With a genuine desire to help other women live a purposeful life, this month’s entrepreneur is a big advocate of positive psychology and mindfulness. Her personal journey brought her to the Middle East where she is pursuing her career while starting a new -creative- one.

Danai Roussi has everything you’d like to find in a therapist: she is a good listener; she talks with ease; she exudes peace and tranquility; she understands. Danai also has a broad perspective on life as she has lived and worked overseas. She calls herself a citizen of the world and it is easy to understand why.

A firm believer of happiness and its impacts on everyday life, Danai Roussi recognizes that the choices we make on how we spend our days and the commitments we engage in can promote wellbeing -or- lead us to burnout. This is why Danai incorporates happiness as part of her counseling. Having obtained a Professional Certificate in The Science of Happiness by the University of California, Berkeley, Danai helps her clients find the balance between their professional and personal life. Her approach finds work and harmony equally important.

Born in Greece, Danai Roussi knew from an early age that she would like to see the world one day. When I asked her if she always wanted to live overseas Danai explained:

“As child, I was always a bit curious about different cultures, history, and foreign languages and later as an undergraduate, I started slowly to travel abroad. In my middle 20’s it had become clear to me that I would definitely love to stay abroad.”

This desire took Danai to Egypt where she explored new traditions and religious practices. During this time, Danai became acquainted with life in the Middle East and the challenges, as well as the opportunities that women have in this part of the world.

As someone who is deeply interested in foreign cultures and their people, Danai wanted to find a way to incorporate her background as a psychologist with her desire to connect more profoundly with the communities she came in contact with. This is how it started:

“Before moving to Amman I used to live in Europe, combining my love for counseling with culture and traveling. I studied, worked and volunteered in various structures of social work, visited and stayed in Italy for 1.5 years in order to improve my Italian.”

Throughout her travels, she realized that there were many similarities amongst European, Arab and other expat women she met along the way. I asked Danai what have been one of her most rewarding experiences of living as an expat. This is what she shared:

“Being able to connect and make friendships with women all across the world. It’s funny to me that we share more or less the same worries and aspirations.”

And what about those challenging ones that come as a result of living a nomadic lifestyle? Danai stated:

“Decoding the ways people behave— face gestures and expressions, their formal and informal behavior, how they act when they want to make you feel comfortable, can be the keys to understanding the people and their culture.”

During one of her travels, Danai met her husband, with whom she shared a passion for photography. This mutual personal interest led them to establish Dos.Photography, a photography studio in Amman specializing in portraiture and family shots. And although her career as a psychologist has continued to expand, her enthusiasm for photography is occupying most of her time these days. With several photo shoots lined up each month, Dani Roussi is practicing what she preaches: blending her set of personal skills with the things that make her happy.

I asked Danai how did she decide to give her passion a chance? This is what she said:

“Online Counseling came as a natural consequence of my studies in Psychology and Counseling in combination with my living abroad. I understood that people seek connection, especially when living as expats, and the digital world now provides the best tools to do this.

My passion for Photography was always there, accompanying me in my travels, and since both me and my husband have had been very much into it, we decided to work professionally with portrait photography.”

As someone who has a deep understanding of how people’s minds work and the need to find purpose, I wanted to know what Danai’s advice is to those women living the nomadic lifestyle who want to pursue their passions. Her answer was:

“I would like them to know that living as an expat is a great source of inspiration and stimuli, that can work as a “motivation engine” and help them pursue their passions probably easier than if living in their home place.”

As part of the Expat Entrepreneur of the Month interview, I always ask my guests if they have a spiritual practice or ritual that they incorporate into their daily routine. This is Danai’s take on that:

“I really enjoy during the day to have some time to lie in bed or on the sofa, doing nothing else but drinking a cup of tea. It is my time to empty my mind, contemplate things that happened on that day and “find” or synchronize with myself.”

When Danai is not busy with counseling or shooting with her camera, she enjoys listening to nice discussions online, finding smart food recipes and making crafts. She is a huge fan of matcha tea. You can learn more about Danai’s counseling services at Efzoe Therapy for Therapists and on Instagram as @efzoe Follow her photography work on facebook at @dos.phot and on Instagram at @dos.phot        

And if you’d like to get practical advice on how to boost your happiness, listen to Danai’s podcast. Check some of her short episodes here.

Thank you for being here.

Namaste.

Diana