Maria Zarotiadou grew up in Athens, Greece but decided to study abroad in the UK against her parents' wishes. After obtaining degrees in business administration and marketing, she struggled to find work in Greece for two years until securing an internship with a political party. However, as a woman, she faced barriers and had to work harder to prove herself. She eventually decided to become a business coach specializing in female executives and social enterprises to make her services accessible to more women. Currently, she is working on partnerships and a book focused on gender coaching and mentoring to help as many women as possible.

1. My story
By Maria Zarotiadou

2. Hello!
My name is Maria Zarotiadou, I am a Business Coach and this is my
story in 10 minutes. Sounds intimidating but hopefully I will manage
to do it!

3. I was born and raised in Athens, Greece and my childhood was happy and fun,
if you exclude my bother beating me up every single day. I finished high-school
and decided to study abroad, in the UK. My parents had a different idea
though. They pictured me in Greece, studying Greek philosophy and still living
in Athens.

4. I thought otherwise and at the age of 18, I secretly made my research on UK Education
(without Google if you can imagine!), applied to three universities and managed to get
accepted in all of them. By late August of that year, I had to tell them;
I studied Business Administration as a BA in the UK Midlands and my MSc was in
Marketing in Scotland. I then returned to Greece and decided to do my PhD on
Strategic Marketing Applications via long-distance.

5. And the job-hunt began! Despite my good spirits, my excellent
grades and my meticulous CV preparation, I could not get a job, can
you imagine that?? I lost track of the interviews I went, of the CVs I
sent and the tears I shed during that time.

6. Finally, after 2 years of being unemployed and miserable (and having
a cheating boyfriend, but that’s a whole different story!), I found an
internship at a political office of the New Democracy party.

7. The internship went really well, I had broken up with the cheating boyfriend
and found a better one (he is not cheating, Thank God!) I was doing my best
but as I had studied, my main fault was my gender. I was a woman. I was a
qualified woman but nevertheless a woman.

8. I made coffees, I answered phones, and I took down messages but nothing more. I had to spend 5 years
trying to prove that I was worth their trust in order for them to let me implement my knowledge for
their own benefit. I handled 2 Municipal and 3 National Elections, 2 European Elections successfully
and yet somehow I always ended up with a male ‘’supervisor’’ double-checking my decisions only to
accept them as the ones that would actually work.

9. So, I woke up one day and I didn’t want to work. So simple. I took
the day off, I stayed at home all day in my pajamas and thought to
myself over and over again ‘’ the economy is bad, you can’t quit.
What can you do? This is a rut. Search then’’. I researched all day
and by late afternoon I had given up. I decided then to check my
Facebook page (as we all do!) and I saw a post on the ‘’Women on
Top’’ group about coaches. More research again and by the end of
that day I found myself happy to know my next profession, excited
for the change but also stressed out about it as well. Changes are not
my forte.

11. Six months after that night I got my degree on Business Coaching
and I was still not satisfied, I wanted the diversification, I wanted the
element of ‘’wow, that’s new in Greece and only Maria does it!’’.

12. I looked for Business Coaching voids, for sectors not covered, took a
Social Enterprise seminar and I found out that female executives
struggled the most, wanted help and coaching but could not find a
specialized coach for that. I had found my specialty! But what about
women who will not be able to afford your services Maria? My
mother asked one day and the Social Enterprise seminar kicked in.

14. The collaboration with C3 (C3 enables Middle East emerging social
entrepreneurs to become active agents of positive social change by
leveraging experienced business professionals seeking meaningful
ways to give back.) was the first important step towards that
direction.

15. Nowadays I am trying to close the deal with GenderCC (a platform
for information, knowledge, and networking on gender and climate
change) and write my own book based on the knowledge and
experience I have acquired in the sector.

16. I am also planning motivational speeches and
seminars for gender coaching and mentoring.
Hopefully I will help as many women as possible
towards a better future.