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| Shervin Roohparvar (photo: William Callan) |
Last week I had the pleasure of interviewing entrepreneur
turned reality TV star Shervin Roohparvar, star of America’s Shahs of Sunset about a group of young Persian-Americans living life and working in Los Angeles whilst keeping up with family demands and cultural traditions. Produced by Ryan Seacrest
Productions, the show on Bravo is now into its 4th series and has
been taking reality TV by storm stateside.
Shervin’s down-to-earth and humble character made it easy
for me to understand why the producers chose him for the show. Despite the initial
concerns about whether it would be the right decision for him, he discussed it at
length with his parents, but realised this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity
that he couldn’t say no to, and the belief he has in himself and the person he
is, meant he had nothing to lose.
“I’m not someone
that’s scared very often or fearful of many things…it was very surreal as I
entered a world I was unfamiliar with”
Making the most out of life and the opportunities that present
themselves, Shervin set up his first business venture selling computer parts with
a friend whilst at college but soon found himself battling with the decision to
carry on his studies to become a doctor or continue with the success he was
having down the business route. The latter option has since proven the best as
he now owns his own brand of headphones as well as owning exclusive night
clubs/bars in LA.
Despite the struggles he faced in making these decisions,
they have helped to shape who he is today. He owes a lot of his success to his parents’
generation who emigrated from Persia to America to create a better life in a
country where they didn’t speak the language and weren’t familiar with the
culture, and so had to start a new life from scratch. The admiration he has for the hard work they
endured from learning a new language and building new careers shows an incredible
strength that he very much believes shouldn’t be taken from granted.
“They’ve taken so many
sacrifices and done so much for our generation to have this freedom to be what
we want to be and how we want to do things in life that it would be an extreme
disgrace to waste it.”
Listening to him speak so warmly of his parents’ wish for a
better future gave me an insight into how grateful he is to them but also how
much he looks up and admires what they did, and because of this has adopted
these values throughout his own life.
On asking how he felt about being more popular since
featuring in the reality TV show, Shervin said it was very strange to be
recognised initially, but found it flattering when people asked him for a
photograph or a shout out on social media. Thankfully the reaction he has received
has been a positive one and he talked with much fondness about the younger
generation reaching out to him for advice which he really enjoys being able to
give.
“The most rewarding
part is I’ll get a message from a young adult who is about to go to college
asking for advice. To be looked at by these people as a role model is very
flattering and I enjoy thinking I am helping someone to make a difference with
their life.”
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| Photo by William Callan |
“With Shah, what you
see is what you get. If you weren’t being yourself you would get called out on
in. Nothing is staged and if they felt like you were purposely trying to set
something up, they would put you in your place pretty quick and that’s made me
respect the show.”
Devoting a lot of time and energy building up his empire,
Shervin is now very much ready to settle down with someone special in his life
and be able to share his success with. Talking of coming home to an empty house
and how it would be nice to come home to someone who shares the same beliefs that
he can look after and love.
In the meantime, while he is on the quest to find love, Shervin
is looking forward to some much needed time away in Europe later on in the year
where he plans to visit Spain with his brother before heading back to LA to
continue working on new projects.
If there was one thing I did take from this interview it’s that
Shervin is a genuine and kind hearted man. He hasn’t let success go to his head
and appears extremely level headed so I can see why he made for great reality
TV. There definitely needs to be more of him in the world!
