Maryam Rezaei
Chrissoula Manolakaki
Panos Chreppas
Stamatis Tsagias
Asimeni TountaMelina Taprantzi
What can one say about Melina Taprantzi… Beautiful as you can see for yourself, smart, super active and most important of all a woman with a huge heart!
Alongside her marketing and advertising company she realized that there are so many small producers all over Greece and they produce top quality products with beautiful packaging and but struggle to promote their products on their own through large sales channels in Greece and of course the idea of exporting their goods was even harder if not impossible!
But that’s not all… being sensitive and conscious, Melina was struck by the level of poverty in Greece which roughly reaches 3milion people below the poverty line. And how she could provide food to people in need continuously without having to beg for donations!
So in 2013, she put the two needs together and found Wise Greece! A super fascinating startup or better yet a successful social enterprise that promotes national products and with the profit they donate food to organizations fighting against hunger in Greece and many other countries!
Wise Greece already promotes over 600 hundred Greek products from 100 producers in the Greek market but also in N. York, Holland, Sweden, Poland, Germany, England, and many others on the way!
As she says: it’s amazing how you can mix business with giving at the same time!
To the question how she did what she did and what difficulties she has faced, she tells us:
Many startups and entrepreneurs never pursue their dream because they cannot fund their dream… but the truth is that that’s the easiest part! You don’t need a lot of money to start your startup but instead finding a team that believes in you and your idea is the hardest milestone to overcome! You need a team no matter how crafty you are.
She also adds that the hardest thing is to be an entrepreneur in Greece, even though it sounds super challenging!
Patience and endurance are the key to get through and succeed, Melina tells us, there are many times that you think why am I doing this and it’s your passion that keeps you alive…
Her tips for other young entrepreneurs is never listen to what others say cause 9 out of 10 times you will hear from others that it’s not possible, you can’t do it and so on… believe in your dream and look forward!
The truth is that if we could have more social startups as Wise Greece, our world would be a better place!
http://www.wisegreece.com
