(upbeat music) -[Mike] Gotta get some shots on the bridge for.

(enchanted music) -[Bridge Keeper] Stop!

(enchanted music) - Those who would cross the Bridge of Death must answer me these questions.

Three ere the other side he see.

-[Mike] Ah, this isn't the bridge of death.

It's just a bike path.

- Did we just stumble into a Monty Python bit?

- I think so.

Okay, I think we're answering questions.

Go ahead, bridge keeper.

-[Bridge Keeper] What is your name?

- Uh, Mike.

Emily.

Justin.

- What is your quest?

- We just want to shoot some host segments for our What If show.

- What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?

(enchanted music) - African or European?

(wind blowing) - I don't know that.

(screams) (chime sound) (enchanted music) - That was weird.

(enchanted music) -[Bridge Keeper] Tis a silly place!

(enchanted music) (upbeat music) -[Mike] A community focused musician, barber and soccer program founder, a program helping immigrant and refugee women start businesses.

(upbeat music) What If!

(upbeat music) - This stretch of 27th Street is a great place to see Lincoln's diverse population.

The city has long been a welcoming place to immigrants and refugees from all over the world.

Now home to more than 30,000 people from 150 different countries, many are entrepreneurs.

And that's the theme of this episode of our series about innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurship in Nebraska, What If.

We start with the story of a guy who impacts the community with all the things he creates.

(traffic noise) (gentle music) -[Mike] What do these three things have in common?

(gentle music) (razor buzzing) This guy, Hasan Khalil.

(gentle music) - So make sure you're balancing.

(gentle music) - How would you describe yourself?

- I would describe myself as a really friendly guy that always wants to meet new people and listens to others and take advice from others and share my experience with others.

(gentle music) -[Mike] We describe him as a wide ranging entrepreneur and creator with a resilient backstory that led to these different things.

(razor buzzing) (gentle music) - Raise your hand if you really enjoyed these soccer camps.

(gentle music) -[Mike] Hasan created Lincoln International Football Club in 2020 to give underserved kids an opportunity to learn and play the sport he loves.

The club puts on a summer long free soccer camp.

Most of the participants are from refugee and immigrant families.

(gentle music) (whistle blows) - Raise your hand if you speak more than one language.

(gentle music) (clunk) (clapping) - Goal!

- Goal!

- Goal!

- Goal!

(gentle music) -[Crowd] Oh!

(gentle music) (deep sigh) (baby crying) (gentle music) -[Mike] It's more than soccer.

(crowd chattering) - Can we use soccer to bring everything together?

The families and the kids.

But to provide resources to these families and kids that they could benefit from beyond soccer.

(whistle blows) Which will educational classes, (kids and coach chattering) health resources that we could bring to these neighborhoods, mentoring these kids to be successful in their lives.

(indistinct talking) - Most of these kids, their parents aren't able to afford, like soccer boot camps or summer camps.

They're not able to do it.

-[Mike] Like James, who came here from the African country of Burundi less than a year ago.

- I give him these shoes, something that really touched my heart.

He kissed the shoes and I say, why are you ( indistinct talking) Why did you kiss the shoes?

Because it's my first pair of shoes.

- He says, my first soccer shoes, ever.

(indistinct talking) - Hasan understands these kids because he's also walked in their shoes.

(gentle music) - I came from a refugee camp, 11 years in refugee camps.

(gentle music) -[Mike] Hasan lived in a refugee camp when he was the same age as these kids.

During Saddam Hussein's regime, Iraq was dangerous for the often persecuted Yazidi people.

(indistinct talking) Hasan's family fled Iraq for neighboring Syria in the middle of the night.

- We had some shoes on, just our clothes, no bags, absolutely nothing.

Even our IDs and everything that we had, we throw those away.

I could just feel the fear in my family's faces at that time, even though it was a refugee camp, there was poverty.

It was not much going on.

It was like a family jail.

