IMMIGRANT HUSTLE is a collection of fifty interviews curated by entrepreneur author Amine Rahal that share a common theme–finding the “American Dream”–but the answers are unique. Each interview starts with a short profile on the featured immigrant, then moves into a set of six questions about their experiences, business methods, favorite pieces of advice, etc. At the end of the book is a “Takeaways” section that sums up the most popular topics that have been touched upon by the fifty interviewees. One of Rahal’s goals was to collect interviews from entrepreneurs of varying ethnicities, genders, religions, and industries—and he’s succeeded, because the diversity of the interviewees really stands out. The book also promotes entrepreneurs from a wide array of countries (Jamaica, Lebanon, Iran, Brazil, Vietnam, Azerbaijan, etc.) who have built businesses in a variety of fields (real estate, jewelry, marketing, finance, health and wellness, consulting, etc.). Because of that diversity, every reader is bound to feel a spark of recognition at some point while reading. And while all of the interviewees are different, they also have something in common: none of them are afraid to take risks Even though each story comes from a fresh perspective, there are a lot of universal themes throughout. Many interviewees have battled with backgrounds steeped in tragedy, violence, and poverty. The process of overcoming adversity and turning towards a life of positivity and gratitude is highlighted throughout the collected interviews and those themes unite the pages of IMMIGRANT HUSTLE into one cohesive story.
Every interviewee in IMMIGRANT HUSTLE is asked the same questions, which gives this book a very tidy, organized structure. Unfortunately, seeing those same six questions over and over again can also make the interviews feel a little repetitive. While Rahal does a good job of collecting the bare bones of every story, he may have benefited from narrowing down its scope to twenty or thirty interviewees so that he could have pursued deeper content. As it stands, the book feels a little too form-fill for its own good.
The diversity of the participants featured in IMMIGRANT HUSTLE is exciting and captures the feelings of hope and opportunity that are at the core of America’s culture, providing an inspirational read with plenty of snippets of wisdom to glean from its pages.
~Stephani Hren for IndieReader