Perspective 38 p o r t l a n d monthly magazine from left: meaghan maurice; heatherlikesfood.com and is going pretty good guns. In 2017, Ty- son Foods, Inc. of Arizona purchased Ad- vancePierre, including Barber Foods, which is famous for dishes like Chicken Cordon Bleu and Chicken Kiev, for $4.2B. A sixteen percent premium from where it was trading when the deal was announced on April 25. Tellmeaboutapersonwhostartedoutatthebottomat BarberFoodsandthen,withprecociousskills,crackedinto theexecutivelevel. D avid Barber says you should talk to Besim Musliu to get a great suc- cess story. After Musliu’s farm in Kosovo was overrun and his dogs were killed, he escaped and fled to the States. When he arrived, he spoke no English and is now in a supervisory position at [AdvancePierre/Tyson]. Tellusaboutahigh-flyingbusinessthatjuststarted outastwopeopleandaphonejack,wherethe‘idea iseverything.’ Luke’s Lobster started with two employ- ees, Luke Holden and and his father, Jeff Holden, from Cape Elizabeth. Luke went to Georgetown and Wall Street. Jeff went to SMCC. Jeff has always been in the lob- ster industry. Cape Seafood LLC, the sister compa- ny for Luke’s Lobster, processes 30,000 pounds of seafood a day. Luke’s Lobster is in Miami, Las Vegas, everyplace includ- ing the Brooklyn Bridge. They’re just go- ing crazy. Luke’s Lobster is on the Inc. Magazine’s list of fastest-growing companies. Luke is WhatwasitlikewhenyouarrivedinPortland? Musliu: I came to the U.S. on August 9, 1999, after the war in Kosovo was over. I’d never been here before. It was a great opportunity. Now that I’m here, I like it and have lived here since. Whendidyourealizeyouweregoingtobreakthroughintomanagement? I was always looking for opportunities to grow myself. I realized those opportunities were avail- able at the company. Early on I realized I wanted to learn the business and grow myself so that I could eventually help others to grow with the company. Whowasyourmentor,andhowdidyourmentorhelpyoutobestappreciatePortlandanditsculture? My mentors were my parents and my brother. My brother came to the U.S. with me. He was always the one to lead by example. My father taught me and mentored me how to grow myself and others. I grew up in a family where we would help people without hesitation. For example, in Kosovo, my father would donate food weekly to immigrants who fled to my country because their countries were at war. My dad taught me that no matter what the differences are between people, you should always help others. I use these values they taught me when I help others grow and when I work with other people. A P o r t l a n d S t o ry Besim Musliu started out as a temporary production line worker atAdvancePierre in 1999.Today Musliu is the company’s Operations Excellence Manager and Internal Shipping and Receiving Manager.Right: Barber Food’s popular Chicken Kiev “Easy Meal.”