We recently connected with Athena Golianis and have shared our conversation below.

Athena, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

What inspired you to start PINKK, which stands for Powerfully Inspiring: Networking, Knowledge & Kindness? PINKK is a kindness movement. We are in the business of kindness! My dream is to make the world a kinder better place by empowering and inspiring and creating abundance for women from all walks of life. I was taught that when you expand what you are capable of, everyone around you benefits. I was also taught, and I think we all know, that a key part of life is simply showing up, being present and wanting to be a part of something bigger that just our self.

There is a huge need both locally and globally to help women in all walks of life proactively, and I do not see that need changing. There is more need now than perhaps at any other time in the world. Those in “need” come in many shapes and forms. Dignity and respect are paramount.
In these newly challenging times and disruptive times (and even in times of great peace) we can all work together inclusively to better this world dynamic by being of service to one another. In doing so we can help other women (and all) in meaningful ways.

Getting at the truth/ reality now is becoming more difficult today as people are often driven by social or corporate agendas, by misinformation or through miscommunication. Sharing our personal stories of home and giving hope to others makes the world better.

I want a paradigm shift. No small undertaking. I know. But it must start somewhere, and a grass roots approach is a very good way to start.
It is time to rally, unite and inform. We can use our collective power to create and give. The internet and social media allow for more transparency and for those of us who can hear the beckoning call of a better world…to create advocacy groups more readily.

Know that:
It is a transformational time for us.
We all want to make the world better.
Women are at the forefront of change.
We are leading the change to purpose.
We want to live our authentic personal purpose.
Supporting one another is key.

Athena, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Athena Golianis is Founder and President of AGW Idea Group, Inc. a dynamic marketing and branding agency she founded to serve her clients changing needs. She is also Founder and Creator of PINKK LLC, a mission-based organization launched in Q4 of 2018. As a marketer and consultant, she specializes in branding for companies of all sizes including reinvigorating and developing integrated marketing campaigns for venerable blue-chip brands, launching startups and supporting entrepreneurs and emerging brands. She is an innovative entrepreneur, storyteller, creative, experienced problem solver and integrated marketing communications leader & published author, with significant global advertising and marketing (CPG, Beauty, Food, Retail and Healthcare) experience.

She conducts workshops on brand building and personal branding nationally and has experience working with not for profits. She has been a member of Impact Grants since 2018.
She has recently done leadership talks and webinars, and podcasts on: The Five Ways to Tell a Brand Story Build-your-brand-story-with-athena-golianis
and The Power of Kindness in Navigating Change: real tools to lead and live by today and for a lifetime. Power of Kindness in Navigating Change

She welcomes the opportunity to help companies and brands (and all of you) to tell their stories. She believes that we all have a brand story to tell …. and we all may not look like our story. The way to be original and to make an impact is to tell your own story. True to her narrative she recently published a book in November 2019: Flying by the Seats of Their Skirts, Powerful Stories Centered in Kindness by Inspiring Women. We are proud to announce we are winner of the 2022 GOODY AWARD for WOMEN in BUSINESS for making a social impact.
available to buy on Amazon

PINKK™ is a mission-based and purpose driven organization, focused on helping women from all walks of life create and experience a kinder world. Her purpose through creation of PINKK™ (Powerfully Inspiring Networking & Knowledge with Kindness) is to help women tap into their real voices and provide resources so they can make healthy informed choices and live their best lives embracing a new paradigm shift she calls the “Female Renaissance.” https://comcastnewsmakers.com/Videos/2019/10/27/Athena-Golianis

