DAD TAUGHT ME CURIOSITY: HOW THE WORLD BECAME MY CLASSROOM
Before I started building businesses across borders, my father helped me understand that there was a much bigger world beyond the place where we lived. That curiosity began in our family restaurant, with newspapers, magazines, maps, and questions that encouraged me to look beyond what was familiar.
MY FIRST GLOBAL CLASSROOM WAS OUR RESTAURANT
My father immigrated from Greece to Canada and built a life in the restaurant business. Alongside the daily work, he kept stacks of publications, including The Wall Street Journal and The Economist, and maps from around the world.
He would ask me about countries, their populations, and their capitals. Those conversations made distant places feel worth understanding. He was teaching me to think globally before I had even stepped outside the restaurant. That experience is a big part of the family background that shaped my entrepreneurial journey.
AT NINETEEN, CURIOSITY BECAME EXPERIENCE
When I was nineteen, I moved to Greece for a one-year internship. I found myself working alongside around a dozen students from across the European Union. Suddenly, the countries I had learned about were represented by people sitting beside me.
The experience was about much more than work. It gave me different perspectives and a better understanding of people. Being around others whose backgrounds differed from mine expanded how I saw the world. What had started with maps and questions became a chance to learn directly from people and places.
A GLOBAL MINDSET STARTS WITH UNDERSTANDING PEOPLE
Knowing a capital city is one thing. Understanding the people who live there asks something more of us: attention, humility, and a willingness to listen.
That is why I see curiosity as a practical part of business. Before you can build a relationship, you need to make room for another person's perspective. A global mindset develops when you stay interested in what you do not yet understand. I have continued exploring that connection between curiosity, relationships, and leadership in my Building Beyond Borders keynote.
THE LESSONS WE CARRY WITH US
Looking back, I appreciate how much my father gave me through those everyday conversations. He did not need to have all the answers to encourage me to ask more questions. He helped make the world something to explore.
Years later, I had the chance to take my father with me on a work trip to China. Sharing that experience with him was especially meaningful given where my own interest in the world began.
KEEP YOUR WORLD OPEN
You do not have to wait for an international opportunity to become curious. Start with a question. Read about a place you know little about. Listen to someone whose experience is different from yours.
In this short video about my father's influence, I reflect on how that early encouragement eventually turned the world into my classroom. I am grateful that my father helped me see it that way.
“The world kind of became my classroom.”
My father helped spark my curiosity about the world, with lessons that began in our family's restaurant.
George Stroumboulis sits down with Garrett Patten, entrepreneur, filmmaker, producer, and fourth-generation business leader. They discuss his journey from the Caterpillar boardroom to Hollywood films, the realities of building a multigenerational business, the economics behind filmmaking, and what it takes to reinvent yourself and succeed in an entirely new industry.