December 18, 2024 • 62 mins
In this enchanting episode of the Tourism Hub Podcast, host Despina Karatzias takes listeners on a captivating journey beyond Australia's borders with Maria Tsalkos, founder of Magical Sunset Greek Island Sailing Experiences. Join them as they explore Maria's remarkable transition from a corporate career in physics and tyre manufacturing to curating unforgettable sailing adventures steeped in Greek mythology.
Maria shares her inspiring story, from her early aspirations of becoming an astronaut to her transformative experiences in Greece, where her passion for storytelling and Greek mythology blossomed. Discover how her love for Greece and its rich history inspired the creation of Magical Sunset, offering unique sailing tours that blend mythological tales with modern luxury.
Listeners will be transported to the idyllic Greek islands, where Maria's tours reveal hidden gems accessible only by boat. From Odysseus's journey home to reenactments of ancient myths, Maria's experiences offer a deep connection to Greece's cultural heritage. The episode highlights the transformative power of travel, fostering family bonds and personal growth.
Despina and Maria also delve into the challenges and triumphs of building a tourism business, emphasising the importance of partnerships and adaptability. Maria's story is a testament to following one's passion and the magic that unfolds when you embrace your calling.
01:17 - Maria's Journey Before Magical Sunset
02:17 - The Birth of Magical Sunset
07:01 - Creating Unique Greek Island Experiences
13:51 - The Odysseus Tour and Mythological Adventures
22:54 - Personalized Luxury Sailing Tours
32:13 - Connection to Country and Local Experiences
33:29 - Authentic Greek Cooking Classes
34:27 - Best Time for Sailing Experiences
35:51 - Importance of Partnerships in Tour Operations
37:16 - Curating Unique Tours and Client Experiences
39:34 - Navigating Challenges and Building Resilience
40:17 - Expanding Business and Trade Relationships
43:29 - Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs
45:17 - Impact of COVID-19 on Business
47:35 - Educational and Team Building Elements in Tours
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hello.
Welcome.
Good morning.
Good evening.
Good afternoon.
Whatever time it is that you aretuning into the Tourism Hub podcast,
this is a very, very special onewith a very, very special guest.
We are going beyond the borders ofAustralia today to welcome to the show
(00:20):
for the first time to the Tourism Hubpodcast, but also to her first experience.
experience of podcasting.
It is with my pleasure to introduceyou to an experience maker that exudes
experience making, it's experiencecurating, it's experience, you know,
storytelling and we are talking to MariaTsarkos from Magical Sunset Greek Podcast.
(00:44):
Island sailing experiences.
Mariamu, welcome.
Thank you.
Thank you.
And wow, that sounded just wonderful.
Oh, Maria, you know, you had me,you had me at magical sunset.
And I was just like, I'm speakingto someone very special on
the other side of the phone.
I'll never forget it.
A random active.
(01:05):
Reaching out.
And here we are, this beautifulevolution that we're going on with
magical sunset and now having thisconversation, which I've been really,
really keen to do since we met.
So I want us to go on the Mariajourney as much as the magical sunset
journey, uh, during this hour ofpower that we have to share where.
(01:28):
You have been pre Magical Sunsetand then when, you know, the moment
where Magical Sunset came to be.
So if you would indulge me and ourwonderful listeners to where was Maria?
Before Magical Sunset, tell me aboutthe journey, where, you know, what did
you want to do growing up and, you know?
(01:50):
So, when I was growing up, Iwanted to become an astronaut.
Oh, wow.
But I did study physicsand I did major in physics.
I've got a science background and I'veworked in corporate my whole life.
I've had fantastic relationships.
opportunities.
And one of them was with my youngfamily and my husband, we had
(02:11):
relocated to Luxembourg with,with Goodyear, Goodyear tyres.
So I think that was themaking of Magical Sunset.
And what it really was is, Wehad an opportunity to go back
to Greece every summer, everyChristmas, whatever we can get.
(02:35):
And in the process, we madea lot, a lot of friends.
in Luxembourg, expats, Americans,English, family, friends from the schools
who used to say, we want to come toGreece, but we want to come with you.
So we all had young children.
And because I love storytelling andbecause, and the truth is, which I
(02:59):
didn't mention is I was born in Greece.
And I came to Australia when I was very,very young with my parents, obviously.
But, there were a number of yearswhich my parents took us back.
We lived with our, my grandparents.
I went to school in Greece,so it was my sister and I,
(03:20):
living with the grandparents.
And that's when I wasintroduced to, Greek mythology.
So we didn't really have fancytoys, no Barbie dolls, none of that.
Just our imagination and thesurrounding of which we created
and relived those stories.
(03:41):
So when I had the opportunity and Itook my young children to Greece and
we had family and friends come andjoin us, the first thing I did, I
did is unravel all those stories inno matter which location I went to.
So if it was going to be any island,and Greece has got so many stories.
(04:06):
Stories.
So many, you know, amphitheatres,monuments, archaeological
sites, but nobody reallyknows the stories behind them.
And when you start understandingthem and following like the trails,
all of a sudden it becomes magical.
(04:27):
Magical.
Now, how old were you whenyou came to Australia?
So, the first time with myparents, I was, , just under a
year old, pre school, pre school.
So like most parents, they struggledto find daycare and, having
to look after the children.
(04:47):
So my parents had decided that theywere going to work a number of years
in Australia and go back to Greece.
With that in mind that took mysister and I and we lived with
my grandparents for nearly fouryears while they were here working.
, so when we came back, we cameback because there was a war in
(05:12):
1974 and they'd taken my dad.
So things were chaotic in Greece.
So that we returned by then I was eight.
So, and that's, that's a whole lot.
It's a very similar story, Maria,and I have a sister and her sister's
Maria, who you met last week.
And it's interesting.
It's a very similar story with a lot of.
(05:33):
A lot of Europeans who migratedhere, come cash up and go back.
But then there was also this loss of home.
Yes.
Right.
Because, um, and I have a similar journey.
We did, we, we, we came,we went and we came back.
Wow.
And it's incredible.
So the Goodyear experience, wasthat Goodyear you were working
with Goodyear or your husband?
I was.
(05:53):
You were working with Goodyear in Turkey.
That's incredible.
in the whole expat community thatthe husbands, the families relocated
because of the women, you know.
So yeah, it was interesting.
It was fun.
And of course I worked in a tyrecompany, very male dominated.
And I was asked to speak to the studentsand this is during career week, and
(06:17):
tell them different opportunities.
So I told them about tyre design.
And of course I work with the racingteam and I had all these fathers and
children who want to come orientation intomy field and work, which was exciting.
It was interesting.
Oh, look, and it speaks volumes of yourBut just your resilience and your self
(06:41):
leadership, like , that takes anotherlevel of bravery, like to make that
decision and take your young childrenat the time I would imagine to go and
live in a, I'm in Luxembourg as well.
That's something extraordinary.
And I've never been therebefore I relocated, so I had
no idea what it looked like.
(07:01):
Wow.
So in those travels, I guess in that,a lot of businesses and experience
makers like you start their businessesbecause there is that, you know,
they're passionate travelers first,they're passionate about experiencing
new cultures and new things.
Tell me about that.
So you, you're experiencing.
(07:22):
People want to travelwith you and I'm the same.
I've never been on a sailing yacht,but I could, you know, the first time
one day manifestation in the nation.
That's what, you know, that'sthe other part of this.
Anybody that wants to travelto Greece on a luxury sailing
experience, magical sunset.
com.
Take me there.
(07:43):
What was it that was missing in yourexperiences that you said, I can do this.
on a whole other level yourability to create what you've
created with magical sunset.
What was missing?
What was the gap that you said, you knowwhat, I've come from a science background.
I've got experience in Tiremanufacturing in the world that you
(08:07):
were in, like what you were doing.
Oh no, how did I go from that to that?
To completely shift what, like, causeI'm so interested always in that moment
of what you saw that was missing and thepull in you to go, I'm going to do this.
You know, that moment.
Okay, I can tell you the exact moment.
Amazing.
And you know, people say is,you know, was there a moment?
(08:30):
Did it happen progressively?
Yeah.
I didn't do any research to understandthere's a gap in the market.
I wasn't that way inclined.
So like I said, is back in 2000 from1999, all the way we'd been traveling,
there was a, period when the kids,when we came back and then went to high
(08:51):
school, we stopped going to Greece.
But when we reconvened, allthose people were still there.
Where are we going?
You know, what island?
And they were happy for meto complete a full itinerary.
It's like they completely trusted me tocreate the stories, to do the itineraries,
(09:11):
to go and visit the locations.
And they knew that mypassion was Greek mythology.
That I would somehowincorporate the storytelling.
I didn't realize that Iwas a good storyteller.
I didn't realize thatI could combine things.
What actually happened, it was like 20years on, we're on the island, of course,
(09:37):
the children now grown up, they'reoff traveling the world themselves.
One of the families who arestill in Luxembourg and we're
still very good friends.
He was the CEO of DuPont.
We're there, and we're on the AesculapianMonument, and I'm talking about the
(09:57):
story behind it, how Hippocratesfounded medicine, and how he used to
have his, , and do the HippocraticOath, which, um, modern day medicine.
There's a lot of doctors aroundthe world who take that oath.
And I said, there's got to bebusloads of people reenacting the
(10:18):
Ipocratic Oath here in this place.
And I described what I couldsee and what they should have.
And John The CEO of DuPont said to me, Oh,Maria, I've been with you so many years.
This is your calling.
You have got to do this.
(10:39):
And where we were is on top ofthe hill with all these lined
with cypress trees, either side.
And it was like the heavens hadopened up and spoke to me and
said, We're right behind you.
You've got to do this.
And that was it.
I came home and my husband said,well, what are you waiting for?
(11:03):
And I didn't even realize that I couldhave a job that I could follow my passion.
That's how simple it was.
You know, Maria, Oprahcalled those aha moments.
I call them oppa moments.
That's your oppa.
It certainly was.
That's incredible.
(11:24):
And then coming home and that'sbeen , the joy and the wonder
in just being around you.
In just like I can see all the,it's like a tapestry of doors
opening and seeing your, thefull potential of this incredible
experience that you are delivering.
(11:44):
When you come to a magical sunsetexperience, now many people
have been on a Greek island.
It's a bucket list destination, asis this beautiful country of ours.
And we have islands, Greek islandsthough, and Greece, the history and
the mythology component is there.
(12:08):
I guess when we're looking at a uniqueselling proposition from a destination
perspective has a lot going for it.
And it's become more and more prominent.
I feel, I feel after the postC world, C word, you know, post
pandemic, Greece has gone on anotherlevel with its tourism appeal.
(12:30):
Now, tell me about.
