Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Athena Vas. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Athena, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Do you wish you had waited to pursue your creative career or do you wish you had started sooner?

Honestly, I think I started exactly when I was meant to. If I’d started my creative career sooner, I wouldn’t have had the depth, grit, or life experience that fuels everything I create now. I began my journey as a math teacher working with special needs students pouring my heart into helping kids believe in themselves. That’s where I learned patience, resilience, and how to make people feel seen.

When I finally stepped into the creative world writing my book, stepping on stage, competing, and building my brand; I brought all of that with me. Starting earlier might’ve made me famous faster, but starting later made me real. I had to go through loss, rejection, and rebuilding to find my voice. Looking back, I wouldn’t change the timing. I needed those chapters to become the woman I am today; strong, grounded, and unapologetically creative.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’m Athena Vas, a Greek American author, keynote speaker, six-time bodybuilding champion, and former high school mathematics and special needs teacher born and raised in New York. My journey began in the classroom, helping students overcome learning challenges and build confidence through education, and that same passion for empowerment has guided everything I do.

I’m the winner of Warner Bros.’ The Bachelor Greece and a TV personality featured on Hulu’s Got to Get Out. I’m also the author of Fck It: When You Want a Better Life but Don’t Know Where to Start, Start Here and my second book, This Is My Era: The Glow-Up Blueprint, will be released in December 2025.

As a keynote speaker, I’m known for my message of never giving up, teaching audiences how to rebuild, reinvent, and rise stronger after setbacks. Through my writing, speaking, and media presence, my mission is to show people that strength isn’t about never falling—it’s about always rising.

How did you build your audience on social media?

For years, I knew deep down I was meant for more. I never wanted to be a mathematician; I became one because my mom wanted me to have a “serious” career. I always wanted to act, perform, and entertain. Nothing makes me feel more alive than performing. My mom used to say, “Get your degree first, then chase your dreams.” But before I could, she fell into a coma, and my only dream became keeping her alive. When she passed away, I lost my sense of purpose.

Eventually, I started performing off-Broadway, and for the first time since losing her, I felt alive again. But after her death, I realized how short life really is. When COVID hit, it felt like the universe handed me a second chance. I was still teaching math and special education full-time, but I decided to finally go after the dream I’d buried for years. I made my Instagram public and went all in on learning how to grow it.

I didn’t have a team, connections, or tech skills; I barely knew what Apple Pay was. But I made a promise to myself: in one year, I’d hit 100,000 followers. I started with 350. Everyone laughed — even my fiancé at the time. That summer, I went to Greece and took as much content as I could to last for months after I came home. I even bought balloons that said “10K,” “50K,” and “100K.” My fiancé literally laughed and said, “You won’t even get to 10K.”

But he was wrong. I didn’t hit 100K in a year — I hit it in four months.

That was the moment everything changed.

What people didn’t see was the work behind it. I studied social media like it was a degree. I watched YouTube tutorials every day — in the car, during lunch breaks, while showering. I took photography and modeling courses, learned to pose, and trained my fiancé to shoot viral photos. I worked on my body, changed my diet, started lifting weights, and made fitness part of my identity. During lockdown, I couldn’t eat out, so I learned to cook clean meals and rebuilt my confidence from the inside out.

At first, I shot in my living room, backyard, anywhere I could. I’d teach all day, then drive around Corona, Queens during golden hour to find good light and take photos, even though I lived in “the hood.” I refused to use my circumstances as an excuse. Then in Greece, everything aligned. I bought a professional camera, researched the best lens, and took photos that finally matched the vision I saw in my head. That’s when my page exploded — 10K, 50K, 100K, 220K. It felt surreal.

But I treated it like a full-time job. I posted daily, replied to every comment, stayed active on stories, and built real relationships with my followers. I didn’t wait for opportunities; I created them. That consistency led me to being scouted on Rodeo Drive for Warner Bros.’ The Bachelor Greece, and later starring on Hulu’s Got To Get Out.

People always ask, “How did you do it?” The truth? I worked my ass off. I was a teacher with zero social media skills who simply refused to give up. I built everything from scratch with research, discipline, and heart.

My advice to anyone starting out: stop waiting for the “perfect time.” Start now. Learn as you go. Be consistent, be authentic, and be willing to outwork everyone else. Social media is no different from any career — if you want to master it, you have to study it, live it, breathe it. Treat it like your career before it pays like one.

I went from crying in my classroom after school, feeling like I didn’t belong in a box, to inspiring thousands of people to chase their dreams. If there’s one thing my journey proves, it’s this: you don’t need permission to change your life — you just need the guts to start.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

Something most noncreatives struggle to understand about my journey is that being a creative isn’t a hobby; it’s a calling. It’s not something you choose because it looks fun; it’s something you become because not doing it feels like suffocating. When I was teaching full-time, I loved helping my students, but deep inside I was in pain. I’d cry in my classroom after school because I knew I was meant to perform, to create, to inspire on a bigger stage, but I kept trying to silence that voice to fit into what society called “secure.”

People see the highlight reel now, the shows, the followers, the success, but what they don’t see is the internal war that comes before you ever post a thing. Every creative knows that pain of being misunderstood, of being told your dreams aren’t realistic. Noncreatives often think our world is driven by attention or glamour, but it’s not. It’s driven by purpose. For me, creating isn’t optional; it’s how I breathe.

My advice to anyone who doesn’t understand the creative path is this: don’t judge it until you’ve felt that fire inside you that won’t shut off. Creatives see the world differently; we feel everything deeper, we turn pain into art, and we keep showing up even when nobody’s watching. That’s what being a true creative is, not the applause, but the courage to keep performing even in the dark.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.athenavas.com/about
• Instagram: http://instagram.com/iamathenavas
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/iamathenavas/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/athena-vas-169b021bb/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/iamathenany

Image Credits

photo credit:

@remivision
@jayforyouphoto
@maria.boyko99