Meet Tamam

Tamam Waritu has a passion for empowering others to be the best at whatever they do. His personal story of struggle and perseverance exemplifies what it takes to overcome challenges and become successful in life, no matter what background one comes from.

Born in a tiny village in East Africa, Ethiopia, in the region of Oromia, Tamam grew up as a typical poor African child. His father left the country when he was only twelve. He dropped out of fifth grade upon his father's departure and spent nearly four years without attending school. At the age of 16, he arrived in the United States with his entire family.

Here in America, he and his eleven siblings lived in a two-bedroom, one bathroom low-income government apartment with food stamps as a main source of income. His father worked on the night shift as a dishwasher for minimum wage to support himself and the rest of the family.

After arriving in America, Tamam faced the biggest challenge of his life: Despite dropping out of fifth grade back home, not having been in a school environment for nearly four years, and not knowing a word of the English language, he was placed in 9th grade simply because he was 16 yeas old. At such an age,he was told that high school was the only appropriate place for him. It was the tallest mountain he had to climb, and he almost dropped out again.

But he overcame the barriers through hard work and persistence and went on to receive a graduate degree from Harvard University, and became CEO of a startup company.

As a motivational speaker, Tamam inspires and motivates young people to beat the odds and become successful in life. His message is simple: Don't let where you come from, or the circumstances you are in, define who and what you become in life.

Visit www.tamamspeaks.com for more information on having Tamam speak at your next high school, college, or community events.