Connecting Greeks Podcast

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 always to be relied on to come up with an extremely clever solution to difficult problems.

In 2004, an opportunity arose to buy her recently deceased uncles business Grandpa J’s Seasoning Inc, and with the support of her parents, her and her sister Eleonora were suddenly business partners. At that time, food manufacturing was undergoing industry changes in supply chain advancements. The small business suddenly needed things they knew nothing about i.e.: Nutritional Fact Tables and barcodes which were all mandatory to operate. It was an extremely tedious learning curve and with zero mentoring from their uncle, everything was based on trial and errors. Unfortunately, she suffered a workplace career ending traumatic brain injury in early 2018, and she embarked on a long and solo recovery, filled with self-renewal, and where she discovered her talent for sales.

As she neared the end of her healing process, the start of the pandemic was commencing. Taking initiative, she took their only product and started pitching it into many small local grocers and shops around Vancouver. Their Grandpa J’s seasoning went from 8 locations to 20 in just a few months, and by the summer of 2022 would be in 90 locations all by sticking to the basics of working the pavement, building relationships and helping small business be successful at selling out of their product with the use of social media and engagement.

Jenny is a social maven and a connector within her community. She is extremely passionate about food security for children and seniors. Obviously, she is a strong advocate for mental health given her own journey. Her fun social media channels will always have loud cheerleading and mentoring for women businesses and show off her cooking or food experiments. Most describe her as strong, energetic, extremely empathetic and honest. Travelling to Greece, cooking or eating out and enjoying food with friends fills her spare time. Her favorite quote is “if you don’t ask, you won’t know”. She has a teenage daughter and a husband who eat the delicious food she is always cooking and may have had to be unofficial taste testers on a few occasions for the research and development of new seasonings and food concepts.

Immersed in small business her entire life, Eleonora Iliakis is passionate, hard-working and creative. Her small business background come from decades of working for her family-owned Greek and Italian restaurant. Starting at the young age of 5, she remembers rolling and pressing dough and saucing thousands of pizzas. Most of her youth and young adult life was spent in a commercial kitchen, working alongside chefs, cooks and prepping Greek cuisine, while learning the ins and outs of the restaurant business. This experience taught her the importance of quality, consistency and the need for outstanding products.

In 2004, Eleonora and her sister Jenny purchased a small business named Grandpa J’s Seasonings Inc. The brand came from their late great uncle Jim’s legacy, who was well known for his MSG free products across BC and Alberta. At the time of purchasing the business, the product line was a local food industry and chefs ‘best kept secret.’ This was a great opportunity for Eleonora to use her skills and background in the food industry to take Grandpa J's to the next level. Eleonora’s roles and experience has varied tremendously, in an ever-changing industry.

Embracing all of the work along the way from admin duties, managing the inventory, production, receivables/payables, any day-to-day operations.

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 television specials, “Yanni Live at the Acropolis” and then for the first and only time in history, “Yanni Live at the Taj Mahal” and “Yanni Live at the Forbidden City”, the first time ever a Western artist performed at both venues. He managed and promoted Yanni worldwide, including “Live at the Taj Mahal” and “Live at the Forbidden City”, which launched a 100-city, two-year tour “Tribute” grossing more than $150 million. He produced for NBC Sports 2 Winter Olympics and the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, awarded two National Sports Emmys. VCI produced and marketed over 100 hours of entertainment, sports and documentary programming for seven networks.

Veras is also an Adjunct Professor of Sports Business at Case Western Reserve University, a judge for play by play and studio analysts for the National Sports Emmys, an Archon of the Ecumenical Patriarchate Order of Saint Andrew (https://www.archons.org/, a member of St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church, Rocky River, Ohio and an Ellis Island Gold Medalist Recipient. Past associations include member of 1996 Athens Olympic Bid Committee for Broadcasting and Television, Board membership for the Cleveland Pops Orchestra and Anatolia College, Thessaloniki. He has been honored four times as Man of the Year by the Greek-American community. The Hellenic Spirit Foundation 1994 (https://hellenicspiritfoundationstl.org/) the Elios Society 1999 (https://elios.org/) , the American Hellenic Institute 2005 (https://www.ahiworld.org/) and Leadership 100 (http://www.l100.org/) 2018.

We could go on and on, but instead please watch our amazing interview with this amazing human!

