Crew member Highlight: Athena, our Greek customer guide lost in the Atlantic islands

YITH is dispersed in different parts of the world, especially Spain, Italy and Argentina. We are an international team and very proud of being able to share cultures, languages and working hours together.   

This month’s crew member is Athena, a Greek girl who has been living in the ‘Islas Afortunadas’ (Canary Islands) for a few years. She works on different tasks within YITH: pre-sales customer support, plugin/web translations, marketing tasks and more.   

She started working at YITH in 2019 and from the very first day her colleagues made her feel right at home, as she mentions:   

It’s true that some YITH members have been here since day 1, that is at least 10 years now. This has never meant for newer members that we value less, which is something amazing! My colleagues have a special place in my heart as they made me feel like a part of the YITH family from the very start. Both Spanish and Italian teams maintain this close bond throughout the years or distance. This is of course one of the reasons we value team building trips as much as we do. The feeling of belonging is a basic moral core of YITH workers and company members. I feel lucky to be part of it! 

One of her fundamental tasks is to attend on customers and this can sometimes be a challenge.   

Well, difficult customers work as a reminder to not rest on your laurels basically and try to do and be better. It also forces you to cultivate patience and understanding to provide optimum support. 

The great results she has achieved at YITH along with her colleagues come from lots of hard work. Working as a team requires a lot of coordination.   

First and foremost it’s necessary that you have a plan or a guideline which to follow so that you make sure every detail is covered. Without organization it’s easy to lose track of what has been completed and what not, and quite possible to obtain a messy outcome. So my advice is to prepare your first steps and continue based on those. As the saying goes; to reach a goal, shape the path! 

Attending physical events is another of Athena’s favourite experiences.   

WordCamps for me keep a special place in my heart! I’ve been to 4 so far and each experience has been unique in its own way. Networking, promoting and sharing what YITH is all about is a great passion of mine so whenever a WordCamp ends, I can’t help but think about the next one! 

In fact, Athena was able to discover first-hand, during WordCamp Europe 2022 in Portugal, that next year’s event location will be in Athens, her hometown.   

I would love to be there and I intend to since I’m Greek myself! It would be very special to me to share with my colleagues my city and its marvellous historic sights, and of course do some networking during the event in my mother tongue, which would also be a new experience for me! 

Athena has been living in Tenerife for four years, where she settled after studying Spanish Philology in Athens, but she was actually born on the island of Zante (Greece). A curious soul who, as you can imagine, loves to travel. Although her hobbies also include yoga, fashion and literature. 

I would like to go to Bali, Thailand for a yoga teacher training that lasts about a month. Then I also intend on doing my masters at the university of La Laguna in Tenerife, in Conference Interpreting. I have many future plans, these are the closest ones! 

Athena wishes to never stop evolving and reach her greatest potential as a person. And, of course, to be blessed to accomplish all her dreams. You might be surprised to learn an interesting fact about her too: this year she will be starting flamenco lessons! To pursue your dreams takes, among other things, courage as she says:  

Courage is not the absence of fear, it is being afraid, but doing it anyway. Be scared, be courageous, be both, because it’s better than doing nothing at all. 

And with this great advice we come to a conclusion. But not without first giving a definition of YITH in her own words:  

YITH to me means growth, understanding and team spirit! It’s truly inspiring to experience first-hand the company’s development. 

Find more stories like this one about our team here.