LIVE FASHION SHOPPING DISRUPTOR WITH CHRISTOS GARKINOS | E053 PODCAST

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ABOUT THE GUEST

Christos Garkinos is a celebrated fashion entrepreneur, television personality, and luxury retail strategist with a powerful career rooted in both the boardroom and the boutique. Before becoming a household name in the world of vintage couture, Christos held senior leadership positions at some of the world’s most iconic companies — including Virgin Megastores, Disney Stores, and other globally recognized brands — where he honed his expertise in retail innovation, brand building, and consumer experience.

As the co-founder of the legendary boutique Decades, Christos helped pioneer the luxury resale movement, dressing celebrities and tastemakers while championing sustainable fashion long before it was mainstream. His charisma and authority led to regular appearances on Bravo, E!, and national morning shows, where he became known as the “Robin Hood of Fashion.”

In his latest chapter, Christos merges storytelling with commerce as he embraces live shopping and digital media, redefining what it means to connect with modern consumers. His newly released book, Covet by Christos, captures his vibrant journey through fashion, fame, and reinvention — inspiring readers to live boldly and dress fabulously.

A passionate advocate for confidence, self-expression, and inclusive luxury, Christos continues to push the industry forward while staying deeply rooted in authenticity, humor, and heart.

Christos’ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christos-garkinos/

Christos Garkinos’ IG: https://www.instagram.com/covetbychristos/

Christos’ Website: https://www.covetbychristos.com/

Christos’ Book: https://www.amazon.com/Covet-Comeback-Immigrants-Success-Everything/dp/196437734X

George Stroumboulis sits down with Christos Garkinos in Newport Beach, California on the Invigorate Your Business Podcast to talk about luxury fashion, celebrity styling, live shopping, building a personal brand, and the release of his new book Covet by Christos.

“I met him (Richard Branson) we walked around the Virgin Mega store in Los Angeles. He’s like Christos - “all I care about is they have fun in here. If they buy something, I don’t care really.””
— CHRISTOS GARKINOS

MEDIA RELATED TO THE EPISODE

George Stroumboulis sits down with Christos Garkinos in Newport Beach, California on the Invigorate Your Business Podcast to talk about luxury fashion, celebrity styling, live shopping, building a personal brand, and the release of his new book Covet by Christos. This episode dives into how Christos has carved out a distinctive space at the crossroads of retail, media, and culture.

Fashion icon and entrepreneur Christos Garkinos joins George Stroumboulis in Newport Beach to discuss luxury retail, celebrity styling, live shopping disruption, and his new book Covet by Christos on the Invigorate Your Business podcast.

From Hollywood red carpets to online fashion sales, Christos Garkinos shares his journey with George Stroumboulis in Newport Beach, diving into personal branding, retail innovation, and his latest project, Covet by Christos.

In this episode of Invigorate Your Business, Christos Garkinos sits down with George Stroumboulis in Newport Beach to talk about the evolution of fashion, working with A-list clients, and how he’s redefining retail with his new book Covet by Christos.

George Stroumboulis hosts celebrity stylist and fashion entrepreneur Christos Garkinos in Newport Beach to explore the intersection of fashion, storytelling, and digital commerce — including a behind-the-scenes look at his new book Covet by Christos.

ABOUT THE “INVIGORATE YOUR BUSINESS” PODCAST

The Invigorate Your Business with George Stroumboulis podcast features casual conversations and personal interviews with business leaders in their respective fields of expertise. Crossing several industry types and personal backgrounds, George sits down with inspiring people to discuss their business, how they got into that business, their path to the top of their game and the trials and tribulations experienced along the way. We want you to get inspired, motivated, and then apply any advice to your personal and professional lives. If there is at least one piece of advice that resonates with you after listening, then this podcast is a success. New episodes weekly. Stream our show on Spotify, YouTube, Apple, Amazon and all other platforms.

ABOUT GEORGE STROUMBOULIS

George Stroumboulis is an entrepreneur to the core, having launched several ventures across multiple industries and international markets. He has held senior-level positions at progressive companies and government institutions, both domestically and internationally, building an extensive portfolio of business know-how over the years and driving profit-generating results. George’s ability to drive real change has landed him in several media outlets, including the front page of the Wall Street Journal. George was born in Toronto, Canada to his Greek immigrant parents. Family first. Flying over 300,000 miles a year around the world puts into perspective how important family is to George’s mental and emotional development. With all this travel to global destinations, the longest he stays even in the most far-out destination is 3 days or less - a personal rule he lives by to make sure he is present and involved in family life with his wife and three daughters. To read about George’s global travels, stay connected with his blog section.

FULL SHOW TRANSCRIPT

George Stroumboulis: 0:00

Welcome to another episode. Today I sit down with Christos Garkinos. This guy is a luxury fashion legend. He is an expert in this space. He has designed styled for every imaginable celebrity on this planet. He is so business savvy. He has worked for companies like Disney, virgin Records, has done incredible campaigns for them, and on a recent flight to Toronto I read his book Covet the Comeback by Christos Garkinos Incredible book. I couldn't put it down.

George Stroumboulis: 0:32

I loved how he just was raw and natural in telling us his story from hitting rock bottom, from losing everything bankruptcy, substance abuse and bouncing back and building this empire that he has today, where he's revolutionized how we shop, you know, in real time, doing over a hundred million dollars in sales and really influencing people and touching their lives through this community and network that he's building. Very lucky to be sitting with him today and just chopping it up. So enjoy this episode starting now. My name is George Stroumboulis and I'm extremely passionate about traveling the world, meeting new people and learning about new businesses. Join me as I sit down with other entrepreneurs to learn about their journeys. This episode of Invigorate your Business starts now and you're always in another universe For me. I'm not a fashion guy, I'm not in that space, but I look good.

Christos Garkinos: 1:45

Come on, george, all right Appreciate that Fishing for compliments.

George Stroumboulis: 1:48

My fashion has gotten so simple the older I get it's like t-shirt, jeans. But we'll get into that. I want to get advice. We're sitting here today with Christos Garkinos, who has kind of rocked it on all elements, right, like from the business world, from going and working for the biggest brands in the world, the biggest entrepreneurs in the world Richard Branson's, virgin Records, disney, home Shopping Network, clorox just impressive from that standpoint.

George Stroumboulis: 2:14

Then you have like ups and downs in your life, personal from bankruptcy addictions. You write a book you know covet the comeback which we're going to talk about, and then where you are today, right on this short time on this plan, is like truly inspiring. Thank you, uh, I read your book a few weeks ago on a flight to Toronto and halfway back and I'm like, okay, I love reading biographies, I love just for me, it's like just learning about someone's journey, right, that's why I have this podcast. We sit down and, uh, I started reading and after the first couple of chapters I was glued right and then when I finished the book usually sometimes I'll finish a book and be like, ah, maybe they didn't need to write a book.

George Stroumboulis: 2:50

I finished the book. I'm like he needed to write that book. Yeah, it was just incredible raw, the stuff you were talking about yourself too, just no filter. It was like just letting it all out there talking about the, you know, the bankruptcies, your highs, your lows all this stuff Really inspiring. I suggest everyone reads this and I feel like your next chapter, your next book after this is going to be just a masterclass in business and what you've done. So, anyways, jumping around, thank you for sitting down with me today.

Christos Garkinos: 3:16

No, thank you, and I think the interview is over with. We're done, we're done.

George Stroumboulis: 3:19

Yeah, You're done no thank you.

Christos Garkinos: 3:20

Yeah, I'm great. I've been an admirer from a part also of you too, so it's great to be here and I think that, like you know, I've been waiting to tell my story like to a fellow Greek, because I think, you know, the story does touch a couple of come back in my life. Really, does you know? When I think about like this book is like a love letter to my parents in terms of like what they taught me and being a child of immigrants is really important to me and so the whole story kind of flows from, like those that upbringing, and so I'm excited to be here and share my story.

George Stroumboulis: 3:47

Oh, amazing, amazing. So we're going to go back. Detroit, proud Detroit, native 313.

Christos Garkinos: 3:53

Yes, born and raised there, born and raised there. My parents came from Greece separately. My mom came in 1947 to meet her father for the first time because he got my grandmother pregnant in Greece and then the war happened so they couldn't get back, you know, get back on the horse. So my dad came separately. They met in a bowling alley church bowling league and then got married and then we're living. We were living in a duplex. I came around 1964.

Christos Garkinos: 4:15

And so we were living in a duplex above my grandparents and so we would have we had a connecting basement, so which is a little bit scary. So I remember, like going down the stairs to my grammar grandparents house and I'd be like yeah, yeah, nix of the fosu. So she turned the light on so we could run and get away from the scaries in the basement and so we were basically, like you know, raised by her. My parents had a restaurant in detroit um called me town inn, so my grandmother like would be, you know, we'd be with her all day long.

Christos Garkinos: 4:42

I didn't know much english when I started, when I started kindergarten, because like she didn't know any english and so every friday was just about being in the house and like we'd have the, the um, incense in every room on friday and then the ward off evil spirits, like we'd sit at a. I don't know if it happened you, but basically she would sit us down, put a bowl of hot water with a latte with oil inside, and then like, anoint us and then tell us to run around the table three times and spit to ward off all the evil.

George Stroumboulis: 5:09

She was hard, yeah, it was hardcore, hardcore yeah, yeah, we did?

Christos Garkinos: 5:12

we did the same with just the incense, like non-stop, yeah, stop yeah we had a whole farm in the backyard to be yogurt, like hanging from the ceiling, like that kind of thing.

Christos Garkinos: 5:18

So in detroit, in detroit, so we live in the city of detroit for um from uh for my first nine years, my parents had a restaurant called meat town in the city of Detroit. For my first nine years, my parents had a restaurant called Meat Town in the Eastern Market, which is still a thriving place. And you're saying Meat Town like meat? Yes, yeah, so it was like you know. So, yeah, it was an incredible restaurant experience. I started working there when I was four years old. Jeez, Because you know, Greek kids are free labor. There's no child labor law. So my dad, Nick the Greek, was this impossibly handsome, charismatic guy who was the cook. So he'd have like a bottle, a glass of CC and water and like a cigarette in his mouth. My mom would be the waitress outside and for two hours we would just yell at each other and scream and they'd be fine.

George Stroumboulis: 6:00

That's what I thought life was.

Christos Garkinos: 6:01

So there was a sign outside my dad's restaurant that said this ain't no Burger King, you get it my way or you don't get the goddamn thing. So I would be six years old, I got promoted to be a waiter because by four I was already on the milk carton, like taking money from the register. It's incredible. So I go take orders and I write and they're like yeah, I'd like my steak medium. Well, I'm like uh-huh and so, like you know, and I'd come back media.

Christos Garkinos: 6:27

However, my dad decided to make it, you know so, and I placed it in front of the guy who maybe is a newbie there, still wearing his tie, and I said here's your steak. He's like I asked for it medium or whatever. I'm like do you want to go talk to my dad? Because you can see him back there. He's yelling at 10 people with a cigarette in his mouth and like they're like you get it. So my dad wouldn't come out then to the table and, like you know totally like win them all over. He would take the guy's tie and we'd put it on this huge tie rack that went all the way around. So basically, people would walk in with a tie and then leave without a tie. So he was charismatic A hundred percent. I mean, he was like youurday night he was the guy that would have the shot on his forehead and doing flips with it, like you know, dancing. So he was like I always I remember this moment my parents would go out to the bouzoukia and you know my dad would get out there and be people like dancing on the floor and then, like john travolta and saturday night fever, he would part because they saw my dad and my mom too, on the dance floor, because they were like the best dancers in detroit come on and so, um, it was a little bit scary being 12 years old watching this because, like, I'm not that good a dancer and, uh, to the state too, like you know I actually had my dancing skills like improved very much like not greek schools, american skills were

Christos Garkinos: 7:39

great. So so my dad, um, you know had was, you know they had this rush until he passed, and so that was like my daily sort of routine, like really understand, like what hard work meant, you know, to. You know everybody had a nickname. You know, like Fat Bobby, right. You know like when my dad died, all these people came up like you know I'm, you know I'm skinny ass, lenny, and like you know everybody had a name, and my dad was cool. Like you know, they were mostly blue collar people, like all types of life, white, black, whatever and you know they didn't have money during the week and so they'd have a tab. You know, on Fridays they'd come and pay the tab. Also, on Fridays I didn't know this until I was older there were topless dancers I didn't know about this at the restaurant.

George Stroumboulis: 8:13

Oh really.

Christos Garkinos: 8:18

Okay, so this table would come out, uncle's funeral and some black people who showed up. We didn't know who they were. And there was a child involved. We're like wait, wait, only in Greek society. So that was great, only at Meat Town, only at Meat Town. Yeah, so that's what happened, yeah.

George Stroumboulis: 8:30

But that's incredible, like I had a similar upbringing. Right by like seven years old, you know on the Friars and doing this, and then you know all the. You thought it was miserable, but then when you get older you're like, oh my God, that's what kept, the unit and the foundation and learning about business and all that.

Christos Garkinos: 8:49

So my block was a hundred percent Greek. My aunts were down the street, my, my new now was down the street, so we had party phones. Do you know what those are?

George Stroumboulis: 8:56

No no.

Christos Garkinos: 8:56

So party line phones are like basically, you pick your phone up in your house at 4139 Dickerson and and you're Nuna at 44 21 Dickerson, down the street. You could hear her on the phone.

George Stroumboulis: 9:07

Oh, like a live line like a party line.

Christos Garkinos: 9:09

I'm like no, not cause you like, hang your phone up so we can make a phone call Like it was that kind of life.

George Stroumboulis: 9:13

Right, so you were doing basically live feeds back then before you started doing it now.

