The Search

There are moments in life when you wonder if you’re following the right path. Moments when you look back and see a series of choices – some conscious, others dictated by circumstances – that brought you to where you are. My story is not the classic “from the bottom to the top” narrative. It’s something more honest. It’s the story of a person trying to find his place in a world that changes faster than you can adapt – and who realized that theory without practice is just words.

The First Steps

In 2009, when I entered the University of Macedonia to study Continuing Education, I had no idea what exactly I wanted to do with my life. I only knew that I was interested in the way people learn. How they understand information. How they change behaviors. How they evolve.

Adult education is a strange world. You’re not talking to children who absorb knowledge like sponges. You’re talking to people with prejudices, experiences, fears, and expectations. People who have heard promises before. Who have succeeded and failed before. Who seek not just knowledge, but meaning.

This fascinated me from the beginning – the storytelling of education. How you convey a message in a way that sticks. How you create connection. How you make something abstract become tangible.

I completed my undergraduate studies in 2013. I continued with a master’s degree in Adult Education at the same University, which I finished in 2015. Adult psychology. Teaching methodology. Educational management.

It was theoretically fascinating. But something was missing.

The First Realizations

In the spring semester of 2015, when I was helping as a Course Assistant in the course “Design and Implementation of Continuing Education and Training Programs,” something changed inside me. I was presenting modules on e-learning platforms, interactive educational media, electronic promotion methods.

And there I realized something critical: To teach something credibly, it’s not enough to know it theoretically. You have to have done it. To have lived it. To have failed and succeeded at it.

The students – most of them adults, with jobs and families – didn’t want academic theory. They wanted to know: “Have you done this? Did it work? Where did you get stuck? How did you overcome it?”

And I didn’t have answers. Not real ones. Not from personal experience.

This realization haunted me for years.

The Teaching Years

From 2012 to 2015 I taught at KEK SEVE SVVE of the Thessaloniki International Fair. Digital Marketing. E-Business. Social Media Strategy.

These were years of rapid evolution in the digital world. Facebook had just become mainstream for businesses. Instagram was starting. YouTube was changing the way we consume content.

The small and medium-sized businesses that came to my seminars were… surprised. Confused. Scared. They didn’t understand why they needed to be on social media. They didn’t know what to post. They didn’t grasp the value of digital storytelling.

And I, on the other hand, gave them frameworks. Strategies. Best practices from big brand case studies.

But every time they asked me “Have you done this for your own business?”, the answer was a sheepish “I’m working on it.”

I was the theorist teaching practice.

And I knew that wasn’t enough.

The MBA and the Theoretical Trap

In 2014-2015 I did an MBA at the University of East London (at the Greek branch). International Business. Marketing theory. Human resources management. Types of businesses.

It was theoretical. It was academic. It was… sterilized from the living reality of the Greek businesses I saw daily.

I was learning about brand identity and brand positioning, but when I saw local businesses in Thessaloniki struggling for visibility, I understood there was a huge gap between theory and application.

I completed the MBA with good grades and even more frameworks in my head.

But zero hands-on experience.

Zero real case studies from the battlefield.

Zero scars from failures that taught me more than any book.

The Wandering and the Search

In 2017-2018 I spent a year at REMAX as Team Administrator. Real estate. Team management. Sales.

There I learned something important: The best marketing strategy in the world means nothing if you don’t know how to implement it in real conditions, with real budget, with real deadlines.

The agents who succeeded weren’t necessarily the most knowledgeable about the market. They were those who knew how to sell a vision. How to show a client not the apartment, but the life they would live in that apartment.

Storytelling. Visual narrative. Emotional connection.

All the things I taught theoretically, I now saw working – or failing – in practice.

During the same period, I attended some lectures at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens on Labor Law. Pension schemes, social insurance, contractual rights.

Useful for personnel management. But still theoretical.

I felt like I was collecting tools without using them.

