Image: Stavroula Drakos, front and centre, with the Patties Food Group team.
Coming from a tight-knit family, Stavroula Drakos, Head of Petrol and Convenience at Patties Food Group, brings that same comradery everywhere she goes. This is her story…
I was born and raised in Melbourne, and I’ve always lived here. I grew up as the youngest of three children, with an older brother who is eight years my senior and an older sister, four years ahead of me. Yes, I was what you might call an accident!
My family was always tight-knit, and growing up was filled with love and plenty of laughter. We were supporting each other and other families, preparing and sharing food together, or gathering for massive family events. These events were full of food, dancing, and joy, always just loads of fun.
As for school, I absolutely loved it and everything to do with it – learning and just being with my friends. Saturday Greek School, not so much though. Outside school, I watched lots of TV and read books all night. My dad worked night shifts, so I would make sure I turned off the light before 12:13am so he wouldn’t yell at me for still being awake. When it came to sports, much like I am today, I’m an avid watcher (go the baggers) but not so much an avid participant.
My mum worked from home as a clothes machinist, and as kids, my siblings and I would help her with her work. We’d fold the fabric pieces she was sewing and, once she finished, we’d turn them, fold them into bundles, and get them ready for collection.
When I was 14 years and 9 months old, I started working at Target Waverley Gardens in the Menswear, Footwear, and Seasonal departments. It was my first taste of the retail world. I’ll tell you this much—I’m not a fan of Christmas carols starting in September!
I’ve been fortunate enough to travel overseas for both pleasure and work. The travel bug was sparked by a family trip to Greece in 1986 that lasted three months. Since then, I’ve had the chance to travel to many places. Greece, due to my heritage, is where I’ve visited the most, but I’ve also been to Italy, England, France, Spain, Morocco, the Netherlands, and Belgium, to name a few. I’ve been fortunate enough to visit New Zealand, China, South Africa, Thailand, and really enjoyed travelling to America and Canada as well.
Next up on my travel itinerary are Sri Lanka and the Maldives in early 2025, and who knows where after that!
Currently, I’m the Head of Petrol and Convenience at Patties Food Group. My career has taken me down an interesting path, starting as a Quality Control Officer at Coles while finishing my science degree. From there, I moved into Product Development and Category Management roles, then onto BP Australia as a Business Manager for Food Service. After that, I shifted to the supplier side as a Coles Supermarket National Account Manager, working with Lynch Group and Kailis Bros, including a short stint with Foodbank Australia between those roles.
For anyone in retail or on the supplier side, my advice is simple: work together. The best successes I’ve had have come from collaboration, when both sides shared the challenge ahead, analysed, collaborated and built a plan for both parties to execute. Constant challenging and curve-ball ideas will always help find a pathway. I’m a big fan of talking through scenarios and ideas and utilising all the information and experience you can for every decision, whilst never losing focus of the consumer.
Ultimately, the best career highlights for me are the ones where there has been a sense of achievement and reward for the people I work with, whether it be internal or external. Seeing people in my team achieve recognition for their work with their customers has been an absolute highlight for me.
Outside of work, life is not all that different from my childhood. I still spend a lot of time with family, read books, television, and sports watching. I love attending concerts, small gigs, exhibitions, wineries, and theatre shows, and I make time for walking, swimming, and just chilling out.
In five years, I’d love to be beachside with a good book and a nice glass of wine – life’s simple pleasures.
This article originally appeared in the October/November issue of Convenience and Impulse Retailing magazine.
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