Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou ( born 14 February 1967) is a Greek-Cypriot entrepreneur. Born into a wealthy ship-owning family, he is best known
for founding the low-cost airline easyJet and the Stelmar shipping line with start-up funds provided by his father, Loucas. easyJet’s foundation in 1995 marked the beginning of a series of ventures marketed under the “easy” brand, managed by easyGroup and chaired by Haji-Ioannou.
for founding the low-cost airline easyJet and the Stelmar shipping line with start-up funds provided by his father, Loucas. easyJet’s foundation in 1995 marked the beginning of a series of ventures marketed under the “easy” brand, managed by easyGroup and chaired by Haji-Ioannou.“As a self-employed person, the idea of a break is completely foreign to me. If I completely switch off for any period of time, I know I’m going to pay for it several times over. For me, it’s a lot better and easier to stay in touch and know what’s going on seven days a week than to switch off.”
Stelios Haji-Ioannou appears to be a workaholic. He does seem to believe in breaks or days off.
As an entrepreneur, I understand this mindset. And I understand what it means to ‘stay in touch and know what’s going on’ with our businesses.
On the other hand, I also know the toll it can take to never take time off or even take a break. Now, maybe when I was younger, I could keep up with this pace.
Nowadays, I am committed to time off and away from my business. I need time to recharge my inner batteries! Without that time off, I would suffer burnout!
How about you? Do you agree or disagree with Stelios Haji-Ioannou’s perspective on self-employment?
I would like to share one final quote from Stelios Haji-Ioannou — which may explain how he says so dedicated to his work: