Inspiration Spotlight
Hello everyone! Today, I am starting a new blog series called “Inspiration Spotlight” which will highlight the people in my life. All of which, I know personally. People who have inspired me and others around them!
There is a saying, that you are most like the 5 people you spend the most time with. This always hit home for me, as I moved through my life and became more aware of who I was actually spending time with. Personally, this isn’t about someone who is the most successful, or has fancy things; instead it is about someone who is humble, kind, resilient, and knows they are human just like anyone else.
The first person to be in the Inspiration Spotlight is…
DIMITRIOS BOUFIDIS
Dimitrios and I met back in University, in West Philadelphia!
This is what I can tell you about Dimitrios: he always has a smile on his face. This man would walk around campus and you’d never know if he was having a bad day. He was always encouraging, often the life of the party. He would even get my uptight self to have some fun once in awhile! If ANYONE, and I sincerely mean anyone needed help, he was there – whether it be to carry something or just someone to talk to. If I remember correctly, we had a handful of classes together.
Dimitrios was always on-time, ready to go, energized and fully present. (Yes folks, he was the group member you WANTED on your team). In one class, we had to have a healthy debate, and I remember how well he was able to present his point… this particular one was well before Teams, or Zoom, and the debate was around whether Instant Messenger apps should be ‘allowed’ in the workplace. Wow have things changed. In any case, I remember Dimitri’s point specifically, that these types of messaging apps could help build relationships and make communication quicker.
I mention this because, after randomly running into Dimitri in Philadelphia in the fall of last year; I realized his ability to make you feel comfortable, and welcome still hasn’t gone away. Something I probably didn’t really realize back in undergrad, but now is one of the biggest character traits I look for in someone!
After running into one another, we decided to catch-up, both of us have quite the schedules, but in the beginning of February we finally were able to set time aside to do this! Eventually, I’d like to record an interview with him to share with you all and we will get to that one day. Our conversation surrounded:
- Building relationships for the long haul, not just for what you need in the moment
- Being authentic, showing who you really are, which gains trust
- Staying open and leaning into another person’s ‘world’
- Being curious always, which breaks down assumptions and walls
- Really truly listening to others, to find the between the lines message
- Seeing things from all sides, to ensure the solution fits well for everyone
In the mean time, feel free to reach out to Dimitrios, he runs a company in Greater Philadelphia focused on government affairs and strategic growth, has a beautiful wife (who I hope to meet someday soon!) and two children. You can find more information about his company here: www.strategyworkroom.com