ESU Senior Perseveres Through Struggles, Becomes Entrepreneur

Ed Hawi had the vision, the slogan and then the design. He even saved enough money to have 100 silk-screened T-shirts made with the catchphrase and sketch he created.

Then he hit a roadblock. Hawi lacked the knowledge about how to make his business take off, so he made learning more about being an entrepreneur a priority. That’s what prompted Hawi, originally from Kenya, to research and visit East Stroudsburg University.

“The whole reason for coming to America was to get a better education,” said Hawi, slated to graduate from ESU in December 2015. “I came for a (track and field) recruiting visit and I fell in love with ESU. Academically, it’s definitely been challenging. The purpose behind coming to ESU was the Innovation Center. This year I have gotten a lot of help from Gerald Ephault, who is the interim director of ESU’s business accelerator program. So far I’ve made a lot of friends. Everyone I’ve met with is interesting, and the teachers are great.”

So is the clothing line Hawi developed, which features the slogan “Failure 2 Fail.”

He already has sold more than 1,000 pieces of clothing, including 461 during the Fall 2014 semester, designed a Facebook fan page, created a website that is expanding and soon will offer new features, has a Twitter handle and posted videos on youtube.com explaining the phrase’s significance.

In fact, Hawi has come so far with his creation that about 18 months ago, he purchased equipment that allows him to print the phrase and design onto short-sleeved shirts, long-sleeved shirts and hoodies. The shirts and hoodies are offered in multiple colors. He offers customers the chance to choose the two silkscreened colors for the logo.

Most recently, Hawi finished 28 out of 128 competitors in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) Business Competition 2015.

“Gerry helped me personally create my business plan and acted as an adviser, and we had better results this year,” Hawi said. “I’ve learned a lot more about my business and how important numbers are. It gave me a better understanding of what I need to do in the future.

“I want to take it to the next level. I want to travel the world and inspire people with these shirts and this slogan.”

For Hawi, the phrase was one that was borne out of rough times. His father died in a bike accident when he was just a toddler and he has no memories of him. His mother, Julia Kisia, a chef, struggled to make ends meet for Hawi and her other son, Leslie Gulivitswa.

When she realized her sons wouldn’t be able to get the same opportunities in Kenya as they would in the United States, she moved to the Philadelphia area to work, leaving her sons behind with family in Kenya. When she saved enough money, she brought Hawi and Gulivitswa to live with her in 2000, and thus began his journey to ESU.

Although Hawi was thrilled to be in America, being away from his extended family took its toll. So did school. Because he was having such a difficult time learning English, he repeated fourth grade three times.

Hawi eventually made it through middle school and had a solid, 3.5 GPA in high school. But he did almost no prep work for the SATs and got turned down by the four-year schools he applied to.

“I was 100 percent jock,” Hawi said. “All I did was play football, run track and play basketball. My senior year, senioritis kicked in, and I didn’t take the SATs that seriously. I only took them once and thought sports would take care of me. I was only going to school basically for sports and I should have listened to my teachers who said, ‘Take SATs and school seriously.’

“I quickly found out [I was wrong] when I was applying to college and getting denied.”

Not wanting to miss out on college altogether, Hawi enrolled at Community College of Philadelphia, where he took classes in the fall of 2009, spring of 2010 and fall of 2010. Then his world started to unravel. His best friend committed suicide and both of his maternal grandparents, still living in Kenya, died. His mother traveled back and forth to Kenya three times, which cost the family $9,000.

The following spring, the family couldn’t afford to send Hawi back to school.

“I had no choice but to work full time at Wawa for the next eight months,” he said.

Then in the fall of 2011, Hawi transferred to Lynchburg College in Virginia, where he spent two semesters. While he was there, he started sketching out a design to go with his “Failure 2 Fail” slogan.

When he went home to Bryn Mawr, Pa., for one break, he dug his varsity jacket, which had been a present from his older brother, out of his closet and took it to a tailor, who sewed the phrase on the back and put his initials on the front.

“Then a light bulb went on and I said, ‘Maybe I could have my own clothing line,’” he recalled.

When Hawi returned to school in Virginia for the Spring 2012 semester, he sketched even more designs. During the summer of 2012, Hawi worked at Wawa again and managed to save enough money to have 100 T-shirts printed, some short-sleeved and others long-sleeved. The logos were red and yellow in correlation with Lynchburg’s school colors.

Hawi planned on returning to Lynchburg, but said he and his mom were denied the loans he needed to afford the rest of his education there.

“I tried everything,” he said. “And time was running out, so I had to sit out in the fall of 2012.”

Again, Hawi worked full-time hours at Wawa and “worked on my relationship with God,” he said.

“He walked there, very grateful for any shifts he had,” said Sarah White, a neighbor and close friend of Hawi’s mom. “I know that they were delighted with him and said he would always have a job there. He has a very positive outlook and is a real worker, no doubt about that.”

After nine months, Hawi finally saved enough money to return to college. He opted to transfer to ESU starting with the Spring 2013 semester.

Shortly after transferring to ESU, Hawi had an additional 100 shirts printed. They were gray, short-sleeved shirts with the slogan in red and black to match ESU’s school colors. Those sold out, and Hawi, wanting to expand his sales, purchased his own printing equipment.

Friend Megan Braunagel, who met Hawi when the two were living in Linden Hall, said she felt an immediate association to Hawi’s inspirational slogan.

“He has a very, very positive outlook on everything,” said Braunagel, a sophomore exercise science major from Milford, Pa. “He is probably one of the happiest, most uplifting people I’ve ever met. If there is an issue, he’s always there to help. He tries to help get people out of tough situations. He wants to encourage them to be strong. He lets them know they should continue to strive for things and they will conquer whatever they’re going through.”

If Hawi stays on track, he will be the first person in his entire family to graduate from college. Although he wants to take his T-shirt business to the next level, he understands the importance and significance of getting his degree.

“I wish my grandma and grandpop would be here to see it,” he said. “But everyone says to use them as motivation. It would be awesome to be the first one in my family to graduate. I can’t go back to Kenya and say I dropped out. There are so many people there that would love to go to college and just can’t afford it. I hope I can change their lives in any way possible.”

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