When Christof Mantzanas stepped off the plane in Melbourne on 10 March 2015, he had just $1,000 in his pocket, no plan beyond three months of travel, and very little English.
He came with high hopes but could never have imagined that a decade later he would be the founder of multiple seven-figure businesses, a property investor, a mentor to other migrants, and the recent author of Stop Surviving and Start Thriving in Australia.
“It’s a book I wish I had when I first started in Australia, a manual for success,” Christof says. “It offers lessons, tools and strategies for being successful. What I learnt in 10 years is in this book, as a blueprint to help others.”
His success was not born of luck, but of persistence and reinvention. Raised in Agrinio, a Greek town left behind after the collapse of the tobacco trade, Mantzanas learned resilience early. Much like the Sinatra song That’s Life, he has been “a puppet, a pauper, a pirate, a poet, a pawn and a king.”
“My best friend said, ‘come and try life in Australia and see how it goes’. I came as a tourist, and here I am still, 10 years later,” he recalls.
Trained in physical education, he took whatever work he could find, starting as a barista at Nikos Cakes in Oakleigh, where he later became manager. His first big leap came in 2018 when he opened a café in Bentleigh. It ended in failure, leaving him $100,000 in debt.
“To pay it back, I worked three jobs, driving buses in Melbourne, serving coffees in the morning, and waiting tables at night,” he says.
The turning point came during COVID-19 when he read Robert Kiyosaki’s bestseller Rich Dad, Poor Dad.
“This book switched my mindset,” Christof says. “I sold my Mercedes, I sold my PlayStation, and invested in Kiyosaki’s six-month course that I finished in three weeks. Within months I bought my first property, then a second one 10 months later. In a year I had two properties.”
When he lost his bus-driving job in 2021, fear pushed him to start his own cleaning business. Within 18 months it was a seven-figure company. He reinvested the profits to expand into gardening and home maintenance services, now working with 35 aged care providers. By 2022, he was advertising in the Greek Australian press as “a man for all jobs.”
Today, Christof also offers business coaching, with a philosophy rooted in self-investment.
“The number one key is to invest money in yourself,” he explains. “When you buy a book or do a course, you’re not wasting money, you’re gaining knowledge. Sometimes it pays off immediately, sometimes years later. But without that risk, you can’t grow. If you want uncommon results, you need to do uncommon things.”
Risk-taking, he says, has become a “personality trait”.
“In the past, I was afraid of what would happen with my money. My first attempt left me $100,000 in debt. Today I take bigger risks, but with knowledge and mentors my risk is only five percent. I use other people’s money to grow, but with strategies and assets that protect me.”
Would his methods work back in Greece? Christof is reflective.
“The system there makes it much harder: bureaucracy, costs, delays. But with what I know now, yes, I could succeed anywhere. Once you have the steps, you can build a business anywhere,” he says.
Mentorship has become central to his work. He recalls one mentee from Bangladesh who was overwhelmed juggling two jobs while supporting family back home.
“Through mentorship, I helped him change his mindset. He started his own cleaning business and completely transformed his life. For me, seeing him succeed brought me fulfillment,” he says.
Now, a decade on, Christof speaks to The Greek Herald on a drizzly day, driving to collect a new business car. The future looks bright as he reflects on the journey that began with a tourist visa and a single suitcase.
“For me, survival was never about just getting by. It was about creating a life worth living. If I can do it, arriving with nothing, then anyone can,” he explains.