The mythology path with Magical Sunset,I just want to set the scene of what
the difference is and how much isunexplored that I've gotten to learn
and appreciate through knowing you.
There are the, almost like thehero islands that everybody
sees on the postcards.
(12:51):
But then when you tell me something like,I go to places that you can only go to by
boat and you just make me stand in line.
So from doing the land tours,so we used to do sailing with
groups, but day trips or differentthings and it was never enough.
(13:12):
What I got out of it isthat there was a whole lot.
on any given island in Greece, thatthere are elements you can't get to
unless you have a boat and you havean understanding, a good skipper and
someone who knows the places to go to.
There's many beaches.
The coastline in Greece is huge.
(13:33):
We've got 6, 000 islandsand, , the best beaches and
the best location in the world.
Even some of the old archaeologicalsites, you need a boat to get to them.
So it was evident for me thatwe will do sailing tours.
But the, so we operate out ofthree different marinas, not
(13:56):
the where the ships go to, it isprivate marinas, with catamarans.
So we do the Ionian, which is theOdysseus tour, which is, Odysseus, I'm
coming home and it's pretty much thelast chapter of Odysseus return home.
(14:16):
I can talk about that tour for hours.
And then we've got the Saronicmyth, which is, you know, 30
minutes out of, Athens city.
And there's another marina that goesto the Aegean Islands and we go closer.
to, again, closer to Athens.
(14:39):
and that's why we realized that inorder to explore the not so popular
islands, which have got so much to see,and the beaches are phenomenal, and
the stories, and the archaeologicalsites, and the games that we play.
I forgot to mention, we have anarchaeologist, , in our tours that
(15:01):
he does reenactment of fighting withthe Minotaur, if we're going to do,
you know, the Aegean Dream, and justdifferent elements that without you
knowing, being on a boat, you're actuallygently submerged into the mythology and
you're feeling, I want to know more.
(15:21):
And what happens next?
And where do we go to now?
And that is the element of bothcuriosity, eagerness, and adventure.
But combining it with the modernelement of, you know, paradise
and sunbeach and jumping off yourcatamaran and having a great hostess
(15:42):
who gives you phenomenal food and,you know, cocktails when you're ready.
I just want, I implore everyone, notwhile you're driving and listening
to this, but definitely you just needto visit Magical Sunset website and
Your eyes will feast on the turquoisewaters of what you're surrounds.
(16:03):
I just tell me about Odysseus,Odysseus, why this is so special and
why this final chapter of coming home?
Cause I feel like this.
And again, you know, like when youthink about something and suddenly
that's all you see, you have no idea.
I never thought about it.
thought about, I never read about,I never saw, but now again, there's,
(16:25):
you know, a lot of people that I comeacross and meet along the way, then
there's pre Maria, post Maria, it'sjust something that keeps coming up.
It is, yeah.
So I just thought, and it's justsomething that I, I keep meaning to
mention and what a perfect time to saytell me about why that's special for
you and why this story is so special.
(16:45):
So, as a kid, I actually, I mean, whenI say I studied, we, our play time,
our reading time was Greek mythology.
So Homer wrote the Iliad, whichis 10 year war in Troy, right?
Odysseus is now He was in Troyfighting the war, reluctantly went.
(17:07):
But now the Odyssey is abouthis return home and it takes
him 10 years to get home.
From a story point of view, I mean,he is supposedly kidnapped by Calypso.
for he's mesmerized by her beautyand can't leave her for seven years.
(17:29):
He has to fight the Lotus Eatersand get his crew back on the ship.
He fights the Cyclops and he goes throughPoseidon who's always there to attack him.
The story actually has two parts.
psychological elements of truth ofany one of us that goes through life.
(17:49):
And the C is a metaphorfor his state of mind.
Remembering he's come backfrom war after 10 years.
So he's not exactly at peace, butthat's not what the tour is about.
And it's not for anyone needing toknow the stories behind it at all.
What happens is when he finallygets home and why it's important to
(18:12):
me, my girlfriend is from Lefkadaand every year, come on, let's go
to Lefkada, let's go to Lefkada.
And I did.
And she'd say to me this one particulartime, she said, can you stay longer?
Can you stay longer?
And I said, you know what?
I will.
But if we stay longer, we are going to goTo Ithaca, which is, I don't know, I can't
(18:37):
remember now, about a two hour drive.
boat ride south, not very far.
And she goes, why?
I said, I have to go toOdysseus's home, his palace.
She didn't know the story.
We didn't know where we would be.
I actually read through the story,unravelling where he could possibly be,
(19:01):
where he could have possibly have landed.
I found all the locations.
And it was, and my husband was saying,I don't think they're interested.
And I said, no, no, I'lltell them the story.
And there were six of us, three couples.
By the end of it, everyone wasso keen to find out the palace,
(19:21):
to find out where we sailed from.
And there were so many thingswe discovered along the way.
So I struggled then to understand, wasthis mythology or was this history?
And to get to the side where he's, Imean, we found everything, but what
he experienced, we needed a boat.
(19:44):
So that's how.
The Odyssey, Odysseus came about, butwe also in the process found Hades,
so there's a monument where you can goto the underworld where Odysseus went
to speak to the spirits to guide himhow to get home because he was lost.
(20:05):
So the fact that these places existed,the fact that there is a river of soul.
Sphinx, where, , when you die, theferryman come to collect you and
to take you down that path and takeyou down to Hades, seemed to me a
story that needed to be relived.
(20:28):
So when I take now guests alongthat journey, they say, I didn't
even know this place existed.
We didn't know it existed.
And it only makes sense through theexperiences through visiting the
places, having a tour guide explainto you in a fun way, not that this
(20:50):
was built, you know, 600 BC, butstorytelling and experiencing it, all
of a sudden you're living it as if youunderstand Odysseus himself and the
struggles he would have gone through.
Wow.
And is that like, isa physical uh, relics?
(21:11):
Yeah.
So when you discovered this moment,you're on this quest and you see this.
Yeah.
And I had no idea how big it was.
I didn't realize Ididn't, I, I had no idea.
So there's a movie that'sgoing to come out soon.
It's called the return,the return, the return.
(21:31):
And it's of Odysseus.
Wow.
Yeah.
And it's exactly the partof the tour that we play.
He doesn't go to Hades, to the underworld,but he does relive all those elements
and the stories that we have in our tour.
And I call it a tour, but it'sreally your own personal adventure
(21:53):
and what you, how much you want totake out of it and how much, um, of
the myth you want to include in it.
It's really up to you.
, we have like, games, questionnaires,and activities that the kids or
adults, and we find that the adultswant to play more of it than the kids.
And it's like a, you know,a hunt, discovering the next
(22:16):
clue and what happens next.
And you can very well know thestory, but it's still the fact
that you're going to go to theselocations, it no longer is a myth.
It's, yeah.
And what is the difference, Maria,mythology or history, when you
said, what is the difference?
Like, , I've never thought about thatwhen you just mentioned that before.
(22:39):
, I think this is extraordinary and Icould safely say just again, looking
at a lot of sailing experiences postMaria meeting, you know, and having you
in my sphere that there's nothing elsethat exists that makes this connection.
Yeah.
out there in terms of adventureand experiences and sailing?
I can certainly with confidence saythere isn't, but from a service point of
(23:03):
view, we also go, we do something extra.
So there are many sailing companiesthat offer either a bare boat, or a
luxury yacht or a skippered yacht.
The thing that, It is a little bitthat skippers like to go to places
that's convenient for them to takethe yacht or that they have other
(23:27):
skippers waiting because, you know,the guests go off on the island, have
their dinner out there and they sortof catch up with their fellow skipper.
colleagues.
We're not about that.
We say there are, we know thedestinations you must visit and you
don't want to go somewhere thinkinghow come I didn't go there and I didn't
(23:49):
do that and you won't know any better.
You're going to be very muchReliant that the skipper will
take you to the best locations.
We make sure you'reaware of what's possible.
So we will ask you questions to understandwhat really experiences you want to have
beyond what we offer, like the mythicalelements, then tour guides and, , and
(24:13):
the reenactment of certain games.
So we do that.
We choose the restaurants,the food menu on the yacht.
We make sure that wepurchase the food for you.
And by the time you come on board,everything's stacked away, your
cocktail's waiting, you've got yourrefreshments, you're even brought
(24:35):
right on the pier, right on the yacht,and our crew will take your luggage
and you would think this is normal.
But it's not.
If you're hiring it and doing things onyour own, you'd have to carry your, your
groceries in there, um, unpack everything.
You'd have to carry your suitcases.
(24:57):
This is a very different experience.
And we have our groundstaff that's available 24 7.
So whatever changes you want to maketo the itinerary, or you want to add
activities, we're there to do it.
So nothing is fixed.
It's as flexible as you are.
Oh, I love that.
(25:18):
And that's something, again, if anybody'sbeen to Greece or any other popular
destination that involves ferries, boats,cruises, and what I've appreciated when
you're saying half an hour from Athens.
Yeah.
Is it's chaotic, especially overpeak season, but, but again, you've
(25:40):
told me that this whole other worldthat exists, and that's not the case
when, uh, joining an experience with,with you to set the scene for anyone
that's been or hasn't been, it is,there are boats coming and going.
Everywhere and big like, causeit's there on a schedule.
(26:01):
You know, they're faringpeople to and from islands.
Just set the scene ofthat difference on where.
So if you want to go a private charter,like we offer, there are smaller marinas
and there are lots of yachts around.
They operate from Saturday to Saturday,a little bit the way I describe it for
(26:24):
people who've gone skiing, they knowski lodges is from Saturday to Saturday.
Yachts are private.
weekly sailing is fromSaturday to Saturday as well.
That's international, I guess.
Everybody knows it.
On a set.
So the yacht's coming to base back Fridaynight, you check out Saturday morning.
And so the cleaners, theyrefuel, they do everything.
(26:48):
And it is mayhem.
So the first time I experiencedit, I thought, what?
It reminded me of a very, very, busybus terminal, buses going everywhere and
people everywhere and people steppingover, , anchors, chains, yokes, and I just
thought there's got to be a better way.
(27:08):
There's got to be a better way forme to sail and have that luxury.
So what we do is we choose and oursuppliers is they're a little bit off.
In a more private, we bring in the luxuryvan that picks them up and drops them off.
So they feel special.
(27:30):
There is a VIP experience.
They don't experience the mayhem,or if they do see any of it.
They're not part of it.
, so we bring them on and that'swhat I mean is they just step on
the boat and everything is done.
And that's the, thing too.
It's like going to, when you say,even with your grocery shopping
(27:50):
or your, you know, like you don'thave to think about a thing.
I can see, And this is again,the ultimate experience maker,
like yourself, you've experiencedtransformation within you through travel.
In Queensland, there's a whole programaround transformational experiences
(28:14):
that people are seeking more.
