Ali Ergul

He grew up in the village of Elkondu, in the Sivas province of Turkey. At 43, he's an entrepreneur in Washington, D.C.

When I was 8, my mother would wake me up at 5 in the morning, and I would take the cows from our village to wherever the grass was. It was heavy work—you just dream about getting home in the evening. After my parents moved to Istanbul, I sold water, socks, and American cigarettes in the streets. I made good money then.

[Later] I got a job at one of the biggest companies in Turkey, Yünsa, overseeing invoicing. I got paid more than I could ever dream. But I was going to the Open University and had time to sleep only four to five hours a night. It was tough. When I finished university, military service was mandatory, so I chose to leave the country.

I didn't want to come to the U.S., but that's where I was first accepted at a school [for cooking]. I transferred to George Mason University. After one semester, I was running out of money, so I started a flooring business. Then I decided to buy old houses and fix them up. I like working with my hands and creating something instead of just buying and selling stuff.

Now I'm a hotel owner. I figured once my two hotels are renovated and marketed right, they would bring a steady income. Some of the money I plan to donate to an orphanage in Turkey. I also know a lot of good people who need help, and I'd like to be active supporting progressive candidates. That's the kind of thing I want to do, not just work, work, work. Right now, it is no living. I feel like I'm a machine. When you own your own business, you work harder than everybody else. But I feel optimistic in a year it will get better. I learned in childhood that you are not free unless you are financially free.