The Right Time Is Now
- Kim Meninger
- 3 days ago
- 25 min read
In this episode of The Impostor Syndrome Files, we talk about career pivots, self-discovery and why waiting for the perfect time can keep us from pursuing what matters. My guest this week is Niki Lazaridou, who has held a number of entrepreneurial and senior leadership roles.
Niki shares her diverse career background and the journey that led her to finding her purpose. In our conversation, we discuss the balance between having enough pressure to motivate us and having so much pressure that we shift into survival mode. Niki introduces the Greek word meraki, which describes putting a piece of your soul into what you do, and explains why curiosity, effort and personal investment can create a deeper sense of purpose.
Finally, we explore how our core values can help us distinguish impostor syndrome from a work environment that is genuinely out of alignment. Niki shares how identifying directness, empathy and freedom as her three core values helped her better understand her emotional reactions at work, and why saying our fears out loud can release pressure and create stronger human connection.
About My Guest
With 15 years of experience as an entrepreneur and working in senior positions in a variety of corporations and organizations, Niki has been positioned as a Pool of Experts Team in the United Nations, Senior Risk Manager in PWC, and Program Manager in Publicis Sapient.
Currently serving as Strategy Manager at Minc Sweden, she is commissioned to redesign the entire incubator model in order to foster collaboration in the Nordic Region.
She is also a Mentor in Entrepreneurship at Harvard University, as well as a professional advisor at MIT, currently driving her own collaboration initiative between Harvard and CERN in Geneva.
Niki is also a member of Forbes Women connecting to a global network of women leaders, founders, and professionals.
As an entrepreneur, Niki has worked on projects with MIT Media Lab, ABC, BBC, Puma, Amazon, Peabody Essex Museum, Blue Lagoon Iceland, Body Worlds Exhibition while also being published in Vogue, Elle, Marie Claire, Boston Globe, i-D, Cosmopolitan.
She has delivered workshops & Academic Teaching at IKEA, Hyper Island, Apple, and BA courses in Media Technology at BTH. Her education focuses in Software Engineering, Media and Communications, and AI.
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Connect with Niki:
Website: https://www.nikilazaridou.com/
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Connect with Kim and The Impostor Syndrome Files:
Join the free Impostor Syndrome Challenge.
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Schedule time to speak with Kim Meninger directly about your questions/challenges.
Websites: https://kimmeninger.com
Transcript
Kim Meninger
Welcome, Niki. I am so excited that you're here, and I'd love to start by inviting you to tell us a little bit about yourself.
Niki Lazaridou
Thank you so much for having me. My name is Niki. I am originally from Greece. I currently live in Sweden, and there's been quite a lot of movement in my life before I ended up there. I first started as a student at software engineering in a Greek island called Lesbos in Greece, and I quickly realized that that really wasn't something that I was passionate about. So, midway through my bachelor's degree, I decided to drop everything and follow my dream in studying media and communications. So back then, I packed up my life. I moved to England, and I studied media and communications at Birmingham University. And it was an amazing experience to do what I love. I was embedded in the, in the world of media. I, I worked in television, but it was quickly easy to spot that my favorite media outlet was photography back then. So I focused heavily on that, and I started my own company. I started creating my own projects and consulting in art directing, as well as doing communication projects, communication consulting, media strategies, and it quickly grew into something really beautiful that I was very passionate about. Back then, Greece was in a very difficult spot. It still is my home country, so it was very hard for me at that time to go back to my home country, which I really love. I was, at the time, offered a really good opportunity to move to this beautiful city called Boston, and I moved to Boston, and I spent two wonderful years there. I worked with a lot of talented people. I continued growing my own company there, and I also started teaching. It was kind of a little bit of a side project that I started just for fun because I wanted just to try something new and also to grow my revenue, but I quickly realized that that's something I'm actually quite good at. So I started discussing a lot with MIT and Harvard back at the time, and it ended up in a lot of wonderful collaborations, and today I'm actually working remotely for Harvard as a mentor as well in one of their venture labs. So spending two years in Boston was amazing, but I felt that I was missing the lifestyle that I had in Europe, and I kind of saw that long-term I would probably eventually go back to Europe. So my family at that time had moved to Sweden, and I decided to just visit for Christmas with a plane ticket back to Boston, but it had never really happened. So I ended up spending Christmas there and falling in love with the Scandinavian lifestyle and starting over my life there. I continued my studies in Sweden and I started working in a lot of different organizations and industries ever since, while simultaneously running my, my communications business on the side, so I had the opportunity to work with United Nations. I worked as in procurement at United Nations. I worked in corporations as a program manager. I've also worked as a strategy advisor. I've done a little bit of everything, and what was very challenging, even though it was fun, was shape shifting myself and learning a lot of skills in all of these different departments and industries. Huge learning curve for somebody who is in their 20s and in their 30s, and also navigating new cultures. But I have to say that currently being 37 years old, I feel that of course it has had its impact on me negatively. But the positives that I have learned, I think, are I'm gonna carry till my late stages in life.
