God Bless America, the Land of Opportunity, where hard work and perseverance really do pay off in the pursuit of happiness, and in our case, the “Greek-American” Dream!
Did you know that out of all the ethnic groups in the United States, the Greek-Americans have proven to rise above the rest and become number two in business success? Why is that, do you think? Isn’t it about time we start uncovering these Hellenic gems in our society and let their shining glory lead us by example to follow, both locally and in the rest of the world – specifically and most importantly now, in Greece?
The immigrant experience itself, on a personal level, has made us swallow our pride and eat our fair share of ‘humble pie’ in our patience and perseverance over the course of many years while jumping over many hurdles… all the while staying true to ourselves by holding on tightly to the most valuable intangible possession we could ever have: our Word – not only to each other, but to ourselves, and to our identity!
Luckily, the tradition still holds as there are countless examples of Greek-American children who have followed in the footsteps of their courageous parents. Kelly Vlahakis-Hanks, the Vice President of Earth Friendly Products (www.ecos.com), a family owned and operated business since its inception in 1967 by her Greek immigrant father, Eftychios Van Vlahakis, is such a case. Ever since I met this young woman, I’ve been drawn by her genuine warmth and optimistic outlook on life. Even as a young girl, Kelly spent her summers working in her father’s business, doing whatever had to be done to make and sell household cleaning products. After spending years distinguishing herself in the communications field for several high profile companies, Kelly began working full time at Earth Friendly Products as the Director of Media Relations in 2003. Seven years later, she was named Vice President of the entire company. Her responsibilities involve all areas of the business, from sales and marketing to new product development and manufacturing. Kelly has always been in awe of her father, who started his business from scratch. She learned by observing the shining examples provided by both her parents. From their strength, wisdom and perseverance in the face of adversity, Kelly learned to believe in herself, trust in her judgment and never give up on her dream and the dream of her family.
Tell me about your father’s immigration experience and how he started the company.
When he came to this country in the 1950’s, my father had $22 in his pocket, didn’t know the language, initially lived in homeless shelters, but ended up going to Roosevelt University and studied Chemistry because of his fascination with all the Greek-root words! He worked as a chemist for other companies for many years… got laid off in ‘66, used his severance money and started off as a one man show mixing chemicals in the garage! Now we have over 300 employees and worldwide distribution… it’s been really exciting to watch it grow from a small operation in his garage.
The first facility was opened in IL and has since become Corporate Headquarters. In 1989, Venus Labs went Green with the help of my brother, John, an avid environmentalist, bringing something new to the table and steering the company to a more environmentally responsible direction. We have since opened four other locations in NJ, FL, CA, and most recently WA. in order to reduce our carbon footprint, by never having to ship across country, reducing costs, and passing that savings onto our customers. That approach has been responsible for making Earth Friendly Products the lowest priced green cleaning products on the market and I’m proud to say we are the number one selling green laundry product in the world.
When did you join the company and how did you prepare for it?
I took a UCLA honors program in college, in communication studies and history. I put that training to good use when I got my first job out of college as PR director for Bluepoint, a company based in Athens (the swimwear provider for the Athens Olympics in 2004), travelling back and forth between L.A. and Greece, handling their international media campaigns. I’ve also worked for the Brown & Dutch public relations agency in Malibu, as well as the Trump Organization handling publicity for the Miss Universe pageant. Finally, I became the Executive Director for the American Hellenic Council from 2001 to 2003 where I learned valuable experience in the political arena for topics pertaining both to Greece as well as the United States. It was important in the first five years out of college that I worked outside the family business to bring more to the table, while having already developed my own work ethic and understanding of how the outside business world works. I was able to hone in on my communication skills as a professional and use that to raise awareness to the environmental issue, while creating strong ties with politicians. Becoming green is a universal issue and it is important to be non-partisan to engage in both sides of the dialogue.
Since joining Earth Friendly Products, I’m proud to say that our company has quadrupled in size! We finally penetrated mainstream stores like Sam’s Club, Costco, Smart & Final, Ralph’s, Whole Foods, and Mother’s Market, to name a few… and as of this August 2010 Wal-mart as well! In the United States, our ECOS is the number one green laundry detergent. We also supply to Canada, from our West, Midwest and Eastern regions.
Canada?
ECOS has become the No. 1 selling laundry detergent in Canada, even outselling the top name brand detergent that contains toxic chemicals (according to the Neilson reports announced in mid June of this year)! Canadians can find our products at big names such as Canadian Tire, Costco Canada and Lawblaws…. In fact, Can Tire prides itself in being less than 10 minutes away from every household so we are really excited at how accessible our products have become!
Society is just more aware of greener cleaning… i.e. from washing clothes in toxic laundry detergents which have mercury, formaldehyde and other toxins that are absorbed quicker through skin than through your mouth. With dishes, for example you can even smell the residue of bleach and carcinogens in some of the brands that are known to be poisonous to our environment and are choking our lakes and streams. Indoor air pollution is as much as 70 times higher than outdoor air pollution because of toxic cleaning products. All of us can do our part to control that and make our homes safer for people and pets.
