Nikolas Onoufriadis is a self-driven professional who understands the delicate balance between work and self-care. Nikolas was born and raised in Greece but has lived in the US for over 20 years. An avid traveler, Nikolas has been in more than 20 countries for business and personal reasons. He loves interacting with people, being in social environments, helping others, and experiencing new things. Culturally sensitive, he considers himself a modern-day explorer of life and tries to continuously learn from mistakes and life lessons.
Earlier Life
Nikolas was born in the city of Kavala, one of the most picturesque cities in the country of Greece. Albeit a very good student with many friends and family around him, from a young age Nikolas was always considered a “restless spirit”, constantly looking to make a difference. That restless spirit led Nikolas Onoufriadis to leave his family and friends behind and move from Greece to the United States alone at the age of 16, where he landed in Katy, TX living with host families. As a high school senior, Nikolas not only had to take additional junior classes, but also needed to work on his English language skills, and learn how to apply to colleges. Despite the many hardships, Nikolas relentlessly strived to succeed from early on, and has managed to create a life in the United States in his favorite city of Boston.
Education
Nikolas Onoufriadis graduated from the University of Massachusetts with a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science and a specialization in International Relations. At the same time, Nikolas attended Harvard University earning a second Bachelor’s in Psychology. Piqued by his interest in politics and people’s communication practices, Nikolas joined the Kerry/Edwards Presidential Campaign where he learned how to effectively communicate messages, develop strategies, and organize various groups of people.
Seeking to further refine his communication skills and diplomatic abilities, Nikolas attended Suffolk University, where he earned a Master’s degree in Political Science/ International Relations and served as the school’s Ambassador to Greece and Cyprus. Nikolas then went on to get his second Master’s degree at the Sawyer Business School with a focus on Strategic Communications and Public Management. At the same time, Nikolas joined the Executive Education program at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. While there, his role as Program Coordinator and working next to the Director for the Middle East Initiative (MEI) really exposed Nikolas to two of his main interests: combining the art of communicating with real-life sociopolitical issues across the world. As a result of his commitment, Nikolas proudly received the Certificate of Acknowledgment and Appreciation for his Hard Work and Contribution from the Kennedy School.
Career
For the next chapter in his life, Nikolas worked as a Mental Health Counselor and Consultant at the Institute for Mental Health in Athens, Greece. In that capacity, Nikolas served both as a therapist, as well as an advisor to the Institute. He also appeared on national television and radio programs to address psychological and social issues, and co-authored various international publications disseminated abroad. To this day, that experience has remained extremely significant for Nikolas, as it exposed him to critical and complicated matters related to people’s relationships, communication practices, and social aspects. As a matter of fact, albeit not in a therapeutic capacity, Nikolas has never stopped working on those principles throughout his professional career. On the contrary, he has cultivated his ability to connect, communicate, and build relationships, and has been an advisor to a great number of people. Nikolas has long argued that, in addition to his work at Harvard, those experiences laid the foundation for his next decisions in life.
Having acquired the tools needed for his next chapter, Nikolas decided to apply his knowledge and expertise in the international business arena, making it the turning point in his life that built his career to date. Nikolas became one of the youngest international managers at the renowned INTRACOM Group of companies, a multinational corporation dealing with projects in the public sector, including lotteries, software and IT solutions, construction, and energy. Looking to aggressively expand into different countries, Nikolas worked with companies INTRALOT, INTRASOFT (since acquired by Netcompany), and INTRAKAT in senior management positions and offered consulting services on operations, strategy, and government relations. Specifically for INTRASOFT, Nikolas was entrusted to create, launch, and run INTRASOFT USA, the American subsidiary company for all North American operations to this day.
More importantly, Nikolas founded his very own consulting firm, Power2U Consulting, specializing in management and business consulting, as well as government relations. Nikolas founded Power2U in 2015, when he decided to combine his cumulative experience in leadership, strategy, management, communication practices, and business growth and apply it to his company. His firm has since tackled complex problems throughout the United States and abroad, and has acted as a bridge for business and government relations. In that capacity, Nikolas has met with Heads of State, political dignitaries, and prominent businessmen, and has acquired a tremendous wealth of experience.
Personal Development
One of the many ways Nikolas stands out is his passion for relationship-building, problem-solving, and “putting the pieces together”. His experience as a mental health counselor and executive strategist has solidified his appreciation for cultivating relationships and has given Nikolas a unique stance on helping people overcome issues, be successful, advocate for themselves, see beyond the surface, and make the right decisions. Nikolas has always put his faith in people and is very passionate about lessons learned, which he applies to his own life and business. Even though he has faced incredible challenges, he has learned to adapt and not allow setbacks keep him from exploring unfamiliar territories.
Nikolas is very proud of the challenges he had to overcome to get to where he is today, starting from his earlier life in Greece, to leaving his home country alone at the age of 16 to seek a new life for himself despite extreme difficulties, to mistakes made along the way and learning from them, to fighting injustices, and more. He now lives in Boston and remains active in charity, philanthropy, and academic mentorship programs. Nikolas is very passionate about helping people and advising students of all ages by sharing his own life experiences in hopes to inspire them. He also continually uses both his expertise and lessons-learned to help people’s relationships and communication practices.
Last but not least, Nikolas has been a passionate watch enthusiast and collector since his teen years. For over 23 years, he has been reading and educating himself on all things horology, fascinated by the complexity of mechanical movements and complications, which he calls “small miracles”. Nikolas really enjoys socializing and exchanging stories about life, relationships, memories, watches, traveling, and much more with others. He loves listening to other people’s experiences and reflect on them. In his free time, he loves to walk, especially around the city of Boston, having a great dinner, tasting a lot of different wines, and smoking the occasional fine cigar.
To read more about Nikolas Onoufriadis’ professional profile, visit his other website: nikolasonoufriadis.com.