Now, when they travel, they want tocome back because we're buzzed out.
We want to escape, but learnsomething, contribute, do something.
Tell me like, I'm so curious when youwent on this quest, how did it change you?
Oh my God.
And then I want you to thinkabout how it changes your guests.
(28:37):
Cause you're also seeing this out ofbody experience of seeing people come
off this journey and how it changes them.
That's interesting because whenI first started, my premise was
to get people to fall in lovewith Greece the way I know it.
And Yeah.
Everybody loves Greece.
(28:59):
They love it at a certain level.
I mean, they love Santorini, theylove Mykonos, but I wanted them to
have a more personal experience.
Just like when I go to Italy withmy friends and they take me by
the hand and show me their places.
I mean, yes, I can Google certain things,but this is beyond Googling these places.
You cannot Google it.
(29:20):
, so that's what I thought.
In the process, we would get inquirieslike a family saying, Hey Maria,
this is very important week for us.
My daughter, the oldestone is graduating from uni.
Sorry, the, you know, theoldest one's getting married.
(29:40):
The second one's graduating.
My son's just finished high school.
It's probably going tobe the last family trip.
I want them all together.
And I realized that I was in the businessof family bonding and that did not come
about because we get on with our job.
We get on with, you know,making sure everyone's happy.
(30:03):
And of course, there's alwaysdynamics between people and you're
in a confined space of a yacht.
So you want to makesure that everyone has.
the maximum experiencepersonalized to themselves.
And a crew are really good inunderstanding people's needs.
So we would do that.
(30:25):
And then they'll ask you, is thereanything that we can do as a group?
Cause you know, they mightlike cooking or something.
We would incorporatethose different needs.
We'll do cooking classes or localcheese and wine tasting, or masseuse
on the yacht, whatever it is.
And at the end of it, I get themcoming to me, literally crying and
(30:54):
hugging us and hugging the crew andsaying, I feel connected to Greece.
I knew it was going to be good.
I didn't realize it wasgoing to be this good.
And I feel a greaterconnection to my family.
And we all get emotional.
(31:15):
It's almost impossible to comprehendthat a sailing week or a week
of this caliber can do that.
And it does.
Oh, find myself.
Yeah, you, you hit a note therebecause the time it's fleeting.
(31:36):
Yeah.
And there is something about makingthat investment in how you maximise
your time when we work so hard.
to enjoy these moments in the bestpossible environments that cater to that.
And, , seeing Aiden behind the scenes inTurkey, we had the same, when you say like
(31:58):
going, having that local knowledge andtraveling with local people, because that
is something again, through the research,through sailing that I've noticed,
particularly in Greece, that there area lot of foreign operators as well.
I mean, It's the same everywhere.
But I think that connection, andwe talk about connection to country
(32:22):
here in Australia a lot through ourIndigenous First Nations peoples.
And I see this and I guess I havethat connection to those stories.
And in the same way that I can hear yourelating to that, having local people that
can show you the Hellenic land and seas.
(32:42):
There's a difference there too, whenyou're seeking out these experiences.
In the same way, yeah, I had my brotherin law's auntie take us around Istanbul.
There's no way we could have foundand discovered those places on Google.
And that's, that's the differencewith the curated local experience.
(33:04):
And we do.
So there's a lot.
So Greek mythology is all over Turkeyand I've got one of my very dear
friends is Turkish and she said,I'm going to come with you because
I want to learn about all this.
But nothing that we do, and I'mgoing to say this in a, there's no
criticism, there's nothing that we dois really cookie cutter or commercial.
(33:29):
So when they ask for a cooking class.
And each tour, we've connected witha little yaya, a little grandmother
who teaches with her daughters ora local who's got a restaurant and
on the side does a private cookingclass and she'll go in the garden,
(33:49):
will collect the, whatever's inseason, , and make, the dishes, it is
as authentic as it could possibly be.
Oh, Maria, I went to my cousin'swedding in Greece, and I was there
saying like, I would have paidmoney to have this experience, like
(34:11):
to experience the way my auntiesprepared in this four day tradition
that we've lost here, unfortunately.
Um, it is something like, so justagain, that just takes it to , a
whole other level and experience.
What I'm curious now, I, I, I kind ofknow this, but now just really, Yeah,
(34:32):
I'm thinking if anyone's listening,what's the best time , to have the best
experience of this, the best time of year.
So for anyone that's looking at, youknow, inspired and looking at the year
ahead in 2025, six, seven, to makethis investment and carve out the time,
what's the best time of year to lookat doing these sailing experiences?
(34:53):
Obviously, if you can getto book before December.
Because that's early booking and there'san early booking discount, and it
depends on the yacht that they select,but anything that they can do, because
the season is from May till October.
, but if you can book beforeDecember, that's fantastic.
(35:15):
We do get last minutes thatpeople say in June, I want to
sail in the next couple of weeks.
What do you have available?
In those cases.
It just makes the yachts not, I can'tgive them a full range and sometimes
we compromise and we'll just haveto work around what's available.
Yes.
But at this point in time, theyhave an advantage of having,
(35:38):
you an early bird discount.
Plus there's a greater choiceof the yachts available.
Incredible.
This leads me to the next questionsof partnerships and relationships.
You're, you're here in Melbourne andyou, I mean, you, you travel back and
forth a lot, but how important that is?
(35:58):
to a tour, any tour operation.
So for anyone, I'm just thinking now foranyone that might be thinking of starting
their own business in their home countryor, you know, in our own backyard here.
How, like in terms of setting this up,cause there's the dream, but then there's
the operation of making this happen.
Been and having the trust that it canhappen when we might not have the luxury
(36:24):
of having Maria on board with us to havethe same experience as if you were there
with them like you were with your friends.
Tell me how important that is and how youtook your approach extreme important to
formulate that in your early days to now.
So I have to say, and I'm gonna behonest, I was a little bit naive.
(36:44):
as to what was really needed.
All I had was this passion and this desireand I wanted everyone to come on board.
And I was going to somehow work out thedetails and the details did work out.
What I've got is a business partnerwho's stationed in Greece, who her
husband is three generation sailors.
(37:07):
So she does all the screening and thetraining of the skippers, the hostess,
where we have to go, what we have to do.
When we curate a new tour or a clientwants to look at new islands, then
we actually will go out, test itall out, check out the locations.
(37:29):
Are we happy?
And then we will come backand say, okay, this is doable.
This is practical.
This is how long this takes becausewe don't want our guests to be
on a boat sailing for long hours.
A typical day is you get up in themorning, you have a big breakfast.
We sail out no morethan two to three hours.
(37:51):
to a secluded cove, they'll swim,they'll be sporting activities,
whatever we've designed for the dayfor them in consultation with him.
The hostess will prepare meal on the boat.
They'll come on.
And it's always one of themost magnificent settings.
And the guests say, I, day one, Idon't want to move from here because I
(38:13):
can't imagine there's anything better.
And I'll say, trust me, it gets better.
There's more to see.
So, and then we come backanother three hours of sailing.
We go to another destination, there'llbe further swimming, then eventually
we'll make it to a moor in a bay.
in an island which they'll have theevening to stroll and experience
(38:38):
the island, go to a few low,you know, bars or whatever it
is that they want to experience.
Sometimes they want to anchor out,and if the weather's good, out in bay.
And it's usually in those archaeologicalsites that they've played games with.
There's an amphitheatre on topof a hill overlooking the Aegean.
(39:00):
They've just spent time dressingup, wearing the thing, and they've
relived the elements of it.
And because Greece is in most partsuntouched, , still in its natural
beauty, you can imagine these stories.
(39:20):
You can imagine gods playing gameswith one another and you can feel it.
So if the weather's great and you'reout there at bay, all of a sudden,
It's just another experience.
And I guess that's where yourrelationships with your suppliers really
comes into light that because we'redealing also with changing needs and
(39:44):
fluctuations that we've always got backupsto deliver, you know, deliver the best.
So we choose suppliers with, , that canaccommodate our needs and even the ladies
that if we're going to do cooking classesor go to a visit a winery we can adjust
okay we had the booking for the Tuesdaynow it's going to be Thursday and they
(40:06):
will work with us to make those changes.
Navigating with those relationships,navigating for anybody.
And that's, I guess, thejourney that we've been on.
You've been working very much in a,you know, you've been curating this
directly to consumers booking with you.
Yeah.
Now, the next phase of MagicalSunset is opening up to consumers.
(40:30):
Trade and building trade relationships.
So if anyone listening, this is somethingthat could be made available and working
with Maria to make you look really goodin your offering with your clients.
Tell me about just now in, in yourbusiness, in doing business in travel
(40:52):
and as a travel experience and operator.
a tourism operator in Greece.
Tell me about what have beensome of your greatest learnings.
And I love that because many of my thing,I'm very emotively, inspired to make,
you know, I let my intuition guide me.
(41:13):
And sometimes the strategyand the thinking comes after.
And I love that because sometimes youmay, you know, you can cause analysis
paralysis and talk yourself out of this.
So I just want some of the learnings thatyou've had along the way in doing business
in travel, because it's a little bitnuanced and different to other industries.
(41:35):
And doing it from here afar, even more soand adding all those layers of complexity.
What I didn't mention when you askedme about the relationships, , I
had met Tanya, my businesspartner, and I actually.
We met through my, an introductionfrom my cousin who said she will
(41:55):
help you identify good, yachtingcompanies because she's in that space.
And I had no idea, , and that, andwe met to chit chat about what I'm
doing and who's a great companyand, and she said, why don't you
let me run it for you from here?
And that is how she becamemy business partner.
(42:18):
And she's been fantastic, theconnections and everything.
Someone so experienced who doesthis day in day out to work
with me now on Magical Sunset.
Um, so relationships are important.
So over the years we've establishedreally good relationships and we
understand who Who talks the talk,who walks the talk, and she is that,
(42:48):
and we know what supplies now we need.
wouldn't change.
We know who can deliver.
Um, and for the trade that you mentioned,what we found is a lot of companies
saying is, can you do something for us?
So we're now looking at, there's anumber of companies and we can do that
(43:10):
specifically, exclusively, curate atour for them, co branded with their
name, and it doesn't appear anywhereon our website, and it's not available
to anyone else, just for them.
Excellent.
And in terms of traveling that journey,what, looking at Maria four or five
(43:36):
years ago, when you started, whatadvice, six now from the oppa moment.
Yes.
Yeah.
What, what, what.
What advice would yougive your startup self?
Someone?
Yeah.
Don't, my startup is don't panic.
Don't overthink it.
(43:57):
Trust your instinct, right?
Yes, there's a lot of work to bedone, but it'll be sorted out.
It will, and people comealong your way for a reason.
So tap into that.
Some things will work.
Some things don't.
