The Tie Guy

Meet the best friend of the Senior Elder Missionaries, Emmanuel, “The Tie Guy”! If you are lucky, you have had an opportunity to attend a “tie party” and have heard his self-reliance story, felt his spirit, and maybe taken home a few ties for yourself or family. If not, put it on your to-do list before you leave the AWA. 

Emmanuel loves to tell how his business started one day when his bishop noticed the Kente tie he wore to church and requested one for himself.

Emmanuel got to work making a tie for his bishop and succeeded after several failed attempts. A young missionary noticed the bishop’s new tie and wanted one like it. He soon wore his tie to Zone Conference, and as they say, “the rest is history.” His business has grown since that time, but not without setbacks. Last year a flooding incident damaged his place of business and inventory, but that problem only slowed him down temporarily. His four employees now work in his apartment. Working alone they each could make only ten ties per day, but Emmanuel and his wife have improved the production line technique to complete as many as one hundred each day. That keeps the Kente weavers in the area busy to provide the fabric. 

This year, Emmanuel became aware of a two-month opportunity in Kenya, presenting the history of Kente ties and his success story to Humanitarian FSY groups. Off he went with high hopes and seven hundred ties. The youth were enthralled and within a short time, his supply was depleted and his wife sent him additional inventory. 

His story is one of perseverance, imagination, and commitment to the principles of self-residence that are providing for his family and others in the community, not to mention all the missionaries who wear his signature products.