B&T has partnered with Smelly Lunch Stories to amplify stories of culturally diverse talent who have risen to the top. Even though a third of those starting out in the industry are from ethnic minority backgrounds, only 12 per cent rise to the C-Suite, and we hope these stories inspire the next generation.
In this column, Urban List’s head of sales Spyros Asteriou shares his Smelly Lunch Story.
1. Tell us about yourself in one sentence.
Greek by personality and nationality.
2. What’s the “smelliest” lunch dish you’ll proudly defend forever?
Hmm probably youvarlakia this is on my “last meal” list. Greek meatball soup, with rice, tons of herbs and a creamy lemon sauce (avgolemono) – see below.
It’s a dish I only have a few times a year so it continues to hold my earliest memories of it.
We’d arrive in Greece as kids (my brother and sister) to visit my family, of course we’d get to request a dish. In the boiling heat of a Greek summer, this was always first on the list. Pouring sweat into our bowls, we’d slurp every last bit of it.
It’s an example of how food really is ‘the great communicator’ and how someone’s hard work, even when they ‘ve never met you can transport you to a time and place. Taking me back to my yiayias dining room.
3. What did your parents actually want you to do when you were growing up…and do they understand what you do now?
As long as I went to university they were pretty much ok with it all. I tried to leave high school at one stage for an apprentice chef gig, that didn’t go down well.
Funnily enough though, my mum always thought I’d end up in advertising – more on the creative side instead of media sales… but to be honest does anyone outside of advertising and media know the difference anyway?
4. Please tell us your Smelly Lunch story.
Growing up as an immigrant to this country, I’ve had my share of feeling out of place. ‘Othered’ in a lot of spaces that felt reserved for ‘Australians’.
And whilst it’s often been hard to think of myself as Australian, the media industry has become a place of belonging.
My story isn’t that special, and I hope it’s not that unique either. Because the industry has been a home to me, it’s offered me a place and people that I’ve connected with.
It’s within this industry that I’ve befriended misfits (not to be confused with publisher The Misfits), found my life partner and some fellow wogs along the way.
Growing up on the Central Coast and then studying in Newcastle, I always thought my super power was my ability to adapt, to assimilate, but through my years in media I’ve found that my deepest connections are shaped when I lean into my identity.
Fast forward 10 years or so to my big “opa day” celebrations; a day I put on for one of my top-clients (and now best friends) where we celebrated our year long media partnership and fast growing friendship with a huge souvla (he’s one of those fellow wogs I mentioned), cooked by his dad and at my then workplace’s balcony.
We leaned in, instead of a typical media lunch, we went full Greek (even if it was somewhat naff), we cooked an entire lamb, danced and, yes, even smashed plates. Not sure I’ve got this right for a ‘smelly lunch story’, but if there’s a moral to it – lean in.
5. Was there ever a moment when you felt different or like an outsider because of your cultural or ethnic background? How did that make you feel?
It doesn’t happen that often anymore, but when it does, I’m grateful in a way.
We live in such a bubble and sometimes our media echo chambers can have incredible acoustics.
It can be a terrible feeling; like waking from a bad dream, it lingers for longer than you think, like a bad smell. Maybe that’s a good segue for navigating the stink.
The whole shtick here? When it does happen, when you get the drive by comments or some off hand remark, it reminds me that not everyone thinks like I do, and not everyone has the same lived experience.
Some people need to be taken on a different journey to help them understand the nuances of our world today.
6. If you were stuck on a desert island, what one piece of media (book, podcast, film, album) would you take with you?
Going to go for a subtle plug here. Urban List to read about all of our creators’ travel stories and plan my trips around the world.
7. Who opened a door for you, and who have you opened one for since?
Oh so many people have opened doors for me; Steph Hughes along with Sam Dixon at JCDecaux, who both mentored me early on and showed me that media is a mix of professionalism, relationships and showing up.
Rachel Tikey who gave me my leap into the publishing world and taught me that the hardest days deserve the biggest lols and most recently Jacqui La’Brooy who proves time again that trust builds teams.
I’d like to think I’ve opened a few doors along the way, and I always like to keep them open for good people within our industry. Giving people opportunities and taking punts on them always proves to be the most rewarding.
8. How does your cultural background influence the way you approach your role?
We spend a lot of time thinking about audiences and how our content will be received.
Lived experiences often give us a short cut to that kind of thinking.
So the more you can do, the more angles you can see something from, the better you can shape a campaign or a piece of content to your audience.
9. What advice would you give to someone starting out who feels like they don’t fit in?
They say it’s a small industry, but it’s got a lot of people in it. Find yours.
Work at a place that helps tell your story and with people you care about and that care about you too.
You’ll grow up in the industry with each other and you’re bound to help one another other along the way.
10. What do you wish more people understood about cultural diversity and why do you believe it’s important in leadership teams?
I mean I could go into a spiel about innovation, problem solving , productivity and all kinds of measurable practical things.
At the end of the day though, we are in a people business, whichever way you look at it and as a country with so many different backgrounds, stories and unique perspectives, we have to understand them.
If we don’t have people at the top thinking about these things and having been through some of them ourselves then there’s no way for us to see them and address them.
There’s certain things where you have to experience them to truly understand how they affect people; diversity, equity and inclusion takes lived experience to understand and support.
11. What is one thing you think our industry can do to drive greater representation in leadership teams?
DE&I has been put on the back burner, and for a lot of companies it’s been completely taken off. Leaders set the tone, steer the course and help spotlight values that everyone follows suit on.
In an increasingly complex and divisive world that caters to our most individualistic tendencies, leaders’ roles are more important than ever.
We need to have representation as part of our DNA, not just a tick box exercise.
It’s one of the many reasons I’m proud to be a part of Urban List; we have in-built dedicated share of voice to minority groups as part of our editorial strategy.
When content is being scraped and jigsawed together by AI, we need to ensure representation goes so much deeper. It needs to show up at every level, from our imagery, to the brands we support and even the way we help people navigate their planning decisions.
We shape the world around us, the companies we work in reflect the people within and ultimately push our governments to mirror those values. We need to lead with a values first approach, think long term and embed representation into the core of our businesses.
Check out recent Smelly Lunch Stories: Julie Atwood, Roma Singhal, Pawenah Kaniah, Brendan Willenberg, Berlian Adyuda, Andie Potter, Marcelle Hoyek
If you have a Smelly Lunch Story you would like to share, please email: [email protected]
