Meet Betsy Stergiou & Anastasia Papasideris | Founders of Ammos and Sea

We had the good fortune of connecting with Betsy Stergiou & Anastasia Papasideris and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Betsy Stergiou & Anastasia Papasideris, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
Greece is a beautiful country filled with history, culture, and natural, rustic splendor. Although Greece has always been a major travel destination and best known for its scenery and history, there is so much more to the country. Walking through downtown Athens or Thessaloniki, hiking the trails of Arcadia, exploring the cobble stoned streets of the islands, you can always find something new and interesting that you’ve never seen before, a surprise around every corner of the country. This inspired us to promote and celebrate all the specialties born in Greece, with the hope to evoke the same enthusiasm and excitement we feel from this rich, ancient country. Although we were born and raised in the US, we have an innate love for the country of our ancestors. With Ammos and Sea, we found the perfect outlet to display and share with the world this love of Greece by finding and offering an array of products we love. We started with that simple idea: Let’s share Greece with the world, most specifically our hometown of Houston! We have so much joy promoting talented Greek artists and designers who create a wide selection of jewelry, accessories, and home decor, utilizing various local textiles such as luxurious silk and cotton. Since our founding four years ago, our concept has expanded to include products from local Greek-American artists, as well as our own brand of accessories and clothing!

What should our readers know about your business?
We are Betsy and Anastasia, two native Houstonians who share a love of our Greek culture and heritage. After being friends for too many years to count, we decided to open our online boutique, Ammos and Sea, to bring all the things we love about Greece and the Mediterranean to our hometown of Houston and the rest of the USA. We have learned throughout these four years in business that when things are done with love and dedication, success ensues. Our business is founded on our passion for promoting our designers and products, products that are reminiscent of our beloved childhood summers and are so uniquely different in today’s market. Having this business we adore has given us inspiration and motivation to expand and consistently offer something new, and is immensely rewarding for us.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
We take pride in the fact that we hail from the ultimate “foodie” city! Houston has such a huge selection of cuisines for whatever your taste buds crave! None of our out of town friends would leave a week long visit with us without having tried an amazing grilled pork banh mi at Roostar, a tapioca tea from Chinatown, and chowing down on delicious Tex-Mex at El Tiempo. Exploring the ever-changing Heights neighborhood and enjoying a picnic in Memorial Park with our skyline in view are not to be missed, as well as checking out our impressive Museum district for always remarkable exhibitions.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
We have been so blessed to have the support of not only our dearest friends and family, but from our customers as well! The bulk of our clientele are repeat customers who have been with us from the start, and for that we are immensely grateful. We have had the honor and pleasure of providing guest gifts at events such as weddings, baby & wedding showers to corporate events. This means so much for us as a small business – it is really quite humbling!

Website: www.ammosandsea.com

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