Kyriakos Baxevanis: how a positive mindset can set you free from the 9 to 5

He is one of Brighton’s most successful – and liked – businessmen. Here, Kyriakos shares a journey shaped by both good and bad experiences combined with a burning ambition not to be reliant on others for financial security.

Although Kyriakos Baxevanis is best-known for his businesses in Brighton, his first experience of the UK was somewhere else and five years before he eventually settled in Sussex.

That was at university in London, where he gained a degree in Economics. While a short-lived love interest lured him back to Greece, it would only be a matter of a few years before an ambitious 20-something set his sights on a future in Brighton.

At 26, Kyriakos felt everything in his life was failing. He had lost a close friend, his home and a job – all within a short space of time. His studies had stalled too and he felt insecure. Even now, he recalls ‘being in a dark place’.

But an earlier, brief experience of life in Canada had instilled in him the one thing he needed to change his fortunes – resilience.

“I had a positive experience of education in Canada,” he recalls. “There were some painful times; I did suffer from racism, but I wouldn’t change my time there for the world. 

“I see the positives in good and bad experiences, and both have shaped me.”

Kyriakos was approaching adolescence when his father took him to live in Canada. It was an opportunity he embraced, learning English and excelling in his studies within a year.

He may still be in Canada now had his father not changed his job and come to the attention of immigration officials. The family was sent back to Greece. 

Canada’s loss, however, would become the UK’s gain.

At 27, Kyriakos arrived in Brighton.

“In the beginning, I was all over the place,” he remembers. “I had various jobs and then did my Masters in Business Administration (international). After that, I got a job with American Express and was with them for six-and-a-half years.

“The turning point was starting the first business, Little Jasmine Therapies and Spa. It was co-founded with my wife, May Chunladecha, and named in recognition of her grandmother who used to call her ‘Little Jasmine’ when she was very young.”

The business began life at the back of the Baxevanis family’s living room, but Kyriakos had the ambition and mindset to nurture it into something much bigger.

“I viewed it as a necessity,” he says. “I wanted to get out of the 9 to 5 trap. I was dependent on it at the time – and, of course, someone else. Big companies throw out redundancies every other year. This was a way to make sure I had a bit of financial independence. Of course, it led to wonderous things further down the line.”

The business initially offered massage therapies and limited beauty treatments. 

But getting business premises and then subsequently moving to New Road changed everything.

“We did so well, I was able to quit my job at American Express. It took five years. Since then, we have continued to grow the business.”

He is modest, because he doesn’t mention that Little Jasmine Therapies and Spa is actually a multiple award-winning business and a destination treatment centre. It’s sophisticated, inviting and caters for a wide range of clientele – from mums-to-be, groups for pamper parties and people seeking pure relaxation to those who want to benefit from the latest, advanced anti-ageing beauty treatments. 

As well as Little Jasmine Therapies and Spa there is something else – Simply Urban Nail and Beauty. The business now has two premises in Brighton, in Gardner Street as well as in New Road, and one in George Street, Hove.

While Kyriakos was pleased with the spa’s growth, he wasn’t quite finished with starting new enterprises.

“I was ambitious,” he says. “I decided to do something completely different. My father was a chef and it occurred to me that modern, progressive and sexy Greek food was under-represented in Brighton. In 2019, I invested in a new business – Nostos, which is in Holland Road, Hove.”

The business was a joint venture with junior partner and Head Chef, not to mention Kyriakos’ best friend, Alexandros Tzimos.

The restaurant was still getting established when six months later the Covid-19 pandemic hit.

“It impacted everything – the business and myself,” he admits. “The first few weeks, I was thinking ‘Oh my God, what are we going to do?’ Eventually, we saw a light at the end of the tunnel. It goes back to learning – how fast you learn and how fast you adapt and evolve. All the way down from Darwin and emotional evolution, it’s how you react.

“We started doing breakfasts and deliveries. In fact, we never closed the business at all during the pandemic. It kept us going. There was money coming in and we were able to build our relationship with the local community.

“It wasn’t business as usual, it was just some sort of business. We have now had our best year at Nostos and I put that down to making new customers and friends during that period.”

His ‘modern Greek gastronomy’ is now described as ‘the best Greek restaurant in Brighton and Hove’. It is revered for its attention to quality – something it can now take to events with a mobile catering service. 

Reflecting on his business success, Kyriakos says being able to visualise a goal is important. He has this advice for anyone just starting out: “If you can visualise an end goal, it will help you achieve it. I came to this country to be successful and, while goals can change, having a good mindset can help you achieve. However, the effort and approach must be consistent.

“You must also be resilient. It’s a difficult world. Brutal. Find a way to build yourself up and have good people around you.”

Kyriakos has some more advice: “Take risks. Be open to new things, because we only live once. There is an old Greek saying: Luck favours the bold – and people who take risks.”

There is one other thing that is a vital ingredient to success, according to Kyriakos, and it’s something not many people in business talk about – kindness.

“My goal is to become a kinder person, to be of assistance to the community and the people around me through the businesses,” he says.

“I am in a position now to give back and I love that. The community is an ecosystem and that is something I want to support.”

Going back to the moment when everything clicked, Kyriakos recalls lying in bed at night awake.

“I used to share a bedroom with my brother and I remember the moment when it clicked inside my head. It came to me so clear, so crisp. That was the moment I decided to move away.

“I didn’t know then that I would come to Brighton, go to university and get a job, but I knew I was going to leave.

“It was pure instinct and a bit of logic to come back to England.

“I think you have got to trust yourself to move forward. That trust is so powerful.”

While the first couple of months were ‘crazy’, knocking on doors in the rain trying to sell double glazing and working on a chicken counter, not to mention numerous other jobs, he got the nudge he needed to move forward from the friend who was putting him up.

At the time he was sleeping on the floor and was starting to worry he may have worn out his welcome. “After about four weeks, he started giving me clues,” he laughs. “He was saying things like ‘If this doesn’t work out, what are your next steps?’ The first few months were very hard.

“But putting a physical distance between my old life and my new life got my mind into a healthy place. All those experiences from Canada, from Greece, they were driving me. They helped me define my next steps and where they took me.”

Referring to his work-life balance today, he says: “I don’t see it as work. I am immensely enjoying what I am doing. There are challenges, don’t get me wrong. Overall, any day of the week, if you ask me if I’m enjoying it I am going to say I love it. 

“I try to integrate my family and my work and I do spend time with my son. I am lucky because my work is flexible – a lot of it is over the phone. I’ve got a dream team in place, so the right people. I am trying to develop my management team so I can deal with more of the strategic side of things. At the end of the day, I love my family and I am a family man.”

Kyriakos practises meditation and says it helps him a lot. “It allows me to switch on and off; to deal with a problem and switch off before dealing with another.”  It is a way for him to compartmentalise things. 

He is an intelligent, enterprising and, ultimately, kind entrepreneur who has laser sharp focus and a real love for Brighton. Sussex is lucky to have him.

You can learn more about Kyriakos Baxevanis in a County Business TALKS podcast, hosted by Sam Thomas at https://youtu.be/tyY9VvwqXh0

Little Jasmine Therapies and Spa – https://www.little-jasmine.com/brighton-and-hove-spa-ritual-packages/

Simply Urban – https://www.little-jasmine.com/simply-urban/

Nostos, Hove – https://www.nostos-hove.co.uk/our-story/