(gentle music) -[Mike] With no school and little else to do.

Hasan developed a love for soccer in the camp.

Creating the nonprofit Lincoln International Football Club was a way to continue that and help others a lot like young Hasan.

(indistinct talking) - We're having fun.

They're having fun.

It's beautiful.

We gain so much from here.

I learned so much.

(indistinct talking) Beautiful.

(gentle music) - Hasan's barbershop is the entrepreneurial side that pays the bills.

(gentle music) Cutting hair wasn't on his mind when an international aid organization helped 15 year-old old Hasan and his family relocate from Syria to Buffalo, New York.

- It feels like you go to Detroit.

This was all photos taken in 1999, (gentle music) months before we moved to the United States.

(gentle music) So these are our tickets, actually.

(foreign language) (gentle music) - Yeah.

-[Hasan's mother] I have.

-[Mike] On his third day in Buffalo, Hasan found something else new.

A barbershop.

-[Hasan] I'm like, wow, what's this?

You know, like people cutting hair, beautiful cars outside.

Music is going.

People are happy.

Something just really attracted me.

Like, I want to work in a place like this.

(gentle music) -[Mike] The owners let him clean the shop in exchange for haircuts.

He learned barbering and cut friends hair for free, struggled, quit, then was encouraged to come back by the owner and his mentor.

(gentle music) Barbering became his profession after that.

(gentle music) And when the family moved from Buffalo to be a part of Lincoln's large Yazidi community, Hasan brought skills and scissors with him.

(gentle music) - Is there something about barbering that kind of connects with your creative side?

(gentle music) - I think so, to be honest, just growing up in a refugee camps, Mike.

We were kind of isolated from social, you know, like being social with others, not talking to so many people.

and I think barbering definitely gave me the platform to reach my potential, you know, of who I am and what I can do and connecting with everyone.

-[Mike] Is there a little extra pressure with this haircut, knowing there's another person in the room that's evaluating what you're doing?

- Not at all.

I love it.

But you've got somebody watching that has a vested interest in how this turns out.

- Yes, Emily?

Yeah.

Just the back.

Here's the fade.

(gentle music) What do you think?

(gentle music) Ah!

(gentle music) (swoosh) (upbeat music) -[Mike] Music is the third part of Hasan's world.

It started listening to his dad singing and playing the saz, a traditional Yazidi string instrument in the refugee camp.

(upbeat music) -[Hasan] Music was one of our, uh.

To get away from everything, to listen to our elders and the musicians like my father and telling us stories.

And is the way we could can learn more about our history and our culture.

(upbeat music) -[Mike] Hasan fell in love with keyboards.

What he calls a hobby involves performing at lots of events, like Sersal, the Yazidi New Year's celebration.

(upbeat music) Are you self-taught musically?

-[Hasan] Yes, yes.

Everything I play is I'm self-taught.

-[Mike] Wow.

Are there certain sounds or certain things that are specific to Yazidi music?

- Yes, saz it's actually one of the original instruments of Yazidis.

So it comes in acoustic and now we kind of have it even here in this keyboard.

- Yeah.

What's a saz sound like?

(saz sounds) -[Hasan] It sounds like Indian, right?

-[Mike] Right.

Yeah.

(saz sound) Like one one string at a time or with chords.

- It's usually, uh, this sounds usually for solo one string at a time.

- When did you start making your own music?

(gentle music) - Even when I was little.

I always like to make up words, my own words.

I've always liked the stories every song needs to have, like a story, for me.

(gentle music) -[Mike] This song is called "Lo Dilo Can" or Heart and Soul in English.

It shares the personal memories and feelings from his life journey.

The first verse is about arriving in the U.S.. (gentle music) (speaking foreign language) - In a new country, in a new place.

It's like you're saying, I'm deaf because you cannot speak the language, so you cannot understand.

But you're somewhere, but you cannot understand or you cannot speak.

