The Unexpected CEO tells a compelling and powerful story of building resilience, with lessons carved from challenges and a life constructed despite circumstances. Through each chapter, a vision takes form—for how to build, lead, grow and live with clarity and conviction. This book offers not a tale of overnight success, but one of steady strength, rebuilding from the ground up, and of what becomes possible when adversity is met with unwavering intent.

Shirin Behzadi was arrested multiple times under an oppressive regime in Iran before she had even reached adulthood. Fleeing her homeland alone as a teenager, she carried nothing with her but a suitcase —and a bold dream. In Istanbul, and later behind bulletproof glass at a Los Angeles gas station, she quietly declared to anyone who would listen: One day, I will lead a large company.

What followed was a journey of determination and quiet reinvention. Shirin put herself through college, earned her degree, rose through the ranks, raised millions in private equity, and built a billion-dollar company—while navigating poverty, the loss of home and belonging, motherhood, and a near-terminal illness that left her unable to stand—let alone lead.

But she walked again. And she led again. And in every setback, she unearthed something essential: that the resilience honed in dark times could also light the way forward in business, in leadership, and in life.

This is not just a story of overcoming. It’s a story of becoming. Becoming a builder, a mother, a CEO. Becoming someone who redefines what’s possible—not despite adversity, but because of it.

In The Unexpected CEO, Shirin Behzadi shares not just her extraordinary journey, but the wisdom earned at every turn. This book is both a memoir and a guide, offering a blueprint for turning life’s deepest trials into stepping stones toward purpose and possibility.