Christos Garkinos: 9:18

So we are one block and so what happened was like the book Middlesex kind of talks about this. Jeffrey Eugenides wrote this book where basically the Greek community moved from Detroit in the mid seventies Cause it got a little funky in Detroit, we had to kind of get out and we went to the city called Grosse Pointe in Detroit, outside Detroit like seven miles but completely different.

Christos Garkinos: 9:36

Like suburbia, like a hundred percent white. We were, you know, called. We segregated it cause we were Greek and olive skinned. Our church moved to Grosse Pointe. That's why we were all by our church and I went to school. I'm like Mom, you have to stop the souvlaki Because I can't taste shish kebab. To school because the kids are laughing at me Making fun.

George Stroumboulis: 9:53

Yes, Making fun right.

Christos Garkinos: 9:54

And they also took baths every day, which was like what's going on? I was like I whole different, like you know, extending, I was extending, like, and so I, I, I looked at my Greek community and going to church on Sundays, there's like I felt part of something you know being an altar boy and stuff, because I didn't feel a part of anything you know. And at a young age, like which they had the same story in their opening line, but I was seven years old, I was watching Jan Michael Vinson, who was an actor and it was a Disney movie and he was Tarzan, he was shirtless and I was seven years old in the theater, going, I'm feeling something, I don't know what this is, and I realized at that point and there's now a movie that came out where george the jungle's out this kid is like uh, with uh, what's his name?

Christos Garkinos: 10:46

the same story so it was definitely that moment where I felt I felt something. I felt different, but I obviously kept it inside for a long time yeah, detroit, greek family gay, it was like that didn't like does not compute.

Christos Garkinos: 10:58

Yeah, does not compute, but uh, uh, you know, overall, like you know, it was hard being I didn't have a lot of friends in in grade school and so, um, you know, but I knew, I always felt, because my parents were hard workers I always felt there was something else bigger out there for me. I didn't know, I didn't know what it was, until that fateful day I was playing tetherball by myself and, um, dude, that's so sad, right, like by myself, I remember. And so, you know, being a, I was gay. My, my grade school is called Ferry Elementary, I swear to you.

George Stroumboulis: 11:27

So you're destined, exactly so F-E-R-R-Y.

Christos Garkinos: 11:30

And so I was by myself playing tetherball by myself outside and and I, I the ball was just going around. I was hitting it like it was, I was freezing cold, and then it was. The equipment was by the sidewalk of the outside of the grounds of the grade school and I heard this older sort of like high school girl click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click.

Christos Garkinos: 12:02

I was like I'm going to be around that sometime in my life. That sound, I don't know what it meant. I knew it was something outside of like my life, not that I wanted to wear them, but I was going to be around that whole thing. I mean, I had this vision, this fantasy in my life. I'm like Eureka, like I figured this out. I don't know what it is, but I'm going to be that person. And so, of course, like how my whole life is like the ball comes around, hits me right in the eye. I get a black eye from it, cause I was like really twirling around and I'm like I understood my life at age nine but I had like a black eye and that's a legit story. It opens up the book Like the legitimate. You know, like I'm like that's what happened. I was like, oh, I, but I know, I knew where my life is and like you kind of figure out how to get back up.

George Stroumboulis: 12:48

So that's been like the theme totally of my life. I figure things out, I think I'm on top of the world and then it's like not so fast, not so fast and multiple times right, like that's like exactly the marathon, whether how long we live or not live, it's, it's just these cycles, and when you're on top, like remember, there's always a down and vice versa, vice versa.

Christos Garkinos: 13:00

You got to be in gratitude. When you're at the top, you got to be in gratitude. That's the most important thing, yeah.

George Stroumboulis: 13:04

Let's start like I want to talk about the corporate side, Sure, Right. And then we're going to evolve into the fashion and what you're doing now over 150, 100 million plus in sales and like just this powerhouse vehicle you've created. But going from Detroit, that background, kind of trying to figure out what you want to do, feeling like you're involved and contributing. But you studied at University of Michigan yeah, Undergrad business school. Undergrad business school. Did you know at that point you wanted to get the heck out of Detroit, oh a hundred percent.

Christos Garkinos: 13:33

Okay, yeah, I mean, I knew. I mean it was also 1980. I started college in 82, in the depth of the car recession, so there was nothing happening in Detroit. I also knew that I couldn't live my life being gay in Detroit because I was still closeted, but in me I knew I wanted to have more of a creative career. My parents were like you're getting a job after school because you need a job, you've got to support the family, help support the family. So I knew that, no matter what I had to get a job, that no matter what I had to like you know, get a job. Yep. And so the funny story, which I don't talk to too often, is that I was still figuring out, if I like girls or not, and so I went to like you know At what?

Christos Garkinos: 14:13

19, 20?, 19, 20. I broke up with my Greek girlfriend at the HEPA convention in Miami in the ocean. She's like what I'm like I'm done. So I tried one more time. I was uh, 21 and I I was at business school and they're all these like and I was doing well at school, like I was like that guy and so um. So they said, like you know, all these recruiters are coming to someone from california called clorox. I'm like clorox, you mean the, you know, like the png. I'm like I just thought I had. I had met this girl in um paris when we on an exchange program together during high school and we kind of like something happened and I was like, let me like figure this out. So I got a free trip to you know California to go see her at college and then go. Do you know this?

Christos Garkinos: 14:52

interview, but you were still like I'm just so curious Before this, like you've gone with women no-transcript at clorox and you know we're hanging out and she's like I was like this is not working, it does not happen. I, just I, and that we're still friends. Now it's like 40 years later and we laugh about it. So I was just like I have to go do this interview now. At least I saw you. But I'm never going to move to California, but whatever.

Christos Garkinos: 15:27

So I go to this interview and people who are interviewing me already have the job right. They're all Harvard MBAs, they're Chicago, they're like six or seven years older than me. I'm like this right now, like I grew up in a restaurant and I'm doing well in school and I think I could figure this all out. I'm just trying to like bullshit them through my interview process and then what happens is like normally. What happens is like they say thank you and then they fly you back home and then two weeks later, three weeks later, you find out the woman who was taking me through the process is like hey, chris, will you come Oakland? But like the Bay Area, yeah, and we get in this room, it's all dark inside, and then she pushes a button and we're at the top of this building and all of a sudden the curtains open up and all you see is like the, you know, the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco, and like.

Christos Garkinos: 16:18

I'm like what's going on? She's like like we're here to offer you this job. You know, we think you're amazing and it's it's $32,000 a year. I'm like 32,000. I mean, I was like spending it before. I was like I was 22 years old. I'm like, oh my God. And I was like, okay, I'll take the job. You're like I, where am I living? I don't even know. So I, um, I went home and I actually talked to my parents. I'm like, listen, I have a job offer in Chicago with a firm, with an advertising firm. I'm going to be in my advertising firm at Clorox or at San Francisco.

Christos Garkinos: 16:47

And part of me was like, please, let me go to San Francisco because I could be who I wanted to be. You still wanted their approval at this point, yeah, at this point. But they were very one thing about my parents like they were never. They always let me, they trusted me to make good decisions and so. But I always bring them into it and so, but I always bring them into it. So I and it's mostly my mom who's like you know, kind of ran the boat, cause like my mom was that woman. So once I got this job in San Francisco, you know I had a big presentation and her name was Aspasia, also known as Bessie, and like I called her, it was me in front of like all these big people making a big presentation. I'm like mom, i're gonna tell me before I go make this speech about the people come on.

George Stroumboulis: 17:32

That's my greek mom, so you need that if it's not on your wall five foot two, come on, uh, yeah.

Christos Garkinos: 17:38

So I did that. So basically, I moved to san francisco and I started working super hard probably addictively hard on the weekends, because I felt like I had to prove something. And so they put me on one of the biggest brands, kingsford Charcoal. Clorox owns this brand called Kingsford Charcoal.

George Stroumboulis: 17:51

Major.

Christos Garkinos: 17:52

Major, yeah, and so I learned how to smoke. I can still smoke a turkey, I can do whatever you want with charcoal, right, oh my? And so it's very competitive. So it's very much, very competitive. So it was a class of 15 people. They were hired. It was like two undergrads, 13, all MBAs, and what happened is you get Promoted like the first class, get promoted after, I think, eight months and then you may not make it. It's like very much like survivor. So I'm living with one of my Work mates, a woman who went to a Wharton Business School and Harvard no, Harvard undergrad for physics and Wharton Business School.

Christos Garkinos: 18:26

She's Same line of work, like you guys are doing the same brand assistant, same thing. So they announced the promotions. It was like freaking, like survivor, and it's like there's three people promoted out of that class first it was me plus two other people. I'm like what, and so insecure at that point, yeah, I mean, I didn't know what, I didn't know what fuck I didn't was doing like I mean, I, I went to business school, but these people, like you was doing, I went to business school, but these people.

Christos Garkinos: 18:45

Michigan Business School is still great, like the undergrad, but it wasn't like getting a Harvard MBA per se, but I had to go home to my workmate or roommate and she didn't get promoted. Anyways, it was a great experience and what happened was normally the. I feel like I'm telling my whole life story here.

George Stroumboulis: 19:03

That's why we're here, baby. So Normally I feel like I'm telling my whole life story here. That's why we're here, baby. That's why we're here.

Christos Garkinos: 19:06

Normally. So what happened was that, when you're an undergrad, the path is you then get an application to go to MBA. Yep.

George Stroumboulis: 19:18

And they're covering you and doing all that, so yeah, Well then they weren't covering me.

Christos Garkinos: 19:22

They wouldn't cover me. Basically. That's the path where it would happen If you decide either stay with them, do undergrad stuff or like at some point you're going to go to Germany. So I decide to go and I apply to Harvard. I get in and I had I got. I was in a relationship. At that point, the AIDS crisis was decimating San Francisco, so I was living there. I found a guy, james, and I was really young. We were both 22 years old and we realized the only way we were going to stay alive was to be in a relationship and luckily we were together Until I was 29,. I had slept with maybe three people my entire life Because I was like I can't get sick, because it was the fear of not Everybody. So people who were six to seven years older than me were all dying Come on.

Christos Garkinos: 20:05

It was that bad man. It was awful. And so, you know, I couldn't. I had to, in fact, lie to Dennis and say I wasn't gay. I mean, there's things you have to do to kind of keep it all in. So, anyways, I then go to Harvard to like get, you know, acclimated. I wanted to see. I was in some classes to see, like, what it was like. And I, there was like this secret gay society there. I kind of found out about the like listen, if you come here, you have to stay in the closet and you can't be out. I'm like, wait, you're kidding me, right, this is Harvard.

Christos Garkinos: 20:31

It was back in 1990. Come on, and um, in September, and Harvard's like, are you coming? Come on, you still didn't decide. I said no, we're not going to do it. So I ended up. So, because what happened was I got a call from one of my old bosses at Clorox and said I moved to Disney. I think you'd be great here. And to my head I was like why am I going to? Point was $80,000. In the 80s, in the 1990s, yeah, crazy, I didn't have that money. And to get a job I'd probably get a Disney. So I was like I'm on, I'm going to Disney. So I basically said no to Harvard, and I think I may be the only person in the world I turned Harvard down twice Twice.

Christos Garkinos: 21:19

Later on you'll see I'd done it twice, and so I actually do want to go back for an executive thing now for that story. Close the loop. Close the loop, totally so. Then instead, I moved to LA to work for Walt Disney Company, which was the most amazing thing of all time, because in 1990, little Mermaid, beauty and the Beast In parks.

George Stroumboulis: 21:37

Literally.

Christos Garkinos: 21:38

If you put a logo on this, it'd sell like 3 million of us.

George Stroumboulis: 21:41

In parks, yeah.

Christos Garkinos: 21:46

So I worked actually the music side of walt disney for two years, uh, in la doing what like just basically, like you know, marketing and um, because that's what I ran, assisting kind of that's what I did. So it was like that sort of I was a manager. But you know one thing, a piece of advice that I always give to people, um is like if something presents to yourself in terms of like an opportunity, like to always go, always take Right. And I kind of knew who were the power players at Disney and I would like.

Christos Garkinos: 22:07

There's one guy named Paul Pressler who I've always admired. He was half Jewish, half Greek and he had an aura about him Like I just knew that guy and I made I made sure I made somewhat friends with him, you know, but not for any kind of reason. When my dad died in LA, like he understood it, he let me like take like three weeks off with pay, especially somebody at 28, who didn't have any savings at all. I'll never forget that moment that he did that for me. But this is the truth. I was in New York staying at the St Regis Hotel. I may have had a hookup in the hotel, maybe, maybe a hookup.

Christos Garkinos: 22:38

It was like six in the morning. I was like you know, I I'm only speaking greek, I speak french fluently, I took french for my kids, so I speak it and I do so. You know, disney was a worldwide company and um, the elevator doors open up at 6 15. There's, there's paul pressler, my idol, like in, like a jogging outfit to go like run in new york and I'm like dishevel like one eye down like the whole thing.

Christos Garkinos: 23:04

I walk in and I'm like, okay, this is God putting you in front of this person. And I said to him oh yeah, hi, paul. And it's like he said by the way, you know, I speak French, so if there's ever an opportunity at Euro, disney or anywhere in Europe like I'm, I can you know I'm young and I'll make it happen.

Christos Garkinos: 23:17

You threw that like no opportunity. I knew it. The doors opened. Four months later I get a call from Paul's office. We want you to go meet with Steve Burke, who ended up running Comcast. Steve Burke was a wonder kid at Disney. He was 30 years old and he was running the expansion of Disney stores around the world. I went and talked to him and in that meeting he offered me the job of head of marketing and culture at Disney. Come on At the Disney stores in Europe.