Kim Meninger
Wow! Can we talk a little bit more about some of, and I don't want to put a negative spin on this because you have lived an incredible life, and I, and I absolutely love your willingness to be adventurous and reinvent yourself in all of these different ways, geographically and career-wise. I, I wonder if you could let us in a little bit. On what it felt like to make some of these pivots, because I think there is a way in which the unknown feels so scary, especially when you're talking about uprooting yourself from your home country, or when you're talking about moving from one field to a totally different field. Like, do you remember what it felt like in those moments as you were trying to make those decisions?
Niki Lazaridou
I'm still feeling it. I'm still feeling the impact, and I have. I would love to actually be open about how all of these things have happened. I think it's a combination of conditions that I was facing in my life, in different stages of my life, but it also in combination with who I was as a character, as a personality. So, for example, starting when I was about 18, 19, years old, life here in Greece was always really good, and growing up here, there was never an issue. But there was a big financial crisis that hit very suddenly, and it kind of pivoted everything around us overnight. It affected everybody, so I can't say that it affected like only me or my family or a specific region. So it became kind of like a ticking bomb in the backside of my head. There was pressure for me as the resources were always running low, and I wanted to study and I wanted to complete the, the stages of my life as quickly and productively as possible. So when I was studying at the university in Greece, I quickly realized that even if I am to graduate from here, it's going to be really hard for me to kickstart my career, and I was stuck studying something that I was not very passionate about, even though it was going to create job security programming. At least back then, before the AI craze was a much more secure career path than photography or digital creative art, and I decided that I will not be able to do something I am not happy doing for a very long period of time, anyways, I gained really good skill sets from learning some basic coding, but I didn't want to do it anyways. So I decided I need to pivot now before the problem gets bigger. I have to do something about it today, and I decided to go to England. I, I had a lot of love and support from my family. I had a very big support group growing up in this community that I am, and I you will find this very maybe immature and surprising. I was not aware that there's tuition fees in England. I because education in Greece is free and in most European countries. So when I ended up there and they told me there's tuition fees, I was really shocked. But it worked out in such an amazing way, and I truly believe the circumstances helped me because I was brave to take the step in the right direction. But a funny story of this is, I was waiting in the queue to just sign the papers to join the university that I was admitted to, and they said, "How are you going to pay for the tuition fees? And I said, "What tuition fees? Like, well, there's tuition fees, so either you have a student loan currently, or there is a deposit. And I'm like, I, I was not aware. And the student pulled me to the side, and he's like, "I can obviously see you. You, you were not aware of this. I was like, "No, I wasn't informed. He's like, "Okay, let me help you apply for a loan right now, and these circumstances were just magically, in a way, supporting the thing I was pivoting towards. Wow! So it worked out perfectly in the end. I graduated with honors, and the university also decided to cut off one of my years as well, so I graduated a year earlier than everybody else, and yeah, it's it was a wonderful story afterwards. But in the moment, of course, it's a scary step forward because nothing is guaranteed.
