A lifetime filled with love, value and culture
In 1933, my father was born in Argos, Greece. He was raised during an era of turmoil, economic depression and infrastructure collapse or otherwise known as the Nazi invasion of World War II. He and his four siblings were bonded together at an early age with a passion to improve their family’s life. With very little education, he understood that he would never be able to get opportunities unless he created them himself. This is where I believe his entrepreneurial spirit emerged that he has carried throughout his life. He worked countless hours as a cheese maker, tailor and opened up the first dry cleaners in Argos and it was named Delux.
In search for a better future, my father and his siblings stayed in Greece as his parents immigrated to the United States in 1960 while settling in Chicago. Soon after they left, my father began hearing the tales of life in the U.S. and the opportunities. So, in 1963, he and his brothers packed up to join his parents, but their intent was to try something a little different….California.
With his entrepreneurial spirit and some tailoring skills, my father joined his brothers to open a Hair Salon on Ventura Blvd in Studio City. Within a very short timeframe, their hard work and perseverance paid off as their client list began to include Hollywood celebrities. It seems that their Greek accents paid off as Californians took them as high-end European stylists.
In 1947 my beautiful mother was born in Sparti Greece to an artistic family as the youngest of five children. Her father was one of the few skilled artists and painters in Sparti and was loved by his horio while her brothers and sisters were musicians and hairstylists.
Growing up as the youngest in the family sure had its benefits. My yiayia would make all the kids take care of my mom so it was almost as if she had 3 sets of parents. Her older sister Georgia opened one of the only female owned hair salons in Sparti and my mom was a regular fixture there. For my mom living in Sparti was paradise, this cosmopolitan city had palm tree lined streets with flowers, vibrant energy and because most people knew her family she always had many familiar faces wherever she would go.
Her parents decided to immigrate to the U.S. in 1958 with her eldest sister and they left my mom behind with the other kids. In 1960, at the age of 13 my mother and her brother left Greece to reconnect with their parents in Chicago.
Chicago was a complete 180-degree change from the life she had known in Sparti. All the simplistic things in life she enjoyed growing up were gone; Chicago was a bold city. Because of her accent the local girls in the neighborhood always picked on her, but instead of fighting back, my mother focused on learning the English language at school and household chores as her parents worked days and nights. By this time, her brothers were up and coming hairstylists living in Chicago and they had decided to use her as a hair model at a convention. This sparked the attention of many which launched a modeling career for my mother; which was the ultimate pay back to the neighborhood girls.
In 1966, my father came to Chicago to visit his parents and during that visit attended a St. Andrews of Chicago Dinner Dance where he met my mother and immediately fell for her. But there was one big problem; her brothers were not keen on the idea of a Californian swooping up there little sister. So as part of the agreement to marry their sister, my father would have to relocate and live in Chicago, which he gladly did.
My parents are complete opposites of each other. My father is a strong entrepreneur with passion to succeed that includes hard work, persistence & determination, while my mother is a gentle angel that will do everything within her power for others while never asking for anything in return. She is a Spartan in every way; instilling the importance of family, values and a proper education.
I have been blessed to have both of their distinctively different traits and I thank them for giving me a life filled with love, value and culture and for all the sacrifices they had to make in life.
On behalf of my sister Anastasia, my brother Demetrie and myself, Thank You, Thank You, Thank You. We love you!
