Masters of The Turnaround: Author Neri Karra Sillaman On How To Turn Crisis Into Success

Reframe what failure and rejection means.
I’ve learned that failure is rarely the end of the road — it’s just information. It tells you something wasn’t the right fit, or that there’s another, better way forward. When I was told that my original book proposal wasn’t going to work, I could have let that stop me. Instead, I looked at the feedback, pivoted my focus to immigrant entrepreneurs, and within a month, I had a book deal. What initially felt like rejection was actually redirection toward something even stronger.

As part of my series about prominent entrepreneurs and executives that overcame adversity to achieve great success”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Neri Karra Sillaman.

Neri Karra Sillaman, PhD, is an advisor, speaker, and author of Pioneers: 8 Principles of Business Longevity from Immigrant Entrepreneurs. She was named to the Thinkers50 Radar List for 2024 and is an Adjunct Professor and Entrepreneurship Expert at the University of Oxford. She is also the founder of Neri Karra, a global luxury leather goods business that has been manufacturing for leading Italian labels for over 25 years.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us the “backstory” about what brought you to this specific career path?

My pleasure! It’s quite a long and complicated story, but I’ll start from the beginning.

I was born in Bulgaria to a Turkish ethnic minority, and in 1989, when I was 11 years old, I became a refugee. My family fled Bulgaria with only two suitcases, seeking a better life. We spent time in a refugee camp and then lived in a rundown neighborhood in Istanbul. That experience of being an outsider — of having to start from nothing — shaped how I see the world. From an early age, I understood that opportunity is something you build, not something you’re given.

For me, education was that opportunity. I came to the U.S. on financial aid to study Business and Management at the University of Miami, graduating in 1999. Around the same time, my family and I started our business, Neri Karra, which has now been manufacturing for leading Italian fashion labels for over 25 years. But I still wanted to understand the deeper forces shaping business success, so I pursued a PhD at the University of Cambridge, where my research focused on born global firms and ethnic entrepreneurship — how immigrants build businesses that scale beyond borders. That research set the foundation for my academic career, where I’ve worked at institutions such as LSE, Imperial College London, London College of Fashion, and IESEG School of Management. Today, I serve as an Entrepreneurship Expert at the University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School.

Most recently, I wrote Pioneers: 8 Principles of Business Longevity from Immigrant Entrepreneurs (Wiley, 2025). The book is based on years of research and interviews with founders of companies, from tea to tech, like Chobani, Numi Tea, PayPal, Noom, Dominique Ansel, Udemy, Duolingo, Noom, and WhatsApp, among others. The book looks at what makes immigrant entrepreneurs build businesses that last for generations. What I’ve found is that the most successful businesses are impact-driven — meaning they’re not just about profit, but about creating something meaningful, something built to last.

My journey — from refugee to entrepreneur, from academic to author — has always been about turning constraints into opportunities. And that’s exactly what I help others do now, whether through my research, my work with entrepreneurs, or the businesses I advise.

Can you share your story of when you were on the brink of failure? First, take us back to what it was like during the darkest days.

I wouldn’t say I’ve ever seen myself as being on the brink of failure — at least not in the way most people think about it. But I’ve certainly had moments that were challenging, times when things didn’t go as planned, when doors closed, and when I had to find another way forward. It’s not a recent one, but after we were refugees in Turkey, and I was determined to get a good education and go to university, I actually failed the university exam I had worked so hard for. Everything looked good on paper: I did not even have a grade as low as an A- during high school, all my prep-test results were high, and it looked like a sure thing I would get into my dream school. Yet when the results came, I had failed. After the initial shock and disappointment, my immediate thought is to look for a solution, what’s next, and what’s the next thing that I can do that is within my control, and I focused on that.

What was your mindset during such a challenging time? Where did you get the drive to keep going when things were so hard?

I think I look for a solution, a different way out, instead of fixating on why something did not work out, or didn’t go the way it was supposed to go. Over the years, and when I look back, I have come to realize that there is a goodness hiding in every so-called failure. I wouldn’t even call it a lesson, but it is goodness. There is a reason why something doesn’t go the way you planned it to go, and ultimately it leads you to a better solution or outcome.

Can you please tell us how you were able to overcome such adversity and achieve success? What did the next chapter look like?

I don’t think overcoming adversity is ever about one big moment — it’s a series of choices, a mindset, and an ability to move forward even when things don’t go as expected. I’ve always believed that setbacks are redirections, and instead of getting stuck in disappointment, I focus on what I can do next.

I don’t dwell too much on what went wrong; I look for the next step that’s within my control. That has shaped how I approach challenges in business, in academia, and in life. There have been times when I was told “no,” when things didn’t happen as I had envisioned, or when doors closed — but I don’t see those as reasons to stop. If anything, they push me to ask, “Where is the opportunity in this?” I don’t see adversity as something to simply overcome, but as something that often clears the path for something better.

The next chapter is always a result of those small, consistent choices — to trust, to keep going, and to stay open to different possibilities.

Based on your experience, can you share five actionable pieces of advice about how to develop the mindset needed to persevere through adversity?

