Connecting Greeks Podcast

We welcome Instagram superstar Yannis Dimoulis to the podcast. Yanni was born and raised in Chicago as a first generation Greek American. He studied Mechanical Engineering and went to grad school for Product Design / Design Research. While his 54thirty profile was started as a novelty t-shirt side hustle, he started making memes as a way to advertise the novelty shirts and eventually the comedy be...

We hung out with the wonderful & talented Arianna Papalexopoulos. A San Francisco native of Greek and Italian descent, Arianna currently resides in West Hollywood, California. Arianna trained at the American Conservatory Theater (ACT) in San Francisco and then made her move to Los Angeles where she graduated from UCLA's School of Theater, Film, and Television. After graduation, she studied...

Welcome Jenny and Eleonora of Grandpa J's Seasoning! Jenny Siormanolakis is long tenured in the food industry, with her family owned and operated one of the “longest running single family owned & operated establishments from 1973-2014. Her first job was standing on milk crates working in the dish pit. Working all through school and college, she always helped the family business. She is alw...

We welcome a titan of media, the incomparable George Veras. A former Chief Operating Officer, Chief of Staff & Executive Producer of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, among many other achievements. Prior to joining the Pro Football Hall of Fame, his production company Veras Commuications Inc produced and managed world-renown musician Yanni. He produced and directed the PBS record breaking televis...

We welcome entrepreneur, investor, consultant, and board member Irina Kapetanakis to the show! Irina possesses a unique skill set having helped Fortune 500 businesses drive top-line sales and revenue growth. She has a keen understanding of not only the sales process but what is needed to create an environment that fosters high growth by optimizing processes to achieve results. As a fan of Simon Si...

Say hello to the awesome Tina Karras! It's amazing how one dream can give birth to another.  Tina moved to Los Angeles with literally one guitar and two suitcases to pursue her dream of being a singer-songwriter.  She paid rent by working in restaurants and eventually music venues.  Little did she know that these day jobs would lead to the creation of Tina's Vodka. Tina grew up work...

We chat with Modern Lusso founder Niko Kokkinos. Born in America but of Greek descent, Niko grew up in Annapolis, MD and frequently travels to Greece to visit friends and family. The Modern Lusso collections combine his love for the Greek summer lifestyle with his personal streetwear style.  “Lusso” is Greek for “luxury.” Thus, Modern Lusso translates directly to “Modern Luxury” - the perfect...

Join us for a great chat with Nick Livanos of the Livanos Restaurant Group. Nick grew up working in the family’s restaurants during the school year and spending his summers in Greece. Coming from a family of talented cooks and a long line of commercial fishermen, it didn’t take long for him to fall in love with food; the concepts of freshness and quality were the foundation of his culinary experti...

What an amazing episode! We got to meet the absolutely awesome guys of KI Legal (not to mention Marathi Restaurant NYC) and took a deep dive into their collective story and how they got to where they are today. Join us as we hang out with Andreas Koutsoudakis & Michael Iakovou! kilegal.com marathinyc.com

We check in with up-and-coming Greek rappers out of Toronto, Dimitris Kardaris and Spiros Stathas. We get to know them and their group from New Wave Productions. Check them out!

What could be better than having a glorious chat about gyro with a beautiful lady who happens to be an expert on gyro? Join us as we get to know Aussie Kelly Roditis aka the Gyros Queen! If you have access to good gyro, grab one and join us! Follow her: https://www.instagram.com/thegyrosqueen/ Download the free app!

We had an absolute blast hanging out with the super funny and talented Peter Kelamis! Born in Sydney, Australia and raised in Vancouver, Canada, Petr is an accomplished actor, voice actor and stand-up comedian. With over 160 credits, he is a well-recognized talent in the industry and has shared the screen with many Hollywood heavy weights. Some of his iconic voice-over work includes: Dragon ball-z...

