As a child, Ioannis Skrafnakis often walked barefoot through the hills of Crete, where the scent of oregano, sage and thyme lay over the landscape like an invisible blanket.
His grandmother knew the secrets of every herb. A cut? Some olive oil and a bit of beeswax. A cold? A vapour of rosemary and honey. Nature was their pharmacy - pure, familiar, and always close by.
Yet, when Ioannis came of age, he chose a different path. He traded the smell of wild lavender for that of sterile corridors in Heraklion hospital. For years he worked there, diligently and carefully, in the world of medical technology and sterilisation. He immersed himself in preventive care and hygiene - anything to keep people healthy.
But somewhere, deep down, something kept gnawing. Every visit to his native village reminded him of the simplicity of old. Of how the earth itself could take care of you. And the more he learnt about modern medicine, the stronger his desire became to return to something more fundamental. Back to origins. To the power of nature.
On a soft spring evening in 2007, as the air over Crete tingled with the scent of flowering citrus and the gentle rustle of olive trees, Ioannis and his wife made a decision that would change their lives forever. Both had their roots in science - he in medicine, she as a chemist - but their hearts beat to the rhythm of nature.
They sat at the kitchen table of their old family home, surrounded by jars, bottles and herbs that had been used in their family for generations. Lavender, sage, beeswax, raw olive oil. Neither still believed in the idea that real care had to come from laboratories.
That evening, the Evergetikon born - a name meaning 'benefactor' in Greek. But it was more than a name. It was a promise. Not a trend or a commercial dream, but a calling: to reconnect people with the power of the earth. With care that doesn't camouflage, but supports. Not alienates, but reminds.
Evergetikon became their ode to Crete. To the wisdom of grandparents, to the simplicity of natural rhythms, to the belief that beauty begins with health and respect for your body - and the world around you.