Zed Wondemu

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Welcome back, everyone, to the Tron podcast, the Randomness of Nothing. This is your host, Rashad Woods. Today I have a very special guest today, the definition of American success story from Ethiopia, Ms. Zed Wandamu. Thank you very much. [00:00:12] Speaker B: Thank you. Thank you for inviting me. [00:00:14] Speaker A: Yeah. And it's an honor to have someone with your compelling story on here and your background is obviously very compelling and you're living, breathing embodiment of the American dream. So please tell me a little bit about yourself. [00:00:24] Speaker B: Okay. My name is Zed Wandumu. I have been in this country for 55 years plus. I came when, when I was young. I came for education. I finished 11th and 12th grade in this country and of course, you know, I went to college and, you know, I paid my dues. And after working for a private company and also for different universities, I opened a restaurant in Georgetown. And that's where after 23 years of my service and contribution to the system, and I was surprised. [00:01:01] Speaker A: Yeah, I, you know, I'll never blindside anybody. Obviously, you talked about that in your book of the situation that occurred. So from the very beginning, what compelled you to come to America? Right. So, like, you know, here you are. Like, was it a family? What ultimately drove you to, to really take that leap of faith? [00:01:19] Speaker B: Yeah, back then, you know, I came here in 1969 in Ethiopia. US, we follow our friends. My friend came, went to England for education. So it was kind of style, you can say, or status symbol for some people, for some family members to send their kids to another country, to European country, or to America for education. [00:01:46] Speaker A: Got it, got it. So, you know, it's. I mean, I was born in America, so. Right. We look at, you know, sometimes we don't see the glitz and glamour of what other places could see about that particular perspective. So you come over in 1969 and then. So did you go straight to Virginia from there? [00:02:01] Speaker B: Yeah, I came in 1969 from England. I left early to go to England and I didn't like England. I stayed in England for six months. Education. And I found a friend of mine, found me an American family here in Seabrook, Maryland, and I stayed with them and went to a high school. [00:02:21] Speaker A: Wow. So, I mean, you. You came over to. To stay with another family, like, so it was that. That's incredible. So how did that navigate that particular avenue at your life? Because, I mean, I. I didn't grow up with anybody but my parents. So here you go. Hop two countries and then you're staying with another family. Was there language, cultural barriers or anything? Like that. [00:02:39] Speaker B: Not a whole lot. I spoke English before I came to this country, even though I wasn't perfect, but I tried. [00:02:47] Speaker A: Right. [00:02:48] Speaker B: So the, the. They were the family members. You know, I was just paying $40 a month to rent a basement from them and go to school. But they, they were very nice people, and I didn't have any problems. I really enjoyed my experience with the American family. [00:03:08] Speaker A: Nice, nice. So after you graduate from high school and you come over in 11th and 12th grade, so that's a very small window to really get a chance to meet people, integrate yourself, and then go straight to college. Right. You know, you hear stories about people come over, small children that are more integrated inside of, you know, either an educational system or a neighborhood. So you come over 16, 17, you know, 18 years old. So you quickly have to go to university after that. So how did that. How did that transpire for you? [00:03:31] Speaker B: Well, after. Upon graduation from the high school and my counselor decided I didn't know much about different universities and colleges. I wasn't exposed since I was coming from another country. But the counselor of the high school decided to pick Buoy State University. State College. [00:03:50] Speaker A: Okay. [00:03:52] Speaker B: This was college back then. [00:03:53] Speaker A: Right. [00:03:54] Speaker B: So he chose that college for me, and I just went there. And I'm glad he. I'm glad it was a good choice. [00:04:01] Speaker A: Right, right. In my experience, because I went to. I went to college. I went to Michigan State University. What I found out when I was on campus, obviously, like, you're kind of insulated from the rest of the world. Like, life goes on outside of a college campus while you're really on. On it. So you're on college campus, and this is. You just came over to America previously, just a few years ago. What, what did you study? What courses did you familiarize yourself with, and what was it like suddenly being thrust into that environment? [00:04:26] Speaker B: Well, the counselors and everybody, the teachers, they were very, very nice they. Towards foreign students back then. And we really didn't have any problems. They're very helpful. They helped us to adjust. Of course, I started. I was planning to study pharmacy. That was my plan. But I decided to change my major to social work and psychology for my undergrad. [00:04:54] Speaker A: Okay, fantastic. And so did you go into that field right away post graduation, or did you do another field of work while you were still trying to get into that? [00:05:02] Speaker B: No, I. I finished my college and I got my BS degree in psychology and social work. Right