George Stroumboulis: 23:45

I was 20. I was 29 years old.

Christos Garkinos: 23:47

Huge deal. I was like, oh my God, I'm moving to London. Was Disney Paris open at this point? No, it just had opened. It was a freaking disaster, if you remembered it. It opened up. Everybody lost their money. So I'm running into this whole disaster. Sure, luckily I had that part of the business with me. But they then sent me to. They sent me to London and I to open up the Disney stores across Europe. There were four stores at that point in Europe, in UK, before I left, almost three years later, we had opened up 45 stores across six countries.

Christos Garkinos: 24:20

Oh, my so it was the most amazing job, or basically where I would do all the marketing, I handle all the store openings like thousands of people for Mickey and Minnie, and I would follow Disney culture. It's actually kind of an quote unquote easy job, because with Disney there's 97 things you can't do and three things you can do. I'd be like, nope, can't do that, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope and day. It's not a hallmark of uk people.

Christos Garkinos: 24:47

So this is what I've learned now with, like you know, my business uncovered by christos, that I it's all about customer service, plenty, how, um, I was there for um three years and then I did. I had an amazing experience there and, like you know, lit the lights up of champs-elyseées with Mickey and Minnie. I did everything and did everything, but also was thinking I always think about my next gig. And so when you're young you're 28, 29, I don't know about you, but I had friends who were like what's your dream job? And I'm like I can tell you right now because I used to love music so much. My parents had a jukebox that the Italian mafia would control.

George Stroumboulis: 25:22

Yeah, yeah, yeah, they were on the take on it.

Christos Garkinos: 25:25

Every week we'd get the 45s like they would, they would, they would like, and so we had thousands of 45s and I loved music growing up and the whole thing. So I love music stores and so I'd go to the Virgin Mega store in Paris and I would spend literally 10 hours in there going. Ugh, you know, I was obsessed, you. Right now I had a marketing for Virgin Megastores.

Christos Garkinos: 25:43

Oh so you had that on. I was like that was like my dream job. I swear to God this happened. So I'm there at Disney for a couple of years. I'm getting a little bit, like you know, and so I'm on a blind date in London and it's going terribly and I'm just like this is awful. It's before any app or anything and I said I'm not doing well, so instead of going home.

Christos Garkinos: 26:09

I go to the Virgin Megastore in Piccadilly Circus and I'm just loving all the music inside and I always would go and read the trade magazine called Billboard because I used to love it. They had one left in that Virgin Meg virgin mega store. It was, I think, a month old. It was crinkled. I opened it up just looking at the. I used to live the charts right and I clipped to like the one, as like I always do. Boom had a marketing virgin mega store los angeles. They wore, they brought it. One time I find it six thousand miles away in because of a bad blind date.

Christos Garkinos: 26:45

Yeah, in london one month later too, yeah, I'm like and there's no internet, there's no posting this job, I was like there it is because I verbalized it, and so I um I went and I, um I faxed them my resume.

George Stroumboulis: 27:00

Uh, the next day, um the whole, like you know so can you explain to the listener what a fax is?

Christos Garkinos: 27:05

Yeah, exactly I remember the first fax. I'm not old, but like 1985 or 1987, they installed a fax machine at our at Clorox. I'm like, what is this? It's like, so a piece of paper is sent from Chicago electronically and comes out here. I'm like you got to be kidding me.

George Stroumboulis: 27:23

You got to be kidding me. There's no way. What is this devil box?

Christos Garkinos: 27:25

It literally was like like the whole thing was like it was like I'm like what I always be sticky and you know you got ink everywhere Anyways. So I fly out, I'm like on for this interview. I'm like, and I got dream job and I got to move and there was like a big like hush in the room and like a lot of like why would you leave us? And I was like, well, I'm just, you know, this is my job, this is music. I could be a little more crazy at work. And so I went home and the next day I go back and Disney's like we want you to stay, we'll pay for you in, we'll pay. You just got to sign a contract for five years To stay what age are you at right now?

George Stroumboulis: 28:07

30? You're 30? Okay, 30.

Christos Garkinos: 28:09

And I'm like, are you fucking kidding me? It's like so I am. How do you say no to that? Well, here's what happens is like I was like, okay, let me think about it overnight, you know, it's just like. So I live by the store called Harvey Nichols and they have an American food section up there. It was the only place you get an American food, because everything else was all British food, and I bought a whole. I bought Oreo cookies, cause that's like my go-to, like when I'm a seven year old kid, like just by myself. So I, I, I remember I think I may have eaten like two sleeves, like sick to my stomach, trying to get into my head. Like what am I going to do I day? I'm like, thank you guys so much, but I need to do this. This is like a dream. So I said no. I stayed for three more months and then I moved back to LA, where my whole life has happened, and started my whole journey in music With Virgin, working with Richard Branson.

George Stroumboulis: 28:58

So you can imagine, you got to toss about this man.

Christos Garkinos: 29:00

So I started there and one of the first times I met him we walked around the Virgin Mega store in Los Angeles Like it was like the epicenter of anything cool in LA. He's like Christos. All I care about is they have fun in here. If they buy something, I don't care Really.

Christos Garkinos: 29:12

This is going from this day that's every day when I go do my lives I very similar things. My dad was putting on a show every day. Right that came out. I was nicking a good mood. That's what happens to me in my life, so I think it's the same concept. And so we opened the Virgin Megastore in Times Square. It was the biggest store in America in the world and two days before he was like I decided I wanted to drop from the top of the store to the ground in a helicopter. I'm like make it happen, chris. He's like okay.

George Stroumboulis: 29:44

That's where you. So what was your title? I was head of marketing, Okay.

Christos Garkinos: 29:47

So everything that went crazy in the stores, like you know, if you were a band. So this is the craziest. By the way, he's all, all his businesses are just marketing.

George Stroumboulis: 29:55

Yeah, marketing, that's a big deal.

Christos Garkinos: 29:57

And he takes, and so I was head of it and his businesses. You know, it's always like, you know, are we gonna be paid this week because that kind of stuff that would happen. But I, you know to this day, like he taught me mostly everything. And so the first day and this, he went back to london. I had a team I reported to, obviously, my management team, but so we had, um, uh, our first in-store. Now I've been, I've been used to in-stores because of virgin, because of disney and mickey mouse, and so a band called do you know Adam? Remember Adam Matt? He used to put makeup on.

George Stroumboulis: 30:25

He's an 80s guy, so huge deal.

Christos Garkinos: 30:27

K-rock comes and there's like I go there for the first time in the store it's like thousands of people. This happened before even I had started. This thing happened.

George Stroumboulis: 30:34

Yeah, K-Rock. By the way, wasn't that Howard Stern before he became?

Christos Garkinos: 30:37

No, that was something that's still there, but it's not. He was on there. I think he was on there for a while, yeah, yeah. So, anyhow, thousands of people and I was like, and in my head I'm like this is great. And then I see like the management team like stricken, their faces are white because in West Hollywood there was the fire marshal and this guy was there in super strict. His parents had died in separate fires.

George Stroumboulis: 30:58

Oh geez.

Christos Garkinos: 31:02

So he was ready to shut this shit down and there'd be a riot and then it'd be my job. I was on job for a week, so I just get into Christos mode. I run upstairs. He's still like halfway in makeup, like putting on one of his stripes. I'm like Adam, wherever your name is.

George Stroumboulis: 31:21

I took him by like the end of his.

Christos Garkinos: 31:22

I'm like get in, start singing. Now I could see in my head like, hey, you know, they get two songs in or shut down, so it's not like a crazy thing. So I got them on and they performed for two songs and then we're shut down and we got signed fine, $50,000 the next day or something crazy that my boss was not happy about. But that was like my whole life. So from that I met, I was responsible, and Howard Stern, as you said, I did his signing in San Francisco, went around two blocks, I did all the in-stores. I was out every night meeting every concert. You had to, because I was representing our brand, Would they?

Christos Garkinos: 31:56

kiss your ass, knowing you're the guy, because Virgin store it was the main, it was it because we were the cool store and so they would do that, like, hey, crystal, do you want front row seats of this or like that or this? And they would find me out. I remember them finding out we have a new singer named Jessica Simpson. Could you come to New York to hear her? And I was like I went. I'm like, oh my God, but the funniest story about music is that I opened up one of the funniest stories I Miami and it was Cher and Richard Branson. I put them in.

Christos Garkinos: 32:22

It was during when she was doing the Superbowl, so I had them in like a what do you call it? A float, like a football float going down and like it was a huge deal, whatever. So there's an after party that's happening and Tyrese the singer was there, tyrese, and it's like, and people are going, tito Fente was there, all these people were there. And Tyrese is like hey, christos, there's a new girl group I want you to meet. They're in the back. I'm like, okay, here we go. So I'm like, hi, guys, and what's your name? And the first girl's like hi, I'm Kelly. And what's your name? Latoya, lauren. And what's your name, dear Beyonce? Oh, nice, and what's the name of your group, they got to change that name True story. True story, like so much, I know nothing, obviously, I know nothing, so, but those are the kinds of stories where like they had an average career after that Average career.

Christos Garkinos: 33:12

Average career. Like you know, I had. Like you know, I had to like stop for like a major pop star from shoplifting. You know all these things would happen. I had to be the one to fix her. You be the one to fix her. You can't share that name. That's not a public. That was. There's two names in the book I could not put in due to my lawyers. I'll tell you afterwards. Okay, good, but I had like I kind of like had everybody there, so it was an amazing run and I every store opening was crazy and, like you know, I I just the most craziest, most fun part, I think, of my career like corporate wise, right, seven years until I was on fox news because I was the front-facing person of Virgin on television and I had rumblings about digital music.

Christos Garkinos: 33:49

I didn't know, we didn't really figure it all out. And then this guy on Fox News says to me and I have it on video 1999. He's like so, chris, what do you think about Napster? I'm like eh, napster, people are always going to want a CD in their hands, right? People are always going to want a cd in their hands, right, and it'll be fine. We people need that tactile interaction because I was out of job a year a year.

George Stroumboulis: 34:10

So destiny's child napster nothing, nothing. So so that's where wait hold on. You had a lot of access, right, and you were the guy. So these groups like destiny's child share. They wanted to become your friend.

Christos Garkinos: 34:24

Right to have access well, the record label did I mean they weren't. I didn't hang out with share, but I had a moment with sherry in a, you know. You know, in a red leather santa suit, um with her, she and I in a. The story was basically we're opening up virgin megastore in chicago and my idea was I believe has come out her big song, believe her big song, and they wanted her to come do the opening of Chicago. I'm like great. I'm a gay man. I'm like in my 30s, like it's shit.

George Stroumboulis: 34:50

That's like the day at the time, right Exactly. I was like fist pumping.

Christos Garkinos: 34:55

I had this idea. Okay, it's Christmas time. I'm going to have Richard come in because they want to meet each other, and he'll be in a red leather suit and we'll have nine drag queen muscle reindeers pulling them across Michigan Avenue into the store for the opening. Amazing, amazing right. Right, so I'm killing it. I'm ready to get on the plane and my phone's this big, it's 1996.

George Stroumboulis: 35:16

Zach Morris.

Christos Garkinos: 35:17

And I see a call from the uk. I'm like, oh, this is richard christos. I'm like, hey, we'll see you tomorrow or whatever it was then in chicago. They'll be not. I'm not coming. No, what do you mean? You're not coming? You got to come. I met a red. I made a red leather santa suit for you to be your chair. In this chair he's like I can't come. There's a balloon. Morocco, the weather's changed. See you soon, come on, click. I'm like. I'm like, oh my God, I am effed, I'm fucked.

George Stroumboulis: 35:39

He's that crazy in a good way, Great way. He's like.

Christos Garkinos: 35:41

I got to go do this. I'm like, oh, now, what? So, now, what was? Like? I thank God, like no one knew my cell number because the phone was this big. So I get on a plane to go to Chicago. I got to figure something out Sherriff's hotel, literally her hotel, what I thought was going to be just her manager, there in the hotel room. I walk in there's like eight wigs on, like the whole thing, and I see Billy, her manager. I'm like I said so, hey, billy, I've got good news and I got bad news. And all of a sudden I hear someone walking towards me. I'm like, oh my God, it's Sherriff. Oh my God, first time meeting her, first time. She's like so and she pulls her hair to the side and then she started do you?

Christos Garkinos: 36:19

move Exactly. So I'm like, well, the bad news is Richard's not coming. They're like what, what do you mean, Richard's not coming? And I said because I just had picked up the suit. I'm like the good news is I fit the suit, so cut to me in a sleigh with Cher.

Christos Garkinos: 36:35

There's pictures, photos, people Magazine wrote about this and I and literally like, come on, I'm with share in a sleigh. Your dream came true. But the most, the most amazing moment that was not about me per se was that I got out of the sleigh and, um, we went to go cut the ribbon and my mother, after we cut the ribbon my mom aspasia, who loves share, was in the vestibule, the lobby, before he got in the store and I got to say mom, share, mom. So that was like a moment.

George Stroumboulis: 37:01

And for her was it like oh, my son's arrived.

Christos Garkinos: 37:03

Yeah, my son's arrived, but it's also the Greek mother. So when we did the store opening in New York, we gave away virgin vodka bottles to everybody, one per person. Yeah, my Rocky Talk is like Christos. Mom says I'm like what does my mom want? She's got three bottles of vodka?

George Stroumboulis: 37:19

Of course she does, yeah, and she took a party favor and the flowers.

Christos Garkinos: 37:24

Is it okay that we give her? I'm like, hold on. I'm like mom, you cannot, she's Greek, she's Greek. How do you say no to that? You can't. But those vodka bottles are still in her basement, Come on.

