Top 15 Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu Quotes

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 knew that there were so many talented people out there who could do great things if only given a chance. However, due to extreme poverty, stigma, and marginalization,… many of them could not even get simple jobs. This was devastating for me, as I had grown up with them. They were my neighbours, my family members.

This gave me a good knowledge of the industry, which was extremely useful in terms of setting up the company and making it grow,

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

If you have a crazy idea, go for it! Don't be afraid to make mistakes.

My advice would be to build your idea piece by piece and get real and honest traction in the market with that idea while retaining as much equity as you can.

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

but to exquisitely execute that idea over and over and make it into a living, breathing reality. The best entrepreneurs literally seem to live their companies.

To me, very successful entrepreneurs have the ability not simply to come up with an idea,

are sharing Ethiopian cultures with the world and finding exciting ways to keep these cultures vibrant and fully relevant.

Since we are a fair trade organisation people want to buy fair trade shoes from us but they want to buy at cheap prices. That I don't understand. I know that running a business is not that easy and there is always a threat, there is always a risk that we are going to take, but I love it.

We are doing well. We are trying to do $2m this year. In 2016, we are planning to do $20m. So that's why we are working hard and we are trying to expand our working facility. The demand is here. It's up to us to take that advantage and to make it happen,

Having grown up watching our family and neighbors struggling, we decided to create the "better life" we were all waiting for by harnessing our community's incredible artisan skills and channeling them into a sustainable, global, fair trade footwear business. We have done that and more and we are proud to say that the soleRebels brand is being enjoyed by people in over 30 countries around the world.

We Decided to Create the Better Life We were all waiting for

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