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 Sinek, she believes that to be a great leader, one needs to continuously define the “why” for every single individual on the team. When people work with purpose, they feel empowered, motivated, and satisfied.

Irina most recently invested in a boutique franchise fitness brand, Rumble, and is expanding their popular NYC based experience into the New Jersey area with 3 studios. The Hoboken NJ studio is opening February 2023.

As an angel investor, mentor and advisor that inspires entrepreneurs, Irina launched corben & lane, a consulting business to help fashion companies scale and diversify their production needs. She also is responsible for representing many international brands looking to enter the US market. She and her team create business value by identifying and executing upon market opportunities.

While Vice President of Marketing at Suuchi Inc, a venture backed, supply chain management software company, she redesigned the marketing organization to improve lead generation efforts by 360% resulting in 90% of the company’s pipeline. In addition to laying the groundwork to create a sales engine, she rebranded the company from a manufacturing business to position it as a tech driven SaaS platform working with enterprise fashion brands worldwide. Within six months the team was exceeding its goals. She also hosted the company’s widely viewed podcast focusing on timely supply chain issues.

Prior to joining Suuchi, Irina was a Director, National Accounts at Legg Mason Global Asset Management. She was promoted several times while at the company before being appointed to the national sales role in which she managed the relationships with the companies two biggest distribution partners — Morgan Stanley and UBS. She expanded the relationship with UBS from $25 million a year in 2006 to $2 billion in under 3 years.

Irina is an investor in several companies including Suuchi Inc. in which she is an angel investor. In 2020, she invested in KLEOS Mastiha Spirit, a woman-owned, luxury spirit brand and sits on their Board of Advisors. She also invested in Mammogen, a biotech company that seeks to radically improve the detection, diagnosis, and treatment of breast cancer. She continues to seek investments in women-led, female-focused companies with strong and passionate leadership that are disrupting the status quo.

She is a board member at the Fashion Institute of Technology’s School of International Trade and Marketing and President of the Hellenic Professional Women Organization. She is mother to her 9 year old son, Lucio, who is her wingman in all her ventures.

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 working in a family-owned restaurant in Charlotte, NC and her first job was washing dishes. Watching her parents juggle the bills, a family, and the highs and lows of owning a small business was challenging. It was also a great education that influenced her outlook on life. 

Tina has worked as a waitress, bartender, cook, hostess, manager, and buyer while growing up, attending UNC-Chapel Hill, and living in Los Angeles while writing music in her free time.  After countless liquor & wine tastings and classes, she realized there wasn’t a vodka that had all of these traits:  made from organic corn, non-GMO, American made, fantastically smooth, delicious, and at a good price.  

Tina started Tina's Vodka with her credit cards and an SBA loan and just finished her album that was also self-funded. She spent two years recording her record in-between jobs and went to mastering in March 2020. 

Tina was preparing to launch both her vodka and her record during the music festival season of 2020...then the pandemic lockdowns hit!  She was suddenly unemployed, going further into debt, and fighting off a billion-dollar corporation opposing her trademark.  

It's been a crazy, winding road and thankfully, her trademark is registered, she's blessed to have Southern Glazers Wine & Spirits as her distributor, and her record is now out on all digital platforms.

We are excited to share her vodka and music with you!

It's never too late to realize your dreams, they can be bigger than you ever thought. The person you become along the way is the true creation.

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 description for the look and feel of our curated collections. 

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 expertise. Nick graduated from Adelphi University with a bachelor’s degree in management, and his life changed when, on a whim, he decided to visit the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY, and later enrolled. Today, Nick oversees the business of all Livanos restaurants.  

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!

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!

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 "GOKU". Ed, Edd and Eddy as well as "Absolute Carnage" for Marvel Motion Comics. Peter has 2 comedy albums downloadable on all the major music platforms: "Best of Peter Kelamis Volume 1 & 2" and he has two recorded television comedy specials to his name.

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 Centre, London, and is a Royal Shakespeare Company member and a member of Vanessa Redgrave's 'Moving Theatre' company.

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 "superhuman" truly is! OPA!!

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!

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 incredible organization and the man leading it!

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!

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!

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!

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!

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.

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 her to complete her radio broadcasting degree at BCIT and she continued hosting “Greek Canadian Memories” with Mike Georgiopoulos for over 15 years until it went off the air.

