OUR story
is a love story...
WE are
aspasia
(pronounce'as-pass-iya')
&
JAMES
(pronounced... um...'James')
girl&BOY • greek&ENGLISH • love&WORK
WElove
ourJOB
eachOTHER
eachOTHER
but...
it WASN'T always
that way...
it WASN'T always
that way...
i am
ASPASIA
I'm from the sunny and scenic
town of Chania in Crete , Greece.
I've got a finance background
and did my Master's degree in
London but... yaaaawwwwn!
To be honest, my heart was never in it, and who can blame me?
My first love was beauty and make-up, but finding a way to combine my passion with steady income was difficult in Chania. So, despite a full-time job, I just did it because I loved it in my spare time. To my surprise I was featured in national magazines, won awards and was even the lead make-up artist in Greece's national fashion show. I'm still not sure how!
Then... Eureka! I found a way to combine the two... eyelash extensions. In 2007 I trained with one of the UK's leading trainers.
Like with most things (including cooking), I like to experiment. So I tinkered and tested until I developed my own technique. Apparently, it worked. I was very, very busy ... with training and clients as a result. Bye bye social life!
I'm very picky! about the products I use. I tried several suppliers, before I finally settled on one..
i am
James
...and I'm originally from LONDON,
UK. Most people have career
paths, mine was more of a
zig-zag.
From special effects on movies
(i.e blowing things up and making mess ); to studying psychology; working with autistic children, and criminals. But on the brink of starting my PhD, I felt I needed a change...
So, what next? Uh… logically, I started an eyelash extension company with my mum (an entrepreneur). I loved it (despite male friends teasing me and female friends asking for freebies all the time).
The company was doing well...really well. But I didn't have much time for a ... love life or any life.
Until one gloomy English morning (the only kind in England), I found something which would change my life, forever…
I eyed the package over my morning coffee.
It was beaten, battered and had an array of multicoloured stamps and weird, hieroglyphic-like markings. It was clear, this little package had one hell of a trip .
I opened it and over €350 of company products tumbled out. Inside was a handwritten note: 'These have been sent out twice to me by mistake so I sent one back. Many thanks...' I squinted to read the signature... and murmered the name 'Aspasia Koutsogiannaki' out loud... (but probably pronounced it wrong). I wanted to thank Aspasia personally and gave her a call... as you've probably guessed, she answered .
We kept in touch. Before we knew it, we were exchanging long emails daily...and feelings began to develop. After a suspense-filled 5 months (and despite family and friends thinking we were nuts), we finally met in London.
Did we fall madly, deeply in love? You bet we did!
Almost immediately, our attention turned to how we could combine our skills, in something we were both passionate about.
...any ideas?
SO, AFTER 18 MONTHS OF BEING APART...
...despite the Greek economic crisis, and
the fact I didn't speak any Greek apart
from 'kalimera' (good morning) and a
couple of useful Greek swear
words...
...I finally moved to Crete, to be with Aspasia...
...and to finally get a suntan.
AFTER LOTS OF COFFEES... LASHIONISTA WAS BORN
we've sacrificed a lot, but it's been worth it
IT'S OUR FIRST CHILD (IT'S DEFINITELY A GIRL!) AND WE'RE VERY PROUD OF IT
that's not the end. we still have a promise to keep...to you
WHY? YOU'RE MORE THAN CUSTOMERS TO US
because without you, we couldn't be here together
THAT'S SOMETHING WE'LL NEVER FORGET AND TO THANK YOU
we'll always give you professionalism, with a touch of us
AND WE'LL ALWAYS TRY TO GIVE YOU MORE
oh, we'll make your eyelashes look amazing, too!
So, that's OUR story
Thanks for reading (if you need some tissues they're in the third drawer).
As you can see, we're real people. So Lashionista has our traits... it's hardworking, eager to please, has a keen eye for detail... and a really bad sense of humour.
If you love what you do, you're lucky... if you love the person you're doing it with, too... you're really lucky. I guess we're really lucky.
When we say a personaltouch, we mean it.
So you can always get in touch with one (or both) of us, personally, to....
- •Let us know what you think (good or bad)
- •Give suggestions (we're all ears!)
- •Say hi!
- •...share your grandma's cookie recipe.
So send us a letter, or a messenger pigeon. Actually, just send us an email... messenger pigeons take forever...
Lashionista™ - MADE with love.
