Harmonizing Faith and Business
Entrepreneur and CEO Denny Tawas ’22 turned his passion for music into progress, helping transform his family’s small business into a multi-location music ecosystem in Indonesia. His faith-centered, people-first approach to leadership fosters a culture of care and success.
Denny Tawas ’22 comes from a multigenerational family of entrepreneurs. His mother and father each run their own businesses; his maternal grandmother, 79, still works for the family building supply company. “We are a working family. That DNA is in us,” says Tawas, whose experiences at Ƶ as a business major and worship apprentice fed both his entrepreneurial spirit and his passion for music.
About a year before Tawas left for Ƶ, his father and brother took over a music store they had helped family friends to establish in Bali, Indonesia. Tawas and his brother were regulars at DeBeat and envisioned its potential as a vibrant, urban ecosystem of music.
Community, Calling, Challenge
But first, university. On his very first flight to Chicago and then Grand Rapids, he met an Indonesian Ƶ alumnus who shared his passion for music. “God onboarded me to Ƶ even before orientation,” he says.
Tawas invested his time well at Ƶ, joining multiple campus organizations. “There was a certain amount of closeness,” he says of feeling seen and known by professors and a tightly knit international student community.
Yet studying abroad wasn’t always easy.
When the pandemic moved classes online, it limited social life but freed him to support the family business remotely. During senior year, he couldn’t secure an internship and graduated without a job lined up. He recalls feeling like a failure, yet the setback brought him home to Indonesia. “I was really struggling, but I thought, ‘Let’s not be so stubborn not to see this as a blessing from God.’”
New Directions and Small World Moments
True to his family’s vision, DeBeat grew into a music ecosystem with two retail locations in Bali and opportunities to support the larger music community beyond. Strong sales through the pandemic were reinvested in new endeavors. Their music school started with 20 students and now serves more than 500 musicians enrolled in over 700 classes. They also added music rooms, a café, a recording studio, and an event music and videography division.
“Whenever we feel stability, that’s our indicator to expand,” Tawas says. Recently, they opened a classical instrument showroom, The Klassic.
To prepare the new location for its grand opening, Tawas invited concert pianist, composer, and former Steinway representative Airin Efferin ’09 to advise on instrument selection. But it wasn’t until they bumped into one another at Ƶ event in Jakarta that they realized they were both Knights.
Centering People Over Profit
At Ƶ, professors encouraged Tawas to wrestle with the ethical paradox of working in finance.
“There’s a difference between drive and greed. Business practices that are normalized or even taught in a textbook might not be the right thing to do as a Christian.”
Centering people over profit guides his relationships with his employees, many of whom are Muslim and Hindu. Before every meeting, he prays. “Maybe some would call it unprofessional, but I’ve never offended anyone,” says Tawas. “That’s God’s grace. Christ died for all, and so I say, ‘I’ll pray in my faith, and you’re welcome to pray in yours.’”
Known for being an approachable leader, Tawas’ employees often share their personal struggles. “Most situations call not for apologetics but for a listening ear,” he says. “We do crack, we do fall. If you’re not where you hoped to be, trust God’s closed doors. He will open the ones that are perfect for you.”
Faithful Living Through Every Season
Tawas describes himself as “messy, spontaneous, not much of a planner”; yet God continues to entrust him with opportunities for leadership. Because he’s young and doesn’t yet have a family, he pours energy and time into the business. “Once my brother and I have families,” he says, “we’re going to want to build a life with them.”
That balanced perspective keeps Tawas grounded. Whether he’s dreaming of the company’s next venture, discerning his own future, or raising funds for charitable giving, he returns to the same question: “Is my heart in the right place?” He prays that his response to every open door “always leads back to God.”