Jun 23, 2026 · 54 min · 11 segments
In this episode of PodCrash, Matt Ebert sits down with Shirin Behzadi, author of The Unexpected CEO, for a conversation about adversity, belief, leadership, and building a future before anyone else…
Shirin BehzadiGuest
Matt EbertHost
it seems though like part of what made you so successful is this belief in yourself that um that you had that is a is a level that i mean it's kind of entrepreneurial for sure um was that a gift of like the the struggle of being out on your own in a foreign country at 17 is that is that where that came from or did it come from younger
so my dad and i we were very close and i think in life you need at least one if you have one person that thinks you're great it's so important in life so definitely that sorry but also i have now learned and i've have language around it where I believe that there is superpower to adversity.
In fact, I call it the superpower of adversity because when you have and face challenges, smaller challenges, and you get through them, you build the muscle memory, you build resilience.
This is why I encourage people don't shy away from challenge or adversity and Find a way to grow through and from him because they're great teachers.
That is why I believe small successes, seemingly small successes, gave me the foundation to say I can face a bigger one and I can face a bigger one.
And in life, I think if the world tells you, and the world does tell you often, what you're not good at, that you learn very quickly.
But if you don't believe in yourself, if you don't think highly of yourself, that's tragic.
My dad was an attorney by trade, and he ended up, yes, he ended up really becoming an entrepreneur.
He took over a company when it was relatively small and grew it substantially before the revolution, of course.
So interesting, you mentioned the adversity thing because I talk about, for me, it was figuring out that struggle when it comes your way is where the opportunity, like figuring out your way through it.
Like I spent a lot of time wishing struggle would go away and then I learned to embrace it because that's where, honestly, where growth and opportunity lie.
it seems though like part of what made you so successful is this belief in yourself that um that you had that is a is a level that i mean it's kind of entrepreneurial for sure um was that a gift of like the the struggle of being out on your own in a foreign country at 17 is that is that where that came from or did it come from younger
so my dad and i we were very close and i think in life you need at least one if you have one person that thinks you're great it's so important in life so definitely that sorry but also i have now learned and i've have language around it where I believe that there is superpower to adversity.
In fact, I call it the superpower of adversity because when you have and face challenges, smaller challenges, and you get through them, you build the muscle memory, you build resilience.
This is why I encourage people don't shy away from challenge or adversity and Find a way to grow through and from him because they're great teachers.
That is why I believe small successes, seemingly small successes, gave me the foundation to say I can face a bigger one and I can face a bigger one.
And in life, I think if the world tells you, and the world does tell you often, what you're not good at, that you learn very quickly.
But if you don't believe in yourself, if you don't think highly of yourself, that's tragic.
My dad was an attorney by trade, and he ended up, yes, he ended up really becoming an entrepreneur.
He took over a company when it was relatively small and grew it substantially before the revolution, of course.
So interesting, you mentioned the adversity thing because I talk about, for me, it was figuring out that struggle when it comes your way is where the opportunity, like figuring out your way through it.
Like I spent a lot of time wishing struggle would go away and then I learned to embrace it because that's where, honestly, where growth and opportunity lie.
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