Meet Christiana Papadopoulou

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Christiana Papadopoulou a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Christiana, thank you so much for making time for us. We’ve always admired your ability to take risks and so maybe we can kick things off with a discussion around how you developed your ability to take and bear risk?

For me, the ability to take risks has always been driven by fear. The fear of not truly living, of becoming too comfortable, of watching life pass by while I stand still. Comfort feels safe, but it’s dangerous because it keeps you stuck. And when you’re still for too long, something inside you starts to fade. You stop growing. You stop dreaming. You stop feeling that fire that once made you curious about everything.

Real growth only happens when you step into the unknown. When you let yourself feel that discomfort and push through it anyway. Because one thing is certain: if you choose to stay where you are, nothing will change. You’ll wake up every day in the same place, doing the same thing. But the moment you choose to move, even when you have no idea where you’re heading, life begins to unfold in ways you couldn’t have imagined.

In my opinion, change is always a good thing. There is no bad change, only bad perception. Because the truth is, a “bad” outcome is still a good outcome. You felt something, you learned something, you saw yourself in a new light. And that alone is success. Change humbles you. It forces you to meet yourself again, without the routine, without the illusion of control. It shows you who you really are when there’s nothing familiar to hold onto.

Every risk brings a reward. Sometimes the reward is money. Sometimes it’s clarity. Sometimes it’s a painful lesson, but even pain can be a gift if it pushes you closer to the truth. Every time you choose change, you expand, and every expansion brings you closer to the person you’re meant to become.

So yeah, my ability to take risks comes from fear, but not the kind that holds you back. It’s the kind that reminds you you’re meant for more.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

At 23, I looked at my life and realized how early I had locked myself into something I didn’t even get the chance to question. I had already put my life in a box: high school, law school, law bar, then a 9-to-5. I started studying law at 17, before I even really knew who I was, before I had time to explore what I loved or what else I could be good at.

I did like law. I liked how law trained my brain, how it forced me to break things apart, analyze them, and argue with reason. Law sharpens your mind in a way few things can. I liked the discipline, the structure, the sense of purpose behind it. But is liking something enough to dedicate your whole life to it? Liking is easy. Living in something, day in and day out, letting it define you, it’s another thing entirely. How do you pick one path when there are so many ways to exist, so many lives to live within one lifetime?

From 17 to now, my life revolved around deadlines, readings, and rules. I learned so much, but I forgot what it felt like to really live. I forgot the joy of moving without performance, of simply being. My life became a treadmill, I chased approval and achievement, while the part of me that wanted to create and explore was neglected.

I wanted to stop working for other people, to create something that was entirely my own, to dedicate my time to investing in myself instead of building someone else’s dreams. So I quit my 9-to-5. I started painting again. Writing again. Filming. Cooking. Traveling. Documenting the moments that remind me what it means to truly witness life. I wanted a life that expands, not one that repeats, a life that reminds me that I am not just a worker.

Now, everything I do comes from that place of curiosity, from wanting to touch every part of life that feels real. I don’t know what I’ll be doing ten years from now. Maybe I’ll have my own law firm, maybe I’ll have a cooking show, maybe something I haven’t even imagined yet. And honestly I don’t care. What matters is that I’ve tried, that I’ve allowed myself to try, to fall, to rise, to learn beyond the boundaries of expectation. My focus isn’t on fitting into one box anymore, it’s on realizing there was never a box all along.

In 2026, I’ll start sharing my art with the world. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do but never gave myself the time. Now, it feels right because I finally have time that isn’t measured by deadlines. There’s so much more coming in the months ahead, new pieces, new places, new projects, and the chance to show it all.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Discipline, curiosity, self-confidence.

Discipline:

Discipline is something I’ve never really lacked. It teaches consistency and control, and I truly believe it’s one of the most valuable qualities a person can have. It’s about self-respect and proving to yourself that you can rely on your own word. Once you master that, you can achieve anything.

Personally, I like structure. My days are usually planned, not very strictly, but in a way that makes sense to me. Every night before I sleep, I write down my schedule for the next day. It gives me a sense of direction and clarity. So when I wake up, I already know where my energy is going and what deserves my focus.

I think that came from my parents. They both worked hard and taught me early what it means to be responsible and to finish what you start. Over time, that mindset grew stronger through my own experiences and it became a surviving tool. While prepping for the law bar, my life felt like a roller coaster: full-time work as a trainee lawyer, endless studying for the exams, trying to squeeze in personal life and the basics like cooking my meals and going to the gym. It was chaos and everything started to feel meaningless, but I had trained myself to persist.

Advice: Don’t wait for motivation because it won’t always be there. If you depend on it, you’ll stop the moment things get uncomfortable.

Curiosity:

I’ve always been curious, like, annoyingly curious. Even as a kid, I wanted to know everything, to understand not just the what but the why. My parents used to get tired of me asking so many questions.

Curiosity made me read more, ask questions, and open my mind to perspectives, cultures, and ways of thinking that were completely different from mine. If I wasn’t curious, I’d probably still be in the comfort zone, climbing a ladder someone else built, following a version of life I was told to follow. Curiosity pulled me out of that. It made me explore and create. It reminds me that the world is bigger than one path or one job or one routine and that life is meant to be questioned and felt.

Advice: Be curious about life, and yourself. Don’t settle for what’s in front of you or what everyone says is “enough.”

Self-confidence:

If I didn’t believe in myself, I wouldn’t have achieved anything. When I moved to the UK for uni, I almost dropped out of my first year. Greek was my first language, and I had a hard time understanding the lectures. Everything felt overwhelming like I was constantly behind. That same feeling followed me when I started working. Standing in court for the first time, I froze. And more recently, when I talked about selling my paintings, people looked at me like I was being unrealistic or too ambitious.

But I learned that none of that matters if you have faith in yourself. Each time someone doubted me, I learned to rely on my own voice first. Confidence isn’t about being better than anyone else but about trusting that you can figure things out, no matter how impossible it seems in the moment. Like giving yourself permission to fail or look foolish and still keep going.
Advice: Start before you’re ready. Speak even if your voice shakes.

How would you spend the next decade if you somehow knew that it was your last?

If I knew I had ten years to live, I’d feel everything deeply and without holding back. The warmth of sun on my skin, the smell of rain, the joy of slow mornings. I wouldn’t want to spend it in a 9-to-5, sitting behind a desk, trading hours for money while the world passes by. I’d travel, explore, and try everything that scares me or makes my heart race. I’d climb mountains, dive into oceans, cross deserts and just exist in the moment. I’d love freely and unconditionally. I’d tell people what they mean to me, hug longer and forgive faster. Spend time with people I truly care about, and give them my all.

But isn’t this how we are supposed to live life anyway? We shouldn’t need a deadline to remind us to feel this deeply.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/christianapa_/