Eastern Innovation fuels Despina’s pursuit of excellence
Published on 08 December 2021
Tourism and small business education champion Despina Karatzias describes Eastern Innovation in Mulgrave as a “community full of energy” and a place she’s thrilled to operate her dynamic business from.
Despina is the founder of Institute of Excellence, which provides tourism and small business-focused digital marketing courses.
Right now, she is working with the team at Navii and Tourism Tribe, where she’s Chief Navigator and General Manager, leading her team to grow educational programs for small businesses to leverage digital technology. She is also a certified trainer and assessor, teaching the Diploma of Social Media Marketing and Certified Digital Marketing Professional at Monarch Institute.
Despina’s expertise in and passion for tourism and small business growth has been particularly useful for small business and tourism operators during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I see what I am doing, when educating small businesses, is as much about not giving up as it is embracing digital to work out other ways that they can create opportunities for themselves,” she said.
Despina said the key right now is for tourism operators and all small businesses to access resources, to create their own roadmap and prepare for reopening.
“They’ll need to handle the pent-up demand that is coming from people who want to travel because they haven’t been able to for so long,” she said.
Despina joked that she’d worked from so many coffee shops and tried city-based co-working environments far from her home in Melbourne’s south-east, before discovering Eastern Innovation.
“I love that Eastern Innovation is central to home so I can still make school pick-up and drop-off and I'm not wasting any more precious time in traffic, travelling into the city,” she said.
“My work with Navii means I’ve been able to take on a team member and, being based at Eastern Innovation, I have space to grow.
“There’s always ample parking for guests and clients and it's a beautiful, funky space, which aligns with my brand. I'm proud for people to come and visit me there.”
Despina, who describes herself as a “people person”, said she needs the energy of others around her for inspiration and connection and that’s why she’s so happy at Eastern Innovation.
“I found my own tribe at Eastern innovation and I just love it, ” she said.
For more information got to Eastern Innovation