George Stroumboulis: 37:41

With potatoes inside. You know what I mean. So, dude, that's incredible anyways. So all this access, talk to me about richard. Clearly, you've learned stuff from him. Yeah right, studying entrepreneurship today, you'll uh, there's elon musk, there's jeff bezels, there's like the modern ones that we know, but I feel like richard's the ultimate entrepreneur. That pre-internet and all this, all that stuff he's.

Christos Garkinos: 37:57

The inversion was like the whole logo was like he wrote he on a cocktail napkin. He wrote the logo. So to this day even I still, like you know, follow him. I'm in terms of like what he does and he's very authentic. So I think you know, after I left virgin, I I open up this, this, this resale store, basically because I didn't know I love fashion so I kind of made that happen, which kind of led to my career versioning but like, but.

Christos Garkinos: 38:17

From that I always felt like every day is a show. You want to basically be able to tell your story, because in the end I know I'm a good salesperson but in the end I'm really just a great storyteller. I love to tell stories. You can tell I'm talking my head off, but I love telling stories and that has guided me to this day.

Christos Garkinos: 38:36

So I had this huge fashion career where basically I was getting into celebrities' closets and reselling their clothes and before anybody else was doing it. I started this 30 years ago because I kind of had a little side business happening and it blew up and I dressed over 13,000 women, some people you don't know, and then some people like a Mal Clooney or Selma Blair who stole my friend from Detroit and everybody, or Selma Blair, who stole my friend from Detroit and everybody. But I knew that I felt like there was something bigger calling me in terms of my life. And so in LA, if it's 2000 and call it 11, you go to dinner. Everybody at the table has a reality show, except for me. Hi Rachel Zoe, hey Brad Gretzky, hey designer. I mean, I'd be at the table like why don't we have what?

George Stroumboulis: 39:18

this is all in your circle, to these people right like my circle like I don't.

Christos Garkinos: 39:21

I'm like I have a story to tell, I do what I do and so. But you know, I had another goal in mind, because when I was 17, 16 years old, a lot of kids would be going out and, like you know, whatever, I was home watching the home shopping network. I was obsessed with it, like I, my parents like, would you stop watching this stuff, right? I'm like, hold on. My agent in our pal is on. She's selling her makeup. I want her to sell out. I was obsessed.

George Stroumboulis: 39:42

More the business side or actually what they were selling.

Christos Garkinos: 39:45

The whole idea of it. I was like talking to a camera and selling things. I know I could do that. I felt I could do this right, this fashion. Back to the fashion stuff too. It was great, I love fashion.

Christos Garkinos: 40:02

But I said to my manager time, my manager is the daughter of freddie demand, who was madonna's and michael jackson's manager, okay, and then she had me poor thing. So uh. So I said I want to do this reality show, I'm gonna make this show happen, but the only reason, the only reason I'm doing this because I want this to be the platform for me to get my own gig in the Home Shopping Network. That's all I said. I don't care if the show is canceled in one year, which it was I want to do this. So what happened was we made the show happen, we sold it. It was called the Dukes of Melrose. It ran for one year on Melrose, but the whole time I was doing the show I was actively trying to figure out how can I use this for my idea I want to do at a home shopping network?

George Stroumboulis: 40:41

Which is a big deal. You just touched over it, you got a reality show. Oh yeah, by the way, I got a reality show yeah you just said it and you're like yeah, it's kind of like, oh yeah, and I got a haircut I had a reality show.

Christos Garkinos: 40:49

So yeah, so basically that was the first touch of want to hug and um and thank god, like you know, there's no, really there was some instagram had just happened. So thank god because, like now, I'm sure there's some guys going back into it. You know, I didn't get all that, those dms and stuff but like right but uh, yeah, it was a great experience.

Christos Garkinos: 41:08

like you know, I was like it definitely like elevated my profile. Yes, um, I was recognized in airports and like, because it got a little you, it got to my head a little bit, I gotta be honest, it was a little bit of an ego thing.

George Stroumboulis: 41:22

It was, like you know, I felt it, but it's a big deal right, it's a big deal to manifest, I feel, like the recurring theme in your life is like you keep putting it out there and it happens.

Christos Garkinos: 41:31

Yeah, if you don't, I feel like if you don't speak it, it won't happen. Like I always always spoken like I want to do this. I feel like this is it and we all have those. I think we all. I'm sure you do have those sounds inside of you where, like you know, I feel I can do this. I know this is in me and there's something that says like, no, don't do that. I really do try to ignore that voice as much as possible, despite being kind of this outsider my whole life. So the show happened and I was having it was very stressful. I, I mean, I'm, I'm like 190 now that's like my fighting weight, but I got down to 175 and I was like not eating and she's like.

George Stroumboulis: 42:05

I was like like it was totally like stressful and you're a tall guy, for people have never met you, yeah yeah.

Christos Garkinos: 42:10

So I was like, oh man, the show's great. But, like I and it was a lot of drama and, like you know, even my mother got involved in the drama in the show and like, like I was like what are you doing? Like man, it's not your show, let's stop. She got drunk. They filmed the Greek Easter. My mother started doing shots of Uzo. It was not cute. It was not cute. No, we got to play that clip. Yeah, the clip is crazy. She'll see what I got. And she's a crew right there. There's a crew right there and you're packed and even when you're having a bad day, you're there. It's like it's really like it's not. And some of my friends are like, should I do my show? I'm like don't, don't.

George Stroumboulis: 42:44

Yeah, yeah, I mean, did you feel like everything you were doing is like, okay, how would this look on the show, how would it? My whole idea, that was it, that was your MO Get laid or increase my dynamite?

Christos Garkinos: 42:58

Yeah, exactly, that's all I wanted to be, so I was like.

George Stroumboulis: 43:01

Hopefully you achieve those.

Christos Garkinos: 43:02

I'm not the villain Like I'm not the villain. I want to be how you like. So, which I think I pretty much made happen.

George Stroumboulis: 43:07

So wait, when you sold that idea and you got it like, do you pitch it to? Was it Andy?

Christos Garkinos: 43:11

Cohen Well, no, no, no, there was. You know, we got paid a tremendous amount of $5,000 an episode.

George Stroumboulis: 43:20

Okay, with no royalties, okay.

Christos Garkinos: 43:22

I'd be around the world, like in Mexico, like oh Duke's a mad girl, it's Christos. Yeah, I didn't get paid for it, so I'll give you a head check. They make all the money. You have car routes, so now it's different. So people do the platform. I get why they're for money.

George Stroumboulis: 43:37

But it was create your own brand, your image. Yeah. Get on a home shopping network yes.

Christos Garkinos: 43:41

Okay, so back to this now home shopping network. Yeah.

George Stroumboulis: 43:44

You dreamt it. Now you're on there.

Christos Garkinos: 43:46

So what happened was we went and pitched to a company, a manufacturing company, who had a line, and I was in that meeting. It was like I've been waiting. I was just like I went in there but I boop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop. But here's my line. It's called Eureka by Crystal Scarpinos. So I'll help you discover, like what I see in women's closets and bop, bop, bop, bop. They're like okay, sold kid, like calm down, so they're like. And then I went and they got me canceled so we had to close. So we closed the deal. So I go for training and it was like me and like four other big and I'm like you know, not, I'm known, but like not known known, and there's like four big designs, really quick though Home shopping network.

George Stroumboulis: 44:29

Now did your show already come?

Christos Garkinos: 44:31

and go. It was on.

George Stroumboulis: 44:33

Oh, perfect timing. Okay, but it hadn't been canceled.

Christos Garkinos: 44:35

Yet, okay, I knew I was like no way, because I saw the ratings every week. I'm like. So I was like it's fine, yeah and um. So I go for training, right, and I, and I'm just like dude, I've been watching this for, like you know, my first credit card payments, my first credit card. I had 200 worth of credit on it. I bought pillows for college. I mean, that's how obsessed I was with it, right. So they bring up the first designer who's a big designer. I won, I won't name, but he was like they're kind of like as you were giving me on screen, and he just failed. Oh, really, I mean, he ended up going on, but he had to be trained, yep. So I ran into this person that they've never seen before I come on, and they had me on tape, like this, and I'm like, yes, they're like who are you? Like you know, and I'm like you understand, I've been waiting for this since I was 17 years old, come on man it's now, 30 years later, and I'm.

Christos Garkinos: 45:22

this is my dream.

George Stroumboulis: 45:23

This is my dream.

Christos Garkinos: 45:24

And so they ended up having me, like, train the other designers as to how to sell on Home Shopping Network, and so what happened was is that I went on. I had a very different method of selling the whole business in general. So what I did was I went to Greek churches before I went live on Home Shopping Network okay, like my church and a few other Greek churches, and I had the line, the samples of the line, and all the Greek ladies could come beforehand and pre-order their stuff. So I basically was almost sold out before I went on air because the Greek ladies came and supported me.

George Stroumboulis: 45:55

I told my story, so I did all that.

Christos Garkinos: 45:57

So they're all there for homeshop. Never, had never done. Like, what do you want to do? Like, here's what I want to do. They made it happen like god bless them so they would accept orders before it was live, yeah, so they could go online and you know some of them, some other, like you know, sandy, would be like I have, like you know, 30 of these to sell, but I've already pre-sold 15, so only 15 were to sell, so it would help my sell up amazing, I did that I, I still had thousands of things to sell, so it better help Smart man.

Christos Garkinos: 46:19

But I had my sister who was one of the models I kind of made it very different for people and so which they probably love that cultural aspect.

George Stroumboulis: 46:28

They did, they expect. Yeah, it's the whole thing.

Christos Garkinos: 46:29

Yep, and everybody I had, like everything was named after celebrities. I knew like the Garcelle, I had like celebrities there. So anyhow, hell you know, everything was selling out really, really well. And I was with Colleen Lopez, who's to this day is still like the Oprah Winfrey of Home Shopping Network. When I first met her I may have cried so we're up, we're on stage. And then I realized we have to sell 3,000 black pants because you needed like a separate to go with your clothing, right?

George Stroumboulis: 46:53

And how long of a time, like in the hour show, two minutes.

Christos Garkinos: 46:56

What do you mean? So listen, so on screen, so you'll see a screen next to you or as you're talking to the camera to the right is like 3,000 black pants and you'll see, like you know, prior things were selling out, but I had like 300 of this and you'd say, oh, it's sold out. So you can see the numbers go down.

George Stroumboulis: 47:11

In real time. In real time.

Christos Garkinos: 47:12

Yep, yep. So it's 3,000 black pants and I'm like, and the only thing different from this black pant was that there was a little scene that started here and made your leg a little smaller, almost like when you see Disneyland for the castle from a distance. It's like a trick of the eye.

Christos Garkinos: 47:27

It looks bigger, then it gets closer and smaller. So I'm like what am I going to do? I'm like I got Colleen Lopez here. I got to sell 3,000 black pants basically crop to America in two minutes. Do you know what I do? I go into Christmas mode. I get on my hands and knees, I take my finger and I trace it down her leg, starting right above her pubic bone, all the way down, like basically giving her like a nice little erotic massage with my finger, all the way down. And before I got to her chin, she's like and we sold out.

Christos Garkinos: 47:57

So, 3,000 women around America were all gasping Like I need that figure. I was like yeah.

George Stroumboulis: 48:02

If I did that, I'd be arrested. You could get away with that.

Christos Garkinos: 48:05

I didn't. I wasn't that scared. But basically you could see my foot, see how I make your leg look smaller, and there's a shot of me going. What?

George Stroumboulis: 48:20

You happened so and that was on the spot. Like you didn't plan that on the spot, on the spot and so kind of like the the santa claus suit.

Christos Garkinos: 48:25

Yes, I just, I think I also I funny enough, like I think that, um, I mean, I hear about kids of me don't have a lot of friends growing up, which I didn't have. I think I had a very bunch of imagination and, uh, if I didn't do what I did here, I think I'd be a really good publicist, because I kind of know like no, no, you can do this. Here's what I just kind of know. I just knew in style, I kind of instinctually knew it. So basically that happened and I was on top of the world. I mean, I literally had, like you know, a show on Bravo. Still for a few more months I had sold out. I was the king of HSN, they're.

Christos Garkinos: 48:56

And then life happened. I was literally at the top of my world and I started going out to this club in LA called Georgios, okay, about two months prior, and this was like I was named after a guy named Georgia Marotta who produced a lot of Donna Summer and stuff like that. It was a club. They walked through a kitchen in the back, 125 people, no cameras, elite Celebrities, mick Jagger and I was in the corner with a really famous pop star and we kind of had. We were like the king and queen of this, this club. I was by the dj booth and like everybody was anybody, they all try to get in or some were not getting let in.

George Stroumboulis: 49:31

So did you have access to all those 125 that you all knew each other?

Christos Garkinos: 49:35

you kind of discussed the guy brian and uh ran it, but like I was, I was one of the first people to start going there, and so I was elevated to this corner status.

George Stroumboulis: 49:43

Yep.

Christos Garkinos: 49:44

So I was married at the time. I was married to this guy. We've been together for 17 years, we're married and I was still personally not feeling I couldn't. Well, all these things were happening professionally. Personally, I felt I never dealt with some of the demons inside of me. They were like this part of where I was and so, um, we're in the corner dancing. I was having one of those days. I mean, that's kind of clever, I would teach. I taught, like amy poehler, how to how to whack it's a form of dancing like I.

Christos Garkinos: 50:09

It was like that kind of crazy comedian amy poehler, yeah like you know, I had, like I had, like you know, um name the pop star. They were dancing with me, whatever that was, or film star, or whatever I saw. So what happened was basically, like you know, I was dancing with my friend and this guy walked in and I looked at him and I turned to my friend and said oh God, I'm in trouble. Oh, God.

