From Gas Station to CEO: How Shirin Behzadi Scaled a Multi-Brand Empire

Strategy at Scale

What does it take to build—and sell—a thriving business born from resilience and clarity of purpose?

Few stories capture it as powerfully as Shirin Behzadi’s.

At 17, Shirin fled Iran alone during the revolution, arriving in the U.S. with little money and no family. She started as a gas station cashier—and eventually rose to become CEO of Home Franchise Concepts, the parent company behind Budget Blinds and several other national home-service brands.

Under her leadership, the company more than doubled in size, expanded into multiple industries, and achieved a successful private-equity sale—all while staying true to its core values and people-first culture.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• Why adversity can become your greatest strategic advantage
• How to identify your company’s true core competency
• The power of a “listening tour” to realign culture and accelerate growth
• How to navigate private-equity partnerships without losing your mission
• Why clarity of purpose drives both leadership and negotiation success

Shirin’s journey proves that grit and gratitude can scale just as powerfully as capital.

Let’s dive in with Shirin Behzadi, author of The Unexpected CEO.

Thanks for listening! This episode is brought to you by Kaihan Krippendorff of Outthinker Networks and Verne Harnish of Scaling Up.