Kim Meninger
Absolutely. You know, one of the things that strikes me too is that there was a combination of forces that led you down that path. There was your own, your own sense that you were not in a field or in a course of study that was right for you. And you had this sort of existential pressure from the overall economy that was-you described it as a ticking time bomb, which I think is an interesting way to describe it. Right? Is like there wasn't really a chance to kind of sit and think and, and maybe get too comfortable, which I think can happen to a lot of us. Is it if the pain isn't high enough? You know, we might just settle for the thing that we know isn't right because the alternative feels too risky.
Niki Lazaridou
I actually had this conversation very recently. Of course, I, I try to mentor people in professional settings if I'm given the opportunity because it's something I enjoy, but I also try to do it in to people I'm relatively close to, and there is this young lady who I know since very, very young, since she was a child, and I really love this person because she has really good personality traits, and I think that she could be really successful. So, of course, with the acceptance of her mother, I said, "Is it okay if I just give her my insights to support? And she's like, "Yeah, of course. And I noticed that this child, currently being 15, is quite lost in life and doesn't know what she would like to pursue, and we can say that it's quite normal at this age group. However, the thing that I just realized is that there is no pressure for this person to grow or to achieve something because her future has been quite financially settled, and of course, finances is just one aspect. But when there is no strain, there is no worry, there is no concern about how am I gonna grow as a person? Who am I going to become? How can I develop my skills? Who am I going to be? It's easy to become quite like stagnant in life, and then you become also unhappy, which is another characteristic I noticed. There is a sense of boredom or losing the aim of life because does it really matter if I achieve it or not? It can still be provided to me in some way. [Wow!] And it is deep when you see it at somebody else and they don't know why they're bored because that person uses this word a lot, I feel bored. I don't want to study this; it's boring. I don't want to try this; it's boring. The lack of motivation.
Kim Meninger
That is really interesting, and I'm glad that you brought that up because it goes back to this idea of urgency, right? And so I wonder, for maybe people who don't feel that same existential urgency that you're describing, and, and maybe align more with this young girl that you're talking about. Is there a way to create that? Is there a way that you've seen to really like boost the, the urgency level or improve your own motivation when it just doesn't feel like anything is pushing you?
Niki Lazaridou
I really believe so, and I think it's much better. For example, in the, the position that this person is currently, is in a much better position to nurture that curiosity, because there is no strain. I don't believe that you need the ticking bomb in order to progress in life. I think that there is a sweet spot somewhere in between, because it can backfire as well if you have too many pressures and you just need to survive. Like you go into survival mode, of course, that is not productive as well. It doesn't give you the space to think and to reflect. I think that having the ability to be stable in an environment that provides you enough stimulus to think, to put the effort in, to strive for something, and to put a piece of your personal work in what you're doing that gives you purpose. The Greeks have actually a word for that, which is very interesting. It's called meraki, and meraki is a word that we use when you put a piece of your soul into what you're doing, and it gives you a sense of fulfillment and happiness. And it's important to develop that, even if everything around you is settled, because it gives you purpose in life.
Kim Meninger
Yes, and I think that often feels missing for people who maybe didn't do what you did when they were halfway through their bachelor's degree and kind of went continued down the path because it felt like the practical thing to do, and maybe they weren't aware of their other interests and what would have might what might have felt more fulfilling to them. And so, you know, I do see a lot of people that feel a hollowness in what they do, and maybe what they do is effective and they're really good at it, but that heart piece is missing.