I say I kissed a lot of frogs to getto the point of making this work.
(44:21):
But yeah, it does.
It does.
Now, um, are we ready for thenext phase of the business?
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
But there you need to gothrough those initial struggles.
to understand and refine,I guess, your product, your
(44:43):
services, your understanding.
, but don't give up.
Yeah, you, you, you can't.
That is definitely a theme toevery experience maker that I sits
across from me of not giving up.
\ that is just, uh, is a big one, Ithink, in any walk of life or in
(45:04):
your career, in anyone's aspirations.
And in talking of not giving up thechallenging times, can you think
back there's OPA and then there'slike, well, the opposite of OPA.
Okay.
We had OPA and I had sailingtours almost the very next year.
2019, so 2018, I set it up, goteveryone going, 2019, we were out,
(45:28):
we were out, sailing, doing things.
It was amazing.
And then 2020 happened and nothinghappened for like three years.
I had one or two here andthere, nothing happened.
And I used that time to really, um,our crew to go and do the tours,
(45:50):
perfect it, learn more about, youknow, what guests really want, to
improve on it, create other products.
And then 23 was great, right?
And 24 was not as great.
And I don't know if it was becauseeverybody traveled hard in 23,
(46:11):
but there was that, , I mean,it got momentum going again.
Yeah.
And I can see just even like with 24, notbeing that great coming out of, and, and
I think across, the globe and particularlyfor a lot of local operators as well.
There is, it has been a challenging year.
(46:34):
I also see in your ethos that of notgiving up, you have gone out, you
know, and attracted different types ofrelationships and partnerships and, and
you know, a hashtag, , don't give up.
Don't give up.
I mean, I thought about it.
Then when times I think,Oh, this is getting hard.
Yeah.
Just when I say that.
I get a knock on the door saying, Hey,we like to hear about your product.
(46:58):
And so that's been great because, mostof my clients come from the U S or UK.
And I don't know whetherit was intentional.
I mean, we sort of found them.
We found, um, distributors who wanted to.
promote our product.
(47:19):
And it seemed like they knew they lovedthe element of mythology and culture.
that was incorporatedin the whole activity.
, so yeah, = what's happened.
And that was great for me.
That was good.
Yes.
Yes.
And that's something, I guess that's,that has been an element of looking
at when I first came across sailingexperiences and it is, There's a lot
(47:45):
of education that needs to happen.
And I could see that just in myballooning world, there needed to be a
piece of like ballooning is different.
We don't take off from the same place.
There's no marina.
There's no, we've got, we'renavigated by the wind of where
we take off, where we land.
And that would freak peopleout that like, Oh, we're just
the weather gods, literally.
(48:07):
So I recognize.
I actually have that in that.
T's and C's.
Yes.
We are determined by the weather gods.
The weather gods.
Yeah, I would say that all the time.
And that was just like, okay, we'vegot to get better at educating the
customer that it is a sense of adventure.
You are part of it.
(48:27):
Yes.
In a little bit of like, wedon't know where this will, will
land and it's always fabulous.
But when you, um, looking at thateducation piece and something with the,
these beautiful private, small groups.
To a experiences is that if I justwanted to come alone and join a group,
(48:51):
there's an opportunity to do that.
But the best way to experiencea magical sunset experience is
in a small group environment.
You said you had three couples.
Or you bring your friendsor a corporate retreat.
Cause I also see, and I think that'swhat's inspires me about the mythology.
(49:11):
And I want to manifest this.
I see a leadership element in kindof like in the storytelling . of
going on the journey from yesteryear.
Cause we talk resilience.
That's on another level of resilience,like to not give up a decade to
return home when there's no sat nav.
(49:34):
Like, can you just castour brains around that?
That, yeah, that was possible.
So Greek mythology has heroes.
We love our heroes, but it'salso true to life meaning.
So we've had a number of CEOscome on tour with their families.
(49:55):
Now they're looking into doing teambuilding exercises where you relive
elements of the hero, whether it'sHercules, where it's Odysseus or
Theseus who fought the Minotaur.
And there are so manythings that you can do.
For example, One of, , thechampionship of Thysios, where he's
(50:17):
preparing to fight the Minotaur.
, and whoever knows the story,he kills the Minotaur, but
that's not where the story ends.
And of course, he has tochange the colour of his sails.
So he leaves Athens with black sails,and his father, King Aegeus, is
(50:40):
waiting for him on top of Cape Sunyo,waiting, and if he returns with black
sails, it means his son is dead.
But if it's white sails, it's a victory.
So I won't Even though you can readthe story, I won't give it away.
(51:00):
We play on those elements.
And so we have this competition wherethey change the sails from black to white.
There's, you know, the battle ground.
And, I think even though we haven'tdone it in a very large group
as yet, just seeing the clientsthat do it amongst the family.
(51:23):
It's a lot of fun.
It brings out the warrior, the competitivenature, the one that wants to be the hero.
You're set.
You're actually in the whole, ambienceof where all these things happen with
the Aegean Sea, the archaeologicalamphitheatre, , dressing thing.
(51:49):
If nothing else, it'sgreat for Instagram photos.
It really does.
So, , that's what we do.
That's, yeah.
Incredible.
Now you said to me, how arewe going to feel an hour?
We're almost at the hour.
Really?
And I said, don't you, you have no ideaeverybody that's listening or watching how
(52:12):
much I can listen to Maria, whether we'reon a, on a video call or on the phone.
I'm like, I wish this is recorded.
How many times have I said that to you?
I wish I could record you saying this.
It brings me so much joy, but Ido like to finish with my guests
on a bit of an excellence round.
So I'm just going to start firing offinto, , if there was anything that was
(52:36):
holding you back, , what was it initially?
after thinking like, and being told bythis colleague or friend of yours and
the support of your beautiful husbandthat said, just what are you waiting for?
What was holding you back?
I think it was me.
Yeah.
You know, obviously not knowingwhat I didn't know and how
(53:00):
was I going to make this work?
And Was it going to bespecial enough for my clients?
What could I possibly, I knew that Iwas a great host and I wanted always
my guests to be, and even from, youknow, the breakfast meal, everything,
(53:20):
everything needed to be very heartfelt.
And I didn't know that Icould deliver it from afar.
And when the pieces came togetherand I could experience it and
people going on a crying, acrying and saying, it was amazing.
And they've become real friendsbecause they're also repeat clients.
(53:46):
It, it, It gives you theconfidence to keep going.
This is worth it.
This is really what it's all about.
You're validationally validatedthe thought, the heart.
Yeah.
And I'm not a person that seeksvalidation, validation from
anything, but this is different.
You're like, Did you enjoy it?
(54:08):
Did you feel at home?
Did you feel special?
And was it special?
And, , they just walk awaysaying, it was incredible.
It was absolutely incredible.
And that's where feedbackmatters in our line of work.
whether, and I know for the samepeople say, how did the training go?
And it's only as good as thefeedback from anybody that's, you
(54:32):
know, experiencing what you deliver.
So I think that's really importantto always seek it like you do, like,
and then, yeah, and it helps youkeep going and keep tweaking what
we need to keep , making it better.
I'm so curious, the bestadvice you've ever received.
(54:53):
Oh, my goodness.
I've received lots of good advice.
Keep going.
Don't give up.
Get comfortable with the uncomfortable.
Trust your instinct.
And someone had said to me, howdare you not share this with the
world and keep it to yourself.
You have to share it with the world.
(55:13):
Love that.
And I thought that when you were talkingabout the Odysseys and it's like, imagine
Going then and not knowing this, ifyou don't go on a specialised, you just
kind of land there doing your own thingand you miss this, miss out on this.
Is there, so in terms of your day to day,you're busy doing many different things.
(55:38):
What is a reliable resource for you?
Whether it's AI, an app, any, youknow, a gadget, like what's something
that you can't live without thathelps you manage your day to day?
, Tanya, my business partner,um, but I'm going to say.
(55:59):
I don't know if I'm allowed tosay this, but chat GPT has just
made so much you're totally alert.
I mean, I will type away how I feeland then just ask it to refine it.
Yeah.
You know, and in my tone andafter doing it for a while, , it
knows magical sunset's tone.
(56:21):
It knows it's product.
Sometimes I forget tomention certain things.
It would answer it for me.
I'm like, Oh my God, you're so good.
You remembered and I didn't.
So yeah, I couldn't live without that.
, that's such a valid point.
And I'm glad you mentioned that because,you know, the term that I've come to
realise is called prompt engineering.
(56:42):
You've prompted it.
well enough that it's gotten to knowyour business and especially like how
many of you are listening or watching,like we're, we're small businesses at
the end of the day and using tools likethis help enhance and make the online
experience better and your day better.
More efficient, extremely more efficient.
(57:04):
I mean, I even say, canyou please, and thank you.
And my husband said, you're usingplease and thank you on chat GPT.
And I said, yes, because itknows my politeness and it's
going to respond to my character.
Yes.
So you actually have to speak orwrite it in the way you are, as if
(57:29):
you are speaking to a real person.
Ah, excellent.
Excellent, Maria.
, personal habit.
I think you've shared a lot,but what's a personal habit that
contributes to your success?
, I do go training.
I do.
I feel to be mentally astute.
You need to be physically strong.
(57:51):
So, my cardio isn't the best, butI am, I feel physically strong.
That's when I'm my best.
So that's something you are intentionallyin your strength training to get Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Not a lot.
Yeah.
Three times a week.
Nothing big and not, , halfan hour, but it gives me.
(58:18):
Love.
It's very important.
I mean, I feel the same.
When I started my business 10 yearsago, I needed, I need to get physically
fit for this, like an athlete tobe able to endure what's ahead.
Cause it's long hours and it's, yeah.
I love that you've shared that Maria.
There is one more.
Yeah, go.
(58:39):
, the other part is I was always spiritual.
I've always been spiritual.
But I've come closer to God andthere, when there are moments that
I have confusion or there isn't theclarity, I actually do speak to God.
(59:00):
It's not a prayer.
, just having my conversations andI can really say, I love God.
You can say, you love theuniverse, you can say whatever.
Personifying, God makes itfor me a stronger connection.
Mm.
Yeah.
Your faith and you haveto have blind faith.
(59:22):
Mm-hmm . Mm-hmm . any book ormovie you've recommended, one
movie that we should look out for?
Any book that's been transformative foryou on this journey to recommend to us.
Yes.
The law of attraction.
And it is really, , theenergy that you put out.
(59:44):
There are many autobiographiesthat I have read.
, even Andre Agassi, even,Michelle Obama, um, so many that.
And you have to imagineyourself in their league.
You have to imagine thechallenges that those people have.
(01:00:04):
And it gives you a perspective tothink, okay, I can do this little one.