(singing in foreign language) - You're writing your biography in music?

- Pretty much.

Yeah.

Pretty much.

I think that's for me, it's the is the best way I can express honestly like to talk about things that I've went through.

For me, I'm like, someone might hear this story someday, you know, I could be gone, but someone could listen to this and it could just help them.

(singing in foreign language) (swoosh) (gentle music) -[Mike] The thread that connects all of the things Hasan, the entrepreneur and creator, does is community.

(gentle music) Whether it's Yazidis, all refugees, or all of Lincoln.

(gentle music) - Today's about the unity.

It's about every other culture here that calls Lincoln home, that we can unite together and become as a big family.

(gentle music) -[Christa] Hasan is really critical to our whole community.

He is a natural community organizer.

One of the things that I really appreciate most about Hasan is his ability to build bridges in our community, among diverse community members.

(gentle music) -[Mike] What can you learn from Hasan?

(indistinct talking) -[Linda] I think (indistinct talking) how to give to community.

(indistinct talking) He always is there for everybody and he's always ready to give to people.

(gentle music) -[Mike] Is Hasan, somebody who's always wanted to try things and be creative?

(gentle music) (speaking foreign language) (speaking foreign language) -[Hasan] She said Hasan always did adventurous stuff.

Like I was always worried about him when he was younger.

(gentle music) He was never scared to do things.

(gentle music) I think now I do think of myself as an entrepreneur because of all the areas and the impact I feel like I'm doing.

- Running a barbershop, playing music and running a youth soccer program isn't going to make you rich, right?

- It's not going to make me rich, but it's honestly what I love.

(gentle music) I've had other opportunities to do other things, (gentle music) but for me personally, it's more of a contributing, more of making an impact.

All right, everybody, say bye to the camera.

-[Children] Bye!!

- Thank you guys.

Thank you guys so much.

(children cheering) Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.

(gentle music) (traffic sounds) -[Mike] Earlier, we said this stretch of 27th Street was full of businesses launched by immigrant and refugee entrepreneurs.

So let's meet a few.

Starting here at Amparito's Market.

(upbeat music) The Sarmiento family opened the store in 2023, seven years after they came to Lincoln from Colombia with just the luggage they could carry.

There's a little bit of everything here.

Products from lots of Central and South American countries.

(upbeat music) (gentle music) -[Mike] Aynalem Demissie opened to Tiru restaurant in 2019 with her co-owner husband.

Both came here from Ethiopia.

She cooked in the family's popular restaurant there, even managing it as a high school student before bringing those traditional recipes to her Lincoln restaurant.

(gentle music) (swoop) (upbeat music) Misky Bakery has been around for almost two decades.

Owner Lourdez Gonzales opened the artisan Latino bakery not long after she moved to Lincoln from Bolivia, now leading a staff of Latino women from Central and South America.

(upbeat music) (swoosh) (gentle music) - So many cool entrepreneurs.

So let's meet some more.

Our next story is about a nonprofit that helps refugee and immigrant women start their own businesses.

(gentle music) (upbeat music) - We are all here to celebrate something totally amazing.

It's graduation day for five women who have a couple things in common.

Each wants to start a business, and each came from someplace far from Nebraska.

Graduation is fun because we get to see the last four months really come to life.

(gentle music) -[Mike] What happened during those four months is a program called The Refinery.

(upbeat music) (gentle music) (swoosh) -[Mary Beth] We have a few things to do to get to know each other better.

(gentle music) - That's the thing that we don't have in common.

So yeah.

-[Mike] It's day one for this new cohort of Refinery entrepreneurs.

They'll spend several hours a week together between now and December.

So today is about women from Libya, Myanmar, Thailand, Iraq and Sudan learning about each other.

- In a business setting where you don't know anybody.

That's what we're going to practice today.

- Nice to meet you.

-[Mary Beth] Hi, Mo, I'm Mary Beth.

