When a SharePoint workflow Approval process starts, by default, it sends an email to the SharePoint Workflow initiator.
May I ask who is the SharePoint Workflow initiator? I been searching without a precise answer. Is it the Workflow creator? Or anyone who participates the approval process? Or the people who is being approved?
The answer depends on how the workflow was initiated.
If the workflow is set to be started manually, then the initiator is whoever manually starts the workflow.
If the workflow is set to be triggered automatically when an item is created or modified, then the workflow initiator is whoever created or modified the item, thus triggering the workflow.