1. Reframe what failure and rejection means.
   I’ve learned that failure is rarely the end of the road — it’s just information. It tells you something wasn’t the right fit, or that there’s another, better way forward. When I was told that my original book proposal wasn’t going to work, I could have let that stop me. Instead, I looked at the feedback, pivoted my focus to immigrant entrepreneurs, and within a month, I had a book deal. What initially felt like rejection was actually redirection toward something even stronger.
2. No is the beginning of the conversation.
   One of the most successful entrepreneurs I interviewed for Pioneers told me, “The second I hear ‘no,’ I know I’m in.” It stuck with me because so often, people see ‘no’ as the end of the road, when really, it’s just the start of negotiation. I’ve had to remind myself of this again and again, whether it was pitching an idea to a publisher, building my business, or applying for opportunities. The key is to not take rejection personally. Instead, use it as a chance to refine your approach, gather information, and try again.
3. Have a clear vision.
   When things get difficult, you need something bigger than the moment to hold onto. I always ask myself: Why am I doing this? What is the bigger purpose? Whether it’s writing, entrepreneurship, or mentoring others, I know what drives me, and that clarity helps me push through setbacks. I remember when I started our family business, there were moments of uncertainty, but I kept going because I had a clear sense of what I wanted to build — not just a company, but something lasting, something with meaning.
4. Look for the helpers.
   No one succeeds alone. I’ve always been intentional about surrounding myself with people who support and inspire me. When I was first building my business, I sought out mentors who had walked similar paths. When I was writing Pioneers, I reached out to other authors for guidance. There’s always someone who has been where you are, and finding those people — whether mentors, friends, or colleagues — can make all the difference in staying resilient.
5. Allow space and serendipity in your life. Don’t be too rigid in your thinking about how things will go.
   Some of the best opportunities in my life have come when I was open to the unexpected. If I had insisted on rigidly following the plan I had in my twenties, I wouldn’t have ended up in academia, I wouldn’t have written my book, and I wouldn’t be where I am today. I always say: Have a vision, but don’t cling to one specific path to get there. Leave room for detours, because sometimes the unexpected path is the right one.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

Absolutely. I always say that, and I never look at my success as something I did by myself. Instead, it is always thanks to the ‘helpers’ along the way who believed in me, and cheered me on, when I doubted myself. When I first got to US, at the University of Miami, I very much felt like an outsider and that I was going to fail all my courses. So, I worked very hard and very diligently. My first exam was English 101 class, and we had to write an essay, and the day when the results are announced, the teacher asked if she could see me after class. I thought I failed, this was it, and she instead said to me I did such a good job on my essay. This to me is someone who helped me to get to where I am.

In addition to the countless role models I have had along the way, and continue to have today, I am very lucky to have a husband who supports me in everything I do. He is my biggest supporter and is there when I doubt myself to cheer me on to keep going, but also helps me see things from a kinder perspective. It is important to have people in our lives who are kind and supportive.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

Yes, my book Pioneers is something I am deeply excited about because it’s not just a book — it’s a framework for thinking differently about business, longevity, and impact. I wrote it to challenge the myths around success and entrepreneurship, and to show that the principles behind building businesses that last aren’t just about strategy or luck, but about mindset, adaptability, and resilience.

Beyond the book itself, I am also working on ways to bring its lessons to life — through workshops, speaking engagements, and collaborations that help entrepreneurs, leaders, and even larger organizations rethink how they approach growth and sustainability.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

Kindness. In my book, I reveal eight principles that I have learned from researching immigrant entrepreneurs, and while kindness is not listed as one of the principles, it is the common denominator. It’s the glue that holds them all together.

If I could inspire a movement, it would be one that encourages people — especially in business and leadership — to lead with kindness. Not kindness in the soft, passive sense, but kindness as a strategic strength. The kind of kindness that fosters trust, builds long-term relationships, and creates businesses that don’t just survive, but thrive.

I have seen time and again in my research that the entrepreneurs who build lasting businesses aren’t just the most strategic or the most aggressive. They are the ones who treat people well — who build trust with their employees, their customers, and their suppliers. They create networks of support, not just transactions. They invest in relationships, not just profits.

In a world that often celebrates cutthroat ambition, I want to challenge that narrative. What if success wasn’t measured by how much you take, but by how much you contribute? What if business decisions were guided by long-term impact rather than short-term gain? What if kindness wasn’t seen as weakness, but as the most powerful tool for building something that lasts?

That is the movement I would want to inspire — one where kindness is recognized as a force for innovation, resilience, and true success. Because when you build with kindness, you don’t just create a business. You create a legacy.

Any parting words of wisdom that you would like to share?

I would say this: trust your path, even when it doesn’t make sense in the moment. The setbacks, the delays, the detours — they are all part of it. Sometimes, what looks like rejection is actually redirection toward something better.

Keep going, but stay open. Be persistent, but also be adaptable. And most importantly, surround yourself with people who lift you up, who remind you of who you are when you forget, and who push you forward when you doubt yourself.

Success to me is about having the courage to keep building — even when the outcome isn’t immediately clear.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

I mainly use Instagram, and LinkedIn. For IG: https://www.instagram.com/prof.neri

For Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neri-karra-sillaman/

Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational.

Thank you for inviting me!