my life. I was filled with an abundance of regret about the things I never got to do. I wasn’t ready to go, I had too much to still do on this planet.
As I starred into the heavens, I started praying as hard as I could. It was at this point that an inner strength came over me. I was determined to live. I was determined to pull through stronger and better than before.
In one last bid for life, I called out to God saying, “Please God, gift me the gift of life and I promise to never take it for granted again. I promise to pursue all my desires, no matter how hard it gets, and no matter the outcome.”
Well, as you can clearly see, I was given the gift of life and this time, I was going to use my time on this earth wisely. I had 2 major surgeries and multiple smaller ones in order to save my life.
I then began learning all about health, nutrition and mindset, as all these events had stripped me physically and mentally. Going from someone only a few months ago being very confident, to having zero confidence or self esteem. I felt depleted and defeated. I knew that if I wanted to heal myself and transform my mindset and life, I couldn’t do it by myself, I needed to seek professional help. That is exactly what I did.
It wasn’t before long that amazing opportunities started coming my way.
Red Crayons to Red Carpets
I learnt how to reprogram my mind and rebuilt my body, all while sharing my journey online. This astounded people, as I started attracting bigger and better opportunities into my life.
From engaging with people on social media to being a social media influencer and regular on TV and on the red carpet, life has certainly taken an interesting turn. I host and interview celebrities on the red carpet at the AACTA Awards (Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards) in Sydney, and do a considerable amount of red carpet work and presenting.
As an energetic mother of 3, transitioning seamlessly from red crayons to red carpets, from behind the scenes to centre stage, infusing and influencing all around me with my inspirational, yet practical attitude and approach.
Defying industry preconceptions of ‘women over 40’, with a strong inner push I’m pursuing my journey of self-discovery and identifying avenues where my true passions lay. Projects which will signal my next move to emerge from behind-the-scenes to taking centre stage.
Right now, I’m just focusing on having fun and doing what I love, which is TV; hosting & producing, and social media. Being an example to others, showing that you can in fact manifest your grand desires, no matter your age, race, marital status etc Inspiring and motivating others to embrace life, including all its challenges.
Always rising like a phoenix, becoming resilient, courageous and more powerful.
As so many people want to know how I achieved it all, I teach this through my programs, coaching, books and social media.
The Journey Begins…
With still so many avenues yet to pursue, I strive to always be true to my authentic self along my journey. This is something I had always struggled to embrace in the past, as I felt as though I never quite fit in. My dreams and goals were so grand, that others saw them as unrealistic and simply unattainable.
One major lesson I have learnt is that in order to succeed, you must stand out and you must be different. Own your uniqueness, step into your true power and shine.
As the saying goes, ‘Overnight success, ten years in the making.’ Success is never overnight. It involved years and years of failure and consistent effort. So long as you never give up, you will succeed, don’t focus on the length of time. Everything happens for a reason and all in divine timing.
You were born an original, with gifts to share with the world. Don’t die a replica.
I invite you to be part of my journey on a quest towards fulfilment.
Follow me on all social platforms and share your journey with me.
Let the journey begin…
With love and gratitude,
