An entrepreneur’s journey—from his boyhood home far away to the intersection of destiny and innovation.

Paul Owhadi set off from his childhood home in Iran to an austere French Jesuit boarding school thousands of miles away—at age four. It was just one stop on a lifelong journey of experiential learning, overcoming obstacles, and determination. With a confidence and curiosity distilled from his powers of observation and developing self-belief, he eventually made his way, after college in England, to New York City with less than $400 in his pocket and not knowing a soul. From there—as a first-generation American—adventure, misadventures, and a life of entrepreneurship awaited.

After an education and a career in urban planning and city management, he took the extraordinary opportunity granted to him to explore the world of property development. Despite agonizing personal setbacks, including the tragic death of his business partner, Paul faced adversity with the lessons learned as both an ambitious, innovative immigrant and as a person whose mettle was formed as a child and later young man, far from home, a world away from his birthplace.

Eventually, risking all on a new business proposition, Paul created a property and corporate empire that encompassed all he had learned in his entrepreneurship career—lessons of innovation learned from an improbable journey from a childhood a world away to the hard-won pinnacles of success.