The Second Act of My Life: Entering the Working World | by Eleni Sanida | Nov, 2025
A chapter of curiosity, first chances, creative sparks, and a willingness to try.
And when I started looking for “What’s Next” in my life, I couldn’t very well ignore the fact that from age ten on, I’d grown up traveling with my family throughout Europe. That experience naturally shaped the way I thought — creatively, openly, and with a quiet confidence that the world was bigger than whatever I was facing in the moment.
I knew I didn’t want to be a teacher or professor at the time — something I later tried and actually enjoyed more than expected. So I started exploring different options. One part of me wanted to join French History research programs at my University, especially related to the early 20th century, a period I genuinely loved. Another part of me considered the dramatic option of leaving everything behind to study something entirely different (a plan I thankfully abandoned rather quickly).
Three things were true:
✨ I loved literature, arts, and languages.
✨ I was a hands-on problem-solver.
✨ I wanted some form of stability — something that would allow me to plan my life.
The problem was that I had no idea where to start, and the job market in Greece didn’t leave much room for improvisation. After days and days of thinking, I realized that maybe Marketing could become the bridge between my creativity and the practical career path I wanted. Perhaps the spark had been there all along — ever since, as a teenager, I discovered the Principles of Marketing (1998 European edition by Armstrong, Kotler, Saunders, and Wong) in my father’s enormous home library. I remember being completely captivated by the case studies, the humor, and the techniques described in that book. I’d read it after school like it was a novel.
With that idea in mind, one day I simply walked into an advertising company and asked for an unpaid internship. It was May 2018. I met with the CFO and CEO, and these wonderful people decided to give me the chance to explore the production departments for the next six months.
Even though the time seems short now, those six months were a world of their own. I gained a tremendous amount of knowledge while rotating through every production-related department. I was surrounded by some of the most creative minds I had ever encountered. I attended fittings, sound recordings, commercial shootings, and filmings. I met colleagues, writers, actors, producers, and film directors.
Every day, I returned home excited — was still living with my parents — and shared everything with my mom. When the commute was an hour and a half each way, even on the most exhausting days, there was something about the industry that felt right for me. The industry was fun, alive, and inspiring. It was my first time working in a company, too, which meant I enjoyed each and every moment-long hours included.
But the timing wasn’t favorable for the advertising world in Greece. And if the challenges back then were big. Can you imagine what the industry looks like today with AI reshaping everything?
Six months later, the internship ended, and there was no permanent position available, though they made sure I received credits for my work. So I started job hunting — contacting other agencies, applying for marketing roles online, going through interviews — but nothing materialized. I didn’t have the “relevant” degree and my little experience was not enough.
I remember sitting with myself and asking: “What else can I do?”
I thought that for many entry-level jobs, you don’t need a perfect background, just the willingness to learn, to grow, and find your way forward.