I'm just going to put anotherspreadsheet out and it's not as bad
as what Michelle Obama has to face.
And, you know, But you need to findinspiration so you can be inspirational.
Oh, and on that note, you've inspiredmany by taking the time out today.
(01:00:27):
Maria, this is, I hope thisis the very beginning of your
own Maria Tsalkos biography.
Uh, I really appreciate, I'm very gratefulfor our connection and, uh, and I hope,
you know, I hope many of you are justas inspired as I am, magicalsunset.
com.
Uh, thank you.
(01:00:47):
Is there any partingwords before we close?
No, you've been wonderfuland you're my little angel.
Oh, bless you, Maria, Maria.
And you've got.
The most songs ever.
My sisters Maria,there's no Vespina songs.
I think there's one likeVespina, Vespinaki, like
it's Spanish, Greek, Italian.
(01:01:10):
Maria is the name, that, uh,that we are inspired by today.
Thank you.
All the best.
Here's to 2025 and beyond.
Uh, Maria, thank you.
Thank you.
Hello.
Welcome.
Good morning.
Good evening.
Good afternoon.
Whatever time it is that you aretuning into the Tourism Hub podcast,
this is a very, very special onewith a very, very special guest.
We are going beyond the borders ofAustralia today to welcome to the show
(00:20):
for the first time to the Tourism Hubpodcast, but also to her first experience.
experience of podcasting.
It is with my pleasure to introduceyou to an experience maker that exudes
experience making, it's experiencecurating, it's experience, you know,
storytelling and we are talking to MariaTsarkos from Magical Sunset Greek Podcast.
(00:44):
Island sailing experiences.
Mariamu, welcome.
Thank you.
Thank you.
And wow, that sounded just wonderful.
Oh, Maria, you know, you had me,you had me at magical sunset.
And I was just like, I'm speakingto someone very special on
the other side of the phone.
I'll never forget it.
A random active.
(01:05):
Reaching out.
And here we are, this beautifulevolution that we're going on with
magical sunset and now having thisconversation, which I've been really,
really keen to do since we met.
So I want us to go on the Mariajourney as much as the magical sunset
journey, uh, during this hour ofpower that we have to share where.
(01:28):
You have been pre Magical Sunsetand then when, you know, the moment
where Magical Sunset came to be.
So if you would indulge me and ourwonderful listeners to where was Maria?
Before Magical Sunset, tell me aboutthe journey, where, you know, what did
you want to do growing up and, you know?
(01:50):
So, when I was growing up, Iwanted to become an astronaut.
Oh, wow.
But I did study physicsand I did major in physics.
I've got a science background and I'veworked in corporate my whole life.
I've had fantastic relationships.
opportunities.
And one of them was with my youngfamily and my husband, we had
(02:11):
relocated to Luxembourg with,with Goodyear, Goodyear tyres.
So I think that was themaking of Magical Sunset.
And what it really was is, Wehad an opportunity to go back
to Greece every summer, everyChristmas, whatever we can get.
(02:35):
And in the process, we madea lot, a lot of friends.
in Luxembourg, expats, Americans,English, family, friends from the schools
who used to say, we want to come toGreece, but we want to come with you.
So we all had young children.
And because I love storytelling andbecause, and the truth is, which I
(02:59):
didn't mention is I was born in Greece.
And I came to Australia when I was very,very young with my parents, obviously.
But, there were a number of yearswhich my parents took us back.
We lived with our, my grandparents.
I went to school in Greece,so it was my sister and I,
(03:20):
living with the grandparents.
And that's when I wasintroduced to, Greek mythology.
So we didn't really have fancytoys, no Barbie dolls, none of that.
Just our imagination and thesurrounding of which we created
and relived those stories.
(03:41):
So when I had the opportunity and Itook my young children to Greece and
we had family and friends come andjoin us, the first thing I did, I
did is unravel all those stories inno matter which location I went to.
So if it was going to be any island,and Greece has got so many stories.
(04:06):
Stories.
So many, you know, amphitheatres,monuments, archaeological
sites, but nobody reallyknows the stories behind them.
And when you start understandingthem and following like the trails,
all of a sudden it becomes magical.
(04:27):
Magical.
Now, how old were you whenyou came to Australia?
So, the first time with myparents, I was, , just under a
year old, pre school, pre school.
So like most parents, they struggledto find daycare and, having
to look after the children.
(04:47):
So my parents had decided that theywere going to work a number of years
in Australia and go back to Greece.
With that in mind that took mysister and I and we lived with
my grandparents for nearly fouryears while they were here working.
, so when we came back, we cameback because there was a war in
(05:12):
1974 and they'd taken my dad.
So things were chaotic in Greece.
So that we returned by then I was eight.
So, and that's, that's a whole lot.
It's a very similar story, Maria,and I have a sister and her sister's
Maria, who you met last week.
And it's interesting.
It's a very similar story with a lot of.
(05:33):
A lot of Europeans who migratedhere, come cash up and go back.
But then there was also this loss of home.
Yes.
Right.
Because, um, and I have a similar journey.
We did, we, we, we came,we went and we came back.
Wow.
And it's incredible.
So the Goodyear experience, wasthat Goodyear you were working
with Goodyear or your husband?
I was.
(05:53):
You were working with Goodyear in Turkey.
That's incredible.
in the whole expat community thatthe husbands, the families relocated
because of the women, you know.
So yeah, it was interesting.
It was fun.
And of course I worked in a tyrecompany, very male dominated.
And I was asked to speak to the studentsand this is during career week, and
(06:17):
tell them different opportunities.
So I told them about tyre design.
And of course I work with the racingteam and I had all these fathers and
children who want to come orientation intomy field and work, which was exciting.
It was interesting.
Oh, look, and it speaks volumes of yourBut just your resilience and your self
(06:41):
leadership, like , that takes anotherlevel of bravery, like to make that
decision and take your young childrenat the time I would imagine to go and
live in a, I'm in Luxembourg as well.
That's something extraordinary.
And I've never been therebefore I relocated, so I had
no idea what it looked like.
(07:01):
Wow.
So in those travels, I guess in that,a lot of businesses and experience
makers like you start their businessesbecause there is that, you know,
they're passionate travelers first,they're passionate about experiencing
new cultures and new things.
Tell me about that.
So you, you're experiencing.
(07:22):
People want to travelwith you and I'm the same.
I've never been on a sailing yacht,but I could, you know, the first time
one day manifestation in the nation.
That's what, you know, that'sthe other part of this.
Anybody that wants to travelto Greece on a luxury sailing
experience, magical sunset.
com.
Take me there.
(07:43):
What was it that was missing in yourexperiences that you said, I can do this.
on a whole other level yourability to create what you've
created with magical sunset.
What was missing?
What was the gap that you said, you knowwhat, I've come from a science background.
I've got experience in Tiremanufacturing in the world that you
(08:07):
were in, like what you were doing.
Oh no, how did I go from that to that?
To completely shift what, like, causeI'm so interested always in that moment
of what you saw that was missing and thepull in you to go, I'm going to do this.
You know, that moment.
Okay, I can tell you the exact moment.
Amazing.
And you know, people say is,you know, was there a moment?
(08:30):
Did it happen progressively?
Yeah.
I didn't do any research to understandthere's a gap in the market.
I wasn't that way inclined.
So like I said, is back in 2000 from1999, all the way we'd been traveling,
there was a, period when the kids,when we came back and then went to high
(08:51):
school, we stopped going to Greece.
But when we reconvened, allthose people were still there.
Where are we going?
You know, what island?
And they were happy for meto complete a full itinerary.
It's like they completely trusted me tocreate the stories, to do the itineraries,
(09:11):
to go and visit the locations.
And they knew that mypassion was Greek mythology.
That I would somehowincorporate the storytelling.
I didn't realize that Iwas a good storyteller.
I didn't realize thatI could combine things.
What actually happened, it was like 20years on, we're on the island, of course,
(09:37):
the children now grown up, they'reoff traveling the world themselves.
One of the families who arestill in Luxembourg and we're
still very good friends.
He was the CEO of DuPont.
We're there, and we're on the AesculapianMonument, and I'm talking about the
(09:57):
story behind it, how Hippocratesfounded medicine, and how he used to
have his, , and do the HippocraticOath, which, um, modern day medicine.
There's a lot of doctors aroundthe world who take that oath.
And I said, there's got to bebusloads of people reenacting the
(10:18):
Ipocratic Oath here in this place.
And I described what I couldsee and what they should have.
And John The CEO of DuPont said to me, Oh,Maria, I've been with you so many years.
This is your calling.
You have got to do this.
(10:39):
And where we were is on top ofthe hill with all these lined
with cypress trees, either side.
And it was like the heavens hadopened up and spoke to me and
said, We're right behind you.
You've got to do this.
And that was it.
I came home and my husband said,well, what are you waiting for?
(11:03):
And I didn't even realize that I couldhave a job that I could follow my passion.
That's how simple it was.
You know, Maria, Oprahcalled those aha moments.
I call them oppa moments.
That's your oppa.
It certainly was.
That's incredible.
(11:24):
And then coming home and that'sbeen , the joy and the wonder
in just being around you.
In just like I can see all the,it's like a tapestry of doors
opening and seeing your, thefull potential of this incredible
experience that you are delivering.
(11:44):
When you come to a magical sunsetexperience, now many people
have been on a Greek island.
It's a bucket list destination, asis this beautiful country of ours.
And we have islands, Greek islandsthough, and Greece, the history and
the mythology component is there.
(12:08):
I guess when we're looking at a uniqueselling proposition from a destination
perspective has a lot going for it.
And it's become more and more prominent.
I feel, I feel after the postC world, C word, you know, post
pandemic, Greece has gone on anotherlevel with its tourism appeal.
(12:30):
Now, tell me about.
The mythology path with Magical Sunset,I just want to set the scene of what
the difference is and how much isunexplored that I've gotten to learn
and appreciate through knowing you.
There are the, almost like thehero islands that everybody
sees on the postcards.
(12:51):
But then when you tell me something like,I go to places that you can only go to by
boat and you just make me stand in line.
So from doing the land tours,so we used to do sailing with
groups, but day trips or differentthings and it was never enough.
(13:12):
What I got out of it isthat there was a whole lot.
on any given island in Greece, thatthere are elements you can't get to
unless you have a boat and you havean understanding, a good skipper and
someone who knows the places to go to.
There's many beaches.
The coastline in Greece is huge.
(13:33):
We've got 6, 000 islandsand, , the best beaches and
the best location in the world.
Even some of the old archaeologicalsites, you need a boat to get to them.
So it was evident for me thatwe will do sailing tours.
But the, so we operate out ofthree different marinas, not
(13:56):
the where the ships go to, it isprivate marinas, with catamarans.
