The Leading Lady – Female in tech
| Name | Elsi Hadjipavli |
| Age | 36 |
| Country | Cyprus |
| Education Experience
(Secondary, Higher Level)
|
I studied English literature and then did a master’s in cultural studies. After finishing my studies, I did lots of courses like aromatherapy, body work mostly in Asia, as I never actually worked on anything relevant to my BA and MA studies. Now, I have completed a course on organic skincare science. |
| Training
(Business, Entrepreneurial)
|
I haven’t received any particular training on entrepreneurial skills or business.
|
| Employment History
|
When I was in the UK, I worked in a home for people with disabilities as a care worker. At the same time, I did volunteer work for a long time and then worked in an organization that was supporting drug users and I was in the unit that was responsible for their reintegration into society. When I returned to Cyprus, I started working for my father, who has a patisserie and I can locate there some of my first influences that affected my own business – the smells, the recipes, etc. |
| Social Background | When I was in the UK, my yoga teacher was working in a beautiful small shop with herbs, soaps and organic products, and I got influenced by this. I have a holistic approach to the products I want to use and produce. Of course, I want to know more about botanism and the healing part. I like nature and I always felt good around and was attracted to it. Years ago, when I was traveling to India, I got very sick and developed severe acne. And I spent so much time and energy to heal myself, I read a lot, I did research, I changed my diet and I started creating my own skincare products. Six year ago, I found myself at a place where I had no money and I was tired of not having so I decided to sell some of my products in local markets/bazaars. When I did, I sold out – I was really surprised!
|
| Personality Traits
|
I’m persistent and very patient. Actually, I learned to be patient. Also, you must love what you do. Other people’s acceptance and support have helped a lot. I didn’t have that much confidence in the first place. But the feedback from the others helped me get it. For a long time, I thought they were buying my products by chance. When many people in Cyprus started making products, I felt terribly insecure and I thought I wouldn’t last long. So, I had to go through this process, namely intense and quality competition, to convince myself that I can do it and that shops from Germany and Switzerland still trust my products in order to increase my confidence. |
Their Tech Entrepreneurship Journey
| Business Name
|
Gaia Olea |
| What was the inspiration?
|
The main source of inspiration is nature, plants and my love for humans. I feel strongly that people are nature and we’ve forgotten it. If I have an ultimate goal, it is to bring our own nature closer to the nature that surrounds us, and I believe I can achieve that through a product. I can remind people of their nature, their origins, and there, in my opinion, begins healing.
|
| Why did they decide to set up their tech business?
|
I didn’t exactly decide this on my own. At the time, all my friends were involved in handmade products, they were artists, and everyone had a shop on Etsy. So, they told me to do the same. Of course, I was hesitant because I didn’t think anyone would want to order a soap without having smelled it first, or that they would want to buy a cream without having tried it. But they insisted, so I did a shop on Etsy and it turned out quite successful. |
| What does it do?
Products/services?
|
The products I make include ointments, soaps, creams, body butters, therapeutic oils, some beeswax-based ointments with specific healing properties, e.g. for cold or stiffness. I make strictly natural and minimally processed products. It is important because the whole natural concept/industry has not become regulated and they say this about everything, but my products have not gone through any kind of chemical process to be produced, but rather they are made with as pure, natural and local materials as possible, although I also use various ingredients from the trips I have gone to many countries of the world. |
| What makes it unique?
|
I set up my Etsy shop in 2014, while now I am trying to redirect more potential clients to my own website as a platform where you can have immediate access to all my products. |
| When did they decide to set it up?
|
(see above) |
| What were the main challenges/struggles to setting up?
Social/financial/tech issues?
|
I have to say that I no almost nothing about computers; they’re making me very tired, and I feel like I don’t want to devote energy to learning. At first, Etsy was simple, but it’s time-consuming. You have to write (which didn’t make it too hard for me because I do like content writing), taking pictures that if you can’t afford to hire a professional photographer, then you have to do it yourself and it’s quite challenging. At the same time, you have the opportunity to expand your skills. What I found the most challenging was SEOs, a spirit crashing process. I had it for a product, but I gave it up. As soon as I can afford it, I will hire someone to do them because they’re within my priorities. I have social media; I post as often as I can without becoming their slave. When I decided to make my own website, I got lucky because I have a very good friend who gifted me the design and another good friend who charged me very little for the development of my website and online shop. But it’s all expensive. For example, I want to have, in addition to PayPal, JCC, but it is very expensive. If I had to pay my website properly, I don’t think I could have it the period I had. But, yes, one of the biggest challenges was how to disseminate my website and apply SEOs. |
| How did they overcome these?
|
I asked for help, I decided not to do some things. I said they can’t be done now or that I’ll do them in another way. I was informed enough, spent too many hours creating my website or editing various things on the site. For example, I had a new wholesaler from Lebanon, and it took me three hours to add him to the page, while for the friend who developed the website for me, it was a 10-minute thing. Really, my dream is to be able to pay someone to do these things for me. |
| What were the main success factors?
|
I have a lot of support from my spouse and my friends. They are always willing to help, whether in production or in packaging or in technical matters. It’s also very important that I am trying to be very honest with my products. Everything is transparent, e.g. where I find my ingredients. And that creates a relationship of trust with my clients. I was patient and I’ve never had unrealistic expectations. I also think that an important success factor was that I decided to do things my own way. At first, I had resistance because I saw what my father was like as a freelancer: a workaholic, always tired and stressed. So, I thought you had to be like this to succeed, and I didn’t want to have that kind of life. That, of course, was until I realized there are a lot of different ways to do something. I decided not to do things the way others do, but to do them the way I want to. |
| What are their future plans?
For their tech business? For themselves?
|
My future plans mainly concern my online presence. I would say that I want to do my SEOs. Think that now there are infinite choices on the internet, so for someone to find me either someone else will have to introduce me or he/she will find me through Etsy. It’s impossible to find me only with keywords unless he/she puts very specific words. I really like the online world; I like the way I connect with customers even though I’ve never met them in person. For example, I have a client who sends me a gift every Christmas. So, I really like this contact with people who under different circumstances I wouldn’t know them, and I like them because this is possible because of my work, my products. The next step, as I said, is to develop my SEOs. Also, I would like to do more workshops. |
| Top 2 tips for nascent women technology entrepreneurs
|
Try and not be afraid! The worst thing that can happen is to waste your time. Be completely honest with yourselves and be genuine towards people whom you try to reach. If you are genuine nothing can go wrong. Take me for example, with zero marketing strategy, with zero capital, and yet I’m fine. I sustain myself; I sustain my business as well; I didn’t have to take a loan; I receive great feedback; I grow; I constantly do courses. For me, this feels like a success and not revenue. Do not afraid to show your true selves. Don’t take advice from dinosaurs, from people who are stuck in old practices, e.g. ‘you must exhaust yourself to succeed;’ ‘you should be a strict boss,’ etc. Don’t pay attention to these doctrines, there are no formulas. |
| Further information:
Contact details
|
https://www.etsy.com/people/GaiaOlea
https://www.facebook.com/gaia.olea/
@gaiaolea |