By ZAARA MALIK
Farooq Kathwari is the CEO and president of Ethan Allen Interiors, Inc., one of the largest furniture retailers in the United States. Mr. Kathwari immigrated from the valleys of Kashmir to the U.S. at the age of 19, driven by an eagerness to work hard and live out his passions. This began his journey of becoming the skilled businessman he is today while continuing his political advocacy work regarding Kashmiri self-determination.
In his autobiography published in 2019, Trailblazer: From the Mountains of Kashmir to the Summit of Global Business and Beyond, Mr.Kathwari dives deep into finding himself as a newly immigrated American learning to find his niche in both the business world and real world.
As a part of his journey, Mr.Kathwari has kept close to his roots and has worked in political advocacy for Kashmiris, who have been fighting for the right to self determination from India and Pakistan as both occupy their land. Along his journey he’s met with numerous high profile political Kashmiri leaders in order to help create progress towards self determination.
I sat down with Mr.Kathwari to learn more about his life story and his advice for aspiring entrepreneurs.
Growing Up
When you were a political science and literature student at Kashmir University, what did you think you were going to become? Did you always know you wanted to go into business?
No. When I was studying, I was basically thinking of my next cricket match. So I had no idea what I was going to do in the long run.
How did you incorporate your love of cricket and your passion for business into who you are now?
Cricket taught a lot of important leadership principles and even the practice of how to manage things. First thing we said was, if you are not playing, you are practicing defense. Your main job, especially as a captain, is to help your team become better. Those were the principles that cricket taught me, which of course later on had a meaning in my life with everything I have done.
Mr.Kathwari’s passion for business initially came from his families long standing role in the artisan business in Kashmir.
Photograph courtesy of Zfilms
Immigrating to America
How did you build your way up from a Kashmiri teenage immigrant to the leader of a successful international company?
Overall, throughout my journey, it’s amazing how many people helped me. However, you have to be innovative. You have to take a lot of risks. As I said in my book, without telling my family I decided to travel to America with no papers. Lots of people helped me–some who I knew, some who I did not know. You also have to be yourself, be innovative and hardworking. You have to take initiatives and take risks. You know, some of the risks I took would be crazy to even think about today but fortunately it worked.
How did you learn to embrace your new status in America when you first arrived?
I looked around and I saw there were regular people going to work. And I said, you know, “There’s no problem.” I’m one of them. So, I told myself, “This is my home and I’m an American.”
I made that decision myself just in the first week.
Mr.Kathwari attended NYU Stern School of Business where he recieved his Master’s of Business Administration .
Photograph courtesy of Zfilms
Political Activism
In your book, you discuss working with Kashmiri political leaders such as Shabbir Shah, Sajjad Lone and Syead Ali Shah Geelani. Why is that important to you?
My family has a background of being involved. In fact, my grandfather and a number of others had started a group called the Kashmir Reading Room in the 1930s, so working with leaders was part of my heritage.
In your book you mention using marketing in order to develop your own group, the Kashmir Study Group. What are some other business skills you’ve been able to transfer from your advocacy work?
In the business world we continuously think about strategic objectives and also how we develop a team. After you develop a team your next step is to become established, and just like an enterprise you have to become known and be organized.
Advice for the Next Generation
How do you encourage young entrepreneurs to trust their intuition the way you did when it came to transitioning from your job on Wall Street to starting a joint venture with Ethan Allen?
I was scared, and being scared was not a good enough reason not to go for it, which is why I decided I’m going to do it, and I did.
What advice would you give future businessmen and businesswomen?
Do everything with passion. Don’t wait for something to come up. Somehow when you go to get at something big, some big job… do it as if that’s the only job you have, and work hard. I believe that.
Determination hard work and being positive always pays
Zaara, excellent article on an inspiring businessman, Farooq Kathwari. I love how he learned leadership skills through playing cricket and is giving all of us courage to take risks. If we all follow our dreams to go good, goodness will surely follow, as it has for him. Mr. Kathwari mentions he was helped by others and he is following that example of goodness by helping others in Kashmir and around the world with his work for refugees. Thank you for writing this.