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Strategy at Scale
Brought to you by Outthinker, Scaling Up, and Growth Institute
In a sea of contradictory business advice, Strategy at Scale breaks through the noise to deliver practical, proven strategies to predictably scale the value of your business. Each week, we interview successful entrepreneurs and business builders across industries to extract simple, high-impact strategic concepts that work. From avoiding costly missteps to executing systematic processes that fuel growth, you’ll gain lessons from the masters to scale your enterprise more effectively.
Strategy at Scale
From Gas Station to CEO: How Shirin Behzadi Scaled a Multi-Brand Empire
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, Verne Harnish of Scaling Up, and the team at Growth Institute.
