Kfir Gavrieli, Tieks’ CEO and founder, started his fashion career in Tel Aviv. His self-assured nature immediately caught the eye of the biggest shoe company in the world, Zappos.com. He was ultimately hired as vice president and sales director and eventually, after a great deal of hard work, rose to the role of vice president of operations and director of global sales. Under his leadership, Tieks went from a virtual startup to being the number-one shoe brand in its niche.
Gavrieli’s success in business came with several challenges, not the least of which was a very short runway. Because Tieks only releases a limited number of pairs of shoes per season, Gavrieli knew that his talent for sales would be his most important asset in the world of fashion. Kfir Gavrieli, in his own words, defines a hero as: “Someone who does what’s right in spite of fear, even when it’s not the easy choice to make. He or she always steps up when others might step down.”
During the Gulf War, while serving in the Israeli military, Gavrieli faced death, even though he wasn’t prepared to die in action. Rather than turn away from the battlefield and give up hope, Kfir Gavrieli channeled the heroic spirit and set up a small surgical theater to assist injured soldiers and aid those in need. “We worked with an Israeli army surgeon to set up a surgical theater that used a trolley system for extraction, as well as intravenous lines to bring patients to the operating table,” he said.
“A hero is that individual who during a critical moment, in order to save lives, risks not only their own life but sometimes even their own physical and emotional well-being,” Kfir Gavrieli says. “An act of heroism can be giving water to a thirsty man or woman or cleaning up a destroyed house after a devastating natural disaster. It is the action of someone, many years ago, who was faced with a life-or-death decision. In their mind, they are thinking ‘what would someone else do,’ and the act is performed.” One of the greatest lessons one can learn from a hero, according to Gavrieli, is to give back to the community and in particular, their country. Visit this page for additional information.
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