-[Mike] The Refinery is an intensive business education course designed to help immigrant and refugee women launch or build on a business through workshops on finance, marketing, personal development, networking and more often led by guest speakers.

-[Mary Beth] It's the thing that often brings you joy or brings others joy, or both.

How do you use that superpower in those businesses?

-[Mike] It's part of a nonprofit called ECHO Collective created by Kelly Ross.

(gentle music) -[Kelly] We study business A to Z, and in addition to studying business, we also lead with a module that's all about personal development, because we've realized that in order for the women we work with to really thrive, it boils down to two things.

Of course, they need the entrepreneurship education, but first they need to believe that they can do it.

They can conquer this.

Like sometimes we do like mother daughter or mother child programs.

-[Mike] Kelly launched ECHO after working with immigrant and refugee women as a caseworker, English teacher, and program manager.

(clapping and cheering) -[Mike] The nonprofit offers entrepreneurship and creative programs.

- I started ECHO Collective so I could introduce amazing women to speak about what they're doing in the community.

(clapping) Yeah.

(clapping) So the whole time I'm just circling around these women that are new to the US, learning what it looks like to be an American.

And that led me to ECHO Collective because one day one of them asked me, friend, can you help me start a business?

(indistinct talking) And in that moment I said, let's do it.

(laughs) - Another concept I want you to think about again, because I'm trying to.

-[Mike] Now, about a dozen women go through the Refinery, one of ECHO's main programs each year.

Smile.

-[Kelly] We work with women from any type of business.

It's about 50% service, 50% product at the moment.

Gorgeous ladies.

Thank you.

(upbeat music) (swoosh) (gentle music) -[Darian] The art of color pairing.

(gentle music) -[Mike] Branding and marketing are key for any business and a wide range are represented here baking, crocheting, trucking, cleaning and interpretation.

-[Darian] We are going to do the vocabulary first.

Have you ever heard the word criteria?

-[Mike] Darian is with the women three mornings a week taking them through a curriculum ECHO created.

-[Darian] So it focuses a lot on how community building is really important to starting a business, and how having connections is really important to starting your business.

But also it's taught and written in a way that is friendly to anybody from an intermediate level of English to, you know, an advanced level of English.

This is like you pair something down so you like take away parts of it.

-[Mike] ECHO's mission drew Darian to this role.

-[Darian] Just the women, the culture, teaching in some capacity.

I was like, I want to do that.

And so that's what called me.

(gentle music) When we go on our field trip today, I want you to be thinking of 3 to 5 colors you want to use for your business.

(upbeat music) -[Instructor] Kay is going to demonstrate how you're going to do your acrylic pour today and just have fun with it.

(upbeat music) -[Mo] I'm really pleased with it.

(upbeat music) Happy?

(laughs) (upbeat music) -[Ayat] Yeah.

Yeah, it was really fun.

It brought out my creative side.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music) (swoosh) -[Speaker] We need a mentor to help us develop.

We may not know certain things in different areas in regards to our business, because we just haven't had experience in it yet.

(upbeat music) -[Mike] Discussion that entrepreneurs will be paired with mentors who have expertise matching what they want to do.

(upbeat music) -[Speaker] So you want your own storefront within the next 3 to 5 years for your bakery.

(upbeat music) That's a great plan.

And when you talk to your mentor, what are some benchmarks?

What are some goals that I need to meet?

(upbeat music) -[Mike] Ayat wants to grow a business that celebrates the place she was born, Sudan.

(upbeat music) Those are called ghoreiba.

- Ghoreiba.

- Ghoreiba.

- Okay.

- They're really soft.

They're like very soft and, like, they look beautiful.

(upbeat music) And I don't know what size is that?

I'm sorry.

- We'll find out, won't we?

(laughing) Small enough?

-[Ayat] Yes.

Smaller.

-[Mike] More like this?

- Try to, like, get my size.

(gentle music) - Long trip.