Christos Garkinos: 50:33

And so that was the moment where I kind of like my life. It was this is the November of probably 20, uh, 2013 and um, and the one thing I've learned is, like you know, it's the idea of self-sabotage like everything was going so well in my life, I felt like I didn't deserve it, and so there was a self-sabotage moment that happened, and so what happened was that? Um, I um, uh, things happened and uh, so in april 2014, I just had launched hsn2 and uh best friend of 30 years, and so death has been kind of like the one thing in my life I couldn't really deal with. My dad died when I was young. I moved to London. My best friend died a year later. She had Thessalonemia, which is like the Greek disease, the blood disorder. Oh, yes, yes, cooley's anemia. It's called Cooley's anemia. It's called Cooley's anemia.

George Stroumboulis: 51:21

So she was my Greek friend for like 15, 20 years Back from Detroit, detroit, yeah.

Christos Garkinos: 51:23

Okay, and then my best best friend, kathy, who I've been with for 30 years. She was living in our guest house and was recovering from a rare form of cancer that Steve Jobs had actually, and all of a sudden she got really sick one day, took her to the hospital and, um, she died four days later. This is april 2014 and my life was kind of like personal life had been a little crazy and we went down cedar side. We went down, it was like my husband at the time my two best friends and she had just died and something in me triggered like, like I couldn't deal with anything at all, I couldn't process it and I was like I'm out and I walked out of the hotel, of the, of the, of the hospital and walked out of my life. She hadn't passed yet she passed.

Christos Garkinos: 52:03

Oh, she passed okay, and that's when it yeah and then I, but I walked out of my, my marriage, my life. I went into, like uh, this relationship that um took me down a path which I guess we'll talk about in a second. But um, and basically I was, I'm out, like I can't deal with this you can't deal with that. You walked away from your marriage everything.

Christos Garkinos: 52:20

I was like I couldn't. There's something inside of me finally, after all those years I really don't think I dealt with my dad's death or all these things of like they're. Right now I realize in my program, my a program they're called geographics where basically you move somewhere to like not feel pain. Yeah, and so the pain I was feeling with her dying again in front of me. I couldn't. I was like I can't, I'm not equipped to deal with this, and so I basically like walked out of my life how much did ego play into this, because you were kind of on top of your own right money, all this stuff.

George Stroumboulis: 52:47

Did that come into effect?

Christos Garkinos: 52:48

because I wasn't living in gratitude about it, I was I, and I can feel this sometimes now, even like in these days, where I can feel that kind of like puffery coming, like oh hold on slow down. Yeah, it's dangerous and we all have elements of that, right yeah totally, when you feel like you're, especially with my you know everything with the book tour, what's been happening, I have to make sure, like you're still that kid with a tetherball in Detroit.

George Stroumboulis: 53:06

So like you know, slow your roll, even though, like you've been on every major media outlet, like Everywhere.

Christos Garkinos: 53:23

Every Pretty remarkable it is Thanks. But I was like I walked out and then what happened was basically from that day, basically a month afterwards, I started going out much more heavily and I, in 2014, like I told myself, I knew that that kind of genetic disposition of being sort of like an addict, or it was in me because I saw it like in my family and I always stayed away from Coke I was like, if I try coke, it's, I know it's gonna be a problem. I knew it. So I didn't do it. So I was like that that guy didn't want to like be in trouble, bad troublemaker. I started doing it and my life just yeah, just blew up.

George Stroumboulis: 53:54

But you knew at that point, like that's why I'll drink, right, I'll, I'll drink with the best of them. All this growing up, it was the fear factor from parents, right, like and again, even though, like we're older, you still have that thing on, like what would my dad say now, even though he's not here, and my mom so it was that was a big fear, but it was the what if I do it and I like it and I can't control it, like that's. That's stopped me up until this point in my life, just in general, with anything like that, yeah, but when you're on top of the world, how?

Christos Garkinos: 54:21

do you not, I mean? And so basically, I was like I, I felt my friends and they were like, what is going on with him, what is happening? And I, um, I literally it's the biggest cliche in Hollywood, like you know. Oh, look at me, I'm, I'm living in the top. I have a 360 degree view now of LA. I've got parties and strippers and da da da, and like it's fun, like I was dying. I was literally dying inside, right, but I didn't know I was, I was soothing myself and I was, and I and no, and this was like I take responsibility for like what happened, like no disrespect to my relationship, I don't want cause for me. I was acting crazy and I didn't know how to. You know, there were moments of clarity, but I didn't know what to do.

Christos Garkinos: 55:00

So this went on. I was like living this life, my HSN, and it started to affect parts of my other life. Obviously, my HSN gig came to an end like two years afterwards because, like I could feel I wasn't connecting, because I was like not in that head. I was up for a big like gig on Access Hollywood and that didn't happen. My manager left me, my friends left me. My friends start talking because they didn't know who I was, and so um it all started. You know, I still try to keep a brave face to people, right? So in 2016, um sorry, really quick 2016,.

George Stroumboulis: 55:29

All these people, what about, like your mom and your sister? Where are they?

Christos Garkinos: 55:32

They were still there. They knew something was up but they didn't know because I was living with this new person and they were like not understanding, but I wasn't like telling them anything. So my sister they didn't like what was going on but we didn't really talk about it Ended up getting remarried to this person and so this life was happening and it turned into like a huge argument and I tried to like not have him leave for whatever reason. I threw my body in the driveway and he had the car ready to go over me and like got very dramatic. And it was the day before Greek Easter and I was like you can't leave, it's Greek Easter, people are coming over. And like I had like 50 people coming over the next day like blue and white chairs it was all set up already. Like the whole thing like the world's fine, we're fine Didn't stay. So I was like in a terrible state.

Christos Garkinos: 56:23

It was the night before Greek Easter, it was Easter night, basically starting night, and I was in LA by myself. I had 50 people ready to go. The next day it was 8 o'clock PM LA time, 11 o'clock Detroit time. My mom was and I was getting high. I was high, high, high, high, high, and my drug dealer was not picking up the phone and I was running out of drugs. I was by myself in this huge house, just feeling like the world was going to collapse around me, but I had the wherewithal to call my mom at midnight to wish her you know you're still sadistic, okay.

Christos Garkinos: 56:59

You know, christ is risen. We're in Greek here. And so I was like in such a crazy state that, like I was on the phone with her, I remember at the same time I was like digging through the garbage to see if any like random Coke bags that I had left in my own garbage, and so I got off the phone. She knew something was up, but I got off the phone and I and I was like okay, that's, I can't. This is crazy. Like you got to figure this out. I thought it was either going to be the end of my life or something was happening.

Christos Garkinos: 57:22

So what I did was I went back to the church and I went on my computer and just typed in like Greek Orthodox Easter services and it came through my computer like all of these like sort of like where I grew up with I was an altar boy and like I watched, I actually loved.

Christos Garkinos: 57:36

And like I watched, I actually love Holy Friday is my favorite like service actually, and so I watched a lot of that. And I watched Saturday nights and something started coming over me like a true, like spiritual, like sort of like immersion, and I was. I woke up with my computer next to me that morning and my dog was there my dog Sophie and I was sober and something a spiritual thing had happened. But I looked at her and I called my ex-husband my first ex-husband, because we still share the dog and I was like, hey, sophie's here, I'm in a space where she shouldn't be around me, because I don't know what's going on with me right now. I've never really told you what's happening, but I I have a bad problem and something happening last night and I don't know what's going to thing Exactly.

Christos Garkinos: 58:16

I didn't know. I was like is this the day on Greek Easter? So he came with my best friend, kelly, and they sat me down like hey, listen, we've already talked to somebody we have. You know, if you want to go to rehab, we can take you to rehab. It was that Sunday morning and she's like or you know, you go talk to this person, a woman named Bernie, they gave me the choice. They didn't give me a late choice, like we're not going to let you.

George Stroumboulis: 58:38

And it's your first husband that came back. Yeah, Brad, Good person. No, yeah, he's amazing. He's like he's my best friend.

Christos Garkinos: 58:43

And I said, okay, I'll try anything. So I went to this woman on a Sunday, like I remember, like my head being on the couch, like I don't know what my life is happening day, and I haven't had a drink or anything since that day. And so I felt like, thank God, I'm sober, life's going to get better now and it'll be fine. And so I was having huge money issues. I'd spent all my money. I spent my 401k on drugs. The whole thing was a nightmare, right, right, right.

Christos Garkinos: 59:15

So six weeks to the day that I got sober, my mom died unexpectedly from heart surgery. I was there in Detroit and she was ready to come out. It was green, like the sign saying green surgery. I also went to red. She bled out. We didn't expect it. Regular procedure, pretty regular procedure. Here it is like loss, like the thing that drove me into, like you know, terrible decisions is happening while I'm sober. So I'm just, I'm holding on like this. Like you know, six weeks after that, after that, my two aunts died, like her sister plus my dad's sister, who are like the two other mothers of my life. They died All in Detroit. All in Detroit. My dog dies, my business goes under. I ended up getting like filing for divorce from my. This was within six months. Like all this stuff is happening, I'm like you know.

George Stroumboulis: 59:57

Like what's next?

Christos Garkinos: 59:58

at this point, I was like the thing is, like it's funny because we talk about like manifestation, like everything up to age 49 kind of went my way. And I was on, you know, I was 51, 52. And like I was like God, I've been a pretty good man my whole life Like why is this happening? Why, like, why me, why like how I came over it. But I was just like it was almost laughable, like I felt like I was in a heavyweight fight, like just being punched, like every day I wake up I'm like now what you know, this can't be happening. And my sponsor at the time talked about like you know, when you get sober, you know, think about it. You're in a car and maybe you've been eating McDonald's your whole life and but you've not been like throwing the wrappers and packages away. You've been putting it in the back seat. So then you like you hit the break, like basically I got to stop doing this, right, Then all that stuff comes into the front seat over you.

Christos Garkinos: 1:00:45

So you just kind of dig yourself out of all this stuff to kind of get to like where you need to be. And so I just was like, okay, I gotta, I gotta rebuild this. I was like a million dollars in debt, I all these things that happen. I was talking to lawyers like every week about, like you know, business separations. I just going back from lawyer to I was a nightmare, but I used this. So I found myself in early 2017, um, a million dollars in debt, no income coming in. Uh like, basically, like you know, selling my clothes.

Christos Garkinos: 1:01:15

I just I just had followed from divorce from my second husband. You know I am the most legally um divorced man, gay man and divorced in America. So that's.

George Stroumboulis: 1:01:22

That's like can we get a Guinness Book of Gay Records? Yeah, yeah, yeah Of.

Christos Garkinos: 1:01:25

Gay Records and, most legally, gay man, because now I'm happily married to someone I've been with for eight years. That's amazing. So, anyways, I was like, well, now what I remember driving around in my Saab which I could not sell, and I saw my Range Rover because I couldn't sell it because I'd lose so much money and I didn't have the money to pay them. What am I going to do? And I felt my body above my car looking down like this can't be the end of your life. Am I going to have to move back to Michigan? I thought I had to move back to Michigan, my story would be done.

George Stroumboulis: 1:01:53

Was it more? At that point, though you, top of the like, literally on top of the mountain pools, la down, there was it. Were you more concerned on like dude? How do I upkeep this image for what I've created for everyone? I?

Christos Garkinos: 1:02:04

still kept the instagram and facebook image up.

Christos Garkinos: 1:02:07

You know, hey, life is great when I was dying inside, which is all you know, bullshit bullshit absolutely um, but yeah, and so I couldn't even get out of that big house because, like I'd paid them, like I it's like literally like it was like um check checkmate every time I try to move somewhere. And so what happened was like I finally got out of that apartment or that, but that place up in the hills and I was literally living on um Cloverdale, which is like if you're 25 years old, you're on Cloverdale in LA and third street by the, by the freaking target, like it's like the open beginners. And I was like how, and I walk out my front door of this building I was in the bing crosby, built in 1920s, whatever and I look up and I could see my house, like at the top, where I was every morning like a reminder. I could see it. Right, you know, we're, we're, we're prior. That was like this huge party home. So I um was down to my last three thousand dollars, like literally my last $3,000.

Christos Garkinos: 1:03:01

And I had like one month left of like you know what I could do, because I was still in like a non-compete from my old job. And someone said, hey, you're from Detroit, aren't you? And I'm like, yeah, it's like we're hosting, we're going to like break into that market. I know you know people. I'm like well, sure, like I can do it. It's $3,000. Okay, that was like another month of like you know whatever. And I go to this dinner and host it, and like there's a woman across the way who I knew worked for the hotel I don't know what she really. Okay, and you know I met her for breakfast and you know I've been sober now, I think, at that point, for like a year and a half or so, still like you know whatever. And so You're in Detroit now. You came there for this gig.

George Stroumboulis: 1:03:47

I'm in Detroit, yeah.

Christos Garkinos: 1:03:52

Thinking like what's my next step? Because I had to figure something out. So my leg was shaking underneath the table because I was in that mode of like I gotta figure this out. And we started talking and she was very nice and she was telling me what she did. She was like how to marketing for a bunch of these little hotels in this little chain and it's kind of B markets and Detroit, omaha, indianapolis, like kind of those kinds of cities.

