Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu Quotes

that helped give her confidence in her contributions to society as a woman, and ultimately, what she is doing today.

I think the best companies and brands are built by entrepreneurs willing to self-fund their ideas,

It is possible to deploy local resources while creating a market-leading global brand, and to do it all from scratch.

People are traveling a long ways to bring in different ideas into their continent and country to start a business. But my idea is, look at who you are as a person. How you grew up. Everything around you is a business idea. When you see a problem, find the solution. That will be a business idea.

Don't just make things, make things better. "Innovation is...improving the state of what was before."

Love what you do, because without a genuine love and passion, you won't be successful.

“I am always engaging with people on my team, finding out what they need to make them better at what they do, and what makes them happier. This lets us have an incredible level of overall team happiness and leads to long-term team members…

That's why we have always said that this company is about maximizing local talent and local resources to create good paying jobs, that in turn would create extraordinary footwear,

I like to visualise my goals in my own private space. I try and make it as real as possible so it is almost tangible to me. That gives these goals an immediacy and realness both for me and for my team that allows people to really chase that idea or goal in a visceral way.

We're selling an experience. We're not selling a product. We're not trying to fit in somewhere…the need is for you. It's not massively produced.

“I began Garden of Coffee so that people everywhere can experience the magic of hand-roasted Ethiopian coffees, roasted at their source by Ethiopia’s finest coffee artisans.

I completed all my education here in Ethiopia, and I have NEVER lived anywhere else but Ethiopia.

For me, I never thought because I'm a woman I'm not going to do something, I'm not going to try it this or that. The way I see myself is… I'm a person. I am capable of doing whatever I want and I'm going to succeed because I'm going to be working really hard to be there each and every day. So, for African girls and women to say 'I'm not going to be able to do this, I'm not capable of doing this,' you're killing yourself. If we are brave enough to go out to sell ideas to people, I think we can succeed.

I have developed a fine sense of my weaknesses, and I address those by building my team with people who have that strength I may lack. So I flip any weakness I may have and make it a strength … Weakness recognition, and a full embrace of that, is a powerful tool.

I wanted to show that it is possible to be a local person, in Ethiopia and in Africa, and to be globally successful.