Alexandros Fotinos
Choosing a title that would be fitting for Alexandros, was very hard and that’s because I had so much to fit in a title and so many different point of views!
Interviewing him wasn’t quite as planned… I found myself in front of a motivator and speaker… just like when you are in a TEDx talk! He has full control of his voice, body language and the inspiring speech of a charismatic motivator! And that’s because he is truly a gifted and inspiring person!
You know how you find yourself at a deadened because what you are looking for just doesn’t exist? Well not Alexandros Fotinos! Everything he has achieved, either he created the right environment for it or actually built it! What do I mean? Well just a small example would be that he loves Latin music and he is a hell of a dancer! Here is the but… after many years of smoking he quit and couldn’t enjoy his nights out dancing or listening to music due to the free smoking habits inside the bars and clubs in Greece, so he came up with an idea to create his own parties and cycle of non-smoking people! And soon after he turned it into an NGO called "NoSmoke.gr"! As a result, not just achieving his goal in having fun with non-smoking people, through his NGO they started also fighting against smoking in public places!
And that’s only a fraction of what he has built or created! Alexandros has been a restless soul from a very young age… wanting to learn and elevate constantly, solving problems and wanting to innovate but to give back at the same time to his community!
He says he had two passions from a young age; passion for music, were he is a self-taught musician, composer and singer, and a passion for engineering! It took him many years of search to find out that his calling was music, you name it and he has done it: surveying engineering, manager for musicians, musician, teaching music, composing music, playing in orchestras in hotels/houses/company events/special events/restaurants, online marketing company, hiking guide, matchmaking company and the list goes on!
So taking 2 years off and travelling to different cities in search of his true calling, and on top of a mountain in Corfu island standing on a rock, asking himself: what was the one thing that he had and loved and wanted to share with the world? And as we all know you always get the right answers to the right questions… and so he came up with “Elefthero Odeio Music School”! He remembered the adrenaline of the passion he felt every time he would teach music! And since he had lost all his money in the stock exchange he started from scratch and built his dream step by step!
Besides the ongoing crisis in Greece he hit a 15-year record of sales and members this year, 2016! Teaching from as early as 4-5 years old to almost 75-80 years old! Working with the best teachers who also love what they do is the result of his success he says! He says that he has created a win-win-win situation: the music school – teachers – students! Music for everyone, tell them where you want to go and they will take you there!
These past 9 years, wanting to develop his speech and stopping at nothing, he found the toastmasters and founded the first Greek-speaking Toastmasters club in Greece! And wanting even more he has established "ekfrasou.gr" for people who wish to develop their impromptu speaking technique!
Something tells me since he has put his very successful music school on auto pilot his next path is motivating and inspiring his very big crowd of fans as a motivational speaker! Alexandre you definitely have my vote!
http://www.el-odeio.gr