Christos Garkinos: 1:04:14

I'm like, oh great. And she's like, what are you doing? I'm like, oh, so what are you doing? Well, I'm just trudging my way through life, you know. And she's like trudging. So trudging is a big word in the AA community because I'm sober and it's like trudging the road to happy destiny. So we're all together in this little thing moving along to kind of get to the road of happy destiny. So the promises of what this program, you know you live a much more spiritual life. Life is by my fault, all these things you kind of go for in your life. She's like are you sober? Because it was breakfast, I wasn't drinking, of course, and she's like, or she wasn't. She's like, yeah, so am I. And she leaned across the table. She's like how can I help you Come?

George Stroumboulis: 1:04:46

on One word.

Christos Garkinos: 1:04:47

Now. If I hadn't said that word, I would not be here today. Like 100%, I would not you it like to me, like off the top of her head, right, but she part of being sober is about like how can I help you, how can I be a service? So she set me up in trunk shows in detroit, omaha, a couple other cities, like beginning two months and in 2018, I was able to start rebuilding my life, jeez. So I take my luxury goods on the road in, you know, on air, on fedex, in cars, set up, make some money, pay back a little bit of my debt and move on to the next one.

George Stroumboulis: 1:05:20

Physically you, you're bringing everything your flights, rental cars, like Walter Mitty style. And then you got to be on and entertain these people A hundred percent, you got 135 people in a room and maybe two want to buy something.

Christos Garkinos: 1:05:32

But you talked to I mean, literally I was like I was just running around, but it started working. So my business started growing a little bit. I was growing, growing, growing and finally, by 2020, this Covet by Christos I called it because my friend came up with the name Things I Covet. That was the name of the business Covet by Christos. And so what did I do? So, basically, I had my biggest month ever, in February 2020, which is amazing and the business was doing well. I was paying down some of my debts, but I still have a lot of debts to do. So in consignment, which I was. In consignment business, you sell things one month. You pay the people back the following month, march 2020, comes. I'm fucked.

George Stroumboulis: 1:06:09

Yeah.

Christos Garkinos: 1:06:10

I'm in a small city outside Chicago and I call my sister. Well, I'm coming in next week for the. You're not. Have you not seen the news? I'm like I was in my world. What's happening? The world's shutting down, huh.

Christos Garkinos: 1:06:28

So I try to get on a plane that night. I have one glove I swear to you, one plastic glove to protect me from COVID. That had holes in it Very effective. I go to Midway to try to get out. They shut down Midway because of COVID to hit the traffic controllers. I take the same cab back to Heathrow, get on a plane.

Christos Garkinos: 1:06:39

Heathrow looks like not Heathrow, but O'Hare Looks like a ghost town. It's like the lights are going like this, like there's no one around. People are like in these. So I get into the car back in LA, my husband meets me in a hazmat suit. I'm like I got a glove, I'm fine Ripped, but it's good. So I'm like I'm screwed. I owe $140,000 from the prior month. I had no money coming in. My business was shutting down. I'm like well, now what? And I had to figure something out. And my friend said have you heard about Instagram live? I'm like oh, I don't know. Like, I don't know what that even means. Like, what does that even mean? And so it was March 22nd, I went to a meeting, I said a prayer and just to figure out, like what I was going to do. And I had this idea back in the day when I was on Bravo called Live in the Closet with Christos.

George Stroumboulis: 1:07:22

In the Closet, in the Closet, in the Closet, and like it was Watch what Happens Live meets HSN.

Christos Garkinos: 1:07:26

It's me. I bring someone in a closet somewhere, we're on a television show and FedEx is outside the door. I'm selling to try that. Now how do I make this happen? So I went on Instagram and I see this Instagram live happening and it's D-Nice, who's famous DJ. He had a hundred thousand people watching them. I'm like, oh my God, this is it. I'm going to go on, I'm going to have my bags here, I'm going to sell, pay back my people, I'm going to make this whole huge life happen. And I go on like live with my 3,000 followers and like there's like eight people watching me, two of whom are family members and five are Russian bots. I swear to you, it was like hello, vladimir. And so I'm on live and I was like but I felt comfortable doing it, right, it was fun.

Christos Garkinos: 1:08:12

So what I did was like in my program they're like stay in solution, show up. So every day at 5 pm Pacific, I was in there. Whether it be, I'm proud of being a friend of the talk. I tried to sell a bag just to make my rent. I was just like in that mode and I just started like growing the business of the whatever I was doing covered by crystals was just starting to grow and so, sorry, were you making like from? I was making a little sale like in my stories, instagram. Here's a bag for like. Actually, if you want it like, dm me like that kind of like man-to-man combat.

George Stroumboulis: 1:08:37

But you saw the end goal that hey, this is working, this has potential. I didn't know what was happening.

Christos Garkinos: 1:08:41

Apparently, I was a social media disruptor, as they call me. Now I'm like, okay, great, I'm trying to just pay my fucking rent. Okay, so I'm building, building, building. I bring some of my celebrity friends in, so I see my numbers starting to grow in terms of followers. This one kid who was a reseller out of Europe saw one of my stories and was like hey, by the way, how much do you charge to come on your show? I'm like what?

Christos Garkinos: 1:09:02

And at that moment my whole world changed. I was like I'm the network. Geez, I don't need to have products. I didn't just want me to give them like the good housekeeping seal that you're okay to buy from. And everybody's home they want to shop. What are they going to do? So I was like Just rewired the way you Rewired my whole brain. And so, see, cut by Crystal became like this network where I then was hosting other people split screen, I was the host talking about what they had, and then they would just like sell something and I would make commission off it. And I didn't have a product. So I totally changed it.

Christos Garkinos: 1:09:31

So basically, I was like off the races. I really was in my addiction of business. I was working probably 10 hours a day all by myself, and I just saw, like my bank account, like the million dollars of debt, went away pretty quickly. And then, like I started like saving money and like I was like I had to hire an employee. I was like I was like, oh, and so the first year we did I think in 2021, was like 15 million dollars in sales. I was like, oh, my god, this is nuts. First year for sure. And then I started bringing out hosts. So now, like you know, if you come to my, if you come to my business and my cover by christos on instagram and also my website, and right now there's a show happening. I'm not on it like, I'm just like that. You, they now trust that I hire people who are like me. Yes, there's a famous hairstylist called Jose Iber. He's like the long hair.

Christos Garkinos: 1:10:12

Yeah, so when you go to the salon he gives you the first haircut. It's like, oh, thank you very much for coming. And now you go to Jacqueline.

George Stroumboulis: 1:10:17

You know, so that's it Okay.

Christos Garkinos: 1:10:19

That's like my thing. So we have grown significantly. So every day, we do over 300 hours a month of content with all these shows, 10 shows a day, all through Instagram Live, all through Instagram Live, and now I'm going more to my website, so that thing and they're called StoSquad. Stosquad is like my beehive. Yes, yeah yeah, yeah.

Christos Garkinos: 1:10:43

And these women are just amazing. First off, I built community, and product came second, I was there. A lot of people were sick during COVID and they stayed with me. I've helped them through hard times. We traveled together. We've been around the world. We've gone to Athens, we've gone to Paris, we've gone to France, we're going to Dubai this October.

George Stroumboulis: 1:11:01

Hold on so these are all people scattered around the country and the world, and the world. Okay, and now you've created a community.

Christos Garkinos: 1:11:07

A community of thousands of people.

George Stroumboulis: 1:11:08

So you go to Dubai or Athens. What hey, be there these days. We're going to do some events, yeah events.

Christos Garkinos: 1:11:13

They go shopping, and Athens is my 60th birthday party, and so that all happened. That's amazing it's amazing and these women are highly like 30 to 65, 70, and they're highly educated. They're powerful women and the women who work with me on the network are ballers and they're there for the storytelling. We make them laugh during the day. They don't need to buy Back to Richard Branson. Come in and have some fun. If you buy something great, whatever it doesn't make a difference. It does make a difference, but yeah.

Christos Garkinos: 1:11:43

But have some fun. And so the first time we all met up was July 2021. And there was like a window in Vegas to kind of meet together. And so all these women who are like powerful women, they didn't know who is who Are you, jackie? Two, one, two, two, two, oh, come on, you know, like that whole thing. So it all happened. So now they're all friends. There's still squat meetups in LA, in Dallas and everywhere. Are you saying stoa, oh, stowe, how do you spell it? Stos, stos, okay, stos, okay, good, sorry, stowe, squad, sorry, I talk fast, it's a mouthful and so they're everywhere around and they meet up.

Christos Garkinos: 1:12:20

And so, basically, what happens is, like you know, I knew that I wanted this to be like a network. I knew I wanted to like, bring on products I covet, mostly in resale of Hermes and Chanel bags in the beginning, and now we're into beauty, we're into home, so it's everything you want for your life, you know. And it has culminated in this huge, huge business where, like you know, I've I see people who you know we're of a certain age. It's harder to make friends when you're older, and all these people on my phone now, I didn't know three years ago. They all have friends now, so for me it's like if my legacy is like you know, I got some great Chanel bags of crystals, but in the end I made three best friends for my life. They're going to be with me from like age 50 to like 85. And they're going to be.

Christos Garkinos: 1:12:55

It's going to be like that. I know it. I know I don't have kids. I just know my legacy is that yeah, absolutely. My legacy is that Likeanson brought to his life every day that Mickey Minnie Mouse brought to their life every day, and so I'm able to do that. Now I'm leaving here, I have a show, and I'll be able to do that for the next. I have five hours of shows today, Jeez, and I'm just. I mean.

George Stroumboulis: 1:13:22

That you're gonna be on? Yeah, I have to. How do you like if you're in a bad mood or your your husband pisses you off or your whatever, the barista screws up your like. If you're in a bad mood, how do you go on? Because they don't want to hear your bullshit, right?

Christos Garkinos: 1:13:34

they know when I'm like in a mood.

George Stroumboulis: 1:13:36

They can tell oh do they help bring you out of?

Christos Garkinos: 1:13:38

it.

Christos Garkinos: 1:13:38

They do because, like a papa stills in the mood, they call me papa stills and so yeah so, um, yeah, but I do it because I want to make, I want to make sure that the show's successful, and you know, and so they're, that's just the way, the way it is. And so we, um, I put a show on every day. There's. It starts now at 5 am, pacific time, until like 10 o'clock at night. You know, we are, uh, we're, more valued than the real world is my little business and so what we're doing. So it's like I've got big plans for the community and the network and, uh, for me, I love being, I love the idea, because I'm a marketing guy, that's my background, so I love the idea of, like you know, you know, of thinking of new things and being communicating new things.

Christos Garkinos: 1:14:15

But, in the end, like you know, the book cover, the comeback, is a culmination of all these stories. I teach you inside, like you know, sort of like you know, when you're at the depth of like that moment where, like, am I going to basically kill myself? Like, basically kill myself? Like what is going to happen to me? Like, is my story done? I really talked to you about like staying in solution of when you're feeling like an outsider, like how to, like you know, I, despite. You know we both talked about this. I'm pretty shy, I'm, I'm, I'm. You know I'm on right now Cause I want to be on for you, but in the end, like I'm going to be by myself, like kind of I wouldn't have a lot of friends growing up, so I've never been a good joiner, right.

George Stroumboulis: 1:14:48

Which is crazy, dude? You do all these media appearances, tv people. It's crazy.

Christos Garkinos: 1:14:53

It's because I think I would watch so much television. When I was a kid I was like I can do that. I felt like I would mimic them. So I think that's part of it. But in the end I'm pretty shy.

Christos Garkinos: 1:15:05

But I take contrary action because I know, like you know, one of the things I learned in my program is, like you know, we don't feel like doing something, like going to the gym. You got to go to the gym, right, because you know it's not about today, it's going to help you in 10 years, like when you're potentially facing a health issue that you were working out early in your life. Yeah, you know, like, so I know that those things are important. So I I, just to be honest, like I'm not, like you know, I don't go every day. I mean, obviously, I, I, I, I, the tenants of, like, what I've learned I apply every day. So when you watch my show, you may be we call it 12. I may be 12 stepping you. You may not know that. Okay, so, in terms of what I said, but I think it's like you know, people talk about I talk often about staying in solution and I really believe, like, if you have a big problem in front of you, whether it's business or you know, or whatever. I always say, okay, I'm not going to solve this today, but what's the one step I can take to get me to like where I need to be All right, because you can like pray, pray and like, please, you know, like, give me like the guidance, but you've still got to. You know what, you, someone, you got to take that step Right, absolutely. I feel sometimes my dad or my mom like hitting me in the back, going go do that. You know what I mean. Like. So I've been lucky that I've been kind of blessed, like with a gut thermometer, of like where I should go for something, and so I'm going to go do this and I'm going to ask someone else for help on this. Oh, okay, great, I'm not gonna do it that way, but I think that's a really good idea. And then what happens is the universe takes you through the next step. I believe like it's a big it's. I think, if you take anything away from my book, it's like just take that step, universe steps in and then the next step will reveal itself.

Christos Garkinos: 1:16:41

When I was at the depth of my the greatest part of my life, I just got sober. I didn't know what was going on. Everything was falling away me. I had these dreams where I was in a forest and the trees were falling everywhere, and the first time I started having this dream I was like, oh, it's my life just falling apart. I really felt that. But then when I realized in the dream, finally, after I kept repeating itself, I was like, oh my God, there's a path being made for me. I just don't know what that path is yet. So there's always your plan, which is cute, but in the end it's God's plan.

Christos Garkinos: 1:17:10

Like, I mean, like that sign, you see, like when man plans, God laughs or whatever it's like he's like that's funny, but now I got this, I got this and so if you feel like you've got this, like you know it's going to, and people that I met and I met, like you know, thousands of people on my book tour and and a few of the kids in their 20s are like I just lost my job and I don't know what's going to happen and I'm like, will I be okay? I'm like, no, you are okay, and I talk about the concept of future, fucking yourself.

