At nine years old, Yonas Hagos arrived in America after spending part of his childhood in a refugee camp in Sudan. He spoke little English and entered a life that was dramatically different from the one his family had known. In Illinois, Hagos and his four siblings shared a small two-bedroom apartment with their parents, who worked whatever jobs they could find to support the family. As a teenager, he began working in fast food and taking on odd jobs to earn money. Years later, the attacks of September 11 changed the direction of his life. Hagos enlisted in the US Army in 2002 and eventually served in Iraq, where he was critically wounded by a rocket-propelled grenade. He survived, recovered and received the Purple Heart. After leaving the military, he pursued another childhood ambition, becoming a business owner, eventually building a multi-brand franchise operation that included Arby’s.
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