EP. 021 - HELENA

MOTHERHOOD. EQUALITY. CULTURE.

HELENA

'FAMILY FIRST'

Age: 47

Location: Los Angeles, California

Helena is an internationally acclaimed PR and marketing professional. She is the Co-Founder of No Such Agency- an award winning 21st Century marketing & PR, specialized in strategy fashion, celebrity, digital/social & creative. Build beautiful brands.

I wrote my own Oscar speech at 12 years old. My hairbrush was my microphone. I’d rearrange our living room, climb on top of tables, and deliver a heartfelt thank you to all the people who helped me get here. It was very compelling.

I was born and raised in London, but my parents are Greek Cypriot from Cypress.

I am 2nd Gen Greek, my dad was ( and still is) a very patriotic man, EVERYTHING derived from the Greeks according to him ( we've all seen the movie!). At times I was torn between two different cultures, trying to find my place in London and fit in as a 'non-Anglo Saxon', and noticing while on vacation in Cyprus or Greece visiting family, I was viewed differently by the kids there too; they would make fun of our ' funny Greek - English accents'. Sometimes I felt like an outsider on both sides.Where did I fit?

My parents moved to London in the late 60's. My mother was incredibly progressive. She was a psychiatric nurse and taught me the importance of being self-sufficient, that I should never rely on a man. She also taught me the importance of women being heard. My father lost everything in war. He was hard working but at times the jobs didn't come in, nonetheless both of them worked tirelessly to raise us, having arrived in England with nothing but big dreams. My father raised us to value family and our culture, for him, family always comes first, no matter what.

NO OTHER LOVE.

My parents worked crazy hours in order to support their family in a foreign land. Because of this, they were always gone. Looking back on it now, perhaps I’d turn our living room into a stage to create a space in which I was seen. A space in which I was heard.

I’m a mother now, and my entire focus has shifted. Life is less about what I want and more about what my son needs. I work to instill in him a respect for women, a love of family. I work to provide an environment in which he feels seen and heard.

He once asked me if I believe in magic as the sun set over our home in the Hollywood Hills. I told him, of course.The magic is that we are here together.