We were lucky to catch up with Tez Hailu recently and have shared our conversation below.

Tez, I appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?

My friends who know me describe me as a person who is careful and calculated. This can be a good trait or a bad trait to have. One example is, while I was running Silent Echo Studios, Raji Eid, a childhood friend, called asking how he could start a Cleaning Service business. I shared the information with him, and roughly a week or two later, he asked if I could meet with him every week to go over ideas and planning. Eventually, during this time, I created the very first brochure and became a partner in the business. How did I make this decision? When he asked me, I was at a crossroads. I couldn’t fathom how to manage between two companies simultaneously. Nonetheless, he was a good childhood friend and one of the first to support me when he heard of Silent Echo Studios. I just said, LET’S DO IT!

Now, 5 years later, the risk has increased since the business has grown, and we’ve gone through some fantastic and horrible times, all to our own detriment, which we have learned from. Ultimately, I believe the risk of joining him was all worth it.

Tez, I love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, please take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations.

My purpose is to use my creativity to continuously fail forward while attempting to solve problems that affect my community. I am a first-generation Ethiopian American creative Firestarter based in Saint Paul, Minnesota, with experience in film, music, digital design, and much more.

Using a transdisciplinary approach to solving problems has genuinely gotten me to where I am today. Whether it be life, creativity, or business, using this holistic style has given insights and possibilities to find solutions that meet expectations and surpass them.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

I graduated from Metro State University with a bachelor’s in Accounting/Finance and Media Production. Yeah, I know, right? A Creative with a financial background. It sounds weird even to say it out loud. My original plan was to become a CPA, work for a reputable firm, and eventually do some big things in the accounting/finance industry. However, I could not fathom being overworked, especially during the busy tax seasons working 60-80 hour work weeks all while making another business owner’s dreams come true. So the first pivot in my life was taking a step back and finding a job that would help me pay bills that wasn’t overly demanding to where I could be flexible enough to grow my creative business. I did that for about 2 years….then Raji Eid contacted me about EIDS Cleaning & Consulting. The second pivot happened when he asked me to become a partner in EIDS Cleaning & Consulting. Never in a million years would I have thought I’d be in the Cleaning Industry.

These pivots have allowed me to flourish in my personal life and professional career. Making pivots is healthy and normal, as we all need to evolve.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

As a leader/business owner, I’ve realized that we are playing firefighter to issues we have not yet structured or resolved. Constantly seeing your failures, big or small, and finding solutions to help others thrive can be stressful. I used to see failure as a defeat that one could never come back from, but with everything I have experienced, my thought has changed. We will continue to live as long as it does not jeopardize the relationship with my family or the business’s long-term performance. This has allowed me to make more informed but swift decisions. I’ve reached peace with my failures, and more will be made.

One example I can share would be with EIDS Cleaning & Consulting. We secured our first largest contract with a company I cannot name for legal reasons. We were so adamant initially that we could do Industrial Sanitation in their frigid manufacturing plant. Little did we know we needed to prepare for what would come our way due to our poor assessment and misguided information shared by the client. After about 4-6 weeks, I analyzed the financials and noticed this contract would put us completely out of business. We called an emergency meeting with the client and departed from a six-figure contract before it was too late. This affected our operations, but we took it on the chin and refocused our time, attention, energy, and resources on tasks that would help us get back on track.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.tezhailu.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/silentechostudios
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/silentechostudios
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/eidscleaning/

Image Credits
Marc Liben Photography.