Efstathia Hantzara

My name is Efstathia Hantzara and I am glad to be afforded this opportunity to introduce myself. I was born and raised in Messinia, where I also went to school.

Throughout my school years, both during Christmas and Easter holidays and on summer holidays, I remember getting up early every Monday and Thursday to go to the factory. The business ran on a regular 8-hour working day and dad made no exceptions. He said it was important for us to learn how to earn a living. The truth is, now that years have passed since then, I thank him for all that.

Along the way, I first studied at the University of the Aegean’s Business Administration Department, which is located in the beautiful island Chios. I continued my postgraduate studies at the Department of International and European Economic Studies at the Athens University of Economics and Business, focusing on law and economics. I had the opportunity to do my own research for my thesis on logic and emotion in decision making. Emotion, although many times elusive, is always in the foreground, just behind the rational mind.

I have spent my professional career in a multinational company working in the supply chain department and, more specifically, in customer relationship management. I have nevertheless continued to evolve in recent years and headed to the IT sector, joining landmark companies for the Greek market in the crucial pillar of sales. Although everything is going digital, it’s always people behind the screens.

In the family business, I am in charge of sales and marketing. Relations with the outside world is a difficult task to handle and one has to constantly strive to attain them. But if you value honesty, integrity and understanding, success is on your side.

For me, success boils down to maintaining our customer base, as well as to finding opportunities to reach for new clientele.