So we do the Ionian, which is theOdysseus tour, which is, Odysseus, I'm
coming home and it's pretty much thelast chapter of Odysseus return home.
(14:16):
I can talk about that tour for hours.
And then we've got the Saronicmyth, which is, you know, 30
minutes out of, Athens city.
And there's another marina that goesto the Aegean Islands and we go closer.
to, again, closer to Athens.
(14:39):
and that's why we realized that inorder to explore the not so popular
islands, which have got so much to see,and the beaches are phenomenal, and
the stories, and the archaeologicalsites, and the games that we play.
I forgot to mention, we have anarchaeologist, , in our tours that
(15:01):
he does reenactment of fighting withthe Minotaur, if we're going to do,
you know, the Aegean Dream, and justdifferent elements that without you
knowing, being on a boat, you're actuallygently submerged into the mythology and
you're feeling, I want to know more.
(15:21):
And what happens next?
And where do we go to now?
And that is the element of bothcuriosity, eagerness, and adventure.
But combining it with the modernelement of, you know, paradise
and sunbeach and jumping off yourcatamaran and having a great hostess
(15:42):
who gives you phenomenal food and,you know, cocktails when you're ready.
I just want, I implore everyone, notwhile you're driving and listening
to this, but definitely you just needto visit Magical Sunset website and
Your eyes will feast on the turquoisewaters of what you're surrounds.
(16:03):
I just tell me about Odysseus,Odysseus, why this is so special and
why this final chapter of coming home?
Cause I feel like this.
And again, you know, like when youthink about something and suddenly
that's all you see, you have no idea.
I never thought about it.
thought about, I never read about,I never saw, but now again, there's,
(16:25):
you know, a lot of people that I comeacross and meet along the way, then
there's pre Maria, post Maria, it'sjust something that keeps coming up.
It is, yeah.
So I just thought, and it's justsomething that I, I keep meaning to
mention and what a perfect time to saytell me about why that's special for
you and why this story is so special.
(16:45):
So, as a kid, I actually, I mean, whenI say I studied, we, our play time,
our reading time was Greek mythology.
So Homer wrote the Iliad, whichis 10 year war in Troy, right?
Odysseus is now He was in Troyfighting the war, reluctantly went.
(17:07):
But now the Odyssey is abouthis return home and it takes
him 10 years to get home.
From a story point of view, I mean,he is supposedly kidnapped by Calypso.
for he's mesmerized by her beautyand can't leave her for seven years.
(17:29):
He has to fight the Lotus Eatersand get his crew back on the ship.
He fights the Cyclops and he goes throughPoseidon who's always there to attack him.
The story actually has two parts.
psychological elements of truth ofany one of us that goes through life.
(17:49):
And the C is a metaphorfor his state of mind.
Remembering he's come backfrom war after 10 years.
So he's not exactly at peace, butthat's not what the tour is about.
And it's not for anyone needing toknow the stories behind it at all.
What happens is when he finallygets home and why it's important to
(18:12):
me, my girlfriend is from Lefkadaand every year, come on, let's go
to Lefkada, let's go to Lefkada.
And I did.
And she'd say to me this one particulartime, she said, can you stay longer?
Can you stay longer?
And I said, you know what?
I will.
But if we stay longer, we are going to goTo Ithaca, which is, I don't know, I can't
(18:37):
remember now, about a two hour drive.
boat ride south, not very far.
And she goes, why?
I said, I have to go toOdysseus's home, his palace.
She didn't know the story.
We didn't know where we would be.
I actually read through the story,unravelling where he could possibly be,
(19:01):
where he could have possibly have landed.
I found all the locations.
And it was, and my husband was saying,I don't think they're interested.
And I said, no, no, I'lltell them the story.
And there were six of us, three couples.
By the end of it, everyone wasso keen to find out the palace,
(19:21):
to find out where we sailed from.
And there were so many thingswe discovered along the way.
So I struggled then to understand, wasthis mythology or was this history?
And to get to the side where he's, Imean, we found everything, but what
he experienced, we needed a boat.
(19:44):
So that's how.
The Odyssey, Odysseus came about, butwe also in the process found Hades,
so there's a monument where you can goto the underworld where Odysseus went
to speak to the spirits to guide himhow to get home because he was lost.
(20:05):
So the fact that these places existed,the fact that there is a river of soul.
Sphinx, where, , when you die, theferryman come to collect you and
to take you down that path and takeyou down to Hades, seemed to me a
story that needed to be relived.
(20:28):
So when I take now guests alongthat journey, they say, I didn't
even know this place existed.
We didn't know it existed.
And it only makes sense through theexperiences through visiting the
places, having a tour guide explainto you in a fun way, not that this
(20:50):
was built, you know, 600 BC, butstorytelling and experiencing it, all
of a sudden you're living it as if youunderstand Odysseus himself and the
struggles he would have gone through.
Wow.
And is that like, isa physical uh, relics?
(21:11):
Yeah.
So when you discovered this moment,you're on this quest and you see this.
Yeah.
And I had no idea how big it was.
I didn't realize Ididn't, I, I had no idea.
So there's a movie that'sgoing to come out soon.
It's called the return,the return, the return.
(21:31):
And it's of Odysseus.
Wow.
Yeah.
And it's exactly the partof the tour that we play.
He doesn't go to Hades, to the underworld,but he does relive all those elements
and the stories that we have in our tour.
And I call it a tour, but it'sreally your own personal adventure
(21:53):
and what you, how much you want totake out of it and how much, um, of
the myth you want to include in it.
It's really up to you.
, we have like, games, questionnaires,and activities that the kids or
adults, and we find that the adultswant to play more of it than the kids.
And it's like a, you know,a hunt, discovering the next
(22:16):
clue and what happens next.
And you can very well know thestory, but it's still the fact
that you're going to go to theselocations, it no longer is a myth.
It's, yeah.
And what is the difference, Maria,mythology or history, when you
said, what is the difference?
Like, , I've never thought about thatwhen you just mentioned that before.
(22:39):
, I think this is extraordinary and Icould safely say just again, looking
at a lot of sailing experiences postMaria meeting, you know, and having you
in my sphere that there's nothing elsethat exists that makes this connection.
Yeah.
out there in terms of adventureand experiences and sailing?
I can certainly with confidence saythere isn't, but from a service point of
(23:03):
view, we also go, we do something extra.
So there are many sailing companiesthat offer either a bare boat, or a
luxury yacht or a skippered yacht.
The thing that, It is a little bitthat skippers like to go to places
that's convenient for them to takethe yacht or that they have other
(23:27):
skippers waiting because, you know,the guests go off on the island, have
their dinner out there and they sortof catch up with their fellow skipper.
colleagues.
We're not about that.
We say there are, we know thedestinations you must visit and you
don't want to go somewhere thinkinghow come I didn't go there and I didn't
(23:49):
do that and you won't know any better.
You're going to be very muchReliant that the skipper will
take you to the best locations.
We make sure you'reaware of what's possible.
So we will ask you questions to understandwhat really experiences you want to have
beyond what we offer, like the mythicalelements, then tour guides and, , and
(24:13):
the reenactment of certain games.
So we do that.
We choose the restaurants,the food menu on the yacht.
We make sure that wepurchase the food for you.
And by the time you come on board,everything's stacked away, your
cocktail's waiting, you've got yourrefreshments, you're even brought
(24:35):
right on the pier, right on the yacht,and our crew will take your luggage
and you would think this is normal.
But it's not.
If you're hiring it and doing things onyour own, you'd have to carry your, your
groceries in there, um, unpack everything.
You'd have to carry your suitcases.
(24:57):
This is a very different experience.
And we have our groundstaff that's available 24 7.
So whatever changes you want to maketo the itinerary, or you want to add
activities, we're there to do it.
So nothing is fixed.
It's as flexible as you are.
Oh, I love that.
(25:18):
And that's something, again, if anybody'sbeen to Greece or any other popular
destination that involves ferries, boats,cruises, and what I've appreciated when
you're saying half an hour from Athens.
Yeah.
Is it's chaotic, especially overpeak season, but, but again, you've
(25:40):
told me that this whole other worldthat exists, and that's not the case
when, uh, joining an experience with,with you to set the scene for anyone
that's been or hasn't been, it is,there are boats coming and going.
Everywhere and big like, causeit's there on a schedule.
(26:01):
You know, they're faringpeople to and from islands.
Just set the scene ofthat difference on where.
So if you want to go a private charter,like we offer, there are smaller marinas
and there are lots of yachts around.
They operate from Saturday to Saturday,a little bit the way I describe it for
(26:24):
people who've gone skiing, they knowski lodges is from Saturday to Saturday.
Yachts are private.
weekly sailing is fromSaturday to Saturday as well.
That's international, I guess.
Everybody knows it.
On a set.
So the yacht's coming to base back Fridaynight, you check out Saturday morning.
And so the cleaners, theyrefuel, they do everything.
(26:48):
And it is mayhem.
So the first time I experiencedit, I thought, what?
It reminded me of a very, very, busybus terminal, buses going everywhere and
people everywhere and people steppingover, , anchors, chains, yokes, and I just
thought there's got to be a better way.
(27:08):
There's got to be a better way forme to sail and have that luxury.
So what we do is we choose and oursuppliers is they're a little bit off.
In a more private, we bring in the luxuryvan that picks them up and drops them off.
So they feel special.
(27:30):
There is a VIP experience.
They don't experience the mayhem,or if they do see any of it.
They're not part of it.
, so we bring them on and that'swhat I mean is they just step on
the boat and everything is done.
And that's the, thing too.
It's like going to, when you say,even with your grocery shopping
(27:50):
or your, you know, like you don'thave to think about a thing.
I can see, And this is again,the ultimate experience maker,
like yourself, you've experiencedtransformation within you through travel.
In Queensland, there's a whole programaround transformational experiences
(28:14):
that people are seeking more.
Now, when they travel, they want tocome back because we're buzzed out.
We want to escape, but learnsomething, contribute, do something.
Tell me like, I'm so curious when youwent on this quest, how did it change you?
Oh my God.
And then I want you to thinkabout how it changes your guests.
(28:37):
Cause you're also seeing this out ofbody experience of seeing people come
off this journey and how it changes them.
That's interesting because whenI first started, my premise was
to get people to fall in lovewith Greece the way I know it.
And Yeah.
Everybody loves Greece.
(28:59):
They love it at a certain level.
I mean, they love Santorini, theylove Mykonos, but I wanted them to
have a more personal experience.
Just like when I go to Italy withmy friends and they take me by
the hand and show me their places.
I mean, yes, I can Google certain things,but this is beyond Googling these places.
You cannot Google it.
(29:20):
, so that's what I thought.
In the process, we would get inquirieslike a family saying, Hey Maria,
this is very important week for us.
My daughter, the oldestone is graduating from uni.