Dora’s love for anything Greek began from her annual visits to Greece and led her to get fully involved in the Greek Community of Vancouver by volunteering with their youth programs and Greek School for many years. After marrying her husband, Niko she also became involved in the Cretan Association of BC which is one of the strongest associations in western Canada.  In recent years Dora has taken on the role of Camp Coordinator for Camp Met BC where she is the official “Mom” of Camp. Her number one priority is to keep the Greek youth in BC involved and engaged in their communities and to spread the love for anything Greek to all.

Along with her volunteering, she is a full-time mom and a Government of Canada employee. She is an open book and welcomes any questions or comments at any time!

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 1984, Basil made a major break as a stand-up comedian as part of show at The Comedy Store in Las Vegas, where he appeared as part of a group that included future comedy performers Louie Anderson, Jim Carrey, Andrew Dice Clay, and Paul Rodriguez making their first appearances on a stage in Las Vegas. Basil is a partner in the Laugh Factory comedy club located at Tropicana Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

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!

We were so excited to get to chat with the amazing Jim Mirkopoulos! Jim is VP of Cinespace Film Studios, North America's largest owner and operator of film, TV and digital media production space, liaising directly with the production heads of major Hollywood studios and Canada's leading production entities. Jim and his family are wonderful individuals as well as wonderful Greeks! Join us in hearing some amazing stories from the fantastic Jim Mirkopoulos!  

We had the most amazing time speaking with the LEGENDARY John Kapelos! John was a major part of our pop culture upbringing and he is recognized around the world for the many, many roles he has played in iconic films and shows. There is no room to list them all but let's just say Breakfast Club, Weird Science, Sixteen Candles, Seinfeld, X Files, Home Improvement, Roxanne, and the list goes on and on and on. He is a treasure to the acting community and a treasure to our Greek community. Join us as we get to know the great John Kapelos!

What an amazing episode we have for you! Not only a fantastic guest but on Greek Independence Day as well! The one and only Costas Mandylor joins us for a chat on his life and career and what being Greek means to him. Two Americans, a Canadian, and an Australian come together to show how Greeks are all one!

Costas is originally from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. He is an actor, known for Mobsters, Saw V, Virtuosity, and Picket Fences, among many others. He was chosen by People magazine as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the world. He played professional soccer for Greece and Australia until he suffered stress fractures to his shins. He also boxes and trained with his brother, actor Louis Mandylor, in Thai kickboxing.

Join us as we hang out with Costas Mandylor!

George Kapiniaris is one of Australia's best loved comedy, music and TV stars - having had an incredible impact on Australian popular culture over the last thirty five years.

His claim to fame was his starring role in the hugely popular stage show 'Wogs Out Of Work'. Since then, the Australian public has continued to see him use his Greek heritage as inspiration for future roles and performances.

George developed his popular style of ethnic comedy at Rusden College in 1985. Straight away he was labelled as a pioneer of Ethnic Humour in Australia.

We all loved him as DJ in 'The Flying Doctors' and who could forget his starring role as the manic waiter Memo in TV's 'Acropolis Now' from 1989 to 1992 (a show which he co-produced & co-created). Since 1992 George has also been the front man of his 70's cover band 'The Flares'. 

In 2004 George was nominated for a Green Room Award for his role of Stretch in the musical 'Oh, What a Night'. other musical credits include 'The Rocky Horror Show' and 'Return to the Forbidden Planet'.

His theatre credits include 'The Resistable Rise of Arturo Ui' for the MTC, 'The Queen and I ', 'An Evening with Merv Hughes' and Guy Masterson's production of '12 Angry Men'.

George's film credits include 'Alex and Eve', 'Big Mammas Boy', 'Thundersruck', 'Bloody Footy', 'Fat Pizza', 'Housos The Movie', 'Closer and Closer Apart' & 'Joey' - George also appeared on the TV series 'Its A Date!'.

Kapiniaris was also seen in the controversial mini series 'Underbelly', playing George Defteros - the lawyer to Melbourne's underworld. In 2009 George appeared as a regular panelist on the very popular SBS show "The Squiz".

In 2021 George will be touring OZ with his comedy stage show, 'Crazy Rich Ethnics'.

