How I Got Here

The beginning

I moved to the US from Iran when I was around ten. Maryland. Didn't speak the language well. Didn't know many people. My parents were figuring it out too.

I turned 16 and got a job at a grocery store. Cashier. I hated every second of it. The shifts, the uniform, the feeling of standing behind a register while someone else decided how much my time was worth.

I lasted six months. Quit at 16 and a half and never looked back.

Reselling

When I quit, I didn't have a plan. I just knew I wasn't going back to a register. I started flipping things online. eBay first. Amazon eventually. Figured out that if you could spot margin and move product fast, you could make real money without a boss.

I picked up a lifeguard job at some point. Later I worked as a student aid at school for about two and a half years. Not because I liked it. Because I needed steady income while I built something on the side.

The whole time I was running eBay and Amazon simultaneously. Pet products became the niche. I'm not sure why it clicked, but it did. I built systems, found suppliers, automated what I could.

The number that changed things

The month I cleared $10,000 in profit on Amazon, I quit the student aid job.

Not "I'm thinking about quitting." That day.

That was the moment I understood what leverage actually means. One person. The right systems. Suddenly your output stops being tied to your hours.

The quiet years

I'm going to be honest: after that, things got hard. A few years where I wasn't really building. Life stuff. Depression is the right word for it.

I'm not going to dress it up as some inspiring low point that led to a clean comeback. It was just a rough stretch. I eventually started moving again. Slowly, then faster.

Now

I'm 21. Junior at the University of Maryland, studying computer engineering. ADHD. Night owl. I like building more than talking about building.

I run KAIDO Motors, an e-commerce brand that does car giveaways and sweepstakes on Shopify. And I run AI with Kian, where I document everything I know about using AI to work lean, move fast, and build real things without a team.

The common thread across all of it: I hate depending on anyone else for my income. The cashier job confirmed it. The reselling years proved the alternative was real. AI is just the newest set of tools that let one person do more.

That's the honest version. Not the highlight reel.

If you want to follow along, the Saturday sessions and newsletter are where I share what I'm actually doing week to week.

Kian