Sorry, the, you know, theoldest one's getting married.
(29:40):
The second one's graduating.
My son's just finished high school.
It's probably going tobe the last family trip.
I want them all together.
And I realized that I was in the businessof family bonding and that did not come
about because we get on with our job.
We get on with, you know,making sure everyone's happy.
(30:03):
And of course, there's alwaysdynamics between people and you're
in a confined space of a yacht.
So you want to makesure that everyone has.
the maximum experiencepersonalized to themselves.
And a crew are really good inunderstanding people's needs.
So we would do that.
(30:25):
And then they'll ask you, is thereanything that we can do as a group?
Cause you know, they mightlike cooking or something.
We would incorporatethose different needs.
We'll do cooking classes or localcheese and wine tasting, or masseuse
on the yacht, whatever it is.
And at the end of it, I get themcoming to me, literally crying and
(30:54):
hugging us and hugging the crew andsaying, I feel connected to Greece.
I knew it was going to be good.
I didn't realize it wasgoing to be this good.
And I feel a greaterconnection to my family.
And we all get emotional.
(31:15):
It's almost impossible to comprehendthat a sailing week or a week
of this caliber can do that.
And it does.
Oh, find myself.
Yeah, you, you hit a note therebecause the time it's fleeting.
(31:36):
Yeah.
And there is something about makingthat investment in how you maximise
your time when we work so hard.
to enjoy these moments in the bestpossible environments that cater to that.
And, , seeing Aiden behind the scenes inTurkey, we had the same, when you say like
(31:58):
going, having that local knowledge andtraveling with local people, because that
is something again, through the research,through sailing that I've noticed,
particularly in Greece, that there area lot of foreign operators as well.
I mean, It's the same everywhere.
But I think that connection, andwe talk about connection to country
(32:22):
here in Australia a lot through ourIndigenous First Nations peoples.
And I see this and I guess I havethat connection to those stories.
And in the same way that I can hear yourelating to that, having local people that
can show you the Hellenic land and seas.
(32:42):
There's a difference there too, whenyou're seeking out these experiences.
In the same way, yeah, I had my brotherin law's auntie take us around Istanbul.
There's no way we could have foundand discovered those places on Google.
And that's, that's the differencewith the curated local experience.
(33:04):
And we do.
So there's a lot.
So Greek mythology is all over Turkeyand I've got one of my very dear
friends is Turkish and she said,I'm going to come with you because
I want to learn about all this.
But nothing that we do, and I'mgoing to say this in a, there's no
criticism, there's nothing that we dois really cookie cutter or commercial.
(33:29):
So when they ask for a cooking class.
And each tour, we've connected witha little yaya, a little grandmother
who teaches with her daughters ora local who's got a restaurant and
on the side does a private cookingclass and she'll go in the garden,
(33:49):
will collect the, whatever's inseason, , and make, the dishes, it is
as authentic as it could possibly be.
Oh, Maria, I went to my cousin'swedding in Greece, and I was there
saying like, I would have paidmoney to have this experience, like
(34:11):
to experience the way my auntiesprepared in this four day tradition
that we've lost here, unfortunately.
Um, it is something like, so justagain, that just takes it to , a
whole other level and experience.
What I'm curious now, I, I, I kind ofknow this, but now just really, Yeah,
(34:32):
I'm thinking if anyone's listening,what's the best time , to have the best
experience of this, the best time of year.
So for anyone that's looking at, youknow, inspired and looking at the year
ahead in 2025, six, seven, to makethis investment and carve out the time,
what's the best time of year to lookat doing these sailing experiences?
(34:53):
Obviously, if you can getto book before December.
Because that's early booking and there'san early booking discount, and it
depends on the yacht that they select,but anything that they can do, because
the season is from May till October.
, but if you can book beforeDecember, that's fantastic.
(35:15):
We do get last minutes thatpeople say in June, I want to
sail in the next couple of weeks.
What do you have available?
In those cases.
It just makes the yachts not, I can'tgive them a full range and sometimes
we compromise and we'll just haveto work around what's available.
Yes.
But at this point in time, theyhave an advantage of having,
(35:38):
you an early bird discount.
Plus there's a greater choiceof the yachts available.
Incredible.
This leads me to the next questionsof partnerships and relationships.
You're, you're here in Melbourne andyou, I mean, you, you travel back and
forth a lot, but how important that is?
(35:58):
to a tour, any tour operation.
So for anyone, I'm just thinking now foranyone that might be thinking of starting
their own business in their home countryor, you know, in our own backyard here.
How, like in terms of setting this up,cause there's the dream, but then there's
the operation of making this happen.
Been and having the trust that it canhappen when we might not have the luxury
(36:24):
of having Maria on board with us to havethe same experience as if you were there
with them like you were with your friends.
Tell me how important that is and how youtook your approach extreme important to
formulate that in your early days to now.
So I have to say, and I'm gonna behonest, I was a little bit naive.
(36:44):
as to what was really needed.
All I had was this passion and this desireand I wanted everyone to come on board.
And I was going to somehow work out thedetails and the details did work out.
What I've got is a business partnerwho's stationed in Greece, who her
husband is three generation sailors.
(37:07):
So she does all the screening and thetraining of the skippers, the hostess,
where we have to go, what we have to do.
When we curate a new tour or a clientwants to look at new islands, then
we actually will go out, test itall out, check out the locations.
(37:29):
Are we happy?
And then we will come backand say, okay, this is doable.
This is practical.
This is how long this takes becausewe don't want our guests to be
on a boat sailing for long hours.
A typical day is you get up in themorning, you have a big breakfast.
We sail out no morethan two to three hours.
(37:51):
to a secluded cove, they'll swim,they'll be sporting activities,
whatever we've designed for the dayfor them in consultation with him.
The hostess will prepare meal on the boat.
They'll come on.
And it's always one of themost magnificent settings.
And the guests say, I, day one, Idon't want to move from here because I
(38:13):
can't imagine there's anything better.
And I'll say, trust me, it gets better.
There's more to see.
So, and then we come backanother three hours of sailing.
We go to another destination, there'llbe further swimming, then eventually
we'll make it to a moor in a bay.
in an island which they'll have theevening to stroll and experience
(38:38):
the island, go to a few low,you know, bars or whatever it
is that they want to experience.
Sometimes they want to anchor out,and if the weather's good, out in bay.
And it's usually in those archaeologicalsites that they've played games with.
There's an amphitheatre on topof a hill overlooking the Aegean.
(39:00):
They've just spent time dressingup, wearing the thing, and they've
relived the elements of it.
And because Greece is in most partsuntouched, , still in its natural
beauty, you can imagine these stories.
(39:20):
You can imagine gods playing gameswith one another and you can feel it.
So if the weather's great and you'reout there at bay, all of a sudden,
It's just another experience.
And I guess that's where yourrelationships with your suppliers really
comes into light that because we'redealing also with changing needs and
(39:44):
fluctuations that we've always got backupsto deliver, you know, deliver the best.
So we choose suppliers with, , that canaccommodate our needs and even the ladies
that if we're going to do cooking classesor go to a visit a winery we can adjust
okay we had the booking for the Tuesdaynow it's going to be Thursday and they
(40:06):
will work with us to make those changes.
Navigating with those relationships,navigating for anybody.
And that's, I guess, thejourney that we've been on.
You've been working very much in a,you know, you've been curating this
directly to consumers booking with you.
Yeah.
Now, the next phase of MagicalSunset is opening up to consumers.
(40:30):
Trade and building trade relationships.
So if anyone listening, this is somethingthat could be made available and working
with Maria to make you look really goodin your offering with your clients.
Tell me about just now in, in yourbusiness, in doing business in travel
(40:52):
and as a travel experience and operator.
a tourism operator in Greece.
Tell me about what have beensome of your greatest learnings.
And I love that because many of my thing,I'm very emotively, inspired to make,
you know, I let my intuition guide me.
(41:13):
And sometimes the strategyand the thinking comes after.
And I love that because sometimes youmay, you know, you can cause analysis
paralysis and talk yourself out of this.
So I just want some of the learnings thatyou've had along the way in doing business
in travel, because it's a little bitnuanced and different to other industries.
(41:35):
And doing it from here afar, even more soand adding all those layers of complexity.
What I didn't mention when you askedme about the relationships, , I
had met Tanya, my businesspartner, and I actually.
We met through my, an introductionfrom my cousin who said she will
(41:55):
help you identify good, yachtingcompanies because she's in that space.
And I had no idea, , and that, andwe met to chit chat about what I'm
doing and who's a great companyand, and she said, why don't you
let me run it for you from here?
And that is how she becamemy business partner.
(42:18):
And she's been fantastic, theconnections and everything.
Someone so experienced who doesthis day in day out to work
with me now on Magical Sunset.
Um, so relationships are important.
So over the years we've establishedreally good relationships and we
understand who Who talks the talk,who walks the talk, and she is that,
(42:48):
and we know what supplies now we need.
wouldn't change.
We know who can deliver.
Um, and for the trade that you mentioned,what we found is a lot of companies
saying is, can you do something for us?
So we're now looking at, there's anumber of companies and we can do that
(43:10):
specifically, exclusively, curate atour for them, co branded with their
name, and it doesn't appear anywhereon our website, and it's not available
to anyone else, just for them.
Excellent.
And in terms of traveling that journey,what, looking at Maria four or five
(43:36):
years ago, when you started, whatadvice, six now from the oppa moment.
Yes.
Yeah.
What, what, what.
What advice would yougive your startup self?
Someone?
Yeah.
Don't, my startup is don't panic.
Don't overthink it.
(43:57):
Trust your instinct, right?
Yes, there's a lot of work to bedone, but it'll be sorted out.
It will, and people comealong your way for a reason.
So tap into that.
Some things will work.
Some things don't.
I say I kissed a lot of frogs to getto the point of making this work.
(44:21):
But yeah, it does.
It does.
Now, um, are we ready for thenext phase of the business?
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
But there you need to gothrough those initial struggles.
to understand and refine,I guess, your product, your
(44:43):
services, your understanding.
, but don't give up.
Yeah, you, you, you can't.
That is definitely a theme toevery experience maker that I sits
across from me of not giving up.
\ that is just, uh, is a big one, Ithink, in any walk of life or in
(45:04):
your career, in anyone's aspirations.
And in talking of not giving up thechallenging times, can you think
back there's OPA and then there'slike, well, the opposite of OPA.
Okay.
We had OPA and I had sailingtours almost the very next year.
2019, so 2018, I set it up, goteveryone going, 2019, we were out,
(45:28):
we were out, sailing, doing things.
It was amazing.
And then 2020 happened and nothinghappened for like three years.
I had one or two here andthere, nothing happened.