then I was planning to go back to Ethiopia. That was the plan, because I came here as a student with F1 visa. It wasn't my intention to stay here after my education, but the government in Ethiopia changed from. It was a socialist and communist military type of government. Because of that change, it was very hard for me to go back because I was educated here in American system, from capitalist system, and I stayed here. [00:05:47] Speaker A: I read about that in your, in your, in your excerpt that the country changed while you're on American soil. So that had to have been, you know, a very, very, you know, I can only imagine what it must have been like. You're over here and then you're hearing about that. How did you. How does that message get resonated from overseas to you? Were you hearing from family members? Messages resonate quickly, obviously, with the digital era we live in now. But how did you get that information in real time that that was all taking place? [00:06:10] Speaker B: Yeah, well, you know, I was ready to go back and I packed my luggage. I had two, three luggages packed, ready to go, and I had to call home to get airplane tickets in order to go back. So when I was talking to them, they told me, oh, no, no, the country is not in a good shape, so just wait for a few weeks. And then I waited for a few weeks and I called back and my mother told me, don't even, don't even think about it. [00:06:37] Speaker A: Oh, my goodness. Yeah. So a week turns into months, months turns into years, and next thing you know, yeah, you're here. You're here the rest of your. Your life. It's, you know, I just was curious about that because I'm like, it's not like it would necessarily be on the nightly news, so to speak. Right. So. [00:06:51] Speaker B: Exactly, exactly. That's exactly what happened. [00:06:54] Speaker A: Oh, my goodness. That's a heck of a phone call to take, too, by the way. That's. That's. That's a lot to stomach. So obviously we're going to talk about your book, but, I mean, it's not often I get a chance to talk to somebody who came from Ethiopia, went to England, came to the States. So I want to fill in the gaps a little bit of what you did in between then. So it's your story, not mine. What happened after you're in social work and post graduation? [00:07:15] Speaker B: Well, since I didn't go back home, now I'm stranded. I don't get money from Ethiopia anymore, and I don't have a work permit because I was on student visa. So I had to go back to the university president, Dr. Samuel Myers. And I just went to his office and I told him I'm Stranded and I don't know what to do. I need a job. And he used to work for State Department. He was very much aware of the political environment for Africa and Ethiopia back then. So he was very, very understanding. And he decided to give me a job. [00:07:53] Speaker A: See what happens when you just ask in life, Right? You know what I mean? [00:07:56] Speaker B: He told me to come back after a while. He didn't give me the job. Right. [00:07:59] Speaker A: Okay. Okay. [00:08:00] Speaker B: He told me to come back after one month. [00:08:03] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:08:03] Speaker B: I went back after one month. Sure enough, he created a job for. [00:08:07] Speaker A: Me, you know, beautiful. [00:08:08] Speaker B: It wasn't even a position. He created one for me, and I'm grateful. And then because of. Because of that, I. That gave me a chance, since I was working for the president office, give me a chance to go to graduate school. I'm lucky. [00:08:23] Speaker A: Yeah. I mean, you know, I mean, because just to make that up, like, here you are, you know, having all these events that are taking plaque home, you know, and you're like, I got one or two options here. I can either, you know, dwell on my own sadness, or I can take a chance at the place that I'm already at. So, you know, and you're by yourself while doing that, not having anybody advocating for you as well. So, you know, there's a lot of things that, you know, it took a lot of. A lot of pride and a lot of self reflection be able to take that, take that request. Not a lot of people would do that, you know, so. [00:08:49] Speaker B: Right. [00:08:49] Speaker A: Very proud of you. And how did you get ultimately into, you know, the restaurant industry? You know, when I. When I looked you up, you know, I saw you met a lot of prominent people. I'm looking through the chapters of your book and I'm like, you know, the pictures you took with people and the experiences that you had. And then we could talk about your book obviously, as well, too. [00:09:04] Speaker B: Okay. Well, after working for the president for Buoy State University, kind of completed his assignment, so I had to be transferred to the library, you know, the Bowie State University library. So I worked there for two. Two years. But I was kind of tired of that, so I decided to find a job with a private company. I did. And I was working for a private company after that. You know, I was kind of. I was ambitious and. And also restless. I was young and ambitious and restless. [00:09:43] Speaker A: Right. [00:09:43] Speaker B: I. While I was working for the Great West Life Insurance Company, I. I decided to open small gift shops on the side. [00:09:54] Speaker A: Okay. [00:09:54] Speaker B: And then after that, you know, I. This chance came from a friend of mine to open A restaurant together. So that's what, that's what I did. [00:10:03] Speaker A: I opened the restaurant and