The Return to the Roots

In 2018 I started as a Business Strategist at Generation Y – International e-Business Experts. For seven years now, this has been my main professional identity.

I returned to digital. To e-business. To innovation.

But this time with a different perspective. I was no longer the theoretical professor teaching concepts. I was the strategist who had to find solutions to real business problems.

And the problem was always the same: How do you stand out in a saturated digital world?

The businesses I worked with had good products. They had passion. They had stories. But they didn’t know how to convey them to the digital world in a way that left an imprint.

We created strategies for them. Social media plans. SEO optimization. Content calendars.

And many times they worked. But many times they didn’t.

And every time something didn’t work, the client looked at me and said: “But you told me this was best practice.”

And they were right. I had told them. Because I had read it in some case study of Coca-Cola or Nike.

But I hadn’t tried it myself on a small Greek business with a €500/month budget.

The Parallel Path and the Realization

From 2017 until today I write as a Contributing Author at epixeiro.gr. Articles about digital marketing, entrepreneurship, innovation.

Through writing, I studied trends. I saw what works in the market. What changes. What’s coming.

I wrote about SEO strategies. About social media algorithms. About visual content marketing. About AI integration.

And every time I hit “Publish,” a little voice inside me said: “The things you write… have you done them all?”

The answer was “no.”

And that’s when I understood something had to change.

I couldn’t continue teaching digital marketing strategies without having my own digital project.

I couldn’t advise businesses about brand visibility without having tested my methods in real conditions.

I couldn’t write about innovation without having innovated something myself.

I needed a laboratory. A testing ground. A project where I could apply – and fail, and learn, and improve – all the strategies I taught.

The Birth of the Laboratory

Stickers.com.gr wasn’t born from entrepreneurial inspiration to become a sticker mogul.

It was born from the need to prove – first and foremost to myself – that what I taught worked in practice.

I thought: What does today’s Greek digital world need?

Brand visibility at low cost. Shareability. Engagement. Measurable results.

And what better way to test it than custom animated GIF stickers that appear in the official libraries of Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, WhatsApp?

But stickers.com.gr was something more than a service. It was my own proof of concept.

I would apply:

• SEO strategies I taught
• Social media marketing I advised on
• Visual content creation I wrote about
• AI integration I studied
• Customer journey mapping I designed for clients
• Pricing psychology I analyzed in articles
• Fast-paced teaching methods I had developed in my master’s studies

Everything. In one project. With my own hands.

The Real Learning

And that’s where my real education began.

I didn’t need to become an expert animator. I needed to understand what makes a visual asset effective. How the GIPHY algorithm works. What users search for. How user behavior works in Stories.

I learned the basics of animation – not at a level where Pixar would hire me, but enough to understand what can and cannot be done, how much time is needed, what the bottlenecks are.

I collaborated with freelancers for more complex work, but always with my own strategic direction – because I now knew what I wanted to achieve and why.

I built a system: From the initial concept meeting with the client, to storyboard, to production, to integration with AI tools for faster workflow, all the way to final publishing on all platforms.

I studied the requirements of each platform. The technical specs. The algorithms.

I did A/B testing on different styles.

I learned which search terms work.

I learned how to onboard a client who has no idea what a GIF is.

I learned how to handle unlimited revisions without losing my patience.

I learned how to do pricing that’s profitable yet affordable.

I learned – truly learned – what it means to run a digital service business.

The Real Battles

There were failures.

Campaigns that didn’t bring the expected engagement.

Stickers I created that no one used.

SEO strategies that didn’t work as I expected.

Clients who never understood the value.

Deadlines I missed.

Nights when the laptop stayed open until 4 AM because something wasn’t working.

But every failure was a lesson that no MBA would teach me.

Every problem I solved became a case study I could share with my students.

Every success – however small – was confirmation that the theories I taught did indeed work, if applied correctly.

The Validation

And something impressive happened.

The project worked.

With the minimal time I had to dedicate – because I continued to be a full-time Business Strategist at Generation Y – the client flow was satisfactory.