(laughs) (gentle music) You had said this is relaxing for you, right?

- Yeah.

For sure.

(gentle music) -[Justin] Is it still relaxing when you have to manage a TV host?

(gentle music) - No.

(gentle music) -[Mike] Her bakery will sell different types of Sudanese cookies.

(gentle music) Getting to this point hasn't been easy.

(gentle music) Imagine being a non-English speaking teenager dropped into Nebraska.

She faced many challenges.

-[Mary Beth] Your eyes.

Your face.

-[Mike] I discovered she enjoyed working as a CNA.

Now she's going to nursing school, working and going through the ECHO program and splitting time between Lincoln and Omaha.

- Hi, Mary Beth.

-[Mike] You've got so much energy and drive.

Where did that come from?

(gentle music) - I think my mom, she's a very shy person, but I think when you get to know her, she's like bubbly and stuff.

(clunking) -[Mike] Ayat hopes to have her bakery business while working as an RN and maybe open a Sudanese restaurant later, inspired by being in the ECHO program with other women with similar dreams.

(gentle music) -[Ayat] For me, it's different because I've never experienced it, but also like motivating because seeing these women that they want to like, build their business too.

And also it makes me happy because like, I'm not the only one who's like working towards something.

So yeah.

(upbeat music) -[Mike] How's my dimpling?

(laughs) - Can get better for sure.

- It can get better.

- Yeah.

I mean, it's your first time.

(laughing) -[Mike] I won't do anymore.

-[Ayat] You can do this one.

-[Mike] You want to do that one.

-[Ayat] You got it.

Yay!

High five.

(clap) - Success.

- Success.

(upbeat music) (swoosh) -[Darian] So this is like a full business plan and what it looks like and what you can expect when you start preparing your business plan.

(gentle music) Mo a long term goal for you.

Like you said, you want to hire other interpreters.

(gentle music) What additional threats might your business face?

-[Mo] A lot of places they try to replace interpreters with AI technology and the ChatGPT stuff like that.

-[Darian] What is special about Mo being a native Karen language speaker?

-[Mo] Authentic.

(gentle music) - Authenticity.

-[Mo] Humanity.

- Mhm.

-[Mike] Mo came here in 2009 from a refugee camp in Thailand.

She learned English in high school and has been interpreting for several years, mainly in medical settings.

Instead of working for others, she wants to launch her own business.

-[Mo] Seeking opportunity for the better life for our family, and then also helping the community to bridge the gap.

Feel connected with other people so they don't feel isolated.

(gentle music) -[Mike] What do you think I should know about you, Mila?

(speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) -[Mo] My mom and my dad.

You know, originally from Burma.

(speaking in foreign language) -[Mike] What does Mo's work look like?

Since her real interpretation mostly involves sensitive personal info.

She invited a friend to help give us a demonstration.

(speaking in foreign language) -[Mike] So.

Do you know what that thing is called, sometimes?

(speaking in foreign language) - Like squirrel tail?

- Oh, actually, that's really close.

Emily, What's it?

What's it called, Emily?

- A dead cat.

- Wait.

The hair for the dead cat.

Really?

(gentle music) - No, it's not made from it.

- Oh, no, no, no.

-[Emily] It's just called that.

-[Mo] Oh, I see.

(speaking in foreign language) -[Mike] People find that pretty funny.

(speaking in foreign language) (gentle music) -[Mike] What's the hardest part about doing this interpretation?

(gentle music) - The hardest part is like when you don't know contents, you know, like knowing what's going on.

And then also sometime with dialect, you know, different dialect in Karen culture.

Also, it's harder to understand that.

Do you like to do like a yoga physical activity?

-[Student] Oh, yeah.

-[Mike] Learning about building a business with other women has been inspiring.

(gentle music) -[Mo] Sometime with, you know, people think that we can't do the thing that we want to do.

So it's a lot of barrier in there.

