Meet the US immigrant who rose from a Dishwasher to Millionaire because of not giving up

In Africa, there's this unshakable belief that America is the promised land and once there, the road to a millionaire is well lit with nothing but roses on the sideline.While the myth might have some truth in it, not many get to see this path. And for those who do, their rags-to-riches story is always retold over and over again.Tashitaa Tufaa, an Ethiopian refugee who arrived in the US in 1992 is a perfect example of the kind whose story always leave many inspired rising from a mere dishwasher to a well known millionaire in the Minneapolis.Tufaa started as a dishwasher at the Hilton Hotel, earning $5.65 an hour, a thing that forced him to get as many as three jobs to get by.Little did he know he'd one day become the president of a successful bus company called Metropolitan Transportation Network.Each day, Metropolitan Transportation Network carries more than 15,000 children to schools, field trips and other destinations in Minneapolis and other Minnesota cities.The multimillion-dollar transportation company has more than 300 employees and recently moved to a new, larger operations center.In an interview with VOA, Tufaa, a political refugee who ran from his country after he campaigned for the Oromo Liberation Front in his native Oromia region in 1991, thanks education, hard work and not giving up for his success.“I was a political asylee. I didn't like or agree with the Ethiopian government,” he said. "I do not believe in giving up."He managed to earn a master’s degree in political science and international relations from the University of Minnesota while still doing his blue collar jobs.After finishing, he landed a spot at Public Housing Authority to supplement his dish-washing job which wasn't enough to feed his family. He landed an evening and weekend job as a shuttle driver, transporting senior citizens and people with disabilities to and from work.“As a result I fell in love with transportation and I call myself an addicted driver,” he said. He didn't last for long in the job however after a disagreement with the supervisors which got him fired.It's from then he started his own transport company with the help of his wife and brother and started by transporting homeless children in 2003.The business has steadily grown and now includes a fleet of nearly 300 buses and vans that take children to schools across the state. In 2012 Tufaa was named Entrepreneur of the Year by the Metropolitan Economic Development Association in Minneapolis.“I will not accept for my kids to arrive in school one minute late,” the father of five said. “I make sure that is the case for all the children we serve.“When I joined everything all I was hearing was, ‘We want to be more like a family,’” said Charles Marks, an assistant transportation manager at the company. “We kept that tradition and that makes the drivers come back every year. I always keep an empty chair next to my desk for anyone who wants to come and talk.”What advice does he have for other African immigrants pursuing their American dream?“The greatest gift I think you can give people like you is that it can be done and I feel like I've done that,” Tufaa said adding that he encourages his employees to start their own companies. “When a person is free, you can do anything,” he said. “So appreciate what you have, work so very hard, and get rid of the wrong pride we have back home that if you have a college degree you have to be in a professional line [of work] and you can't dig the potatoes or do the dishes. Work is work and go out there and do what is available. Be proud of it.”