Gary Stern

An International Franchisee of the Year delivers a proven method for entrepreneurial success based on his remarkable story of going from Ethiopian refugee to multi-millionaireFormer Ethiopian refugee Yonas Hagos shares his amazing story about his plight in Ethiopia, his emigration to the U. S., and the business journey he took to become the owner of dozens of restaurant franchises. From Scrappy to Self-Made describes how Hagos beat all the odds to become the owner of more than four dozen restaurant franchises that have earned him $10 million, and counting. He owns and operates more than 50 restaurants, including Arby’s, Nothing Bundt Cakes, and multiple outlets of Smoothie King (32 locations), Dunkin’ Donuts (9 locations)—and coming soon, Kaia Tapas and Beach Life. A tale of entrepreneurship focusing on the roadblocks aspirational business owners most commonly encounter, this how-to, self-help guide provides gripping personal stories and feet-on-the street advice. Hagos covers his assimilation into a different culture while delving into every single aspect of what it takes to launch a successful business, to fail at running one, to learn from mistakes, and to move on to sustained success. Throughout the book, Hagos acts as a mentor, answering questions any new entrepreneur will be sure to have, including:When an entrepreneur is starting out and has limited funds, how do you start to think about opening a franchise or business? How do the entry-level jobs set the stage for ultimate ownership and success? How does someone with minimal education master the skills that it takes to operate a restaurant franchise and run a business? After you open your business, what does it take to make it a success? And how do you strategize when things are going downhill? Once you launch your first business, what are the key steps you take to expand? Open your second business? And keep expanding with more and more? Melding the how-to, self-help business book with gripping personal stories, From Scrappy to Self-Made is a tale of entrepreneurship that focuses on the roadblocks aspirational business owners encounter.

The death and devastation wrought by the tsunami in South Asia, Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf states, the earthquake in Pakistan, the mudslides in the Philippines, the tornadoes in the American Midwest, another earthquake in Indonesia-these are only the most recent acts of God to cause people of faith to question God's role in the physical universe. Volcanic eruptions, wildfires, epidemics, floods, blizzards, droughts, hailstorms, and famines can all raise the same questions: Can God intervene in natural events to prevent death, injury, sickness, and suffering? If so, why does God not act? If not, is God truly the All-Loving, All-Powerful, and All-Present Being that many religions proclaim? Grappling with such questions has always been an essential component of religion, and different faiths have arrived at wildly different answers. To explore various religious explanations of the tragedies inflicted by nature, author Gary Stern has interviewed 43 prominent religious leaders across the religious spectrum, among them Rabbi Harold Kushner, author of When Bad Things Happen to Good People; Father Benedict Groeschel, author of Arise from Darkness; The Rev. James Rowe Adams, founder of the Center for Progressive Christianity; Kenneth R. Samples, vice president of Reason to Believe; Dr. James Cone, the legendary African American theologian; Tony Campolo, founder of the Evangelical Association for the Promotion of Education; Dr. Sayyid Syeed, general secretary of the Islamic Society of North America; Imam Yahya Hendi, the first Muslim chaplain at Georgetown University; Dr. Arvind Sharma, one of the world's leading Hindu scholars; Robert A. F. Thurman, the first American to be ordained a Tibetan Buddhist monk; David Silverman, the national spokesman for American Atheists; and others—rabbis, priests, imams, monks, storefront ministers, itinerant holy people, professors, and chaplains—Jews, Roman Catholics, mainline Protestants, evangelical Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and Atheists-people of belief, and people of nonbelief, too. Stern asked each of them probing questions about what their religion teaches and what their faith professes regarding the presence of tragedy. Some feel that the forces of nature are simply impersonal, and some believe that God is omniscient but not omnipotent. Some claim that nature is ultimately destructive because of Original Sin, some assert that the victims of natural disasters are sinners who deserve to die, and some explain that natural disasters are the result of individual and collective karma. Still others profess that God causes suffering in order to test and purify the victims. Stern, an award-winning religion journalist, has extensive experience in this type of analytical journalism. The result is a work that probes and challenges real people's beliefs about a subject that, unfortunately, touches everyone's life.