Not explosive. Not a viral success story.

But stable. Consistent. Profitable.

Brands were using the stickers I created. People were sharing them. The results were measurable.

Stickers.com.gr remains to this day as a side project that gives me extra income.

But that was never the real goal.

The Real Advantage

The real advantage of stickers.com.gr was this:

Now, when I sit across from a client as a Business Strategist, I don’t tell them theories.

I tell them: “I did this. It worked. And here are the numbers.”

When I write an article for epixeiro.gr about visual content marketing, I don’t rely on Coca-Cola case studies.

I rely on my own project. My own results. My own mistakes.

When I teach an online course about digital strategy, I don’t start with slides.

I start with: “Here’s what I learned when I tried to make stickers.com.gr work with zero budget for advertising.”

And people feel it.

They feel the difference between someone who read about something and someone who lived it.

The Evolution of Teaching

I continued to offer courses – no longer at KEK, but online, personalized, with modern fast-paced methods that meet the needs of today’s professionals.

I teach:

• Digital Marketing Strategy – with real case studies from stickers.com.gr
• SEO for Visual Content – with details on how I managed to reach top rankings
• AI Tools Integration – with the actual tools I use daily
• Business Model Design – with experience from building a profitable service from scratch
• Customer Journey Mapping – with insights from real clients

But now every lesson has this extra layer: “And here’s what I learned when I applied it.”

The certification from EOPPEP I hold from my graduate studies gives me legitimacy.

But what makes me an effective teacher is no longer the title.

It’s that I have done what I teach.

The Next Phase: Taking on Complete Strategies

Stickers.com.gr gave me something invaluable: Credibility.

Not the credibility that comes from an MBA title.

But the credibility that comes from “I did it and it worked.”

And that opened a new door.

Businesses started approaching me not for a sticker package, but for something much bigger:

“Can you take over our digital marketing management?”

“Can you build us a comprehensive strategy from scratch?”

“Can you show us how to do what you did for your own project?”

And the answer, now, is a confident “yes.”

Because I’m no longer the consultant who gives frameworks from books.

I’m the strategist who has been through the fire. Who has tested SEO strategies in real-world scenarios with limited budgets. Who has found what works for small Greek businesses, not for Fortune 500 companies.

Who has created content calendars and implemented them himself.

Who has done customer service and knows how clients talk.

Who has managed budgets and timelines and expectations.

The Real Value Proposition

Today, the value I offer is not stickers.

The value I offer is comprehensive digital marketing strategy that has been tested in practice.

I can take over a business’s digital marketing from A to Z:

• Strategic Planning – based on real data from my own experience
• Content Strategy – knowing what works in the Greek market
• Visual Content Creation – with the infrastructure I’ve built
• SEO Implementation – with tested methods I’ve seen work
• Social Media Management – with hands-on experience on multiple platforms
• Analytics & Optimization – with knowledge of what metrics truly matter
• AI Integration – with the tools I use daily

But most importantly?

I can do all of this not as a theorist, but as someone who has done it for his own project.

Who has faced the same problems my client faces.

Who has found solutions that work in practice, not in PowerPoints.

Education as Extension

At the same time, I continue to educate.

Because there are businesses that don’t want to outsource their marketing to someone else. They want to learn to do it themselves.

And there, stickers.com.gr becomes the ultimate teaching tool.

I don’t give them theory. I show them: “Look how I did it.”

I show them my workflows. My tools. My mistakes. My successes.

I give them the roadmap I followed – and continue to improve – to build a profitable digital service from scratch.

And I see their eyes light up when they understand that what I’m teaching them is not theory. It’s battle-tested practice.

The Integration of AI

The last piece of the puzzle came in 2024: Artificial Intelligence.

And here, again, stickers.com.gr became my laboratory.

I didn’t just read articles about AI integration. I tested it.

Tools like Midjourney for concept visualization. Runway for animation assists. ChatGPT for scripting and customer communication optimization.

