SOCIAL
About Us
Finding Inspiration in Every Turn
At MORE SOCIAL, we are passionate about our brand and our products. With a dedication to excellence, we strive to offer a range of beverages designed to suit every palette. We are constantly looking to come up with new and exciting drinks that pay attention to Cyprus seasonality and availability of fresh produce.
Welcome to our boutique bar, and remember, be MORE SOCIAL.
Our Story
When we left Dubai at the end of 2019 I had a plan in my head to start up a gin distillery to make a home grown brand of Cyprus gin in an eco friendly distillery. I had taken and passed my exams with the IBD (Institute of Brewing and Distilling) before leaving Dubai, the irony of taking a distillers exam in a Muslim country did amuse me. However, that idea all came to a grinding halt on March 15th 2020 when COVID arrived.
I needed a challenge and the challenge presented itself with that "light bulb" moment while walking through Kouklia square and seeing that Gabriel had a "For Rent" sign up at Sophia's Unwined which, like so many other businesses, had closed when COVID arrived and had never re-opened. So we had a chat with Gabriel and Sophia and we decided to go ahead with this concept of a Boutique Village Bar, I mean, how could it possibly fail, what could possibly go wrong?
Who are we?
Karen Flawith
Hello everyone, I'm Karen, the long-suffering wife of Mal (only joking honest!). I’m a personal trainer and nutrition coach. My path to being a PT was as much a personal journey as it was a professional one. Originally from the UK, I spent 25 years of my life in Dubai, where I worked in various roles, including as a Personal Assistant for a Finnish oil company, and a Relocation Consultant.
However, about fourteen years ago, I decided to turn my long-standing passion for fitness into my career. I was a PT in Dubai for 10 years and now here I am living in the beautiful area of Kouklia, Paphos in Cyprus, dedicating my life to fitness and wellness married to a Bar Owner, which some may consider an oxymoron. However, I’m a firm believer in balance!
My husband, Mal, and our cat, Dave, are a big part of my life here in Cyprus. We enjoy the natural beauty of the island and the sense of community it offers. My work is not just a profession; it's a way of life that I cherish deeply. I'm always eager to learn and grow, currently expanding my expertise to include coaching for women through menopause. Every day, I'm reminded of how fulfilling it is to guide others on their path to wellness and to see the positive changes in their lives.
In the near future, I’m going to be hosting regular Talkin’Tables (an initiative from the UK) here at More Social. It’s an opportunity for people to get together and chat, meet people, make new friends.
You can find out more about Karen at karenflawith.com
Mal Flawith
Hi everyone, I'm Mal, short for Malcolm. I'm married to an apparently long-suffering wife, Karen, that's her on the left. I do question the wisdom of being married to a personal trainer who is also a nutrition coach and a menopause coach but she does keep me on track in terms of staying relatively fit and eating healthily, is "healthily" a word?
So a bit about me. After a brief stint in the Royal Air Force, I decided that it, the RAF, wasn't for me and opted to leave the UK and went out to Saudi Arabia with British Aerospace at the age of 22. After 6 years in Saudi I decided to get out of aviation and into IT, that was in 1984 and that is the industry that I stayed in until I retired in 2019.
As I mentioned, we moved to Dubai in 1995 where I worked for American IT Corporations, Sun Microsystems, Oracle and Hitachi Vantara. Ultimately, retirement loomed as it eventually does so we arrived here in Cyprus in 2019.
After 25 years of a very active business life, virtually living on planes and travelling every other week, I needed something to do.
Prior to leaving Dubai I gained a qualification in distillation from the Institute of Brewing and Distillation in the UK. Originally, we had ideas of setting up an eco friendly Gin distillery here in Cyprus using botanicals native to the island, however, Covid kind of screwed that plan up and so we are where we are.
Then in July of 2023 the opportunity came up to re-model Sophias Unwined and transform it into a Gin bar so if you have managed to read this up to this point, without falling asleep, I do hope that you will drop by and see us.