Agency experience:
• Ogilvy & Mather, J. Walter Thompson, Bozell Worldwide, Havas ( formerly EURO RSCG and owner AGW Idea Group, Inc.
Client experience includes both retail and CPG brands in multi category and healthcare.
• Arthur Andersen & Co., Sears store, hardlines and soft lines/apparel, Beltone Electronics, ShopKo, Kraft Foods vertical brands and innovation, Wal-Mart, SAM’S Club, Sara Lee, Hillshire Farm, Midas, Unilver brands; TRESemme, VO5, VENeffect Beauty brands, The Secret, Diamond Bank (now Wintrust), Kiva Recovery, Dakota Beef, Citadel Healthcare, BreatheAmerica, Precision Healthcare, City of Chicago, Aspire Bakeries brands; Oakrun Farm Bakery, La Brea Bakery, Otis Spunkmeyer, La Francaise Bakery, Pennant and more

She has her Bachelor’s in Advertising and PR from Drake University School of Journalism, where she graduated magna cum laude. She has Master of Science in Advertising from the Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism. She currently resides in Chicago.
www.AGWideaGroup.com
www.pinkknow.com
www.linkedin.com/in/athena-golianis

How have you gotten to where you are today? Can you tell us a bit about your back story? .
On the personal level I had great role models albeit not traditional
I come from a long line of fiercely independent, strong, and compassionate women who were strong role models. But their world and their times were not easy. My mom was widowed becoming a single mom at the age of 28. She raised four kids on her own. She never remarried.
My grandmother was a survivor of domestic abuse and created her own successful business on her own. She was a “virtual marketing” genius before that was a thing and an “influencer” before that was a thing.
Those two could have changed the world and saved lives in my eyes and literally did so too – (my mom was a nurse). They inspired me to be and do whatever I wanted to be and make my own decisions and demonstrated that kindness begets kindness and they led by example.
I will always remember my grandma saying, “Don’t forget your roots. All else might change but do not forget your roots.” So true and I will not Grandma. She left us in 2018 just 37 days short of her 104th birthday.
To be sure there were many other mentors informal and formal and teachers one picks up along the way or they pick you up! Either way all good. Mentoring is so important! Being coachable is important too.

On the professional level – I always wanted to work in advertising since I was 16 (not that I really knew anything about that time other than the TV series Bewitched) but I loved the idea of creativity and business sharing space.
I focused my studies on doing just that and went to Northwestern to get my Master of Science in Advertising and that opened many doors!
My first agency job was @ Ogilvy & Mather where I really learned production when I worked on Sears. We made hundreds of TV and radio spots each year and I worked with some of the best creative and production folks in the industry.
I have had the gift of working @ great agencies like O&M, JWT, Euro RSCG (now Havas) and on brands like Kraft, Sara Lee, Wal- Mart, Sam’s Club, Midas, Alberto Culver/Unilever brands to name a few.
It was a magical time as we were allowed to create a lot of great advertising and tell some great brand stories together. I am still in awe of the amazing talent I was surrounded with and lucky enough to work with over the years. Life altering.

About my BOOK:
What drove you to write your book, Flying by the Seats of their Skirts? What’s it about and what can listeners take from it? Why did you decide to title the book that?

Story telling can change the world! There is no glory except through YOUR story. “Loving ourselves through the process of storytelling is the bravest thing we will ever do.” Brene Brown

The book contains powerful stories centered in kindness by inspiring women. The stories shared here in my book have a foundation in kindness.
In todays over busy world, when women are filling more professional and multipurpose roles than ever before, often there is not enough time to share our REAL personal stories – those stories that make us who we are and how we show up in the world. We don’t really get to hear about how other women see themselves or what they have gone through to get here today. There are so many social media channels with unrealistic snippets of “perfect” moment but not really meaningful stories being told by real women in real time. I wanted to change that. SO I did.
With the knowledge that the same challenges we all know exist will continue when good capable women do nothing, these stories break that mold. They are real, raw and powerful and there for all with great love and authenticity.
Words are powerful. In many religions and faith “ God “ speaks the world into existence. When we affirm ourselves, share ourselves or communicate with others through powerful words we can change things for the positive. How we speak about the future helps us blaze a path for others to discover and share even greater truths.
We begin with a select group of women who have come forth to create write and share their wisdom starting with the power of a… a single inspiring word. They are about topics like resiliency e, giving, hunger, passion, awakening, gratitude and more.