So it's important for us to like, encourage one another and then be there for one another for women.

(gentle music) -[Mike] We think Mo is pretty cool.

(speaking foreign language) (laughing) - Yes she is.

(upbeat music) (swoosh) (indistinct talking) -[Mike] ECHO grew from an idea crafted in Kelly's dining room to celebrating its five year birthday and the women who've gone through its programs.

(indistinct talking) -[Karina] I'm so blessed to have been around to many, many, many girls who are going into business, and we are here to help each other.

- Three.

Two.

One cheese.

-[Crowd] Cheese!

-[Mike] How cool is it to see all these people together?

(indistinct talking) - It's really cool because we have women from all over the world here.

(indistinct talking) -[Mike] Like Refinery program graduates from Mexico and Iraq.

(gentle music) All told, graduates from about 20 countries.

(gentle music) Many sell their products in a store also run by these women.

(gentle music) How does it make you feel about this thing you created to see all this?

(gentle music) (indistinct talking) - Well, it makes me emotional to think about it because I never thought I could have done this five years ago.

(indistinct talking) And the reason it's great is because the women that we work with are phenomenal.

(gentle music) -[Kelly] Who I am today is just an amalgamation of all the women that I've been with, because they push me every day to be the type of person that is worthy of mentoring them and coaching them.

(upbeat music) (swoosh) (gentle music) -[Darian] To our graduates.

(gentle music) Please keep dreaming.

(gentle music) -[Mike] After four months, five new graduates of this unique program.

(gentle music) -[Hser] The Refinery has taught me how to be brave and to be creative.

(gentle music) -[Susan] When I think about the future of my business, I feel a mix of excitement and nervous.

(gentle music) -[Darian] Other places are teaching entrepreneurship.

Other places are focusing on women, but no one has what we have, and no one is seeing the success rates that we're seeing.

(gentle music) -[Rainia] I have learned through determination and commitment, I can grow bigger and stronger.

(gentle music) -[Kelly] I believe we're unique in the nation.

I would really love to find someone else who's doing it just like we are, but I haven't yet.

(gentle music) -[Mike] Kelly hopes to eventually travel the nation to help others start similar programs.

One reason (gentle music) building a community of entrepreneurs like this has value for a local economy.

ECHO believes its grads add more than $1 million to Lincoln's economy yearly.

(gentle music) -[Ayat] And the fear of what if I fail is always there.

But now I also feel confident and prepared because I understand my strength, my values, and the resources I have around me.

(gentle music) (clapping) -[Mike] For these women, once strangers to Nebraska, they're gaining economic independence and more.

(gentle music) -[Mo] I learned that I have a dream that has purpose, and I have the strength and determination (gentle music) to make it happen.

(gentle music) (clapping) (upbeat music) - That's all for this episode of What If.

It's been so much fun showcasing amazing entrepreneurs like Ainy, who came to Nebraska from other places and are making a difference.

(upbeat music) Want to check out all the cool stuff we've created?

It's all on nebraskapublicmedia.org/whatIf Our YouTube channel or social media at #WhatIfNebraska (upbeat music) All right.

See you later.

We found lots of good food and other stuff for these stories.

So time to eat.

- Thank you.

Bye.

(upbeat music) (bridge keeper floundering) (upbeat music) -[Emily] Yeah, that's mine now.

-[Parent] No.

(laughing) (upbeat music) - Skills.

(upbeat music) -[Mike] This is the greatest thing I've ever seen.

(wind gusting) -[Bridge Keeper] Pierced my skin.

(laughing) Tis but a flesh wound.

(laughing) (wind gusting) (upbeat music) (wind gusting) -[Ryan] I got a lot of hair in my mouth.

(laughing) -[Emily] It's a regular day at the office.

(upbeat music) - Just trying to make my family proud.

(upbeat music) -[Bridge Keeper] What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen?

Come on.

(car alarm going off) (laughing) (upbeat music)