We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Hiruy Tirfe a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hiruy, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?
Me personally I got my work ethic form my mother and father, Yodit Tesfamicheal and Eskinder Tirfe. Both moved to America from Asmera, Eritrea in the early 90’s and adapting to an American lifestyle wasn’t easy for them at all. I remember when I was younger and having them tell me stories when they took the trolleys all around Philadelphia, leaving extremely early in the morning and returning home extremely late at night, to get to work making below minimum wage. By the time I was born, I remember my dad going back to school to gain more skills and get a better job which of course he successfully achieved. From then, both of my parents continued to thrive hard to support 4 children and even provided passive income for themselves to support the family. Seeing them up close go from almost nothing to what they have now is extremely inspiring to me and I made a vow to always carry on the family name in addition to have my parents know that their efforts and sacrifices will never go unrecognized. My work ethic stems from legacy.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
My name is Hiruy Tirfe and I am a jazz artist from Philadelphia, PA. Prior to me becoming an artists, my past work involved me being a supporting musician to a lot of artists/bands whether live on stage or in the studio recording on their albums. Artists and bands include The Roots, Patti LaBelle, Brandy, Bilal, Eric Roberson, Solange Knowles, Chill Moody, Jon L. Smith, and a plethora of others.
As of January 2024, my debut album “10,000 Hours” has been released on all platforms. This album is dedicated to the legendary Malcolm Gladwell theory of 10,000 Hours equals genius status, so musically I decided to write 15 tracks relating to that theory from the spark of an idea, and the work required to achieve goals, failure and other topics. “10,000 Hours” can be found everywhere and also you can order a physical copy off of my website www.hiruytirfe.org.
I continue to perform extensively all around America as well as internationally whether under the “Hiruy Tirfe Quartet” or with various artists. All my upcoming performances can be found via my social media (FaceBook: Hiruy Tirfe Artists Page, Twitter and Instagram: @hiruy_tirfe26) or on my website stated above.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
The biggest qualities that were the most impactful for my journey are the following
1) Determination
2) Consistency
3) Honesty
In order to make new positive habits, you need to be determined to do so. If you want make it consistent, the you would do whatever it takes to get up and practice said new habits. Then you need to be completely honest with yourself in the process understand what works, and what doesn’t. Those are what personally stuck with me and I believe I wouldn’t be where I am without those three qualities.
My biggest advice for people that are early in their journeys is to carry people with alongside with you. Not everyone’s journey in the hustle is equivalent to yours, therefore as you expand and go about our journey, if you see someone who’s not quite there yet lift him/her up with you. Not only are you helping out but you’re building a strong community in the process.
Before we go, any advice you can share with people who are feeling overwhelmed?
If I am feeling overwhelmed, I take a short pause in whatever you’re doing. I feel as though as creatives and entrepreneurs we are consistently in that hustle mindset and if we’re not working then we’re losing/on the path to failure. Now don’t get me wrong, that hustle mindset will definitely make you eager to achieve your goals but at the same time if other areas in your life (such as physical heath, mental heath, spiritual health, personal relationships, business relationships, etc) start to suffer due to your consistent hustle mindset, then that’s when you know it’s time to take a step back. It’s important to identify these things the moment they occur as oppose to waiting it out.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.hiruytirfe.org
- Instagram: @hiruy_tirfe26
- Facebook: Hiruy Tirfe – Artists PAge
- Twitter: @hiruy_tirfe26
- Youtube: @hiruytirfe
Image Credits
All Image Credits: Victoria Wilcox Kayla Childs Victoria Deniken Torri Green