He and his Co Stars have received two ACE awards for Best Comedy for their 'Il Dago' Shows and this year he and his team were nominated for Best Comedy for their 'Wildwogs' Production.

George has recently played a Vulgarian Spy in The Australian production of 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang The Musical' and starred last year in The Production Company's Award Winning Show 'Nice Work If You Can Get It!' where he stole the show with amazing reviews.

We had a great time hanging out with author, filmmaker, director, writer, and all-around levendi Dannis Koromilas. We learned some amazing facts about our Greek history and our people's plight, but still had a few laughs along the way. Sit back with us as we get to know Dannis!  

What a pleasure to have had the amazing Leon Logothetis on our show! His inspiring and hopeful message to the world gave us such a necessary and welcome feeling and we anticipate his word spreading everywhere!

Before Leon became a global adventurer, TV host, motivational speaker, and best-selling author, he was living an uninspired and disconnected life as a broker in London. On the outside, it looked like he had it all. But inside, he was chronically depressed. He decided to do something radical about it – give it all up for a life on the road.

He embarked on an adventure around the globe, fueled by the receiving and giving of kindness. On his journey, he found the essence of humanity and learned about the bonds that connect people worldwide. Through kindness, he discovered that when we start to compare ourselves by our similarities instead of our differences, we start to create a brighter future.

For over a decade, he has traveled to over 100 countries and to every continent. He’s documented his experiences through his best-selling books and TV shows. Leon has devoted his life to inspiring the world with his message of kindness and hope. This is best shown through his Netflix series “The Kindness Diaries.” 

He’s worked with many well-being brands and companies to ignite a spark of love, adventure, and humanity into their message and expand their global awareness. When he’s not making TV shows and writing books, he’s traveling around the world, speaking to schools and businesses about the power of kindness, compassion, and empathy. Leon's goal is to always make a positive impact with his work and content.

Leon is also the founder of Winston Entertainment, a travel/adventure television production company that produces content that highlights the good in humanity.

Join us as we chat with the multi-talented Anna Rezan! Anna was born in Athens, Greece, to a lawyer, who wanted to become an actress and to a federal judge who wanted to become a director. She is of Greek American Jewish (from her maternal grandparents), Spanish, Polish, and Greek from Izmir and Crete descent. Rezan grew up in Athens, Greece and began acting as a child on the stage of a Club Med while on family vacation, where she made her stage debut in the hotel's theatrical(musical) shows. She appeared in many more productions through her early teens but at the age of 8 she had already decided that she wanted to make acting, her career.

She enrolled in dance studies at the age of 4.The story is that she was staging theatrical plays with friends after school and directed her first short film at the age of 9, using her father's video camera in an attempt to persuade her parents to allow her to become an actress. Her parents were supportive but didn't love the idea and they revealed their own artistic endeavors to her when she was 17.

She began her career in her early teens by appearing in films and television series, most notably starring in the 2010 comedy film "ShowBitch". Her first international feature film co-starring role was in "La commedia di Amos Poe", that premiered in the 2010 Venice Film Festival.Her debut song "Let there be rain" was released internationally in 2011 and in 2016 her song "Let there be Love" was released internationally by Universal Music Group. In 2017 she co-starred in "Dance Fight Love Die - With Mikis Theodorakis on the Road" by Asteris Koutoulas which premiered in Hof International Film Festival to rave reviews. Her directorial debut, "The Greek Holocaust", is a documentary about the Jews of Greece during World War II, produced by her, Zafeiris Haitidis and Academy Award winners Mitchell Block and Kim Magnusson.

Talk about a great episode! We had renaissance man Harry Sideropoulos all the way from South Africa. Harry is an award-winning stage actor, singer, voice-over artist, speaker, business man and foodie, celebrating over 20 years on stage. He started his public career many years ago on 94, 7 Highveld Stereo’s Rude Awakening Breakfast Show and soon became an integral part of the show for 6 successful years, before resigning to focus solely on his career on stage. Since then, Harry’s has performed and produced a multitude of shows in his home-town Johannesburg as well as frequent appearances in America and Canada. He loves comedy and loves to sing jazz and blues and is the recipient of 3 Naledi Theatre Awards with a further 2 Naledi Theatre Award nominations for his work on stage.