About the title of the book:
The phrase in this book’s title has it genesis in aviation, Flying by the seat of their pants…wait strike that SKIRTS, has it’s genesis in aviation. Why? In the early days of aircraft, pilots had no sophisticated navigation nor the ability to communicate with those on the ground. As the phrase caught on in popularity, it has come to mean staying present in the moment, not always being able to plan things out with great certainty but staying vigilant, agile and creative.
I believe this represents what so many of my female colleagues have experienced throughout their journey’s – moving from a place of passion and deep intuition women are often attributed to holding along with sprinkles of constant inspiration and of course tenacity! This is NOT about us as women obsessing about obstacles or difficulties that may disrupt our paths. Instead, we stay sharp, making smart decisions, but whenever necessary, shifting our trajectories on our life path as needed.
Take Amelia Mary Earheart, a great example of not only metaphorically flying but literally flying as well. In addition to being the first female aviator or to fly solo across the Atlantic she wrote bestselling books about her flying experience and was instrumental in the formation of the Ninety Nines an organization for female pilots. She believed that kindness begets kindness and that was part of her brand story. She is just one female icon in a long lineage of powerful women whose stories interwoven with kindness need to be shared and that is WHY this book came to be.

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Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

A powerful brand and brand story. A brand IS storytelling. A story is what inspires and motivates. Brand story telling is all about TRUST and relationship building and authenticity. The brand with the most momentum wins and stories transform customers into advocates. There are two levers to transform customers into advocates. Branding and Marketing. We start with the brand story. You need to build a brand before you market. Remember every PRODUCT at some point was a start up and then they told their brand story.
Jeff Bezos is widely quoted as saying, “Your brand is what other people say about you when you’re not in the room,” (I don’t know if he actually ever said this, but let’s not ruin a good story).
Why is personal branding important to do? What are the benefits of building a strong personal brand?
A personal brand is the way you want people to perceive, think and feel about you in relation to others. You already have a personal brand but is it what you want it to be? There is your current brand perception and then your desired brand perception. I believe that people are just like brands. Think for a moment of the brands that have earned your trust and loyalty. . Maybe you have even traveled out of your way to find and buy that special brand that is like no other! What if YOU could have that same power with your personal brand? How would you like to have that kind of impact. It is about PERCEPTION (that is reality in marketing)
THINK – the rational and logical – the data
FEEL: The connection and the why. The way people feel about you has a profound influence on your success. The stronger the connections you create with others the more powerful your personal brand will be
DO – what you do your actions reinforce your brand story. Do what you say!
If you do not know why YOU do what you do, how will you get anyone to believe you.
THINK: FEEL DO These three tenants are referenced in my book in greater detail as well.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

It is all about relationships. My marketing clients came from the days of big agency experience. When I created my own marketing agency www.AGWIdeaGroup.com my first clients were from my previous agency experience and relationships. They were my first clients at my OWN agency. When they left and either started their own companies or they went elsewhere they became my clients and recommended me to others. This is ongoing and how I have ran my agency for over 18 years.
When I created PINKK and helped others to tell THEIR stories and support women, they were my sponsors and advocates.
Relationships matter. Be a problem solver. Be an innovator. Keep learning and learn to learn.
Support others.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.AGWIdeaGroup.com and www.PINKKNOW.com
• Instagram: PINKK.NOW
• Facebook: AGW Idea Group and PINKK NOW
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/athena-golianis
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUI0II9A9oKLWqqTrcUUQvw
• Other: BOOK on AMAZON https://www.amazon.com/gp/r.html?C=2EIU1YSKTC6SW&K=1UQBB3ZFI7EC5&M=urn:rtn:msg:2019120708055527d6e4290e9a4fc38cf997254380p0na&R=30V7BYBO7LVUE&T=C&U=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fdp%2F1944027386%3Fref_%3Dpe_3052080_397514860&H=N6UKAAVP97CTRWFLBXX3ZRO19IKA&ref_=pe_3052080_397514860