Henok Yeshanew was born in Ethiopia and moved to Canada with his family at a young age. The story of his early life is similar to many children of immigrant families. In his traditional household, he was encouraged to study hard, and go on to university to have a thriving career in one of three ‘acceptable’ positions, a doctor, lawyer or engineer. He decided to go the route of becoming a lawyer, but while attending university began to learn about ins and outs of entrepreneurship, immersing himself in the world of business, and becoming inspired by those who had conquered it before him. Despite his new love for entrepreneurship and business, he wanted to please his parents and make them proud, so decided to graduate and get his degree before going full pelt into the business world.
Learn Everything, Then Scale
Promptly upon graduating, Henny started his own marketing company, working in every single role, acting in the role of 5 employees in order to learn everything about the business, as he understood this to be the key to success and prospering in the business world. He did everything from sales, to client liaisons, advertising, marketing, absolutely everything under his agency. That was until he met Adam, his soon to be business partner. Henny identified that Adam had strengths where Henny did not, and together they’d make a mutually beneficial partnership.
The company Henny started in 2016 at the young age of 20 is known today as Lion Marketing, a full-service marketing firm dedicated to helping medium to large businesses achieve success and growth. Lion marketing was awarded Top Marketing Agency in Ontario in both 2018 and 2019, and has grown their team from the small but mighty team of one to employing over 9 talented individuals, all dedicated to providing consistently high service for an international clientele.
Adapt and Conquer
In recent months, Lion Marketing has shifted their attention to helping small businesses who are struggling because of the Coronavirus Pandemic navigate the new normal, adapting their brick-and-mortar businesses to the online world in order to continue to operate. Henny and his team are even offering to help strategize marketing with the small businesses, their focus being mainly on businesses from the United States due to their strict lockdown and therefore huge loss in customers. Business who opt to take part are able to get free one-on-one consultations with the Lion Marketing team, showing how keeping clients at the forefront of your business and lead with authenticity is key in times of struggle.
Henny sites one of his biggest lessons learned is having patience, which is a good reminder for us all during this time. Recent months have bought a ton of changes in the business world, and in order to succeed it might be time to re-evaluate and adjust your path, helping others whenever you can.
To follow Henny’s journey, check out his Instagram @hennyempowers