Niki Lazaridou
And I think that that doesn't actually stop. For, for me, for example, I, I am facing these feelings quite often in my life. If you want to keep evolving and exploring life and growing as a person, you are gonna constantly face this cycle where you're gonna ask yourself, "I'm feeling a little bit stagnant right now. Why am I feeling this way? I don't feel the passion anymore for what I'm doing. What is missing? It is quite easy to fall prey into watching what other people are doing in their careers, and to want to chase the same the same path or a similar success route, and look for the titles that might seem more challenging or rewarding, both financially but also with status. And people are looking into different elements, but for example, now I have reached a point in my life where I have asked my, my partner. I said, "I I know it sounds crazy. I'm thinking if I should pause what I'm doing and start writing a book. I mean, I've had this curiosity. I've never tried it. I mean, I might fail, but and he said, "Why don't you just pause what you're doing to start trying this for a little while? And I mean, at the end of the day, it's life, and it is going to be a passion project that I'm going to try. You might succeed, you might fail, but I need to see what that feels like before I decide if it's right for me or not. I think.
Kim Meninger
I think what you're saying too is normalizing that we can be in the right place for a certain period of time, feel really passionate about what we do, feel really aligned with the work, and then outgrow it, and want something new, and I think sometimes that's hard for us to process. It's hard for us to reconcile, and it almost feels like a betrayal of ourselves, right? Like I've invested all this time and energy in this, and you know, I I'd be giving up, and, and I think what you're describing is just the natural evolution of, of a full life, where you are recognizing how your interests are changing over time, and giving yourself the space to explore it and to take some risk.
Niki Lazaridou
Yes, and it's okay to also be very focused on a particular aim, and I think it's also okay to realize that yeah, it's not for me, and then to just shift and not to think about what other people think in regards to your decision. For example, when I left from the university in Greece and went to study media. I was really adamant to the, the teachers. Like, I don't want to study any other types of media. I only want to study television. This is my passion. And they were telling me like just that part of the program is to try optional other types of media. You have to choose other things too. I wanted to specialize, and they pushed me back then to try a little bit of everything. And I was huffing and puffing about it, and really not happy about what they were saying. I was like, I, I know better what I like. You don't need to tell me what I like. Turns out, when I walked into this photography class, and the first 510 minutes, I realized this is my passion. I was like, "Wow, everybody's gonna think I'm really insane! Like I've really just pulled everything upside down right now to move to the other side of Europe to study something I'm really adamant about. And turns out, I want to specialize in a completely different subcategory of media, not television. I've done three internships in television. That's not what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna do photography instead. So, but the truth is, I I was very happy during the entire project. I've been happy throughout all of these things, and of course, having a good career, getting experience, and learning and growing as a person is so important because we need to be able to financially survive. We need our incomes. We have responsibilities sometimes not just for ourselves. We also have other people we care about, but there is always flexibility and room to learn who you truly are and to challenge yourself in a fun way because our life is gonna end.
Kim Meninger
I love that you said fun because I do think that this can often feel like a slog. It feels really cool, and we don't often like we can't see where the time will come from, and it just kind of feels like oh, I don't have the luxury of being able to focus on this. But it sounds like you, in many ways, whether it was kind of pushed on you by that system that was not going to plow you to not do the other courses, or because you embraced the opportunity, were willing to just be creative or to, to experiment a little bit.
Niki Lazaridou
Yeah, exactly. And there's been times where I have tried jobs that were so completely-I wouldn't say out of my league. I think we can all learn to do quite a lot of different types of career jobs, but there's been times where I've, I've been in industries where I would never think that I would be a part of, and I ended up and really enjoying it. Surprisingly, for example, one time I worked for this online games studio, and I worked as a QA engineer, which that's where my, my coding and my software engineering skills came to use later in life. But I was like, it was a very fun environment to work in, and the people I've met in that work environment, I'm still in contact with today, almost 10 years later. So it's a part of work, is a part of life. We spend a lot of hours investing in this. So I don't think it should be something that we just decide to, to clock in and to clock out and to endure our entire life.
