
My name is Athena Avagianou and my story begins in October 1976. I was born and raised in Athens, but the place of my heart is my village, Eresos, Lesvos. There, are my most beautiful summer (and not only) childhood memories. There, we, the same guys for so many years, are still building memories, but also those who were added because they loved us and we loved them, those who left but somehow are still with us, our spouses, partners and children!
In Athens, mainly, are the memories of childhood that are not in Eresos. I grew up with my mom full of tenderness and love that made life smell like cake, Dad in my eyes invincible, who provided security from existent and non-existent dangers, and a wonderful younger brother, who bothered me a lot when he first came to my life. The stories say that I made him suffer a lot; I say that he was and still is one of my great weaknesses.
In Athens, mainly, are the memories of childhood that are not in Eresos. I grew up with my mom full of tenderness and love that made life smell like cake, Dad in my eyes invincible, who provided security from existent and non-existent dangers, and a wonderful younger brother, who bothered me a lot when he first came to my life. The stories say that I made him suffer a lot; I say that he was and still is one of my great weaknesses.
I grew up with friends. Friendship has always been present in my life and is as important as family. I do not know what life is like without friends, I have never lived it. I have friends in the good, in the difficult and in the indifferent. I have lived alone in new places, but the important and loved ones have always been close to me in some way.
Ever since I can remember I wanted to have children, to be a mom like my mom, so good! It was a constant desire, no matter how much my life and the facts were changing. The universe gave me the most precious gifts, Despina and Thodoris, who show me every day that I can do it, even if I make mistakes. The biggest challenge for me is to teach my children to accept, respect, believe and love effortlessly, themselves and others.
School is important, but I never felt like «I don’t change my school years with anything» and I certainly never wished I could «go back to those years». From school, I mostly remember and still have important friends and some special teachers.
I studied law in France. From a very young age I was fascinated by the idea of defending and declaiming. First time alone abroad when I was at 19 years old. Then again at 40. Abroad for me was a shocking experience, a significant exit from the comfort zone. I did not want it at all, I saw no reason to leave, everything that was important to me was in Greece. But I discovered valuable treasures there, as it happens every time we leave the comfort zone to explore something new.
As a lawyer, in the end, I never declaimed to defend people and rights, nor for any other reason. I was for years a legal advisor in companies. I was professionally nurtured in the business world. This was also charming. With challenges and «comforts». I wanted to change my professional route, but the «comforts» (mainly psychological) did not let me. I was afraid of what I would lose in order to try the new and uncertain. Until the business opportunity that appeared for my husband, partner and father of my children, opened the door for my own change… again outside the comfort zone, again abroad, this time in Madrid.
It was there that I first came in contact with coaching with my cherished Elvira, my coach. I saw that there are options even when everything seems deadlocked. That the difficulties are not permanent. That happiness is an inner, personal choice. And I did not understand these in theory. I saw them in practice.
There I realized how much I believe in the power that all people, without exception, hide inside them, how passionate I am about the idea of contributing to the inner evolution of people and how much I want to have a positive impact, even in the slightest, on people’s lives.
So I was trained in Madrid at the Centro de Estudios del Coaching by the best teachers of their kind, but also wonderful people (Miriam Ortiz de Zarate & Jose Manuel Sanchez), I was certified by the ICF (International Coach Federation) and somehow, I am now a coach.
Miracles happen, outside your comfort zone. Where you dare to go even if you are afraid, where empathy is cultivated and vulnerability is honored.
This is where your magic lies.