Delphi Bank Article; Working Women
The 5th Women’s Business Luncheon of Delphi Bank was a cosier-than-normal affair due to the limitations caused by COVID-19.
Held on the eve of celebrations for Greece’s War of Independence, the event aptly cast the focus on an ongoing struggle – women’s struggle for independence.
Professor Catherine Itsiopoulos, RMIT University’s Executive Dean of Health and Biomedical Sciences, and Jill Taylor Nikitakis, the President and Chair of the Board of Directors of Fronditha Care spoke about their journey while breaking bread with other women at the Botanical Hotel, South Yarra. And though the spotlight was on the success stories of Professor Itsiopoulos and Ms Taylor Nikitakis, the focus was on a universal daily battle which most women can relate to.
Between sips of wine, one thing became clear, whether in science or finance, and regardless of socioeconomic status and academic achievements, and “serendipity” aside – the “migrant ethic” is an overriding force when Australian daughters of Greek immigrants are concerned.
Professor Itsiopoulos grew up with the idea that she wanted to do something “meaningful”, and while that was very much part of her Greek heritage, it was “serendipity” and the meeting of a lifelong professor that continues to inspire her which resulted in her studies on the Mediterranean diet and whether it could prevent and treat a range of diseases, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, fatty liver disease, childhood asthma, mood disorders and depression and dementia. She has authored more than 100 scientific publications, but presented her first paper in Crete, where she was known as “Afstraleza”.
The game changer in her life was meeting the Ikarians, islanders known for their high life expectancy. “When I met the Ikarians it was amazing,” she said. Asking them about the importance of longevity, they told her about the importance of diet, relations, intimate relations. “They were proud and healthy, but ultimately they attributed their long life to having ‘purpose’. When you are useful in society, it keeps you young. I feel deep down that I have to leave something. It is ‘the legacy’,” Professor Itsiopoulos said.
Ms Nikitakis Taylor remembers a lot of purpose in her migrant upbringing “It was all about education. Our parents came here to provide a better life for us and all we had to do was get the degree on the wall and marry a doctor,” she joked. “I fell into accounting. These days, raising my own children, you no longer need to marry the doctor – it’s more about the app inventor these days. But, no, really it’s about you. It’s about being strong and being empowered and being yourself and being able to fulfil your own passions and desires. And that’s what is going to get you through. I think it is also important for them to see their mother, see their father and what is going on, what we are involved in. We have purpose, and that has helped them. A lot of that is part of our culture. The Greek culture. The culture we grew up with. Our culture of care.”
When a girl, Jill Nikitakis would say her surname fast so that it would sound like Smith, but is glad to see her daughters embracing their Greekness more than she ever could.
“Unlike me, where I was embarrassed,” she said. “The girls aren’t fully Greek, and still really feel their culture.”
“Let’s face it, the Greeks that came to Australia in the 50s and 60s basically built this country, particularly Sydney and Melbourne. They worked tremendously hard, doing lots of the jobs and no one else was prepared to do but that was necessary,” she sad. “They saved to provide for the following generations. It is incumbent upon us to provide them the best possible care and make life as happy as can be in their later years in life.”
Asked about whether they experienced gender disparity, Ms Taylor-Nikitakis, who served as chief financial officer of the Silver Top Taxi Service, asked, “In the taxi business? Is that a trick question?” She remembers walking into board rooms dominated by men where it was “that woman’s fault”.
Ms Itsiopoulos spoke of the challenges of having babies, studying, working and juggling so much. “It was really challenging, but I had great mentorship and great support at home, and that’s what made it happen. But I had to find my belly to do this. I had a vision, I wanted to be a professor of dietetics,” she said.
“I had a wonderfully supportive husband. He has been my driving force. Pushed, pushed, pushed. When I’ve said, ‘I can’t do this’, he has said, ‘Yes, you can.'”
She remembers dropping off her six-week old firstborn to her father who “literally raised her in his hands”.
“Can you imagine the guilt?”
Heads nodded. But as guilty moments and pleasures, even labor stories, were shared, the guilt disappeared as quickly as the pavlova dessert. Or as Ms Nikitakis Taylor’s favourite Helen Reddy song says: “I am woman, hear me roar, In numbers too big to ignore…”