We had a fantastic time hanging out with the amazing Anthony Skordi! Anthony is a British-American actor, known for his roles as Admiral Garrick Versio in Star Wars Battlefront II, and The Dealer in the Hand of Fate series of games. In addition to his voiceover work in video games, he has narrated audiobooks, and has worked on screen and stage as an actor, producer, and writer. He attended Drama C...

We had the absolute pleasure of hanging out with one of the most amazing humans to walk (or should we say run?) the earth! Ultramarathon runner, author, amazing human, and awesome Greek Dean Karnazes! Just describing Dean doesn't do him justice, so watch/listen to our podcast, watch some of the multiple docuseries on him, and then read his super interesting books to get a better idea of who this "...

George Diakomichalis is a fourth-generation pastry chef in Adelaide, Australia. His deep passion and infectious energy for his Greek culture has led him to open and run his award-winning patisserie for over 25 years. George recently created his own show that can be seen on YouTube called It's All Greek To Me . Join us as we get to know more about this really great and proud Greek! youtube.com/user...

We had a truly fun and inspiring conversation with the amazing and accomplished Peter Poulos, who is currently serving as the executive director of the fantastic The Hellenic Initiative. Peter and the Hellenic Initiative are doing some amazing things for Greece, Greek people, Greek culture, and for anyone who loves Greece and Greek culture all around the world. Join us as we learn more about this...

We got to hang out with Kristina, the creator of Instagram's "Are You Even Greek?", all the way from Australia! Join us as we get to know her journey to over 33,000 followers with her awesome page! instagram.com/areyouevengreek Download the free Connecting Greeks app !

We got to hang out with the AMAZING and multi-talented Dimitra Korri. She's a champion ice skater, an accomplished filmmaker, singer, songwriter, animator, DJ, and so much more... what a truly impressive and inspiring woman! Join us as we get to know Dimitra! dimitrakorri.com instagram.com/dimitrakorri

We had an amazing time chatting with the delightful Nomiki Konst. Her knowledge and force for good truly inspired us in every way and we loved spending time getting to know her. Join us and you'll become a fan of the impressive Nomiki Konst! youtube.com/user/KonstNomiki instagram.com/nomikikonst Download the free Connecting Greeks app!

Our Angelo hiatus is over and we kick off with a fascinating chat with the founder of Greece in Disney Lee Pashalopoulos! Lee's mission is to see a Greek Pavilion at Epcot Center at Disney World and we are here to spread the word! Sign his petition here: https://www.greece.org/epcot/ Download the free Connecting Greeks app !

We got to spend some time with Evangelia, an amazing artist, talented songwriter, and beautiful singer all rolled into one! Join us as we get to know a little about her past, present, and a dash of what the future may hold for her. If you weren't already a fan, you will be now! PAME PAME! evangeliamusic.com Download the free Connecting Greeks app !

Join us for a special episode centered around a truly amazing non-profit in Greece - Ecogenia! Their mission is to promote sustainability through civic engagement, training and employment opportunities for young people in Greece. Co-founders Lia & Erika join us to teach us more about this amazing organization. Ecogenia.org Download the free Connecting Greeks app!

We had the pleasure of chatting with the wonderful Dora Papoutsakis of Agape Greek Radio. Daughter of a Greek musician, Dora was immersed in “ta laika” at a very young age because her father worked as a keyboard player in the Vancouver bouzoukia scene for over 40 years. She grew up listening to Vancouver’s Greek radio program and in her late teens joined as a co-host.  Her love for radio led...

We got the chance to sit down with the amazing Harry Basil and get to know the versatile actor & comedian in depth. Harry is a stand-up comedian and comedy club operator, known for his impressions of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Superman. As an actor, Basil appeared in the film Peggy Sue Got Married. His film credits include Meet Wally Sparks, which he co-wrote with Rodney Dangerfield. In May 198...

We interviewed the founders and artistic directors of the wonderful Chroma Musika, which is a voice camp for kids. It is an amazing project that has resulted in so much good for participants and their exposure to music and the arts. Learn more by joining us! Download the free Connecting Greeks app ! https://www.chromapanarmonia.com/