On the road to success

ON THE PATH TO SUCCESS

Marketing pro Iman Aghay’s motto in business and life could very well be ‘Never give up’

By Nic Enright-Morin Photos by Sandra Minarik

When Iman Aghay immigrated to Canada in 2009 from Iran, he was just 25 years old. At the time, he was doing very well in the capital city of Tehran in his chosen profession of marketing. He was successful, recently married and had a good life, but he had bigger dreams for himself — he wanted to become a professional international public speaker. Aghay and his wife, Delaram, decided to move to Canada to make it happen. The fact that he spoke no English didn’t deter him in the slightest; Aghay was excited and ready for his new Canadian adventure.

Fast forward 11 months after their arrival in Canada, and life had changed considerably — but not in the way Aghay had hoped. Not only were they down to the last of their savings, Aghay still couldn’t speak much English and, despite his best efforts to look for work, he couldn’t even land a job at Walmart.

With so many obstacles, many people would likely just give up. Not Iman Aghay. He says a pivotal point came when they had $2,500 left in the bank — the exact price, at the time, for two one-way tickets back to Iran.

When they received an unexpected bill for $1,000, they faced a dilemma: should they buy tickets back to Iran and give up on their Canadian dreams, or should they pay the bill and keep pursuing their new life in Canada, even though they had no idea how they were going to pay their next month’s rent?

Aghay asked his wife what they should do. “What she said that night changed everything: ‘Iman, have we ever given up on any of our dreams before? Then why should we give up now? We are not quitters, we do what it takes to make it happen and if that’s the risk, then we are going to take it.’”

So 17 days later, Aghay made a decision that would change his luck. Instead of chasing jobs that he didn’t really want anyway, he decided to set up his own online marketing and web design company. Three days after that, he got his first contract and the deposit the client paid was enough to pay their rent for the next month. The rest, they say, is history.

His business grew to be successful, and his English flawless, but Aghay still didn’t feel completely satisfied because he felt he wasn’t achieving his true potential. He still dreamed of becoming an international public speaker and so he set a goal to organize a big event.

“I had no idea of what I wanted to do or how I was going to achieve it. But I had set a goal and so I pursued it. I thought about the change I wanted to make in other people’s lives and the best way to do that,” he says. “I realized if you want to build something big and meaningful, you have to build something that you really care about.”

One month later, he hosted an ambitious networking event with a speakers’ program on achieving success at the Vancouver Convention Centre; 250 people attended, including many newcomers. Three years later, Aghay was hosting events all over Canada under the company name Success Road Academy, where he himself became one of the regular speakers.

During this time, Aghay, recognizing the importance of networking, also founded the Vancouver Business Network, now the largest business Meetup group in Canada and one of the top 10 in the world. Similarly, Success Road Academy has become the largest information marketing training centre in Canada and one of the biggest worldwide. Aghay helps entrepreneurs, coaches, speakers and consultants build successful businesses and become the go-to expert in their field. He teaches them how to share their knowledge and information instead of using money to advertise.

These days, his programs are all online. Aghay says he used to travel constantly to meet his clients, but now he chooses to help people from the comfort of his home studio. By doing so, his ability to help people has also increased exponentially. “Making this change means I get to help a lot more people, not only in Canada, but worldwide.”

No longer burdened with a grueling travel schedule, Aghay is also able to take better care of himself. “If I want to make a positive difference in people’s lives, I also have to pay attention to myself,” he says.

These are wise words from a man who knows exactly what he is talking about. In 2011, while his business was rising, Aghay’s health deteriorated rapidly. On two occasions he lost more than three litres of blood; he was hospitalized twice and on the brink of death. Cancer was suspected, but his doctors could not locate it; they were mystified as to what was wrong or how to help him.

Clearly not one to give up, Aghay took matters into his own hands and went to a private health care clinic for a top-of-the-line MRI scan. The cancer was located in minutes. Fortunately for Aghay, it was operable and he is now in remission.

I was literally on my death bed, waiting to die or survive, and I asked myself, ‘If I died today, what would I regret?’”

Even though a health scare of this magnitude would be enough to derail anyone, even at his darkest point, Aghay did not stop asking himself about the purpose of his life. “I was literally on my death bed, waiting to die or survive, and I asked myself, ‘If I died today, what would I regret?’ And I realized I would regret a lot of things in my life and the number one thing was I knew I wanted to be an international public speaker, but I didn’t know why.”

He says that today he chooses to see his cancer as a blessing since it helped him to understand that his dream of being a speaker was really connected to his “why”: a passion for helping others. He now hopes that his story of resilience in the face of adversity will inspire people to pursue their own dreams.

Aghay believes that the “why” of your life is the key to your success and that if you find out what your purpose is and then pursue it wholeheartedly, you will most certainly achieve everything that you desire.

He adds, however, that you have to be consistent and that, no matter what, you must persevere. A further secret to Aghay’s success is his commitment to constantly assess and re-evaluate his progress. “I really believe you have to set yourself goals: weekly goals, monthly goals, yearly goals.”

He says every Monday he writes down his goals for that week and then shares those goals with his personal networking group. By telling other people, it motivates him to get them done.

And if he faces obstacles in achieving his goals, he keeps going until he succeeds. “I’m a master of failure. I’m a person who fails every day. Once in a while I fail at failing and other people call it success. But the reality is I fail a hundred times. Nobody remembers all the things I’ve failed at and that’s OK, because the thing that counts is the thing that succeeded.”

Photo by Sandra Minarik

Hear more about Iman Aghay's road to success in his keynote address at the Vancouver Career, Education and Settlement Fair, Nov. 16.

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