Has the Greek-American community embraced the concept of going green?
With all communities the awareness is growing. As people see more & more loved ones affected with illnesses, they are looking for ways in which to protect themselves, their family and their children. Family is number ONE in priority for Greeks, who happen to be very loyal as well. So our goal was to educate people about the critical importance of using greener cleaning products and to throw out old buying habits and misplaced loyalties to certain brand name products that have been harmful to us all for generations. In the Greek community, the interest has grown dramatically because they could see how it’s affecting their family’s health.
Naturally, we have a very special interest in the Greek-American community and we provide significant support through financial contributions and our work on behalf of various worthy organizations, including the American Hellenic Council, Los Angeles Greek Film Festival, National Hellenic Museum and the GABBY Awards, to name just a few.
Furthermore, we always try and work with other Greek-owned companies. Here in Southern California, for all of our organic catering (for company events) we use a company called “Green Event Studios” run by Maria Foscari. For all bags and totes, which are 100% hemp, our supplier is “I’m Eco Friendly” by Nicki Orlandou. The videographer who's filmed all of our television footage and archived it on the web for online streaming is Philip Georgious. And of course, the architectural firm that has spearheaded all of our environmentally green, sustainable facilities from the grounds up is “REV Design” co-wned by Evie Giovanopoulou who served as the lead architect on all of our projects. So there are other Greeks working alongside in our industry… It’s an exciting time to be Greek & Green!
Have you considered expanding to Greece?
Our products are distributed in Europe as well as throughout North America and Asia. We have a bottling operation in the UK and Earth Friendly Products are distributed throughout Europe. We are planning to expand our operations in Europe in the very near future and are actively looking at manufacturing locations there. We know that to be competitive and sustainable in Europe we must manufacture our products on the continent. Nothing would give us greater satisfaction than to provide green jobs for a cleaner environment and place our next manufacturing facility in our beloved Greece. My father is the only one to come to this country from Chania. It’s his deepest desire to create jobs on the island of Crete. We are weighing our options and given the right incentives, we would be delighted to invest in a facility in Greece.
Speaking of Greece, solar energy comes to mind. Are you using alternative energy sources at the Earth Friendly Products facilities?
We are helping to pioneer alternative energy sources and Earth Friendly Products now operates the largest solar powered commercial facility in Illinois. Today, our company leads the green cleaning products field in the use of solar energy to help power all five of our facilities around the country. Currently, 60% to 70% of the energy used by our manufacturing facilities comes from solar power. We plan to increase that to 100% in the future. That’s also a great business incentive because clean alternative energy provides us with a great return on our investment. At the same time, this approach also mirrors our strong belief in helping to protect people and the environment in every way we can.
Who has been the main inspiration in your life?
That’s easy: my parents. My father is a very brave man. He came to America with nothing, worked incredibly hard and built a magnificent company… one that we are all proud to be with. It represents the fulfillment of my father’s dream, the Greek-American Dream. He drove himself very hard and served as the perfect example of the business work ethic to everyone around him, especially me. I love and respect my father. I am eternally grateful to him and it is an honor for me to be part of this family. You see, I was the new addition to the family. My African American mother has always been just as big an influence in my life as my father. She always praised him for being such a great father and wonderful role model that he is. At the same time, my mother was equally inspirational. Her eternal optimism, strength of character and belief in herself provided a strong foundation for me growing up. I found that I could rely on both cultural heritages to propel me towards success in life.
My mother was the true embodiment of unconditional love and support, with 150% belief in me… that I can do and be anything that I wanted in life. When you give that to children it lifts them and carries them through life. She has lived a very difficult life, but she had an indomitable spirit and a belief that nothing was impossible. She was diagnosed with breast cancer when I was 14 and my younger sister was only 2 at the time. Neither that nor chemotherapy phased her, as determined as she was to raise us both, taking care of our everyday needs, while raising us through school. She eventually beat it by the time I graduated High School …but after proudly attending my little sister graduation, in June of 2007, she started complaining of fatigue for the first time ever in her life. Being the strong woman that I’ve always known her to be, I knew something was wrong. Medical tests showed her cancer spread to the liver, and within 3 weeks of chemotherapy, she had passed away at the age of 58. I was 30 at the time and my sister was 18.
I’m thankful that I’ve had my mother by my side through the major milestones in my life. She was able to enjoy my graduation, stand by me at my wedding and even hold my hand in the delivery room at the birth of my daughter, Alexia-Eftychia (named in my father’s honor). As a mother myself, being touched with cancer in the family at such an early stage in my life, I am compelled to be proactive in doing all I can to promote and protect the health and well-being of others. This is why I believe so strongly in Earth Friendly Products and in our future!