More recently Harry has launched his brand of unique pop-up entertainment experiences around the country. He’s mad about food, but never wanted to run a full time restaurant, instead he creates pop-up culinary experiences for the corporate and private market, fusing both his passion for food and his love of entertaining. Harry is also a very sought after MC with a unique approach to his entertaining. With his deep, gravelly voice, he becomes your event ring master, combining his MC duties with comedy, song, audience interaction with playful frivolity, making his guests feel as though they’ve spent an evening entertained by a friend. Harry can also be booked as a key-note speaker for corporate companies, using his skills as a performer and a comic to fuel thought, encourage dialogue and to bring down the house with laughter with his very unique, larger than life personality. The Sunday Times newspaper has said of Harry “Tasting his food and experiencing his entertainment in his signature raspy voice – live, should be on everyone’s bucket list.” And The Star Newspaper wrote “He’s hysterically funny! He sings like a raunchy angel and dances like a Broadway butterfly”

Dena Romios is the founder of Power Muse Productions, a Los Angeles based production company bringing Greek entertainment to the west coast since its launch in 2012. Power Muse Productions continues to bring Greece’s finest entertainers to the United States with their primary goal being to produce live performances spotlighting the most highly recognized performers in the Greek entertainment industry. Join us in getting to know more about Dena!

We hung out with the amazing and inspiring Johnny Birmpilis. After arriving in Toronto about a year ago, Johnny Birmpilis (5-0-0, 2KOs) has taken the Canadian middleweight division by storm, defeating domestic rivals Larone Whyte (4-3-0, 3KOs) and Justin Blades (3-2-0, 3KOs) to solidify his place in the Canadian fight scene.

Birmpilis fought as an amateur in Greece, entering the punch-for-pay game against Evangelos Chatzis (1-1-0) almost exactly three years ago in Athens.

In 2018, Birmpilis turned his attention abroad, hoping to find more fights in the great white north. In Canada, he hooked up with Lee Baxter Promotions and the rest is history. The Greek prospect has boxed in Toronto and is now in Los Angeles. Keep an eye on him, you'll be hearing great things from Johnny!

We sat with Lazo Ioannidis, a Lyra virtuoso with a profound love of the melodic sounds of this ancient instrument, who has played with people like Glykeria, Alkaios, Pavlo, and even on Eurovision, and has gained a following throughout Europe, Asia and North America. Join us as we chat with Lazo!

The amazing and supremely talented singer Stephanie Kacoyanis joins us on Connecting Greeks to chat about her life & career, and what a career she has!  A quick bio: Critically-acclaimed contralto Stephanie Kacoyanis has been praised for her “majestic tone” (ArtsFuse), “vocal brilliance” and "spiritually rich performance" (Boston Musical Intelligencer). She is gaining recognition as an accomplished interpreter of opera, oratorio, and contemporary repertoire. Most recently, Stephanie appeared as Queen Mary in the world premiere of Arnold Rosner's The Chronicle of Nine (Odyssey Opera) under the baton of Gil Rose. The Boston Globe described her performance as "the standout moment of the evening", and there's so much more! Please visit her links below:  

We got to spend time with the one and only comedian Jim Dailakis! In 1995, Jim left his home in Perth, Australia and traveled literally halfway around the world to land in New York. 25 years later, he’s been playing to sold out venues night after night leaving the audience on their feet realizing they have just enhanced their life through his comedy performance.  Memorable, talented, energetic and hilariously funny, he is not only the rising star in comedy in the US but has risen to greater heights than ever before in his home country of Australia as well as  performances in Canada, Singapore, Malaysia, Scotland, and the Cayman Islands, because this Greek Australian’s comedy is universally appealing. Join us as we chat with Jim Dailakis!

We got to hang out with the absolutely fun, lovely, and talented Patricia Kara. She's a proud Chicagoan who lives in LA and her career is quite fascinating. She has done way too much to list here, but visit her IMDb and you'll see a long list of amazing projects, from Deal or No Deal to film to magazine shoots to music videos, she's done it all. Grab a kafedaki and join us!

This is a good one! The incredibly talented singer/songwriter Vassy is our guest this week and she was so fun to hang out with! We talk about life and growing up Greek and all the craziness of a Greek upbringing. Whether you're from the USA, Canada, Australia, or anywhere else, we all have so much in common. Join us as we get to know the amazing Vassy!