it's, that's fantastic. And so I, you know, let's talk about the restaurant industry. You know, that you ran. Was it, you know, Ethiopian food? What was the, what was the clientele based life and how was the experience of running that restaurant? [00:10:17] Speaker B: Well, you know, and I opened the restaurant in 1988 and Ethiopian Food back then wasn't really popular. Nobody knew, not a whole lot, you know. [00:10:27] Speaker A: Right, right. [00:10:28] Speaker B: So the first thing I had to do was I was struggling to introduce, to educate the environment. And I was in Georgetown also. You know, it's a very tough, tough area. And that took me along, but I was determined to do it. I, you know, I was doing a lot of advertisement also. I had to do a lot of education, I had to educate a lot of people. And also I had association with Georgetown University and George Washington University. [00:10:59] Speaker A: Yes. Helped Fantastic. [00:11:01] Speaker B: For the first three years. [00:11:03] Speaker A: Well, you know, it's because, you know, we look at things, you know, obviously where the restaurant industry is already tough enough as it is because it's competitive and very few of them, you know, succeed long term. And so one of the things is that when you have a market as specialty as that, eventually when you get your, those foot in the door and people are starting to, you get an established clientele base and they're experiencing food that they haven't had a chance to before now you have some momentum where, you know, there's more people that are coming in who haven't experienced this. How is your staff? What was the clientele base life and how, how did that go about? [00:11:34] Speaker B: As I stated, it was difficult for the first three years I was really struggling and I had to, I was planning to do it on the side while I was working for Great Westlife, but that was impossible. And I didn't have a restaurant experience, so I had to start everything from scratch. I had to train the waitresses and the hostess. [00:11:57] Speaker A: Well, without previous experience too. That's. [00:12:00] Speaker B: Yeah. Since I was, you know, my, my degree in graduate school was education, so I was kind of trained to educate people. So I kind of trained my staff very well. And that's how I started. I started everything from scratch. [00:12:16] Speaker A: You can say I was waiting. [00:12:18] Speaker B: The marketing, the promotion, training my staff members and training myself. [00:12:25] Speaker A: I was waiting for the part where you actually like, had restaurant experience before you started a restaurant. Because I was like, okay, well, clearly she must have had that to be able to because that, you know, most people do in order to actually be able to do something like that. So the fact that you did, man, that's, that's amazing. That's absolutely amazing. [00:12:40] Speaker B: Yeah, I don't have any experience, unfortunately. [00:12:44] Speaker A: So what inspired you to write the book? You have a lot of details about your life in there. You talk about your late husband, you talk about, you know, what you went through, as in your immigrant experience. I'm only getting the surface level of what you went through. And so how did you actually. What inspired you to write the book and what trials did you have to go through that inspired you to write it? Slaying it justice. [00:13:04] Speaker B: Yeah. To make the long story short, as I, they said I was working in the restaurant business for a long time, close to when this happened, close to 21 or 22 years, something like that. And all of a sudden they were claiming they are from IRS and they came to my house and they decided to raid my house. And also they decided to raid the restaurant at the same time. And I, I was expecting, like, even if it is a IRS issue, I was expecting to be, to be audited, you know. And because of that they put me through hell, you can say. And I was investigated for five years, as you read in the book. To make the long story short, they came up for four years error or whatever. They decided to claim it after five years investigation. They came up with $50,000 in four years. So the punishment or the investigation and the injustice really doesn't match with the, with the amount of money they even found when it, when they looked under microscope, you know. [00:14:16] Speaker A: Right, right, right. [00:14:17] Speaker B: Naturally, you know, when they investigate, they look at you through a microscope. [00:14:22] Speaker A: Oh, for sure. [00:14:23] Speaker B: Even after looking through the microscope, in four years time, they came up with $50,000. Even the judge was really surprised as you read it in the book. [00:14:34] Speaker A: Yeah, I saw that. [00:14:35] Speaker B: I saw them to investigating me for five years in order in order to come up with $50,000, you know, what. [00:14:42] Speaker A: Was, you know, I don't obviously haven't had that type of experience, but the stress of that, you know, to be able to navigate that and you know, you read things sometimes on the Internet, but you get a chance to talk to people too. So when you see that, what's the, how does the reality of what you went through not necessarily match or not match what actually really took place Place? Because a narrative can be, can be given about, oh, this person, you know, either pleaded guilty, but then you talk about, you know, hey, I didn't have proper representation and the person was just basically say plea right? Away. Plea. Right