Post author Nicole Karadimitriou with members of the Kenya Cultural Immersion Trip, where she served as Student Director during the program’s 2025 visit.
I’ve always been taught to say yes to opportunities. Perhaps it came from my Greek immigrant parents, who understood that courage and taking chances were essential to building a life in a new country. Or maybe it was from watching too much ‘Say Yes to the Dress’ as a kid. Either way, when I said yes to Syracuse University and the Whitman School of Management in 2022, that mindset became the framework for my college experience.
It started in 2023, when I was offered a role on the 2024 Kenya Cultural Immersion Trip as the Retail Industry, Supply Chain, and International Business Coordinator. At 19, I was still learning how to carry myself in a professional world. I was excited by the role and driven by my love of travel, yet a pit in my stomach began to grow. I would be cold-calling executives across Nairobi, building relationships from scratch, and ultimately leading on-site visits and Q&A sessions with entrepreneurs in Kenya. The truth is, I had never spoken to a CEO before, let alone interviewed one or built a lasting professional relationship.
I said “yes” anyway.
SAYING ‘YES’ BEFORE YOU’RE READY
Nicole Karadimitriou on her first day at a merchandising internship, one of several professional roles she took on by saying yes to opportunities outside her comfort zone.
The preparation was intense. I spent weeks researching retailers, reaching out to potential partners, and building rapport with them before our visit. When we finally landed in Nairobi, the nerves kicked in. But conversation by conversation, my confidence began to build. I started asking better questions, thinking faster on my feet, and even began connecting with people who had decades more experience than I. By the end of the trip, I wasn’t the same uneasy 19-year-old who’d said yes months earlier.
So when I was invited back as Student Director for the 2025 trip, I said “yes” even more enthusiastically. Leading the entire program was a different challenge altogether.
During fall 2024, I was studying abroad in Italy, which meant recruiting and interviewing the entire Kenya team across a seven-hour time difference. Many nights, I found myself sitting in a late-night café in Florence at 10 p.m., hopping on Zoom calls with prospective students back in Syracuse, NY. I was planning an international trip while navigating my own international experience.
I had spent over 140 hours preparing and designing the 10-day itinerary and getting to know the team I had committed to leading, entirely virtually. It was demanding, and it became one of the most valuable lessons I learned about time management and balance. I proved to myself that I could work hard while still fully experiencing where I was.
WHEN MOMENTUM REPLACES FEAR
Somewhere along this journey, exhaustion gave way to momentum. When I got back to Syracuse in spring 2025, the momentum didn’t stop. I said “yes” to becoming a TA for LPP 255, Introduction to the Legal System. Then I went back to Kenya in May, this time as the leader I had prepared to be. Summer brought a rotational merchandising internship at Talbots. By fall, I was taking seven classes while also TA-ing for SOM 122, Perspectives of Business and Management, the same course I had sat in as a wide-eyed freshman just a few years earlier. One day, in a crammed inbox, I saw a message from my career advisor.
“Would you be interested in moderating an event with Stacy Lilien, President of LoveShackFancy?”
Of course, I said… “yes!”
The day of the event, I stood offstage feeling that familiar nervous energy. It was the same feeling I had before my flight to Nairobi, before my first day at my internship, before every new “yes” I had ever said.
Looking out at a room filled with pink, students who’d dressed for the occasion to hear from LoveShackFancy’s President, I felt the weight of the moment. Here I was, moderating a conversation with the leader of a brand I had genuinely loved for years. But as Stacy spoke, something clicked. She talked about taking risks and saying yes before feeling ready, about building her role at LoveShackFancy by being willing to try new things.
The irony wasn’t lost on me. I was living that exact philosophy. If I hadn’t said yes to Kenya, to TA-ing, to taking on the extra task in group projects, to every uncomfortable opportunity that came my way, I wouldn’t have been standing on that stage. Every chance that I took, with my whole head and heart, led me to this very moment.
Karadimitriou presents during a capstone pitch, an experience that helped build her confidence as a speaker and leader.
TRUSTING THE YESES YOU CAN’T EXPLAIN
My last semester at Syracuse starts with two completely new challenges. Through the D’Aniello Internship Program, I will be working with Professor John Torrens on The Total Entrepreneur: Mind, Body, Spirit podcast, where I’ll be streamlining current operations, analyzing audience growth, and researching potential guests. I’m also joining the inaugural class of the Orange Business Angel Network (OBAN), where I’ll work with a team to conduct due diligence on real startups and work alongside angel investors to evaluate early-stage ventures. Neither role will come with a playbook. I haven’t taken a class on podcast growth or startup evaluation. And that’s exactly why I pursued them. Each opportunity is another chance to build skills I don’t have yet and to step into rooms where I’m the least experienced person there.
That’s the thing about saying yes. You’ll never know which one matters until much later. Kenya led to LoveShackFancy led to writing this led to… whatever comes next. But I couldn’t have planned that trajectory if I tried. All I did was take a chance on myself. Four years later, I’m still figuring it out. I’m not sure where I’ll end up in one year from now, or even one month from now. But something tells me that’s the whole point.
Author Nicole Karadimitriou is a senior at the Martin J. Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University, triple-majoring in Retail Management, Supply Chain Management, and Entrepreneurship & Emerging Enterprises. Originally from Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, Nicole has held leadership roles within the Kenya Cultural Immersion Trip and is actively involved across campus as a teaching assistant and member of several student organizations. She is passionate about global business, leadership development, and learning through hands-on experiences.
About the Martin J. Whitman School of Management: The Martin J. Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University inspires students for a world of accelerating change. Offering B.S., MBA, M.S., and Ph.D. programs, all accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), the Whitman School’s faculty includes internationally known scholars and researchers, as well as successful entrepreneurs and business leaders. Whitman continues to be ranked among the nation’s top business schools by U.S. News & World Report and Bloomberg Businessweek. To learn more about the Whitman School of Management, visit Whitman.syracuse.edu.
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