Christos Garkinos: 1:17:39

If you stay in the future and too much about what will happen. It's going to happen this way, that way, you're going to fuck yourself. Yes, yeah, it's like you are okay, absolutely, you're breathing, you're here, you're going to be taken care of in some way. You'll be fine. Just let everything else kind of happen to you. It's going to be fine, it's going to be fine, it is fine. It's not even going to be fine, it is fine, it is fine. And if you can't live in the past, obviously because geez, whatever, it's great. And you day with you. I've never met you before.

Christos Garkinos: 1:18:06

I feel like you're my brother, a hundred percent man and so like I I feel like I can talk to you about anything which I have, yeah and um, you know I'm going to walk out of here going. That was a great day.

George Stroumboulis: 1:18:15

Yeah, and honestly, just on that amazing connection and, I hope, moving forward, you and I are cool. Yeah, I wake up every day and I try this, uh, and I'm not great at sticking to it, but I try to remind myself it can only get worse. And I don't do that from a negative, I'm like, dude, woke up, I'm healthy, touch wood, my kids are fine Spouse. Things can only get worse. There's inevitable deaths coming down the road and like, if you just I mean, I think I mean, I definitely that's very Greek, by the way.

George Stroumboulis: 1:18:44

It is very Greek. Yeah, it is.

Christos Garkinos: 1:18:46

But I feel like it's like I feel like you know you should. When I think about the future, it's like, excuse me, as I think about it, like where can I tell my story? What's my story? And I said it from a style perspective. Like what do you want to say style-wise, story-wise? Do you love Sophia Loren? Great, Like let's figure out a way for her. But if you want to tell your story, to continue and unravel For me, you want to see how your kids turn out. You want to see how your friends turn out. Look what Billy did. Like I mean, for me, my network is like when I you know, I'm able to see, like I love. For some reason, graduation time of year is like one of my favorite times, even though I graduated. So I love seeing kids graduate. I think it's the coolest thing.

George Stroumboulis: 1:19:34

Whether it be preschool, all was preschool like, hey kids, see you next year. Now it's like a freaking, like you know parade and, like you know, my four-year-old graduated two, two nights ago I posted a photo.

Christos Garkinos: 1:19:37

I'm like what's this production, movie clips and all this fireworks I'm like they're like here's your cookie.

George Stroumboulis: 1:19:38

You see you next year.

Christos Garkinos: 1:19:39

My dad was like graduation d come get out of here, it's fine, yeah, but that kind of stuff is great to me and so you know, I think that you know I'm able to be here with you to talk about my story because I was at that time was like, like I said earlier, like I was like you know God, like why is this happening to me, me, me, me. When I didn't realize, when I took my way out of it, it was like it's happening to me. So I can tell my story to you today. Right, to give someone hope about like my strength and the hope of like my experience. Like like my strength and the hope of like my experience. Like it, it will covet your comeback because when you're in your comeback.

George Stroumboulis: 1:20:14

There's nothing better than that, absolutely, and you can speak to it, whether it's you know that you're older and you've gone through this, but what a story. You didn't do like the this your whole life and I was.

Christos Garkinos: 1:20:23

It's like fuck, I mean I don't know if greeks can do that way.

George Stroumboulis: 1:20:26

I mean, I don't know greeks are all in or they're not.

Christos Garkinos: 1:20:28

whatever it is, I mean, that's why I love being Greek. It's like I don't understand things I say about being entrepreneur. One is like being Greek, cause I think it's, it's definitely bred inside of you. And secondly is like living in LA, cause I feel like in one for me. I know you've spent a lot of time in New York, I have not, but like reinvention and, like you know, we're both the same, madonna and I. We're the same person, madonna and I Okay, let's hear this Both born in Michigan.

Christos Garkinos: 1:20:54

Okay, both went to Michigan University of Michigan. Yeah, her first gay bar was my first gay bar. Oh really, yes, okay.

George Stroumboulis: 1:21:04

I've seen her.

Christos Garkinos: 1:21:05

She reinvents herself like nobody else, right? So she's always been like, for me, like the pinnacle of like, and I could have met her in my music career like 20 times. But I did not because To this date, you've never met her. Hold on, there's a story, it's in the book. 20 times I could have met her in music because that was my job. I was like nope, I don't want to meet her because I don't want her to.

Christos Garkinos: 1:21:26

I fascinated my life in some way about how she always like, peeled it back. So five years ago, six years ago, my friend Kelly, who's helping get sober she was, we had both come up, I know she was 19. She's now the biggest PR person in LA and Madonna's now her freaking client, which is crazy. She's like we're going to go to the Vanity Fair party. You're going to my date and then we're going to go to Madonna's after party. You, I'm giving my date and we're going to go to Madonna's after party. You're going to meet her tonight. I'm like Major, okay, yeah, so I'm just like you know.

Christos Garkinos: 1:21:52

I have had conversations to her in my head, like you know, like I was a kid and like I just like here's why I love you, the whole thing. I think I may have wrote a paper about you, the whole thing. So I'm ready. So I see towards me, at her, at um guy or series house, uh, with my, my best friend, kelly, next to her publicist, to introduce me to her, cheers the moment of my life, the tetherball moment of my life. And um, nana walks towards me. She's like hi, christos, it's nice to meet you. I mean how? And so I have like a 5 000 treatise in my head of like what I want to say to her.

Christos Garkinos: 1:22:28

Yeah, and I look at her, I'm like gosh, you're pretty, out of all that. Kelly's like gosh, you're pretty. Like, are you fucking crazy? Like. And I was just like I was that nine year old boy, like you know, at the tetherball like, where my whole life was all coming together, like the moment I worked up to, and I was like, gosh, you're pretty pretty. And she looked at me and she kind of looked at Kelly and I'm like there's nothing else coming out. And I, but something did come out. I was like let's all go dance. So I just let's just go dance. So we went back and I was dancing with Don in a circle.

Christos Garkinos: 1:23:03

so my life worked out it worked out okay, but I'm at this party. But you know you saved it. She could have been like, no, I'm out. I saved him out. So basically I was just like, but those moments of like you know, we're basically I, basically I've met everybody. I've met everybody who's been the biggest upset.

George Stroumboulis: 1:23:19

Like you didn't want to meet madonna because you didn't want to right ruin the image. Like can you name someone that you met? You're like man, that was such a disappointment, not a good person johnny depp. Oh, johnny depp, yeah he wasn't.

Christos Garkinos: 1:23:30

Uh, he wasn't very. He didn't know who I was. I don't think because I had a marketing aversion, like he was. There was a guy, an artist, who was there doing a book signing. He was there and he's very dismissive to me. So I would say johnny depp was like the most disappointing person really.

Christos Garkinos: 1:23:42

Yeah just because he didn't recognize like well I was trying to be helpful and he was very dismissive towards me. I was just like dude, like I'm here to help Cause I'm like the how to marketing versions, like don't you know what I mean? Like.

George Stroumboulis: 1:23:52

I'm not asking for autographs.

Christos Garkinos: 1:23:53

I'm here like to like, just make this a better experience for you. So that was like the one thing I would say.

George Stroumboulis: 1:23:58

You mentioned. You're proud of your heritage. Greeks have this thing where you ask for directions from a Greek and they'll be they. They will take it on and be the best at whatever they're trying to do. Did you ever have like imposter syndrome when you started A hundred percent, okay, so, like this celebrity, this maybe a C or B list, or you're doing it and then you start getting to the big ones. You're like fuck, do they really like what I'm doing? Do I know?

Christos Garkinos: 1:24:19

what I'm doing. That all happens. So, listen, I was definitely bullied when I was a kid Like you know, not like the most athletic kid in the world and so I was definitely and I I would take I got so much bullying during lunchtime I would take my lunch like literally in the bathroom, so I was like I couldn't come on man.

George Stroumboulis: 1:24:35

What age is this?

Christos Garkinos: 1:24:36

Uh, I was uh 10, 11, 10, nine, 10, 11, really quick the bullying.

George Stroumboulis: 1:24:42

in my bathroom I have this big poster words Don't be an asshole. And my daughters, who are 10, 7 and 4, even my four-year-old. What does daddy always say? Don't be an asshole.

Christos Garkinos: 1:24:51

like just kids are assholes yeah, I mean it's just the way it is. It's just the way it is, and so I um, yeah, so bullying was like always, like as I was, that kind of thing.

George Stroumboulis: 1:24:59

It was a question again, so I was talking no, no, so you were saying uh about bullying, we were talking about imposter syndrome.

Christos Garkinos: 1:25:05

So I would. So what would happen was like when I leave a class because I was still also very smart and teachers loved me and that whole thing I would shut the door of the classroom and listen to see if they were calling me names after I left. Oh geez, so that happened when I was very young and so it still, to this day, happens. It's part of, I think, of my daily sort of Even. When I'm talking to you, I'm like is this really my I, like that's me on the book cover. I'm like is that really, is that me?

George Stroumboulis: 1:25:31

like I just still like on the billboards everywhere nationally.

Christos Garkinos: 1:25:35

I'm just like and I just and I feel like you know there's still like those sounds in your head like I'm sure somebody's watching is going on this asshole.

George Stroumboulis: 1:25:40

I'm like, I just like I um, but you know I keep pushing through it, so yeah but how do you like even the comments right like you're live every day, you're you're, you're exposed Hundreds of hours a month like you're out there.

Christos Garkinos: 1:25:53

Of course people are gonna say stuff right Like the easy thing is is, like you know, is that because I was bullied so much I couldn't use, like my brute power to fight back at somebody sometimes, yeah, but I used the tower, my tongue, so I can cut people down pretty quickly.

George Stroumboulis: 1:26:06

Yeah, I do, you're sharp.

Christos Garkinos: 1:26:09

I was like you know, when it was, someone was, I remember when gay marriage happened, I put a picture up, like my husband at the time, like we're getting married, and someone's like oh you know, gay marriage sucks, blah, blah, blah, and she went insane. So I was like you know, I don't know, try it, Cause you can't. I mean, just come at me, cause I can, I can cut you down in one second.

George Stroumboulis: 1:26:35

And that's why you can be on TV. That's why you can do these live, like you're quick to do that I'm very quick that way.

Christos Garkinos: 1:26:41

That's definitely the repartee in me, yeah.

George Stroumboulis: 1:26:44

I love it. Um, this has been amazing. Talking with you. It's been so easy, man, it's been so easy. Talking with you. It's been so easy, man, it's been so easy talking with you. Some advice, right? So women out there, the listeners, when they want to buy, just talk to me about vintage handbags. What are the benefits versus going to buy a new one?

Christos Garkinos: 1:26:58

I know nothing about this. That's the thing it's like. Do you collect anything? Do you like cars? Do you ever collect? Do you have anybody? Let's see, Listen.

George Stroumboulis: 1:27:04

I used to collect sports cards when I was younger, but it was part of your portfolio.

Christos Garkinos: 1:27:08

Yes, handbags are part of your portfolio. Like Hermes handbags, for instance, have grown to 14% a year, over compounded over the last 10 years. They're the best investment for your safety. So when we had this little dip in the market, my people weren't freaking out because, like, my bags are worth X, they've not gone down 40%, whatever happened in the market in the beginning of the year.

Christos Garkinos: 1:27:26

So there is a way of like investment spending, Like you want to have a great first Chanel bag or great first Hermes bag and you can use it in the secondary market. You can find great bags and kind of grow from there. It's about educating yourself, like dealing with somebody who you can trust when you're shopping. It's about what is the story you want to tell. You know, I always say like everyone needs a really great Chanel clutch. Like a clutch is like cause you can use that like 45,000 times a year. So there's cost per use, there's portfolio planning.

George Stroumboulis: 1:27:52

So that's the way to kind of make it happen, gotcha, and out of like, just for the listeners, 150 million plus sold through your network, through your network, $150 million like where it's, with the same phone I have from five years ago with the phone and then rewind to 2021, 2020, you had $3,000 to your name, to my name and a million dollars in debt.

George Stroumboulis: 1:28:11

Yeah, insane dude. Yeah, like that is just like so impressive to be able to do that. Out of all those hundreds of millions of dollars that have gone through you, what are some issues that come out of your control that Well?

Christos Garkinos: 1:28:23

if someone's not happy with something. I mean I try to make sure that. I mean this is my training at Disney. We have the best customer service I think out there. So if something happens, we're on top of it. I'll make sure they're whole, I will get involved. It's a very high-touch organization and community I have. So it's important for me to kind of have a very quick response time because you know, that's what I expect when I'm shopping. So it's the same thing. And sometimes I feel like these big brands, like you know, do things. So I'm like wait, that's not the way you do that. I mean I I'm just trained a different way, you know. So I mean if someone starts abusing it, abusing you, then I will step away. I'll say this is probably not the.

George Stroumboulis: 1:28:58

you know I break up with them very nicely, so I know you have to get back because you have a live. One more question, just advice. You're highly successful, highly driven, highly motivated, highly motivated. You can't change DNA. So someone listening who's just not intellectually there on that level maybe, but what's advice for people, regardless whether it's luxury, fashion, marketing, like, give advice for people on how to be successful, how to present yourself, how to carry yourself. It's a loaded question but like I feel like we can learn a lot from you.

Christos Garkinos: 1:29:25

Well, I mean, everyone has a passion in their life. What your passion is? You're passionate about being in front of a camera and you want to be an influencer. If you collect a certain thing, how can you make that into a business? If you've got a great friend who has a lot of get up and go, maybe you can align with them from what are you doing? What can we do together? That kind of thing Although I don't like being a person, I wouldn't recommend that. I wouldn't recommend that, but in terms of getting into a big business with somebody. So it's just about finding your passion.

