Daphne, Senior Motion Designer – Getsafe People
What many people fear is Daphne’s biggest drive: Constant change! Now she’s told us how she went from Greek beaches all the way to the German startup environment
Hi Daphne! You have a long history of content and motion design – you’ve even taught at universities in Greece before. How did you end up at a German tech startup such as Getsafe?*
In 2017, my husband had an opportunity here in Germany with a company to be a UI/UX designer. I thought about it for 5 minutes and I was in. Leave all my family, my friends, my animals? Sure, why not, let’s do it (laughs). I’m definitely a person to take chances and to live in different ways. At first, I continued working as a freelancer for Greek clients because I wanted to learn German first. But then, I was approached by Getsafe on LinkedIn and that was that! I liked the opportunity to immerse myself in German culture more. And I really wanted to work at a modern company.
You joined Getsafe in July 2020. What were your highlights throughout these last few years?
It’s definitely a highlight that we have grown so much and it’s great to see so many people believe in Getsafe. You can see this with the funding, the growth in the UK market, the size of the teams like the customer service… That makes me really proud to be a part of it. For me personally, it was also a highlight that the Getsafe brand started to get motion through my work. For example, we launched new social media ads, gif animations on the website, and motion graphics in the app itself once I was working more with product designers and developers.
Do you think startup culture reflects your personality, and if so, in which ways?
If you’re standing on the beach when the wave comes, you’ll get knocked down. But if you’re in the water and you continue swimming, you won’t notice that there even was a wave because you’ve kept moving forward. I think the idea of startups and innovation goes along those same lines. I’m a high-energy person and I feel like I’m growing with Getsafe. The hierarchies are flat, and it’s more about the atmosphere and the connection, so I think that fits me really well.
You bring design into motion – but what are things that move you?
I can’t imagine staying still. I’m the type of person that can’t stick to just one thing. I need to have activities in my life! Nothing in life is static – the earth itself is moving constantly. So life itself is moving me. I love life. It’s all about the experiences.
Is there something “typically Greek” about you? At the same time, is there something you only do since you’ve been living in Germany?
I really brought the noise with me. Like in the shops, everybody’s quiet and I’m screaming to my husband what I’m going to buy (laughs). In Greece, we’re very loud and energetic people. Even neighbors complained about the noise, but in a nice and fun way. At the same time, I’m also more quiet since I’ve been living here. I have adapted to the culture and I love it, because it makes me more calm as a person. I enjoy my time more, in a way – I go into nature with my dog a lot more as there are great forests here. I like that the people give you this quietness, because I’ve never had that before.
What do you do on a bad day to boost your own morale?
I cuddle with my dog! And a bit of cold water to the face also helps me reset my brain. I also listen to music, it changes my whole vibe instantly. I love dancing, so every kind of music that you can dance to I enjoy, like Latin and pop, even belly dance – everything that has motion. So basically I try to move on to positive things as quickly as possible to change my energy.
You won several gold medals at the Northern Greek shooting championships. You worked with the Greek police. You’ve done music videos and TV ads and collaborated with basically every famous Greek artist. Which other highlights would you include if you were creating a trailer about your life?
I would definitely also include Yuri, a lion I took care of for a while. He came from a circus and there wasn’t enough money to send him back to Africa yet. Luckily, we had just bought land where we were going to build a vacation home, so Yuri came to live with us for six years before we could take him back. That was a crazy time. Something else I would include is that I actually survived breast cancer in 2014, after chemo and everything. I think it changed me in a positive way, because I realised what is truly important. Lastly, I would end the trailer on the most recent chapter of my life: Getting married to my husband here in Germany in a beautiful castle. That could be the new chapter for the next movie!
Which piece of advice would you give to someone who wants to work in the same field as you do now?
You have to love it. You have to commit to it, because softwares and technology are changing all the time, and every year you’re going to have to learn something new. And you have to keep your inner child alive – so you can always remember why you fell in love with this field in the first place.
Would you like to shape change at Getsafe with us? Then take a look at our open job positions:
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*In the meantime, Daphne has embarked on a new journey beyond the insurance industry. If you would like to get in touch with her, keep your eyes open on LinkedIn.
