Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu is the Founder and CEO of iconic footwear brand soleRebels, the planets fastest growing footwear brand from Africa, and the founder & creator of Republic of Leather a super cool new company that is changing the way people around the world buy & love luxury leather goods.
From the humblest of beginnings, Bethlehem has risen to global acclaim building soleRebels into the very 1st global Omni channel consumer brand to emerge from an emerging market country. In the process she has forever shifted the discourse on African development from one of poverty alleviation orchestrated by external actors, to one about prosperity creation driven by local Africans maximizing their talents and resources.
CNN recently named Bethlehem one of the 12 greatest female entrepreneurs of the last century alongside COCO Chanel and Sara Blakely calling her “an entrepreneur who has redefined markets” for her ground-breaking influence ; FORBES Magazine listed her on their World’s 100 Most Powerful Women list – Woman to Watch; Business Insider ranked her #1 of The Top 5 Entrepreneur’s in Africa; Fast Company named her The Most Creative People in Business 1000.
She is a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader (YGL) and the UN’s Goodwill Ambassador for Entrepreneurship.
My Definition Of Success | It means creating opportunity and prosperity for myself and those that work with me.
I Am Driven By | we like to say that soleRebels is hand crafted LOVE for your feet. And LOVE is how we got started. We wanted to find a way to share our LOVE for the amazing artisan heritages of Ethiopia with the world. So we embarked on a quest to hand-craft stunningly creative footwear by fusing Ethiopian artisan heritages with fantastic design. And the LOVE flowed from there. Keeping this idea alive and vibrant drives me
A Key Talent | Have a clear vision of what you are trying to do, then map out the path to get there and prepare to walk that path no matter what comes. Along the way be flexible and responsive to the challenges and issues that emerge but be steadfast in your vision.
The Characteristics Of Success | I believe it’s a combination of many things:
Empathy – a good leader has to be able to empathize with the issues of those they are leading
Determination – this is key. There are many times when it would have been easy to pack it in but I was and am determined to keep accomplishing the goals I have laid out
Principles I Live By | Integrity is key. Without that you really have nothing
Compassion – it’s very important to be able to relate to the struggles of others
Critical Skills I Develop | I am a big believer that nothing is ever perfect so I am always looking for ways to improve what we do as a company and as a brand. That drives us as an organization to constantly ask: “how can we do THIS better” and that better relates as much to the products we make as it does to the people who MAKE those product.
How I Use My Mind | I like to visualize goals in my own private space. I try and make it as a real as possible so that 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 very visceral way.
Lessons I Have Learnt | The biggest lesson I have learned is don’t take anything or anyone for granted. Success is something that needs constant work and upkeep.
Dealing With Doubt | I always try and confront whatever issue I am facing with honesty, understanding and strength. That allows me to address and overcome most issues that have arisen, be they challenges in business or in my own personal life.
Performing At My Peak | Exercise – that’s key!
Resources I Use To Stay Inspired | I like to read widely- everything from Malcolm Gladwell’s books to biographies about Steve Jobs! I also like to read about history as it puts our challenges and monetary struggles in a much wider perspective.
My Future Dreams And Ambitions | I want to see a soleRebels store in every country on the planet so that people can experience what it means to WALK NAKED!
Advice On Building Wealth | I would say to define wealth and richness on your own terms. Understand what it means to you to be “rich” or “wealthy” according to your philosophy of life. You may be pleasantly surprised to find that living modestly brings the greatest richness to your life on so many levels.
On Inspiring Others | 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.
I am also always on the lookout for talented people who may have never been given a shot at doing something BUT who I can see have talent that just needs an opportunity. I love that process and have experienced that many times in our company.
Stephen Koch is a professional speaker, climber, snowboarder and mountain guide. His list of alpine ascents and descents include some of the most notable firsts anywhere in the world, most of which have never been repeated. He is best known as the first and only person to snowboard on all Seven Summits, the highest peak […]
Penny Heyns TLP is, without doubt, the world’s greatest female breaststroke swimmer of the 20th Century. She is the only woman in Olympic history to win both the 100 and 200 meter breaststroke events in Atlanta 1996 and broke 14 individual world records during her career. Her achievements brought her personal audiences with Nelson Mandela […]
Vigdis Apeland Bergh is an interior architect & furniture designer MNIL. In 1996 she completed her masters degree in Interior and Furniture design, with exchange in London. In 2000 she started her own design company -INNE DESIGN, based in Oslo. The company has been awarded a number of prestigious awards both in Norway and Internationally. […]
Stephen Greene is the CEO of the international pro-social media company Rockcorps. As head of RockCorps, he has overseen the production of over 40 volunteer-exclusive concerts worldwide, featuring music artists such as Lady Gaga, Diddy and Rihanna. In 2012 the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, appointed Greene as Executive Chairman of the independent management body […]
In 1984, at a time when South Africa was beginning to feel the consequences of international isolation and sanctions, and when the tourism and hospitality industries faced bankruptcy and failure, Protea Hotels was launched – without a cent of capital and with just four hotels. Under the leadership of Arthur Gillis, the Protea Hotels Group […]
Over the years, Felicia Mabuza-Suttle has applied her effervescent personality for the benefit of many. As a talk show host in South Africa’s The Felicia Show (1995 – 2004) and more recently, on The Africa Channel in the US on Conversations with Felicia, Felicia focuses on interviewing (mainly) South Africans to build the democracy in […]
Edward Mogano is a vibrant and talented young South African, that we’ve recently discovered, who seems to have his head firmly entrenched in helping prepare the youth of today for the solutions of tomorrow, as he blogs about creating awareness around the current paradigm-shift trends taking place throughout the world right now. About my Life […]
George Saunders is a New York Times bestselling American writer of short stories, essays, novellas and children’s books. In 2000, The New Yorker named him one of the “Best Writers Under 40.” He writes regularly for The New Yorker and Harper’s, as well as Esquire, GQ, and The New York Times Magazine. My Definition Of […]
These remain the property of its owner and are not affiliated with or endorsed by WeSpeak Global.
Our Mission
© All rights reserved 2025. Created using VOXEL THEME
