Leadership, Empathy & Evolving Forward — with Iro Tsakiri

Welcome to the first episode of the new year and the opening of Season Two of the EMBR.ACE Education Podcast a space where leadership, wellbeing, and the human side of education and work come together.

We begin this new cycle with a powerful conversation on leadership not as a title, but as a lived, evolving practice.

In this episode, Effie Kyrikakis sits down with Iro Tsakiri, a leader in the innovation and startup ecosystem and a key figure at Starttech Adventures, to explore what it truly means to grow as a leader in today’s complex world.

Together, they reflect on questions that go beyond strategy and success:

• What does it really mean to evolve as a leader?

• How do mentors shape or challenge our path?

• How do we define success beyond numbers and outcomes?

• What criteria guide meaningful initiatives and team decisions?

• Why is empathy not a “soft skill” but a core leadership strength?

• How does formal education compare to the reality of leadership today?

• And how can education better support young people in the future?

This episode bridges business, education, leadership, and humanity, offering thoughtful insights for educators, leaders, founders, and anyone shaping people and systems.

It’s an invitation to rethink leadership as presence, responsibility, and conscious growth, especially at a time when empathy and clarity matter more than ever.

🎧 Listen on Spotify or watch on YouTube and step into the new season of EMBR.ACE Education.

EMBR.ACE Play — Midlife as a Creative Reset

Wellbeing, Learning Power & Reinvention in Education

Welcome back to the EMBR.ACE Education Podcast, where we explore wellbeing, innovation, and the human side of education.

This episode is our Play Week, the closing moment of our monthly cycle, where reflection meets celebration and learning becomes an invitation to move forward.

This time, we’re playing with a powerful idea:

What if midlife isn’t a crisis, but a creative reset?

Throughout this month, we’ve explored maturing as educators and the subtle ways age shapes how we see our value and possibilities. In today’s EMBR.ACE Play episode, the focus turns inward.

Grounded in neuroscience, wellbeing research, and educator development, this episode explores:

• Why the “midlife dip” is a natural developmental curve, not a failure

• How novelty and learning support brain health, motivation, and wellbeing

• Why educators often seek experimentation and renewal mid-career

• How NeuroLearningPower reframes reinvention as brain-based growth

• The role of diversification, mentorship, and curiosity in sustaining purpose

This episode invites educators to see reinvention not as starting over, but as starting again with greater awareness, depth, and creativity.

🎧 Listen on Spotify or watch on YouTube and join the EMBR.ACE Education community in reimagining growth, wellbeing, and lifelong learning.

Dedication, Creativity, and Wonder in Education

Welcome to the new season of the EMBR.ACE Education Podcast, a podcast dedicated to educator wellbeing, learning, leadership, and lifelong growth.

This episode marks the beginning of a new monthly mini-series format, designed to slow down the conversation and go deeper into the themes that truly matter in education today.

🎧 About This Episode

In this NeuroLearningPower Reflection, host Effie Kyrikakis explores one of the most overlooked topics in education:

the fear of age and how social narratives shape educator identity, confidence, and wellbeing.

Education often celebrates innovation, speed, and youth but what happens when experience is misunderstood as decline?

Through a neuroscience-informed and reflective lens, this episode examines:

• Ageism in education and the hidden social schemas around aging

• How internalized beliefs about age affect creativity, confidence, and professional wellbeing

• Why experience creates richer neural connections, empathy, and pattern recognition

• How curiosity keeps educators relevant across generations

• The role of mentorship, reflection, and purpose in sustaining vitality

• Why relevance in education deepens through connection, not novelty

Drawing inspiration from a lifetime of dedication to teaching and learning, this episode reframes age as a creative asset, not a limitation and invites educators to reconnect with curiosity, wonder, and meaning at every stage of their career.

🌱 Why This Episode Matters

If you are an educator, school leader, coach, or lifelong learner navigating change, reinvention, or questions about relevance, this episode offers both clarity and compassion.

It’s an invitation to rewrite the story of aging in education, from fear to depth, from pressure to purpose.

🎧 Listen now on Spotify or watch on YouTube

and join the EMBR.ACE Education community in creating a healthier, more human future for education.

“Dedication, Creativity, and Wonder: A Life in the English Language World with Anastasia Spyropoulou”

In the first episode of our brand-new EMBRA.CE Education podcast cycle, I have the special honour of hosting a truly remarkable guest: Anastasia Spyropoulou, a woman whose journey has shaped and supported the English Language Teaching community for decades.

