Bridging the Education Gap — Part 2: The Entrepreneur

Griseld quickly improved his business through lessons learned in PathwayConnect

BY: Theo Smith

Griseld Merepeza worked hard to start his own business in Albania, but his attempts were limited by his lack of education and business skills. He simply lacked the basic skills of money management. He had a difficult choice to make: continue struggling with his business or look for another job. He thought additional business training or school was out of the question — too expensive for independent, small-time workers such as himself.

Griseld (bottom left) at his gathering in Tirana, Albania

This worried Griseld. “For about a year, I struggled with deciding on how to improve my situation, but I just couldn’t think of anything,” he said.

Then he heard about PathwayConnect, and he started to see a way to gain more opportunities.

“I decided to enroll in [the PathwayConnect] program with the hope of a better education and a better future,” he said.

In PathwayConnect, Griseld soon saw the usefulness of learning basic life skills like time management and budgeting. He started working hard to apply these skills to his business.

“In PathwayConnect, I learned to always keep a budget and know where my money goes. This way I knew how to do better and control my spending habits. As a business owner, you have to know every penny that comes in and goes out, and most of all, you need to make right decisions when dealing with suppliers and customers,” he said.

Griseld has seen remarkable blessings in his personal life since working hard in PathwayConnect.

“Since PathwayConnect, there are three main things that happened in my life: 1) taking my computer business to another level and being successful in my career as a salesman and entrepreneur; 2) getting married to a wonderful wife and creating our own little family; 3) learning how to become self-reliant through spiritual nourishment, physical exercise, educating myself, and keeping track of my finances.”

Griseld and his family

Griseld’s success has also left him with more time to spend with his family.

“My business in Albania has done well and has helped me spend time with my family, go to the temple, and grow together. As a husband and a father of a little boy, my main purpose is eternal life with my family. PathwayConnect has opened my eyes to which things are the most important. It has been a tool to help me, together with the Spirit, make the right decisions in my life, even though it was very hard for me in the beginning. It taught me to have a little more faith in God and do better everyday. I know that this has happened because of the small decisions I made since enrolling in PathwayConnect.”

Griseld is now pursuing a bachelor’s degree in business management with an emphasis in entrepreneurship through BYU-Idaho Online, presented and coordinated through BYU-Pathway.

How did PathwayConnect help you overcome obstacles to education or career advancement?

Don’t forget to come back for next week’s entry, “Part 3: The Lifelong Learner,” the inspiring story of a man who never made it to high school.