And I used that time to really, um,our crew to go and do the tours,
(45:50):
perfect it, learn more about, youknow, what guests really want, to
improve on it, create other products.
And then 23 was great, right?
And 24 was not as great.
And I don't know if it was becauseeverybody traveled hard in 23,
(46:11):
but there was that, , I mean,it got momentum going again.
Yeah.
And I can see just even like with 24, notbeing that great coming out of, and, and
I think across, the globe and particularlyfor a lot of local operators as well.
There is, it has been a challenging year.
(46:34):
I also see in your ethos that of notgiving up, you have gone out, you
know, and attracted different types ofrelationships and partnerships and, and
you know, a hashtag, , don't give up.
Don't give up.
I mean, I thought about it.
Then when times I think,Oh, this is getting hard.
Yeah.
Just when I say that.
I get a knock on the door saying, Hey,we like to hear about your product.
(46:58):
And so that's been great because, mostof my clients come from the U S or UK.
And I don't know whetherit was intentional.
I mean, we sort of found them.
We found, um, distributors who wanted to.
promote our product.
(47:19):
And it seemed like they knew they lovedthe element of mythology and culture.
that was incorporatedin the whole activity.
, so yeah, = what's happened.
And that was great for me.
That was good.
Yes.
Yes.
And that's something, I guess that's,that has been an element of looking
at when I first came across sailingexperiences and it is, There's a lot
(47:45):
of education that needs to happen.
And I could see that just in myballooning world, there needed to be a
piece of like ballooning is different.
We don't take off from the same place.
There's no marina.
There's no, we've got, we'renavigated by the wind of where
we take off, where we land.
And that would freak peopleout that like, Oh, we're just
the weather gods, literally.
(48:07):
So I recognize.
I actually have that in that.
T's and C's.
Yes.
We are determined by the weather gods.
The weather gods.
Yeah, I would say that all the time.
And that was just like, okay, we'vegot to get better at educating the
customer that it is a sense of adventure.
You are part of it.
(48:27):
Yes.
In a little bit of like, wedon't know where this will, will
land and it's always fabulous.
But when you, um, looking at thateducation piece and something with the,
these beautiful private, small groups.
To a experiences is that if I justwanted to come alone and join a group,
(48:51):
there's an opportunity to do that.
But the best way to experiencea magical sunset experience is
in a small group environment.
You said you had three couples.
Or you bring your friendsor a corporate retreat.
Cause I also see, and I think that'swhat's inspires me about the mythology.
(49:11):
And I want to manifest this.
I see a leadership element in kindof like in the storytelling . of
going on the journey from yesteryear.
Cause we talk resilience.
That's on another level of resilience,like to not give up a decade to
return home when there's no sat nav.
(49:34):
Like, can you just castour brains around that?
That, yeah, that was possible.
So Greek mythology has heroes.
We love our heroes, but it'salso true to life meaning.
So we've had a number of CEOscome on tour with their families.
(49:55):
Now they're looking into doing teambuilding exercises where you relive
elements of the hero, whether it'sHercules, where it's Odysseus or
Theseus who fought the Minotaur.
And there are so manythings that you can do.
For example, One of, , thechampionship of Thysios, where he's
(50:17):
preparing to fight the Minotaur.
, and whoever knows the story,he kills the Minotaur, but
that's not where the story ends.
And of course, he has tochange the colour of his sails.
So he leaves Athens with black sails,and his father, King Aegeus, is
(50:40):
waiting for him on top of Cape Sunyo,waiting, and if he returns with black
sails, it means his son is dead.
But if it's white sails, it's a victory.
So I won't Even though you can readthe story, I won't give it away.
(51:00):
We play on those elements.
And so we have this competition wherethey change the sails from black to white.
There's, you know, the battle ground.
And, I think even though we haven'tdone it in a very large group
as yet, just seeing the clientsthat do it amongst the family.
(51:23):
It's a lot of fun.
It brings out the warrior, the competitivenature, the one that wants to be the hero.
You're set.
You're actually in the whole, ambienceof where all these things happen with
the Aegean Sea, the archaeologicalamphitheatre, , dressing thing.
(51:49):
If nothing else, it'sgreat for Instagram photos.
It really does.
So, , that's what we do.
That's, yeah.
Incredible.
Now you said to me, how arewe going to feel an hour?
We're almost at the hour.
Really?
And I said, don't you, you have no ideaeverybody that's listening or watching how
(52:12):
much I can listen to Maria, whether we'reon a, on a video call or on the phone.
I'm like, I wish this is recorded.
How many times have I said that to you?
I wish I could record you saying this.
It brings me so much joy, but Ido like to finish with my guests
on a bit of an excellence round.
So I'm just going to start firing offinto, , if there was anything that was
(52:36):
holding you back, , what was it initially?
after thinking like, and being told bythis colleague or friend of yours and
the support of your beautiful husbandthat said, just what are you waiting for?
What was holding you back?
I think it was me.
Yeah.
You know, obviously not knowingwhat I didn't know and how
(53:00):
was I going to make this work?
And Was it going to bespecial enough for my clients?
What could I possibly, I knew that Iwas a great host and I wanted always
my guests to be, and even from, youknow, the breakfast meal, everything,
(53:20):
everything needed to be very heartfelt.
And I didn't know that Icould deliver it from afar.
And when the pieces came togetherand I could experience it and
people going on a crying, acrying and saying, it was amazing.
And they've become real friendsbecause they're also repeat clients.
(53:46):
It, it, It gives you theconfidence to keep going.
This is worth it.
This is really what it's all about.
You're validationally validatedthe thought, the heart.
Yeah.
And I'm not a person that seeksvalidation, validation from
anything, but this is different.
You're like, Did you enjoy it?
(54:08):
Did you feel at home?
Did you feel special?
And was it special?
And, , they just walk awaysaying, it was incredible.
It was absolutely incredible.
And that's where feedbackmatters in our line of work.
whether, and I know for the samepeople say, how did the training go?
And it's only as good as thefeedback from anybody that's, you
(54:32):
know, experiencing what you deliver.
So I think that's really importantto always seek it like you do, like,
and then, yeah, and it helps youkeep going and keep tweaking what
we need to keep , making it better.
I'm so curious, the bestadvice you've ever received.
(54:53):
Oh, my goodness.
I've received lots of good advice.
Keep going.
Don't give up.
Get comfortable with the uncomfortable.
Trust your instinct.
And someone had said to me, howdare you not share this with the
world and keep it to yourself.
You have to share it with the world.
(55:13):
Love that.
And I thought that when you were talkingabout the Odysseys and it's like, imagine
Going then and not knowing this, ifyou don't go on a specialised, you just
kind of land there doing your own thingand you miss this, miss out on this.
Is there, so in terms of your day to day,you're busy doing many different things.
(55:38):
What is a reliable resource for you?
Whether it's AI, an app, any, youknow, a gadget, like what's something
that you can't live without thathelps you manage your day to day?
, Tanya, my business partner,um, but I'm going to say.
(55:59):
I don't know if I'm allowed tosay this, but chat GPT has just
made so much you're totally alert.
I mean, I will type away how I feeland then just ask it to refine it.
Yeah.
You know, and in my tone andafter doing it for a while, , it
knows magical sunset's tone.
(56:21):
It knows it's product.
Sometimes I forget tomention certain things.
It would answer it for me.
I'm like, Oh my God, you're so good.
You remembered and I didn't.
So yeah, I couldn't live without that.
, that's such a valid point.
And I'm glad you mentioned that because,you know, the term that I've come to
realise is called prompt engineering.
(56:42):
You've prompted it.
well enough that it's gotten to knowyour business and especially like how
many of you are listening or watching,like we're, we're small businesses at
the end of the day and using tools likethis help enhance and make the online
experience better and your day better.
More efficient, extremely more efficient.
(57:04):
I mean, I even say, canyou please, and thank you.
And my husband said, you're usingplease and thank you on chat GPT.
And I said, yes, because itknows my politeness and it's
going to respond to my character.
Yes.
So you actually have to speak orwrite it in the way you are, as if
(57:29):
you are speaking to a real person.
Ah, excellent.
Excellent, Maria.
, personal habit.
I think you've shared a lot,but what's a personal habit that
contributes to your success?
, I do go training.
I do.
I feel to be mentally astute.
You need to be physically strong.
(57:51):
So, my cardio isn't the best, butI am, I feel physically strong.
That's when I'm my best.
So that's something you are intentionallyin your strength training to get Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Not a lot.
Yeah.
Three times a week.
Nothing big and not, , halfan hour, but it gives me.
(58:18):
Love.
It's very important.
I mean, I feel the same.
When I started my business 10 yearsago, I needed, I need to get physically
fit for this, like an athlete tobe able to endure what's ahead.
Cause it's long hours and it's, yeah.
I love that you've shared that Maria.
There is one more.
Yeah, go.
(58:39):
, the other part is I was always spiritual.
I've always been spiritual.
But I've come closer to God andthere, when there are moments that
I have confusion or there isn't theclarity, I actually do speak to God.
(59:00):
It's not a prayer.
, just having my conversations andI can really say, I love God.
You can say, you love theuniverse, you can say whatever.
Personifying, God makes itfor me a stronger connection.
Mm.
Yeah.
Your faith and you haveto have blind faith.
(59:22):
Mm-hmm . Mm-hmm . any book ormovie you've recommended, one
movie that we should look out for?
Any book that's been transformative foryou on this journey to recommend to us.
Yes.
The law of attraction.
And it is really, , theenergy that you put out.
(59:44):
There are many autobiographiesthat I have read.
, even Andre Agassi, even,Michelle Obama, um, so many that.
And you have to imagineyourself in their league.
You have to imagine thechallenges that those people have.
(01:00:04):
And it gives you a perspective tothink, okay, I can do this little one.
I'm just going to put anotherspreadsheet out and it's not as bad
as what Michelle Obama has to face.
And, you know, But you need to findinspiration so you can be inspirational.
Oh, and on that note, you've inspiredmany by taking the time out today.
(01:00:27):
Maria, this is, I hope thisis the very beginning of your
own Maria Tsalkos biography.
Uh, I really appreciate, I'm very gratefulfor our connection and, uh, and I hope,
you know, I hope many of you are justas inspired as I am, magicalsunset.
com.
Uh, thank you.
(01:00:47):
Is there any partingwords before we close?
No, you've been wonderfuland you're my little angel.
Oh, bless you, Maria, Maria.
And you've got.
The most songs ever.
My sisters Maria,there's no Vespina songs.
I think there's one likeVespina, Vespinaki, like
it's Spanish, Greek, Italian.
(01:01:10):
Maria is the name, that, uh,that we are inspired by today.
Thank you.
All the best.
Here's to 2025 and beyond.
Uh, Maria, thank you.
Thank you.
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