I’m on a mission to help 100,000  less privileged aspiring founders fast track their journey into entrepreneurship or climbing the ladder. 

 

Below is my story.

 

Shortly after graduating from film school I landed at the Walt Disney Studios. At Disney, I quickly climbed the ladder and had an executive position before I turned 30. But deep inside I knew I had a lot more to give. I knew I was capable of more. I knew I could make a bigger impact. 

 

This deep burning desire led me to always be in pursuit of something bigger. I first drew upon my film-making background and after two very close calls in selling feature length scripts to two different major studios, I switched my hand and started dabbling in tech startups.

 

After several failures, it finally happened. I raised $4 million, built a complete enterprise product that was both B2C and B2B and became an actual founder with a team, investors and a company. 

 

Meanwhile, I continued to climb the ranks at the Walt Disney Studios. Mainly because I was learning so much and at a quick pace building a company and product on nights and weekends that I was able to apply those learning at Disney and add a lot of value.

 

As soon as we started to scale the startup got acquired. Now I was a founder with an exit. Whoot whoot.

 

It was an incredible journey and adventure and suddenly it ended. It may sound funny but all I had now was my executive role at Disney where I continued to climb the ladder but wasn’t making the impact on people's life the way I wanted to.

 

With all the knowledge and wisdom I had gained in both the startup and corporate world in the 2 decades, I decided that I wanted to give back and help others who are in the same shoes I was in in my mid 20’s to early 30’s.

 

This is why I wrote the Amazon best-selling book Side Adventure: The playbook to leverage your corporate job, pursue a side venture and find happiness and fulfillment.

 

After the publishing of the book I started to feel an emptiness again. Sure, I had a cushy executive role at Disney. I was well respected and had a great boss. But I didn't feel the same drive I had felt before. After some months of soul searching I realized that after 19 years at Disney, I had become too comfortable. So I did what most people in my inner circle thought was crazy. I quit Disney. I quit to force myself out of my comfort zone so I can pursue other opportunities that I would not have had the care to pursue before.

 

Initially the change was very difficult and for the first time in my life I realized what true anxiety and depression feels like. 

 

Being an optimist, I knew these feelings were feelings of growth and that getting back to my roots of creating and making an impact will instantly change my mindset, and it did.

 

One of the opportunities I wanted to pursue was launching the Aspiring Founders Academy where I offer both career and startup coaching. A very comprehensive online course called “30 Days to Founder” is also in the works. My mission with the Aspiring Founders Academy is to help at least 100,000 less privileged aspiring founders fast track their journey into entrepreneurship or climbing the ladder.

 

My parents moved my sisters and I to the United States from worn torn Iran in the late 1980’s where being a minority Christian Armenian would not have provided us the same opportunities we have had in the US. From a very young age I took on opportunities and even if some did not work out, I always focused on what I learned from the experience.

 

If this immigrant was able to do everything I have done in the last two decades, then so can you. And if you are in a similar journey as me but a few years behind, I can help you fast track your journey.