away. Right. So how does the. The narrative not match the reality, so to speak, of a situation like that? I want to be very sensitive to what you went through. [00:15:22] Speaker B: Yeah, it was a big trauma psychologically. It affected me for a long time. In addition to that, because of the stress, I had a stroke. And when I was going to the courtroom, I was using a cane because of my stroke. So my thinking pattern wasn't really as good as before. [00:15:41] Speaker A: Right. [00:15:41] Speaker B: So because of that, my health stress and financial stress, and I lost my husband in 2012, and I had all this personal issues, health issues. It was a big trauma. And I didn't expect. In America, I didn't expect this kind of. Because I claimed to be. I worked hard and I was working since I was 19 years old. And I went to school, I paid my dues. You know, I had a very expensive accountant all these years. [00:16:14] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:16:14] Speaker B: Even if they, if they had issues with me, they would have audited me, you know. [00:16:19] Speaker A: Right. [00:16:19] Speaker B: I don't have to go through. I'm not, I'm not a Microsoft, I'm not IBM. I'm not a big company. [00:16:26] Speaker A: Right. [00:16:26] Speaker B: For them to go to investigate for five years, really, honestly, it wasn't fair. [00:16:31] Speaker A: Yeah. And so, you know, and that's. That's kind of one of those ones where, you know, all I saw was what I saw. And I wanted to, you know, that was. And it's your story to tell, not mine. So it was very important to be able to hear that from you. Because when I was reading some of the excerpts in there, you know, oftentimes people are. I mean, the federal government is the federal government. I mean, it's a beast of a. You know, and it's not something you want to be in the crosshairs of when it comes time to defend yourself in any level of anything. Right. So how are you doing post that? How did you get through that? And after that you wrote a book because your story is so unique when it comes to, you know, African immigrant, came here, did a restaurant, became successful, a little, no money, and. And ultimately still persevered on the other side. [00:17:13] Speaker B: Well, I can't say, you know, I am. I believe in God, I have faith. And while I was going through that, I depended with. I really, you know, I was praying every day and I was kind of, kind of protected, I can say, defended by God, even though I didn't have a real defense. So I can't say. You know, the bottom line is I can't say, you know, I really got the energy the protection I can say from, from my faith, from my God. [00:17:46] Speaker A: That's beautiful. That's beautiful. You know, you talk deeply, obviously, about the immigrant experience. Like, how is that different now from what people. Like, my wife's from Canada, so we had to, I mean, just from across the water. So, like, just to be able to go through that took a, you know, 12 to 16 months. What was the process like back then, getting processed, you know, immigration wise? Like, what process did people have to go through back in 1969? 7. [00:18:11] Speaker B: America was a good country. It still is, but absolutely with whatever difficulties we have now, as a student with a student visa, I don't have any, Any problems. It was a, it was a good experience. I mean, people treated us as a, as a human being. You know, of course, here and there, you, you know, you get, you see that discrimination, but we didn't care. I mean, I didn't care about it until it comes boldly. [00:18:37] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. I mean, well, you know, the beauty, like, when you say, you know, it's, you know, we're a great country. I mean, the living proof is like this podcast of mine, right? So I never got a chance to experience people such as yourself until I did something like this. And then you read documentaries about places where people can't even do what we're doing right now. I mean, you know, watch. Excuse me, watch documentaries. You know, you look at places like, like North Korea, right? And you're like, you're like, you got. It doesn't even seem real. Like, you can't even begin to fathom. Like, you know, when they're hungry, these people go hungry. They have to eat tree bark or they have to eat dirt. And then you see people who actually made it out of there, and then you see images that they have to do a dollar worship of the people that, that run the country. And you're just like, this can't be real. This just can't be real. And so anything that could be, that could be improved upon is still better than a lot of places. Right. And so, you know, and so you talked about the judge, specifically in your book, and the sympathetic judge that had before you. And I'm very glad that you are obviously here to talk about your experience. What was that experience like, particularly with a judge? Because I have to imagine that was your first experience in the legal system in that regard. [00:19:41] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. After, you know, five years of struggle and stress, emotional crisis and trauma and physical and mental sickness, really, honestly. But the judge was really. I found her to be very fair. She didn't even want me to say guilty. She gave me a chance to reverse that, but I was warned by the lawyer not to say that, not to sound wishy washy, to proceed with the original plan. So I was so scared not to say I'm not guilty, which I wasn't guilty, honestly. At the same time, I