Kim Meninger
Yeah, I agree with you, and I'm curious because you have been talking about various people that have either supported you, like your partner, people that you, you know, you've encountered along the way. How do you think about the role of others in this process? Because you also mentioned we don't want to get overly attached to other people's opinions about what we do, but we certainly don't get to where we're going alone. So, how do you think about the support resources that you've taken advantage of over the years?
Niki Lazaridou
Well, sometimes you end up having people who are very supportive. Sometimes you end up meeting people who can actually do harm, even if that's not their intent. And no matter what, in both cases, I believe I have gotten positive things out of it in different ways. When I've worked with very difficult people, when I've had bad managers, when I've met bad executives, when I've had challenging conversations, when people have maybe pushed me into areas I was not comfortable with, or I did not want to do something. All of these things still offered me fruits that I am enjoying today. And there's been people who has been supportive of my choices, and they backed me up, and they gave me an even further boost into what I was trying to do, and there's been people who has been questioning or even trying to stop me from doing what I want to do. And when you come across a person that even disagrees or is challenging you, I think there's still a huge part of the milestones that you're gonna go through to go through your own journey, your own odyssey till the end destination. What is important, and that's where I was struggling as a person, is handling the negative emotions when things get too hard. I've been through jobs that had a lot of high pressure. High profile, a lot of responsibilities, and in those crucial moments, if some people are also doing some harm, that can be very detrimental to handle. That has been hard in certain areas, and I've also experienced one time in my life, burnout due to that, but even the burnout gave me a huge understanding of who I am as a person and how I would like to handle things next time.
Kim Meninger
And I think that's the key, right? Is that everything is a learning experience, and it's hard to see it that way in the moment, but we learn as much from I think the people who aren't supportive as we do from those who are about who we want to be, the decisions that are best for us, and just kind of how to navigate those difficult situations.
Niki Lazaridou
Yeah, and some amazing people have also, without me even asking for it or discussing it, they have tried to connect me to really important situations that I've experienced or other people. People have gone out of their way from working with me and being happy to suggesting me to somebody else and wanting me to connect to somebody, and this kind of this is a very unique feeling as well, to get that recognition, to get that care and understanding that you're doing a good job, and you're actually the thing you're happy doing. It's having a positive impact, so that has been really good as a feeling as well, and especially in Boston, where the United in the United States, I felt the culture was quite extroverted, just like in Greece, and it's very there's a big open heart when it comes to discussing and being open and communication, and when I did something, let's say I completed a project, usually people were quite happy with my work, and they ended up connected me with other people in MIT or Harvard or a person that was working in Apple, just because they were happy with what I did for them, and that was a wonderful feeling that people actually appreciate the work that you do.
Kim Meninger
Yeah, and you know, I think that that's a, that's a really good point because there are a lot of high achievers who do great work who listen to this podcast, and so I think that they're primed for that type of connection. But I also think there's a way in which if you doubt yourself or you're not clear on what you want to do, that we may hold back from some of those relationship opportunities because it feels intimidating, or we don't want to say the wrong thing, or we feel like we should know more before we connect. And I wonder if you could talk a little bit about timing and how to, how to take full advantage of those moments.
Niki Lazaridou
I would say I tried to never think about the right timing. I thought that the right time was always now, and maybe I'm a little bit of an impatient person. If I had a vision, or if I had a decision in my head, or whatever came into my head as I want to do this, I was going to email that person right there in that, that moment. So timing-wise, I was never really waiting on things. I I would say what can make you wiggle around and waste time or make you insecure, and I have experienced that myself, comes from being at a wrong place, at a wrong environment, and you just feel that something is wrong, and you just feel that you don't maybe belong there, or I would also say that it can come from a place of not knowing yourself deep enough. That is also something that was a journey for me. Getting to know who I truly am built a lot of clarity for me. It removed a lot of my insecurities or worries about these feelings of being an impostor, knowing my limitations.
