In his early years, Shaul Rappaport joined the Israeli Military, which instilled values of being disciplined, meticulous, and orderly. At the age of 21, Shaul felt that he didn’t want to live in the box of order; he wanted to disrupt it and find a new way of expression and individuality. “I always found myself diving into the creative process as a way to unwind from the strict fellowship I was in, daydreaming in hopes to express and create really kept me looking forward.” This breakthrough pushed Rappaport to move to Hawaii, where he began to learn the process of development, design, and entrepreneurship.
“Being unique and feeling like an individual was something I wanted to share with people, who I felt were in a system of taking commands from existing brands, the freedom to stand out and make or choose your own.”
After sharpening his creative and product design skills, Shaul took the leap to build one of his own, starting Shakas Hawaii in 2015, with his longtime business partner, Ephraim Bisk. Shakas Hawaii inspired people to create a unique collection of sunglasses that can be designed by everyone’s desires and passions in mind. A collective statement to be unique and the permission to express oneself, with interchangeable lenses and frames.
Having people feel like they have options is a method that inspired Rappaport’s ingenuity. “I think the world has a problem with exclusivity, where only a particular class is allowed to have a range of options and resources…this really should be distributed more evenly.” This sparked the entrepreneur to create Valyou Furniture in 2018, an ecommerce furniture platform that has two showrooms and two distribution centers in Nevada and California. The exploding brand isn’t shy about bringing interior designed furniture to a wide range of customers at an affordable price. It really allows the everyday American to feel like it’s possible to have the home of their dreams.
Shaul shares how being reverent to his faith with and studying The Gmara, a philosophy based scripture in logic and insight, helped him build a more clear way of analyzing and reasoning with the world. With a supportive and multicultural diverse team at his helm, Rappaport leans in for insight and inspires a generation of new business developers and marketers to solve today’s world problems.
The year 2020 came with lifelong lessons for the business mogul and sparked his fight or flight response with scaling and tapping new markets in the era of unpredictability. “Failure is a teachable moment, when things go terribly wrong, I go through all 5 stages of grief in a matter of a moment, so my point of acceptance usually ends in a laugh knowing that at the end of the day it will all work out and be resolved,” says Rappaport.
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, solving problems was the only way for businesses to adapt. This challenged Rappaport and his team to create PandMedic Solutions, which offers businesses with groundbreaking features that standardize necessary health checks, such as checking a person’s temperature without contact before entering an establishment.
As the world shapeshifts and is in demand for inclusivity and solutions, Shaul Rappaport and his companies have set out to break through the mold and share the fruits of their labor and success with the world. In the future, Rappaport sees himself traveling to developing countries and revolutionizing the employment and marketing industry. Shaul lastly shared, “Who knows, a Masterclass in Business and Branding, teaching a content creator in the Philippines who just has his IPad and a dream, I’m sure i’ll be at the right place, at the right time.”