An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Surround yourself with gritty people. Who you choose to be around, matters. Surround yourself with people who have the strength, resiliency, and ability to keep going. To nudge you when you need it.
As a part of my series about “Grit: The Most Overlooked Ingredient of Success” I had the pleasure of interviewing Amy Goldberg; The Amy G Experience.
Amy Goldberg is an entrepreneur [Well-Being Advocate. Creative. Producer. Author. Speaker. Writer] — not necessarily in that order. Her book; BE YOUR TRUTH shows readers how to be their authentic selves — and Amy say’s; “It’s not easy”.
She is the founder/CEO of The Amy G Experience; showing people where the opportunities are in business, then making them happen. Amy challenges thinking by helping people to think differently. She focuses on identifying, creating, and actioning life, deliberately and on purpose. She can be found producing, creating, consulting, speaking, teaching, strategizing, and collaborating for positive results.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what events have drawn you to this specific career path?
Mostly a lot of trial and error as I explored the various business sectors that I was drawn toward. Some were based on what I was exposed to as a kid, and it seemed kinda cool, and others looked interesting to me. The one common thread was that I needed to be creative. I needed the freedom and flexibility to create something. Very early on I realized that it wouldn’t be something where I couldn’t see the fruits of my labour, or the result of my efforts. I needed to know that I was making a difference in some way. Producing, something. Hence my desire to become a creative producer.
Can you share your story about “Grit and Success”? First can you tell us a story about the hard times that you faced when you first started your journey?
My journey started (in a way) with feeling isolated. Isolated in the idea that I wanted to trail blaze (although I had no idea I was at the time). I know I wasn’t going to follow others. Which made my decisions even more confusing and difficult because I felt alone. Starting out I made the decision to see the world and expand my understanding of life as a way of honing my skills — if that makes sense. It worked. Again, I didn’t know it at the time as I was afraid to set out. The fear of the unknown. The risks. The time I’d spend away. It paid off. My travels allowed me to take on initiatives that I’d otherwise not entertain. I felt free to be as creative as possible. To be open to meeting people and experiencing life. If I had listened to those that kept saying, “Don’t go,” I have no idea where I’d be today.
Where did you get the drive to continue even though things were so hard?
There’s nothing like travelling to quickly understand what you’re made of. What you’re capable of doing. Even when I questioned my journey, I knew it would build my strength and resiliency. I kept going not only because I was travelling to various countries, but because I thrived on working through the tough stuff so that I could get to what mattered. What mattered was that I was getting better at failing and getting back up on my feet — to the point where the failures where just as important as the successes. What I learned was empowering. The hard, wasn’t as hard as I imagined it.
So how did Grit lead to your eventual success? How did Grit turn things around?
Grit. As defined as courage and resolve, strength of character. But do we really know what we’re made of if we are to embody this very meaning? So, what had to happen for me to even realize that I had GRIT was better understand how I chose to handle every situation. The ups, downs, and everything in between.
I’d ask myself — Who do I lean on? And I hoped my answer would be, me. As an entrepreneur I live and breathe GRIT daily. I may not realize that I, in fact am, and yet I know it’s something I experience given the experiences that I’ve had (and have).
In knowing this, I continually rely on myself and the actions I decide to take to be successful. My success has been primarily based on my foundation of those failures. Failure taught me very quickly that I needed to press on. It allowed me to not get so hung up on things. Nothing was that precious where I couldn’t just shift a few things around.
Based on your experience, can you share 5 pieces of advice about how one can develop Grit? (Please share a story or example for each)
- Pursue your interests. Find something that excites you. Make sure you tap into the things that excite you. That give you energy. You’ll ‘feel’ it before you ‘think’ it. Alternatively, you quickly know what doesn’t excite you. You’ll develop Grit to keep going when you love (like) what you’re pursuing.
- Get a little bit better every day. Keep honing your skills. Do whatever it is that you want to succeed at, a little bit every single day. You’ll start to see how much better you’ll become.
- Connect to a higher purpose. You need to get to a place where you’re connecting to something bigger than yourself. Something that’s more meaningful. Connecting to a higher purpose helps tremendously to develop Grit because you tend to keep going.
- Cultivate hope. Optimism is important to grasp. The idea that you have hope. You don’t always have to be positive, and yet you do need to feel optimistic that things will work out one way or another.
- Surround yourself with gritty people. Who you choose to be around, matters. Surround yourself with people who have the strength, resiliency, and ability to keep going. To nudge you when you need it.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped you when things were tough? Can you share a story about that?
One person who immediately comes to mind is my father. He was the one who quietly encouraged and motivated me to strive for more. He was wise and thoughtful. His calm presence had a significant impact on my life. It gave me the ability to listen more. To stay curious and ask questions. To view the world more wholeheartedly. His strength came from Grit. His wisdom was in the silence. He was a remarkable influence on my life.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
Most everything that I do is shaped by my need to bring kindness to the world. Kindness in how we treat ourselves and others. I donate quite a bit of my time sharing what I’ve learned to help others thrive. To help others get out of their own way and moving toward what is nurturing, healing and empowering.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?
I’m producing a new series that speaks to resiliency and mental well-being. It came about due to the pandemic. It was evident that people were struggling with the unknown and therefore I felt we needed to talk about it. Expand upon the pain and why we feel so isolated. What transpired was a 13-part series that will be coming sometime in 2022.
What advice would you give to other executives or founders to help their employees to thrive?
Decrease stress and burn out by leading with compassion. Compassion helps to dissolve fear. Communicating effectively, openly, and honestly. Being transparent in your actions. Lead with kindness. People thrive in environments where they feel encouraged, supported and empowered.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
A kinder world where people are free to live their lives. This is directly related to compassion and the need to better understand one another. If we were more compassionate, we’d be more understanding of ourselves and others. That’s what the world needs now.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“Hang in until luck squeezes in.” As first told to me by my older brother. It’s my all-time favorite quote. There is always an element of luck somewhere. Being at the right place, at the right time. A chance meeting. An open mind that expands your thinking and opportunities. There’s so much to this quote that rings true. It’s also inspiring as it motivates me to keep going and growing.
How can our readers follow you on social media?
Instagram: @theamygexperience
Twiiter: @amygrocks
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amy-goldberg-95504862/
Website: www.theamygexperience.com
Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational.
Amy Goldberg Of The Amy G Experience: Five Ways To Develop More ‘Grit’ was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