Anastasia began her career as an English teacher almost by accident, a story she shares with humour and honesty in our conversation. At a time when language learning was rapidly evolving, she recognized a gap in how educators connected and collaborated. This insight led her, together with her husband, to create ELT News, a publication that soon became an essential resource for teachers and school owners across Greece and beyond.

Through the years, Anastasia has worn many hats:

teacher, mother of two, editor, entrepreneur, community builder, and mentor to countless educators. Today, with the same passion and curiosity that sparked her early steps, she continues to teach, innovate, and inspire.

This episode is a celebration of creativity, dedication, and the magic of being an educator, told through the voice of a woman who has given so much to our field.

In this episode of the EMBR.ACE Education Podcast, we welcome Christina Bakopoulou, General Manager of Burlington Books Greece, where she leads one of the country’s largest English-language education publishers.

Before stepping into leadership, Christina spent 17 years teaching in the private sector, an experience that continues to shape the heart of her work today. As an advocate for educator and women’s wellbeing, she has become a driving force for positive change, building bridges between leadership, community, and care.

Through Burlington Books’ social responsibility initiatives and collaborations, Christina promotes projects that strengthen professional wellbeing, empowerment, and inclusion across the language education ecosystem from EmpowerEd to NeuroLearningPower.

In this conversation, we explore:

• The unique challenges women in education leadership face in protecting their own wellbeing

• Where leaders draw strength when things get tough, personally and professionally

• How educator wellbeing is shaping the future of language education

• And why caring for teachers’ wellbeing isn’t just “nice to have” it’s essential for quality education and sustainable leadership.

This episode is an invitation to rethink leadership through the lens of humanity, empathy, and connection and to remember that when we take care of educators, we take care of education itself.

In this episode of the EMBR.ACE Education Podcast, we sit down with Chrysanthi Polyzogopoulou, founder of italianonline.io a passionate and creative educator who is reshaping the way we think about language learning. For Chrysanthi, teaching is not just about mastering grammar or vocabulary; it’s about cultivating a space where joy, connection, and self-expression can flourish.

Our conversation explores the deeper meaning of wellbeing in education not as a luxury, but as a foundation for creativity, curiosity, and meaningful learning. Chrysanthi shares her reflections on what it truly means to care for oneself as an educator, how to sustain creativity in a demanding profession, and the ways her platform italianonline has deepened her understanding of how wellbeing transforms both teaching and learning.

From practical insights to heartfelt reflections, this episode invites you to pause and rethink your relationship with your craft, your classroom, and yourself. Because when teachers thrive, learning becomes an act of shared humanity, not just a transfer of knowledge.

Join us as we embrace the art of teaching with purpose, presence, and joy.

In this episode, Effie welcomes Faye Sotiriou—an internationally certified Educational Coach (CEC), Accredited Leader-Coach in Women Empowerment, and experienced educator with over 25 years of teaching across multilingual contexts. She currently teaches Life Coaching at the University of Athens, mentors through Women On Top, and leads her own seminars on soft skills, excellence in teaching, and personal development. Faye is also known for her unique 3R approach (ReTeach, ReCoach, ReLearn), designed to help educators grow, reframe, and thrive.

✨ Together, Effie and Faye explore some of the most timely and essential themes in education today:

• Creativity & Critical Thinking – Why these skills are the heart of meaningful teaching and learning, and how educators can nurture them.

• AI & Creativity – How technology can boost creativity rather than replace the human element in teaching and learning.

• Well-Being as the Foundation – Why educator and student well-being must come first in order for creativity to truly flourish.

• Peer Support & Connection – How building supportive professional networks helps teachers sustain balance, inspiration, and resilience.

This episode is a rich conversation filled with insights, inspiration, and practical strategies for educators who want to cultivate creativity while staying grounded in well-being. 🌱

🎧 Listen now and let yourself be inspired by Faye’s wisdom and passion for human-centered education.

In this episode of the EMBR.ACE Education Podcast, Effie sits down with Agnes Mariakaki, MA in Organisational Psychology, trauma recovery specialist (in collaboration with the University of Alberta), and expert in non-verbal communication. With a long-standing background as an educator and her current role leading a company applying psychology to business research, Agnes brings a unique perspective at the crossroads of education, psychology, and resilience.

Together, we explore:

✨ How teachers can adapt to the ever-changing world of education and life

✨ Practical tools to prevent burnout, including a simple “emergency kit” for educators

✨ The power of peer support in sustaining well-being

✨ Personal stories and strategies from Agnes’s work with teenage students

This conversation blends science, practice, and heartfelt experience, offering educators and leaders a toolkit for resilience and thriving.