decided to get rid of them by saying, by negotiating with them, by doing plea bargain, I thought they are going to go away from my life because it was a very difficult situation. So even though I didn't win in a regular sense because of the fact that she understood me in the courtroom, she really felt it. I thought, you know, I, I thought when I left the courtroom, I thought I want. In reality, I didn't. [00:20:47] Speaker A: But it was something you could put behind you at least. Right. So if you put a silver lining to a situation like that. And again, you know, I read about it and I knew that you talked about it in your book, but I've had other guests on here who have had things that happened in the past and I never like to bombard people. I'm. This is not the got you show where suddenly I'm gonna bring that up on you because that's, that's disingenuous and that's unfair. So the fact that you brought that up and you're open to talk about it, I appreciate that because that's not what I do on this show. That's not fair to somebody to put somebody on there and put them on the spot about something like that. [00:21:19] Speaker B: So thank you. [00:21:20] Speaker A: Of course. Of course. And so what are you doing right now? How did. It's, you know, that's, that's a couple years past you. So where are you at now? [00:21:26] Speaker B: I work as a consultant. [00:21:28] Speaker A: Okay. [00:21:29] Speaker B: And I do volunteer work for non profit organizations and I help, I help people, people who try to start businesses, small businesses. [00:21:39] Speaker A: Nice. [00:21:40] Speaker B: And I go to church and I read. Yeah. I write. [00:21:44] Speaker A: Do you, do you find more like, and I say this respectfully. Are there more immigrants that are reaching out to you, trying to start businesses or people born in the States? Like, what gravitates more towards. Okay, okay. [00:21:54] Speaker B: Both. [00:21:55] Speaker A: Nice. That's awesome. [00:21:57] Speaker B: I don't mind helping because people helped me while I was, you know, in this country. So I, I don't mind giving back. I enjoy helping people. [00:22:07] Speaker A: Yeah. I just didn't know that there, you know, if there was an Ethiopian community or African community, you know, that was like, okay, I'm going to gravitate towards Zed because, you know, maybe my Parents saw her, you know, as a. In a restaurant as a kid and. Or she lives in my neighborhood. And we all, you know, and I say that sensitively just because sometimes people gravitate in their own respective communities when it comes to success and reaching out and be able to help one another. So it's wonderful. You're helping everybody. [00:22:30] Speaker B: Yeah. Anybody who comes along who has helped from me, I'm happy to help. [00:22:36] Speaker A: That's. That's a fantastic. So where can we find your book? And. And I saw it on Amazon and. Tell us where people can find you now, please. [00:22:43] Speaker B: Okay. Amazon and Barnes and Nobles and Google Books, right? Yes. [00:22:49] Speaker A: This seems like a very compelling TV movie or something that I need to. It seems like a story that needs to be, like, pitched almost right. Because it's so compelling. You have, you know, you from coming from overseas to another country, you know, by yourself. It's a classic immigrant story of success, trials, tribulations, the legal system, you know, and you did this all by yourself. You know, obviously, you know, you've gotten married and everything like that, and my condolences for your loss of your husband. But it seems like. Have you ever had this, like, try to get pitched or, like, had your story told on a greater scale, or. Is the book the first step? [00:23:21] Speaker B: This is the book, believe it or not. I was silent for a long time. This incident happened in 2014. And I just finished writing the book. [00:23:31] Speaker A: Yeah, I saw that. I saw that. [00:23:33] Speaker B: And I tried, you know, not to say much, but I decided to tell my own story because I don't want to be defined by their story. [00:23:44] Speaker A: Right. [00:23:45] Speaker B: I don't want them to validate Z or define Z. And I have to. I decided to say, even though after how many years, I decided to tell my own story. Yeah. Because I have. That's the truth. [00:23:59] Speaker A: Right. And, you know, at the end of the day, when you do an Internet search, you want to sit back and say, no, this is. This is the experience of me, not what this headline or byline says about me. [00:24:09] Speaker B: Right, that's exactly right. [00:24:11] Speaker A: Of course. Of course. And so, you know, this is what the Tron podcast is all about. Like, I would normally, you know, your zip code is not reflective of the entire world. The street you drive on is not your entire world. And the reason I did this show and continue to do it is to talk to people from different walks of life experiences so people can hear messages and be inspired by others. You went through. You had some highs and some lows, but you came out on the other side and now you're here to tell your story, and I want to thank you, and I appreciate you taking time out to talk to me. [00:24:38] Speaker B: Thank you so much for your time. I really appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you. [00:24:41] Speaker A: Thank you, Zed wandamu. And I really appreciate your time on the Tron podcast, the Randomness of Nothing. Talk to you soon. Okay. [00:24:46] Speaker B: Thank you very much. I appreciate it. Thank you. Bye. Bye.