A Letter Of Gratitude

Hey! I am Joy K. (aka Joy Koumentakou) and I want to warmly welcome you to my new world.

joykoumentakou.com is a platform of creativity & generosity with a blend of art & fashion. It tells my story, that of a girl who was raised feeling untalented, different, and weird, but eventually grew up to be a multi-talented, unique and confident woman with a purpose…

…to help people get in touch with their creative side and reach for their dreams, in their journey towards their inner joy.

When I started designing this site’s mind map and focused on connecting my different sides and roles, I was conscious that the finished result might be picked up by a wide range of viewers and tried to satisfy the interest of the different audiences.

When I started designing this site’s mind map, my main focus was to present and connect my different sides and roles, having in mind that the finished result might be picked up by a wide range of viewers.

Some of you may be looking for the creative sides of a colorful persona.

For you, there are numerous videos and photos to explore and question whether a person may have only one role (as I did when I was just a marketer or later just a fashion designer) or may combine all of her skills and expertise to not only express herself, but also support others to do the same.

I urge those of you who are happy with your career path and are excelling in your industry, to always support those who want your help and make an impact through your brand, your footprint or your work, like those incredible creatives that share their message in our Conversations.

You may, on the other hand, be someone drawn to my joyful world to be inspired and motivated.

My world is a present from me to those of you who feel that you have tons of hidden thoughts, expressions & talents yet to be released and presented to your family, your peers, your industry, your world. It is an example, that your creativity matters (you may want to take a look at my TedX speech where I talk about Creativity and its importance).

That's the main reason I created my Mentoring sessions to urge those of you to share your talent with the world. Your thoughts when expressed may become the springboard to creating numerous mind-blowing projects and connecting with people like you. Because you are not the only different or weird or creative person in the room.

While designing this site, I also had the creative people in mind and have started creating some mood boards as a reminder and a record of the power and usefulness of art and fashion as a means to start expressing our feelings, and cause a change. We are all passing through a difficult period and we can collectively learn and create a new world of spreading joy.

But this site is also a place of connectivity and generosity, a place to brainstorm together, create relationships, teach and learn at the same time, as we share our knowledge with those who need it.

Speaking of generosity, I shall tell you that I owe debts of gratitude to many people who have helped and supported me with the project of designing my new world as a Joy Artivist.

I am grateful to Ayis Zita, an international visual artist and curator, who first believed in my vision, urging me on diving deeper to find who I want to be and for dedicating hundreds of hours to answering my unlimited questions on what art and philosophy are.

I would also like to express my gratitude to Anthony Karlovits, a fashion insider and digital image curator, for sharing with me his digital knowledge. He constantly supports me with his skills, his belief in me and has been my right hand on the designing and creation of this site’s content. He is often behind the lens of our funny moments, recording priceless moments that we have all over the world, but I am so happy to have started the Art Dialogues in front of the cameras together. Those art dialogues are dedicated to friendship. To those precious friends, who challenge, motivate & inspire us.

I also wish to thank two amazing talents, George Savvoulidis, fashion photographer, and Lena Papageorgiou, fashion stylist, who both believed in my dreams from the birth of this idea and supported me with their time, tools and expertise to create my first Shoots with a message. Working with them at the studio has been priceless to me and the result of our work inspires me to work for more.

I am also extremely grateful to Nektarios Pantazis, a talented product designer, my partner in life and in creative “crimes”, who always give me valuable comments and suggestions to overcome my creative blocks. With him being a creative dynamo, too, and his priceless knowledge and skills in product design and production, I feel more confident than ever to re-launch some favorite projects and launch some new ones, like The Joyers as I know that he has innumerable solutions for producing any idea that I come up with every day.

At this point, I have to mention that I feel so fortunate to have numerous friends who stood by me when facing career challenges and who helped me re-launch my professional life again as a Brand Strategist, Success Mentor & Joy Artivist. Those were very challenging times and I will never forget my true friends who were always there for me and my family.

Finally, my biggest “thank you” goes to my mother, Aphrodite, to whom this site is dedicated. My mother has always been a great support during the difficult years of my personal and professional life and she remains a constant source of inspiration and strength. She is the one who invested in my cultural education, since I was a kid, taking me with her to every gallery, museum, concert and gala she was attending (and they were hundreds, believe me!). She is my role model -as her generosity and light are the core of her being- and she is always enthusiastic about any idea I may have.

Being my number one fan, her comment for me being a Joy Artivist was “You always succeeded in whatever you had in mind. One more time, you first have to believe it yourself!”. I wish one day to become half of the amazing mom and the generous & bright person she is, and I will be more than happy!

To the givers of this world!

xx

Joy K.

Athens, July 2022

#welcomeletter #gratitude