We had an amazing talk with the wonderful Eraklis & Vanessa Diamataris, publishers/editors of The National Herald and the long running ΕΘΝΙΚΟΣ ΚΗΡΥΞ newspapers, about their life, family, careers, and the important work they do for the Greek community. Please join us in learning more about this great brother/sister team!  

We had the absolute pleasure of spending time with the super talented and beautiful Ariana Savalas! She is the coolest person ever and we had a blast hanging out and chatting. Join us to learn more about the fabulous, funny, sexy, and very cool Ariana Savalas!  

We hung out for a chat with Australian legend Plastic EP aka Daniel Sam and discussed our love of Greece and all things Greek. Plastic has written over 2,000 songs and recorded dozens of albums in his career and he's also a darned proud Greek! Get to know Plastic EP with us!  

We got a chance to sit down at the virtual Greek table with the wonderful Shelly Papadopoulos. Shelly is the President of the Greek Heritage Society of SoCal and is the Co-Executive Producer of the documentary "The New Greek Americans". Join us in getting to know this proponent of the Greek culture!

We had an amazing time interviewing world renowned guitarist / musician / songwriter Pavlo! He is an incredible guy who is very humble, down to earth, and insanely talented! Join us as we chat with and get to know the one and only Pavlo!

The unique and talented and always entertaining "Chairman George" Sapounidis joins us for a chat and we get to learn more about his fascinating life as a singer/bouzouki player/songwriter/bandleader and his huge following in China! Join us!

Listen in as we hang out with rising young star Gus Constantellis. Not only is he a comedian, writer, and social media star, but he's also a proud Greek! Join us!

Check out Gus on some of his social handles:

We got to spend some time with author, screenwriter, director, filmmaker, and all around renaissance man Christos Sourligas. This Greek-Canadian innovator talks to us about his life, being Greek, and his amazing Greek cookbook. Grab a kafedaki and join us!

Angelo Tsarouchas, Ari Kalos, & Foti Stamos interview the great Giorgos Xatzipavlou - comedian extraordinaire from Greece. He lets us know how things are in the motherland and we get some great insight from a true Greek! Join us as we get to know Giorgos Xatzipavlou!

Our hosts Angelo Tsarouchas, Ari Kalos, & Foti Stamos welcome the one and only Christine Cushing to the Connecting Greeks Show! She is a Canadian celebrity chef and television host and we talk about Greek food, Greek travel, and all things pertaining to our Greek lives! Join us as we get to know more about the fabulous Christine Cushing!

We revamped the show a little bit to bring on our new co-host Angelo Tsarouchas! Angelo has been in the entertainment industry for years as an actor and comedian, he's traveled the world and met people everywhere, so we are so excited to do the show with him and his amazing network of friends! Join us now as we welcome Greek-American comedian Ellen Karis and we discuss how COVID-19 has affected our lives recently.

In this special episode of the Connecting Greeks podcast, we pulled out some archive footage from a great interview we did with Nia Vardalos, writer and star of My Big Fat Greek Wedding as well as her co-star John Corbett! We premiered the movie in Boston before it went into wide release and Nia and John were gracious enough to hang out with us and grant us an interview. This was a special time for us and although the footage and audio is 15 years old, we did our best to make it worthy for your listening pleasure. OPA!

We had the pleasure of having Ourania (aka Margo) join us from Greece to discuss her wonderful and exciting journey to founding her company - Margo Wine Routes. Every traveler to Greece should contact her and every Greek should experience her tours as well. Just speaking to her gave us an immense desire to jump on a plane and travel around sipping wine in the most beautiful setting - Greece! Join us as we get to know Ourania!

One of our favorite Canadian friends and food gurus Peter Minaki joins us for an amazing chat about Greek food and some of the finer points of Greek life, travel, and so much more! Join us as we get to know Peter Minaki!

What can we say about this episode and it's guest? Actor, writer, director, author, entrepreneur and all around amazing Greek-American Bob Krantz chats with us about his life, what's going on in the world, and what his future goals are. Join us as we welcome the incomparable Robert Krantz!

Join us as we chat with one of our favorite people ever - Angelo Tsarouchas! Not only an actor, performer, and comedian, but one of the nicest and most genuine celebrities we've ever met. Learn more about this funny Greek in our latest Connecting Greeks episode. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the show!