591 – From Survival to Sustainable Business with Neri Sillaman
The How of Business - How to start, run, grow and exit a small business.
Henry Lopez, Levante Business Group
4.7 • 522 Ratings
🗓️ 5 January 2026
⏱️ 47 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Immigrant entrepreneurs often build businesses to last, and their approach to resilience, hospitality, and value creation offers powerful lessons for any small business owner.
Show Notes Page: https://www.thehowofbusiness.com/591-neri-sillaman-survival-to-sustainable/
In this episode, Henry Lopez talks with Neri Karra Sillaman, author of Pioneers: Eight Principles of Business Longevity from Immigrant Entrepreneurs, about what immigrant entrepreneurs can teach us about building businesses that endure.
Neri shares her remarkable journey from growing up in a Turkish minority family in communist Bulgaria, being forced to flee as refugees, and helping her family rebuild their lives and livelihoods in Turkey. She explains how those early experiences shaped her view of entrepreneurship, not as a career choice, but as a means of survival that later evolved into a powerful business philosophy.
Drawing from her family's business experience and her formal business education, Neri discusses several of the core principles from her book, including resilience, authentic hospitality, cultural bridge-building, and a focus on long-term value rather than short-term profit. She explains how immigrant entrepreneurs often leverage past hardship, adaptability, and deep human connection to create businesses that last across generations.
Whether you are an immigrant entrepreneur or a small business owner looking to build something sustainable, this conversation offers practical insights on trust, perseverance, and designing a business for longevity.
This episode is hosted by Henry Lopez. The How of Business podcast focuses on helping you start, run, grow and exit your small business. The How of Business is a top-rated podcast for small business owners and entrepreneurs. Find the best podcast, small business coaching, resources and trusted service partners for small business owners and entrepreneurs at our website https://TheHowOfBusiness.com
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the How of Business with your host, Henry Lopez, the podcast that helps you start, run and grow your small business. And now, here is your host. |
| 0:15.6 | Welcome to this episode of The How We Business. This is Henry Lopez. And my guest today is Neri, Kara, Silemon. |
| 0:22.3 | Neri, welcome to the show. Thank you. Thank you for inviting me. |
| 0:25.5 | Absolutely. This is a conversation today with Neri, who is an author, an advisor, an entrepreneur. |
| 0:30.5 | I'll tell you more about her in a moment. But her remarkable journey from a child refugee |
| 0:34.8 | to internationally recognized business thinker is where we're going to explore, |
| 0:39.2 | especially the research end that went behind end, her new book, the new book is titled |
| 0:43.9 | Pioneers, Eight Principles of Business Longevity from Immigrant Entrepreneurs. |
| 0:49.2 | So I'm excited to talk about this. There's eight principles that are covered in this book. |
| 0:53.4 | Obviously, we're just going to touch on a couple of them, business principles of business longevity and how us as small |
| 0:59.6 | business owners can apply them to help build our companies and the companies that last. And that's the |
| 1:05.5 | big focus. You can learn more about the Howa Business Resources, including the show notes page for this |
| 1:10.1 | episode and learn more about my one-on-one and group coaching programs at the howabusiness.com. |
| 1:14.8 | I also invite you to consider joining our business community, the Howa Business Community, |
| 1:19.6 | on Patreon and subscribe wherever you might be listening to this episode, so you don't miss |
| 1:24.6 | any new episodes. |
| 1:25.6 | So let me tell you a little bit more about Neri. Neri |
| 1:27.5 | Kara Silemon is an author, advisor, and an entrepreneur whose work focuses on business |
| 1:33.2 | longevity, as I said, but not just that, innovation and the impact that those businesses can |
| 1:37.9 | have. She's the author of Pioneers, A Principles of Business Longevity from Immigrant |
| 1:43.7 | Entrepreneurs, which has been recognized |
| 1:45.5 | as one of the top 10 best new management books in 2025. As the founder of her luxury leather |
... |
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