And every time I tested a new tool, I tested it on stickers.com.gr first.

I measured the results. I saw what saved time. What improved quality. What didn’t work at all.

And now, when I advise a client about AI integration in their marketing, I don’t tell them “you could try this.”

I tell them: “I tested it. It reduced production time by 40%. But watch out for X and Y, because that’s where I got stuck.”

That’s the value I offer.

Where I Am Now

I’m at the threshold.

Stickers.com.gr works. It’s profitable. It’s the proof of concept I needed.

But it’s not the final goal.

The final goal is to help other businesses achieve their own goals.

Either through education – showing them how to do it themselves.

Or directly – taking over the management of their digital marketing.

I have the experience – 7 years as a Business Strategist, 8 years writing about digital trends, years teaching, and most importantly: years doing.

I have the vision – to make professional digital marketing accessible and understandable to every small business in Greece.

I have the strategic mind – to know what works, why it works, and how to apply it in different contexts.

And I have the most important thing: The hands-on experience that makes me credible.

The Next Business I’ll Help

Somewhere out there, there’s a business that’s struggling.

It has a good product. It has passion. It has vision.

But it doesn’t know how to translate that into a digital presence that brings results.

It has heard about SEO but doesn’t know where to start.

It has heard about social media marketing but feels overwhelmed.

It has heard about AI tools but doesn’t understand how to use them.

That business needs someone who:

• Won’t talk to them with jargon and buzzwords
• Won’t sell them theories from MBA books
• Won’t give them a generic template
• But will tell them: “I’ve done it. I know where you’ll get stuck. And I know how to overcome it.”

That business is my next client.

And I’m ready.

The Vision Continues

I haven’t “arrived.”

There’s no finish line in this journey.

But for the first time in my life, I’m not the professor who teaches from theory.

I’m the practitioner who teaches from experience.

I’m not the consultant who gives advice from others’ case studies.

I’m the strategist who has his own case studies.

I’m not the theorist who says “this should work.”

I’m the professional who says “this worked – and here’s why.”

Every day, stickers.com.gr teaches me something new.

Every new client is a new experiment.

Every new project is an opportunity to improve my methods.

And all these lessons become value I can offer to the next business that trusts me with their strategy.

The Proposal

If you’re an entrepreneur reading this, my message is simple:

You don’t need someone with another MBA title who will tell you what Apple does.

You need someone who has created something from scratch. Who has gone through the problems you face. Who has found solutions that work in Greek conditions, with Greek budgets, for Greek audiences.

I can help you:

• Build a comprehensive digital marketing strategy from scratch
• Implement tested tactics that work
• Integrate AI tools that will save you time and money
• Measure results and continuously optimize
• Or learn to do all of this yourself

Not with theory.

With practice.

With experience.

With the credibility of someone who has done what they promise.

The Story Continues

Tomorrow I’ll wake up and continue.

I’ll improve something on stickers.com.gr. I’ll test a new AI tool. I’ll write an article for epixeiro.gr. I’ll teach a course. I’ll help a client improve their strategy.

And all of this will make me a bit more qualified to help the next business.

Every day is a new opportunity to learn something that will make me a better strategist.

Every challenge is a new case study I’ll share with my students.

Every success – however small – is confirmation that my philosophy works: You can’t teach what you haven’t done.

The Last Piece of the Puzzle

I know what’s missing.

It’s not knowledge. It’s not experience. It’s not vision.

What’s missing is the next business that will say: “I trust you. Take over my strategy.”

And when that happens – and it’s already happening with increasing frequency – I’ll be ready.

Not with theories.

Not with promises.

But with a track record from a project that works.

With a portfolio of results that can be measured.

With the confidence of someone who has been through the fire and learned not just to survive, but to thrive.

This is my story.

Not the story of someone who has achieved everything.

But the story of someone who has done – truly done – what they promise.

And who is ready to help your business do the same.

The next successful strategy I implement could be yours.