Growing up in eastern Turkey, I was not really involved with the family business - sheep and cow farming, yogurt and cheese making. But I think I learned from my father the unspoken business language or instincts that go back thousands of years.

I started a feta cheese company, Euphrates, in upstate New York in 2002.

Shepherd. It's a very beautiful word. It represents peace. And it meant a lot to me because...I come from a life with shepherds and mountains and all that stuff.

Unlike the objective of far too many companies, manufacturing is not about a quick exit. It is centered on long-term value creation.

I love innovation, I love competing. I hate my competitors. You cannot be in the world of business when you don't have this consciousness of winning.

Fage does not make great yogurt.

I believe that as an entrepreneur, when you share success, it grows.