Christos Garkinos: 1:29:52

Looking back again, what is your story? Where do you maybe want to be in five years? I've always had five-year plans. I have less, so now I guess, well, maybe I do, but when I was younger, I definitely had, I spoke into the thing. Wouldn't it be great if I worked for Richard Branson? Wouldn't it be great if, like, I could have my own business? So you know, I mean I think in your gut, like, listen to your gut, like that's like the most important thing to kind of make that happen. You don't need a lot of money. I've not put $1 into this business since I started. Nothing. I've taken no investment outside bankers, nothing.

George Stroumboulis: 1:30:24

All this to get to this, like that's an insane story.

Christos Garkinos: 1:30:28

Nothing. No, loans nothing.

George Stroumboulis: 1:30:29

All from your phone. Get to this Like that's an insane story. Nothing, no loans, nothing, all from your phone, my phone and your personality, your network and everything. Yeah, yeah, man, I appreciate you.

Christos Garkinos: 1:30:40

We'll put the links up.

George Stroumboulis: 1:30:41

The book is incredible. Yeah, the Audible just came out, so it's really fun.

Christos Garkinos: 1:30:43

I saw that. Yes, and that's on Spotify. You could access it. Well, I'm Barnes, noble and Audible, and Audible, okay yeah.

George Stroumboulis: 1:30:46

This is great. Can you sign my copy before?

Christos Garkinos: 1:30:48

you leave. I did already, oh, you did. Okay, man, I'm done.

George Stroumboulis: 1:30:51

You got to hear. We got to get that up there. Thank you so much.

Christos Garkinos: 1:30:53

Thank you, it's great. You've been amazing.

George Stroumboulis: 1:30:54

I'll see you soon. That's awesome, awesome. Thanks for listening to this episode of Invigorate your Business with George Strombolis. Please hit the subscribe and like buttons. Also, please share your comments when you can. I appreciate your help in expanding this network to a worldwide audience. Until next time, stay invigorated.

CONTENTS OF THIS VIDEO

00:00:00 Meeting Christos Garkinos: Fashion Legend

00:05:25 Greek Childhood in Detroit

00:18:22 Early Career at Clorox and Disney

00:29:15 Working with Richard Branson at Virgin

00:50:20 Reality TV and Home Shopping Network

01:03:43 Rock Bottom: Addiction and Bankruptcy

01:16:10 Building Covet by Christos

01:24:36 Creating Community and $150M in Sales

HOW TO GET INTO THE LIVE SHOPPING INDUSTRY AND MAKE A DIFFERENCE

In today’s fast-paced digital landscape, live shopping is more than just a trend — it’s a global retail revolution.

Pioneered by innovators like Christos Garkinos, live shopping blends entertainment, commerce, and storytelling into one real-time experience. From high-end fashion to everyday essentials, live shopping gives brands and creators a unique way to engage with audiences and drive meaningful sales — all while staying authentic.

So, how do you break into this booming space and actually make a difference?

1. Start with Passion and Product

Before you go live, ask yourself: What am I truly excited to share? Audiences respond to genuine enthusiasm. Whether you're showcasing curated fashion or specialty lighting, live shopping only works if you believe in what you’re selling.

2. Master the Art of Real-Time Storytelling

This isn’t just about listing features — it’s about showing why something matters. Use storytelling, humor, customer testimonials, and live demos to make your product memorable. Christos Garkinos, for example, doesn’t just sell clothing — he brings pieces to life with cultural context, personality, and flair.

3. Invest in Production — But Keep It Real

While lighting, audio, and framing matter, don’t wait for perfection to start. A clean background, good lighting (we can help there), and a stable internet connection are enough. Remember: people connect with you, not just your setup.

4. Engage. Don’t Just Sell.

Ask questions, shout out commenters by name, take polls, and react to the chat. The power of live shopping lies in its interactivity. When customers feel seen, they’re more likely to trust and buy from you.

5. Partner with Platforms That Fit Your Audience

Instagram, TikTok, YouTube Live, Amazon Live — the options are endless. Test different platforms, track your engagement, and double down on what works. Don’t be afraid to start small.

6. Build a Community, Not Just a Customer Base

The most successful live sellers don’t treat viewers as transactions. They build communities. Think long-term: engage between streams, offer VIP perks, and create a sense of belonging that keeps people coming back.

The Bottom Line: Live Shopping Is Human Shopping

At its core, live shopping isn’t about pushing products. It’s about people. If you can entertain, educate, and connect in real time, you’ll not only stand out — you’ll create a business that scales with impact.

As we’ve seen on the Invigorate Your Business podcast with Christos Garkinos, live commerce is full of opportunity. And the best part? There’s still room for new voices, new products, and new ways to shine.

HOW OFTEN DO YOU SEE SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE GET TAKEN OVER BY ADDICTIONS AND HOW TO AVOID THIS

Success can be a powerful force. It brings prestige, influence, money — but it also brings pressure, loneliness, and a deep fear of losing it all. It’s no surprise, then, that many successful people — entrepreneurs, entertainers, executives — quietly fall into addiction.

Whether it’s alcohol, drugs, workaholism, ego, or even social media, addiction often hides behind the mask of ambition.

So, how often does this happen?

More often than you think.
Research and real-world experience show that high-achieving individuals are more prone to substance abuse, burnout, and behavioral addictions. The reasons?

  • Extreme stress and performance pressure

  • Irregular schedules and poor sleep

  • Isolation at the top — few people to talk to honestly

  • Access to anything, anytime

  • The belief that success = invincibility

Many don’t even recognize the problem until their relationships are strained, their creativity dulls, or their health deteriorates.

How to Avoid It: Five Hard Truths That Protect Your Success

1. Stay Self-Aware

Success can cloud judgment. Keep checking in with yourself — emotionally, physically, spiritually. Ask: Am I running toward something? Or away from something?

2. Build a Real Inner Circle

Not just yes-people. Surround yourself with those who care more about you than what you do. Give at least one person permission to call you out.

3. Create Routine and Recovery

Just as you schedule meetings and goals, schedule rest, reflection, and real breaks. Addictive patterns often thrive in chaos and neglect.

4. Celebrate Wins Without Needing a Crutch

Find joy in impact, progress, and service — not just the high of external validation. The better you get at this, the less you’ll chase dopamine from destructive habits.

5. Seek Help Early

Therapists, coaches, accountability partners — these aren’t signs of weakness. They’re investments in sustainable success.

The Truth: Success Doesn’t Immunize You — It Exposes You

If you haven’t built tools to manage pressure, emptiness, or ego, success will only magnify those cracks.

But with the right mindset and systems, you can thrive without losing yourself.

ADVICE ON HOW TO SURROUND YOURSELF WITH GOOD PEOPLE

There’s a saying in business and life:
“You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.”

Whether you’re building a company, pursuing a creative path, or simply trying to live a more meaningful life — who you surround yourself with matters more than almost anything else. The people in your circle either fuel your growth or drain it.

So how do you make sure you’re surrounded by the right ones?

1. Get Clear on Who You Want to Be

Before you find the right people, you need to know your own values.

  • What matters to you?

  • What energy do you want to attract?

  • What kind of character do you admire?

Like attracts like. If you want to grow, surround yourself with those already walking the path.

2. Audit Your Current Circle

Ask yourself:

  • Who lifts me up, challenges me, holds me accountable?

  • Who drains me, gossips, or consistently brings negativity?

  • Who celebrates my wins without jealousy?

You can love people from a distance. Boundaries are healthy.

3. Be Who You Want to Attract

This is where most people get it wrong.
They want strong, generous, honest friends — but aren’t showing up that way themselves.
Be the loyal, curious, encouraging presence you’d want in your corner. That’s how you attract it.

4. Look in the Right Places

You won’t find great people in toxic rooms.
Join communities, masterminds, events, or clubs where values align. It might take time, but one powerful connection can change your whole trajectory.

5. Don’t Be Afraid to Outgrow People

It’s hard. But sometimes, growth means letting go of the people who only knew the old version of you.
Elevation requires separation.

Final Thought:

You don’t need 50 people in your corner.
You just need a solid few who tell you the truth, root for your rise, and remind you of who you are when you forget.

Choose them wisely.

MORE ABOUT THE EPISODE

  • Rock Bottom to Fashion Empire

  • The Comeback King: From Bankruptcy to Building a $150 Million Fashion Marketplace

  • Christos Garkinos reveals how he rebuilt his empire after losing everything

  • Tetherball and Stilettos: A Greek Boy's Journey to Fashion Mogul

  • What happens when your worst day becomes your greatest opportunity?

What if your darkest moment became the catalyst for your greatest success? Christos Garkinos, luxury fashion entrepreneur and social media disruptor, takes us on an extraordinary journey from the depths of addiction, bankruptcy, and personal loss to the heights of building a $150 million fashion empire—all from his smartphone.

Born to Greek immigrants in Detroit, Christos shares the vivid details of his early life working in his family's restaurant "Meat Town Inn," where his charismatic father taught him the art of showmanship that would later define his career. With refreshing candor, he traces his path through corporate America at Clorox, Disney, and Virgin Records, working alongside Richard Branson before establishing himself as a fashion entrepreneur and reality TV personality.

The conversation takes a powerful turn as Christos reveals how achieving his dream job at the Home Shopping Network coincided with a devastating personal spiral. "Everything was going so well in my life, I felt like I didn't deserve it," he confesses about the self-sabotage that led to addiction, broken relationships, and financial ruin. His rock-bottom moment on Greek Easter 2016 became a spiritual awakening that changed everything.

When the pandemic threatened to destroy what little he had rebuilt, Christos pivoted to Instagram Live, creating an innovative business model that not only saved him financially but built a global community called the "StosSquad." His story illuminates how staying in solution and taking one step forward—even when the path isn't clear—can transform devastating setbacks into unexpected opportunities.

This episode isn't just about fashion or entrepreneurship—it's about resilience, reinvention, and the power of community to heal and transform. Whether you're facing your own setback or building a business, Christos's journey offers both practical wisdom and profound inspiration about what's possible when you refuse to give up.

BLOG POST

From Rock Bottom to Fashion Empire: The Remarkable Journey of Christos Garkinos

In a world where entrepreneurial success stories often follow predictable trajectories, Christos Garkinos stands apart. His journey from bankruptcy and addiction to building a $150+ million fashion empire represents one of the most compelling comeback stories in modern business. What makes his story particularly remarkable isn't just the financial turnaround, but the profound personal transformation that accompanied it.

Born to Greek immigrant parents in Detroit, Christos was introduced to entrepreneurship early through his family's restaurant, Meat Town Inn. By age four, he was already working in the restaurant, learning the unwritten rules of customer service and showmanship that would later define his career. His father, affectionately known as "Nick the Greek," was a natural entertainer who understood that business was ultimately about creating an experience. Customers came not just for the food, but for the atmosphere, the connection, and the stories they could tell afterward. This early exposure to entrepreneurship planted seeds that would eventually flourish in unexpected ways.

Christos's professional journey began conventionally enough, with prestigious corporate roles at companies like Clorox, Disney, and Virgin Records. Working alongside Richard Branson at Virgin proved particularly influential, as Branson embodied the philosophy that business should be fun first, with profit as a secondary consideration. "All I care about is they have fun in here. If they buy something, I don't care," Branson once told him while touring a Virgin Megastore. This customer-centric, experience-focused approach would later become a cornerstone of Christos's own business model.

Despite his corporate success, Christos harbored dreams of combining his marketing expertise with his passion for fashion. This led him to create a luxury resale business and eventually to land a reality TV show, "Dukes of Melrose," which he strategically used as a platform to secure a position with Home Shopping Network. At HSN, his natural talent for storytelling and selling shone through, and he quickly became one of their top performers.

However, just as his professional life reached new heights, his personal life began unraveling. A series of losses, beginning with the death of his best friend, triggered a downward spiral into addiction. "Everything was going so well in my life, I felt like I didn't deserve it, and so there was a self-sabotage moment that happened," he explains. This self-destruction led to the loss of his HSN position, his relationships, and eventually resulted in bankruptcy, with Christos finding himself a million dollars in debt with no clear path forward.

The turning point came on Greek Easter in 2016, when, alone and at his lowest point, Christos experienced a spiritual awakening that led him to seek help for his addiction. Getting sober was just the beginning of his challenges, however. Shortly after achieving sobriety, he faced the unexpected death of his mother, followed by the passing of two aunts, his dog, and the collapse of his business—all within six months.

Rather than surrendering to these overwhelming circumstances, Christos applied a principle he now frequently shares: "Stay in solution." Instead of being paralyzed by the enormity of his problems, he focused on the next actionable step, trusting that "the universe takes you through to the next step."

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, Christos found himself owing $140,000 to consignors with no clear way to pay them back as physical retail shut down. Instead of giving up, he pivoted to Instagram Live, selling luxury items directly to viewers. What began as a desperate attempt to stay afloat evolved into an innovative business model, where Christos became not just a seller but a platform, hosting other sellers and taking commission on their sales.

This digital reinvention of retail, born from necessity, resonated deeply with audiences seeking connection during isolation. Christos built not just a business but a community—affectionately called the "StoSquad"—who supported each other through the pandemic and beyond. From this improvised solution, Covet by Christos has grown into an empire doing over $100 million in sales, operating 10 shows a day and producing over 300 hours of content monthly.

Christos's extraordinary journey offers powerful lessons about resilience, adaptation, and the importance of community. As he puts it, "If my legacy is like, you know, I got some great Chanel bags of Christos, but in the end, I made three best friends for my life...that's my legacy." His story reminds us that sometimes our greatest setbacks clear the path for unexpected opportunities—if we have the courage to take that first step forward.

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