Bethlehem tilahun biography for kids

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Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu is arguably one of the most famous Ethiopian businesswomen.

She is best known as the founder and executive director of soleRebels, Africa’s fastest-growing footwear company.

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From a dusty shop in the dinghy back-end streets of Addis Ababa, her branded shoes can now be found in 16 stores across the world, from Singapore to Switzerland, to Silicon Valley.

In 2011, she was named the Outstanding African Business Woman of the Year by the African Business Awards, becoming the first Ethiopian and the youngest woman to ever win the award.

This is her profile as told by WOA:

Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu’s Net worth

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Alemu’s current net worth is estimated to be between $5 million and $1 Billion.

In 2015, Bethlehem launched an new venture, Republic of Leather, offering bespoke, hand crafted Leather wear and accessories.

Bethlehem was the first female African entrepreneur to address the Clinton Global Initiative; was named Outstanding African Business Woman by African Business Awards in 2011; and was named one of the top 12 women entrepreneurs of the last century by CNN. Bethlehem is a UN Goodwill Ambassador for Entrepreneurship also sits on the board of United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO).

Bethlehem's Startup Story 

From the humblest of beginnings, Bethlehem has built soleRebels into the planet's fastest growing African footwear brand and the  very first global footwear brand to ever emerge from a developing nation. She has created world class jobs, and empowered her community and country, whilst presenting a galvanized, dynamic face of African creativity to the global market.

Bethlehem was born and raised in the Zenabwork/Total area of Addis Ababa, one of the most impoverished and marginalized communities of Ethiopia.

Alemu attended public primary and secondary schools, and then went on to study accounting at Unity University, graduating in 2004. Her mother was a cook at a local hospital, where her father also worked as an electrician.

In later interviews, Bethlehem would credit this humble background for her industrious nature.

After attending public primary and secondary schools, she graduated with a degree in accounting from Unity University in 2004.

The selection of footwear as the ideal product for the company came later. Tapping into her community’s and the nations rich artisan wealth and heritages, Bethlehem set about reimagining what footwear could be.

Known as the Ecommerce pioneers of the African continent, Bethlehem took soleRebels ecommerce engagement to the next level. Tilahun Alemu is widely celebrated for utilising her entrepreneurial know-how to create hundreds of jobs at home in Ethiopia while also restoring the image of Africa as a continent of enterprising excellence.

Tilahun Alemu is said to have been the first female African entrepreneur to address the Clinton Global Initiative.

growing to over one hundred employees, with distribution to over thirty countries worldwide, selling to market kingmakers Whole Foods, Urban Outfitters and Amazon. According to the company, it is the only footwear company on the planet to be certified by the World Fair Trade Organization. Her parents worked at a local hospital. Moving beyond the groundbreaking online retail partnerships she forged years back with the planets ecommerce giants Amazon, Endless, Javari, Amazon UK and the EU’s #1 online footwear retailer spartoo.com, Bethlehem led the launch of soleRebels state of the art, fully ecommerce enabled global website www.solerebelsfootwear.co.

Now hailed as the Nike of Africa, Bethlehem is proud that soleRebels stands as living proof that creating innovative world-class brands is the best road to greater shared prosperity for developing nations like Ethiopia.

soleRebels emerges as the first African brand to become an international job creation powerhouse with its international stores forecasted to create over 600 jobs in the countries where they are located by end 2015 , proof that growth in Africa equals real global economic and jobs growth around the planet!

Bethlehem represents the leading edge of a new generation of homegrown African leaders, talented entrepreneurs who are taking on the global market and winning on an unprecedented level.

It is also acknowledged to be the first WFTO Fair Trade-certified footwear company. Franchised and company-owned stores are slated to open in Austria, Switzerland, Taiwan, and the UK.[4] Alemu wanted to create well-paid jobs which could create sustained prosperity by utilizing the artisan talents and natural resources of Ethiopia, first and foremost.

It focuses on creating eco-friendly shoes made from recycled materials, primarily employing local artisans.

Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu Education

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Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu holds a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Unity University in Addis Ababa.

I wanted to be innovative, and start from scratch,” she told Forbes.

In 2005, Bethlehem, who is the oldest of four siblings, used a plot of land she got from her grandmother to start a workshop. She was recognised as an Outstanding African Business Woman by African Business Awards in 2011 and also named one of Africa’s Most Successful Women in 2012.

Position: Entrepreneur

Alemu was born in the Zenebework area of Addis Ababa in 1980, the eldest of four siblings.

SoleRebels has since flourished,

On April 9, 2014, Alemu announced the creation of a new business venture, The Republic of Leather, via a blog post on the soleRebels website. What Zenabwork needed was trade, she believed, not charity and aid.

In early 2005, fresh out of college in Addis Ababa, Bethlehem founded the trailblazing footwear company soleRebels to provide solid community-based jobs.