Kim Meninger
I think that there are two parts to what you just said that really resonate with me. The first one is very like me too, where I, I'm a very action-oriented person, and so I don't sit and think about things. If I have an idea, I immediately act for better or worse. Sometimes it gets me into trouble.
Niki Lazaridou
Yeah, me too. Like I have annoyed people like that, but…
Kim Meninger
But I think what it does too is it is it takes away the space to talk yourself out of it, and so as somebody who is also prone to you know anxiety and, and self-doubt, if I give myself too much time to make the decision, I worry that I'll find a reason not to do it, and so I want to just act in the moment when I'm most inspired to do it.
Niki Lazaridou
But that's also how you know that you truly want to do it. If I truly want to do it, I, I don't want to wait. I'm sure that is true.
Kim Meninger
That is very true. You're right. And then I think to your other point, though really listening to yourself and understanding what the signals actually are, because one of the things that I think is often confused when I talk to people is imposter syndrome and just not being in the right fit. Of course, you're going to feel self-doubt if you don't feel like you're doing work that's cut out for you, right? If you if you're not leveraging your skills, if you're not doing work that feels meaningful to you, you're out of alignment with the values of the system that you're operating with, within, like, of course, you're gonna feel out of place, which is going to cause your inner critic to tell you all kinds of nasty things about yourself, right? [Exactly.] I think paying attention to that is so important, and the self-discovery process can be done internally. But I also have found that some of my best realizations have come by talking to other people and by learning about other people's experiences that I never would have otherwise even thought about.
Niki Lazaridou
Exactly, and sometimes, for example, I have watched a lot of YouTube Videos about getting to know yourself, which I think is a big tool in not just work but anything we do in life, even how we are towards our family members, how we are towards our community, how I am with myself, even. And I, there was a time in my life where I heard somebody just talking about their core values, and I just stopped there. And I was like, I don't even know what my top three core values are. Like, I should know this about me, and that by itself, when I answered that question for myself, I realized where the problems or where the shortcomings were coming when I was struggling at work, for example. So my three core values were being direct, having empathy, and having freedom. These were three very important things for me. So in any setting where I was being challenged with these three: somebody who wasn't showing empathy, somebody who didn't want to be direct, or any space where I wasn't given any freedom to, like, let's say, for example, micromanagement. Those things could really cause an intense emotional reaction, and they could down spiral into something that causes all of that insecurity. I don't belong here. I don't feel good here. Should I speak up? Maybe I shouldn't. I don't really like how this feels. But at the end of the day, if you do know what your pillars are, you have at least a starting point.
Kim Meninger
Yes, I'm so glad you said that. I think that is important as a first among the first steps, right? For everybody listening to think about is what are your core values, because it becomes, in my mind, the closest thing we have to a manual for how to navigate these difficult situations, right? Like if we have a framework to be able to say, does this align with my values? And if it doesn't, then it doesn't necessarily mean we have to go running out the door, but it gives us more choices about how to handle things than to just assume that we're the problem, and that you know there's something wrong with us.
Niki Lazaridou
Exactly, exactly, and also, I mean, and this is also a little bit of a delicate thing, but I really want to touch upon it because that was also a learning curve for me. I do believe that when you are a female, you do experience the, the work environment in quite a different light than, than a male, and I think that that's there's not nothing bad about it. I just think that there's different experiences for different sides, and as a female, I was brought up. With my dad never treated me any differently than his son. I was brought up as being equal to everybody else and seeing myself as that. And sometimes you do face a lot of different situations that can give you a hint that you might belong to a different category, and it can be quite shocking in the beginning. And if you're not prepared, you might also go through emotions that are surprising. Like for example, one time, I was asked during an interview if I'm planning to ever have children, and I know we say, "Oh my God, wow! Like, who asks that?” And it's a shocking thing to ask, but when you ask these things, does that affect your confidence the next time you're gonna go for an interview? So, being aware as well of what might be happening around you can also help you, I think, build confidence because that took me by surprise, for example, during an interview.
