The Unexpected CEO by Shirin Behzadi – A Journey from Immigrant to Business Leader

The Unexpected CEO by Shirin Behzadi shares a remarkable story from a frightened teenager leaving Iran to a determined leader of a billion-dollar company.

Through her personal journey and hard-earned lessons, this book becomes more than a business memoir; it’s an inspiring guide to leadership and resilience that feels deeply human.

What it’s About

Success is rarely a straight path. Life throws barriers, detours, and storms that test how much we are willing to fight for our dreams. Shirin Behzadi, The Unexpected CEO, is built on that truth. It’s not about her starting the career with a corporate ladder case, but facing displacement, starting again without anything, and turning her setbacks into stepping stones. 

Shirin grew up in Iran under an oppressive regime that limited her freedom, future, and dreams. 

The oppressive regime limited opportunities, especially for women, and made it difficult to imagine a future or freedom of choice. Arrests, surveillance, and constant fear were part of daily life. For Shirin, the only option was to leave.

As a teenager, she fled her country, leaving behind family, friends, and the only home she had known. Arriving in the West with little more than a suitcase, she faced the uncertainty of displacement and the daunting task of starting over from nothing. 

In Los Angeles, she started working at a gas station, and behind that bulletproof glass, doing her job, she made up her mind. She would be—someday—the CEO of a company.. 

Her path in business was as demanding as her personal life. When Shirin entered the corporate world, she was often underestimated. As an immigrant woman in a male-dominated industry, she had to constantly prove her worth, fighting against the quiet doubt that followed her into boardrooms and meetings. Opportunities didn’t come easily, and every step forward required twice the effort.

Even when she rose to leadership, the challenges only grew. Running a franchise business meant balancing the needs of thousands of small business owners while steering the company through economic shifts. 

There were financial setbacks, moments of uncertainty, and countless difficult decisions about how to keep the company healthy without losing sight of the people behind it.

On top of the business pressures, Shirin faced a life-threatening health crisis when she was diagnosed with a brain tumour while serving as CEO. 

For many, that would have been the end of the story. For her, it became another test of resilience, managing treatment, recovery, and the responsibilities of leading a billion-dollar company at the same time.

Against all odds, she eventually rose to become the determined leader of a billion-dollar company.

My Take On The Unexpected CEO

What struck me most while reading The Unexpected CEO was how human and vulnerable Shirin Behzadi allowed her story to be. It is about becoming the leader of a billion-dollar company, but the moments that stayed with me were the ones filled with raw honesty. 

Leaving her country as a teenager, struggling to fit in, and working behind bulletproof glass at a gas station were already heavy burdens. What hit hardest was the grief, first losing her father, and then her only close friend in the United States, Rozita. 

These experiences reminded me that behind every “success story” we admire, there is a person who has endured heartbreak, fear, and doubt.

I appreciated that Behzadi didn’t try to paint her journey as glamorous or simple. She admitted to the setbacks, the financial pressures, the moments of being underestimated, and even the terrifying health challenges she faced as a CEO. 

Reading those passages made me feel that resilience is not some abstract trait reserved for extraordinary people, but something that is built day by day, choice by choice. 

Besides, what carried her through the hardest moments wasn’t just her own determination, but the quiet strength she drew from her family. Her father’s belief in her never wavered, her husband stood by her, and later, her children became her reason to keep pushing forward. The book is also about the people who give you the courage to keep going.

This book also challenged how I think about leadership. Too often, leadership books are filled with strategies and bullet points. Behzadi shows instead that leadership is deeply tied to empathy and humanity. 

For me, The Unexpected CEO is much more than a memoir. It’s a reminder that setbacks don’t define us, but how we respond to them does. It’s a story of courage, persistence, and hope that left me reflecting on my own challenges with a little more faith that they, too, can become stepping stones toward something greater. Go ahead and give it a read; this book is worth every page.

Age Rating:

This book is recommended for readers of all ages.

Motivational, empowering and engaging — a guidebook to living your full potential.

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