S.P.E.E.K.
By Mary Runser
“Everything I do stems from my love of performing.” Eleni Kelakos said, “I was a born Diva. In the scrapbook mom kept of me as a baby, she wrote “Eleni loves to sing and dance! Sizeable repertoire! My first public gig was singing, She’ll Be Comin’ ‘Round the Mountain, in kindergarten.” She hasn’t stopped singing and acting since then.
Eleni graduated with a double major in Theatre and Semiotics at Brown University. After eight years of acting in New York, she moved on to Los Angeles where she began to morph into a singer/songwriter, performing concerts and releasing four CD’s.
In 2001, Eleni met her husband, Jim in a taxi at a music conference in Florida. They fell in love, married, and moved to Ann Arbor “lock, stock, and barrel; mother, cats and everything.” Now living in an area with far fewer performance opportunities and a desire to spend less time on the road, she realized she had to reinvent herself and her career.
And so she did. First Eleni created S-P-E-E-K, Speaking Powerfully and Effectively with Eleni Kelakos, a company that helps business professionals speak and present with more confidence, focus, clarity, and impact. Then she joined the National Speakers Association (she’s currently the President Elect of the Michigan chapter), and began presenting Touch The Sky, her musical motivational keynote program, to women’s organizations, health professionals, and direct sales consultants.
“People—and especially women-- need support learning how to show up fully in their lives, not to mention in their spoken presentations.” Eleni explained, “I know this is true because I had trouble showing up in my own life. As a girl in a Greek-American household, I wasn’t taught to stand out and be heard—ironic for a six foot woman who doesn’t exactly fade into the woodwork! Being tall initially got in the way of getting acting roles in NYC. As she tried in vain to “make myself smaller,” her confidence diminished and her auditions suffered. She finally turned to “phenomenal teachers who helped me find the value in being a fully realized person; to embrace what I really brought to the table— my height, my passion--things that I saw as liabilities, but in reality were advantages. The acting tools I learned from my teachers helped me embrace my power and presence; and they’re the same techniques I use to help my clients.”
Eleni is on a mission to help people embrace who they are and what they’re here to do, providing them with the tools they need to accomplish the task. “I’m a huge believer in self-development,” Eleni said, “because I had to learn these things myself. I had to learn that it was okay for me, as a woman, to take up space in body, word, and deed. All of my work as a speaker, coach and trainer is designed to help people do just that-- to show up fully in their lives, work, and presentations. And, I’m my own big guinea pig: I have to be willing to do what I’m telling my clients to do.”
Women need to learn to find the warrior within themselves, and to stop putting everyone and everything in front of their own needs and desires. Men need to learn to be open and vulnerable, and that they don’t always have to be the king-of-every-hill. “We’re not here to play small,” Eleni said, “we’re here to be everything we can be, and to share our unique voice with the world. Sometimes that means engaging in a process that helps us replace beliefs and behaviors that aren’t working for us with ones that do.”
Showing up for your life and presenting your best self is a must for a successful life. “Being your best self does not equal perfection.” Eleni explained, “It’s simply doing the best you can at the moment, and sharing yourself and all the messiness and magnificence that makes you; you.”
If you have found this story interesting, informative, or inspiring please let Eleni know! You can contact her at 734-622-0522, or visit her websites at www.elenispeaks.com for her keynote and speaking site, and www.s-p-e-e-k.com for her presentation coaching and training site.
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