Kim Meninger
Yeah, I'm glad you said that too because I try to, I, I try to convey that message in a way that's not intended to make people paranoid or pessimistic about the workplace, but to just be aware of some of those realities that are out there because they can sneak up on you, as you're describing. They've snuck up on me in the past too, and they're very unsettling if you're not prepared for them. And to just be able to put them into context can be empowering.
Niki Lazaridou
Exactly, and I think I personally enjoy being open about all of these aspects because I think that if you want to have a healthy situation at work, or with colleagues, or with whatever you're doing, I think it's always good to just take a step forward and to examine the thing that might make you feel uncomfortable. Of course, you never know what dynamics people are experiencing in their workplace. Sometimes this can be a little bit more difficult than other times. Sometimes you have to be a little bit more cautious, depending on the dynamics. But I really believe that you personally benefit from being transparent and having good, deep conversations with the humans that are working with you. And I've been in, I've been, for example, like recently presenting in front of a board, and no matter what, of course, I'm gonna get stressed before I do this presentation. But I wanted to be open with the fact that hey, I, I am a bit stressed about this. I've really prepared the best way I can. I'm really excited about the thing I'm gonna talk about, but I'm really worried. I'm really stressed, and I said that to the person who was pulling me into the meeting, and he's like, "I know you. You're gonna do great. Like, just, just give it your best shot.” And just having that conversation immediately puts you in a different headspace, even if you're stressed about doing it.
Kim Meninger
Ah, I am so with you on that, I am a big believer in saying the thing that's in your head out loud, right? And obviously in a professional way, but the, the, the power is diffused. Like you just once you get it out of your own head, at least for me, I find that it takes so much of the pressure off, and then to your point, it creates a human connection with somebody else because everyone can relate to that, everyone can understand that, and now you've got people who want you to succeed, and they're supporting you, and it just, it's, it's such a, a powerful way to release some of that tension.
Niki Lazaridou
Yeah, and even though, of course, some people are trying to keep this very strict facade sometimes, and they don't let any of that feelings show or come through. At the end of the day, we are all the same being, and we are all experiencing emotions, and we are all suffering from the same feelings, the good and the bad. So, even though you might have a person that might be giving you a tough time, or might be competing with you, or might be distressing you, whatever it is, I have seen these people in different shades later on as well, and you can see that at the end of the day, it all depends on how people are experiencing their work, what pressure they're feeling, and how they're handling that pressure as well. Some people just close up and become this really hard shell, and some other people become softer. And I, I tend to believe that the people who are not afraid to speak up and share, are actually more empowered at the end of the day, because they can actually be in touch with who they truly are.
Kim Meninger
Wow, Niki, I know you. We talked about this when you and I talked offline last time, but I feel like I could just talk to you forever. Every time you say something, I'm like, "Oh, that reminds me of this, and I keep going.” But I, in the interest of time, I, I just want to see if you are, you know, open to connecting with the community. If there's anything that you want to share about how people can stay connected or follow you in any way as you move forward on your journey.
Niki Lazaridou
Of course. What is usually the easiest way for the viewers? I'm really active in all kinds of media or communication outlets. My email or LinkedIn or what would be best?
Kim Meninger
Ah, why don't you do LinkedIn?
Niki Lazaridou
Yeah, definitely. So my name is Niki Lazaridou, and I can definitely provide the link for you. And of course, anybody can feel free to message me or even to send me an email, and definitely have a call afterwards if we have something really good to talk about.
Kim Meninger
Wonderful! So I will make sure that link is in the show notes. And thank you so much, Niki. I really appreciate you and this conversation.
Niki Lazaridou
Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me. And as I said before, time just flies by when I talk to you, and it has been lovely to have this with you. Thank you so much.
