The story of the United States is the story of the immigrant. And Shahin
Urias is a true American success story. As an immigrant to the US from
Iran more than 25 years ago, her road to entrepreneurial success is a
testament to her hard work, dedication and the right opportunity. Today,
she employs 34 people and owns four Sport Clips locations, with two more
set to open in the future. As a Sport Clips franchise owner, she has created
the financial and personal freedoms she dreamed about when she left Iran
all those years ago.
In Iran, much of Urias’ early life was lived in survival mode, oftentimes
having to choose between safety and basic living necessities. Coming from
a country where women had no rights, very little choices and no options
for higher education, Urias’ opportunities were limited. Wanting
more financial and educational opportunities for their children, Urias
and her husband made the difficult decision to leave their homeland and
come to United States.
Through hard work and determination, Urias began to make a life for herself
in the US. She taught herself English, and in between taking care of her
children and her job in a cafeteria, she enrolled in cosmetology school.
This lead to a job as a stylist working for CEO and founder of Sport Clips,
Gordon Logan.
Logan was owner of a salon in a different franchise at the time. When he
sold that salon to start Sport Clips, Urias soon followed. “Even
with a language barrier, Gordon put his trust in me and gave me a chance
to prove myself. And this gave me the strength to set big goals.”
Urias said.
Years later, after the computer company that she worked for as her day
job declared bankruptcy; Urias decided it was time to act on her entrepreneurial
dreams, which is what lead her to become the owner of multiple Sport Clips
locations. With plans for additional locations, Urias keeps making bigger
and bigger goals for herself. She credits her successful salons to the
Sport Clips
franchise model. “A proven concept like Sport Clips is the best way to go. You are
given all the tools needed for success. They have already done the hard
work for you, just follow the system.”
Franchising has many benefits for immigrants. For someone who might not
know the culture or even how to run a business in this country, Sport
Clips offers a proven business model that provides the support and tools
to make profitable ownership a reality. Recently, Urias’ entrepreneurial
success as a franchisee was a featured Success Story on Immigrantbiz.org.
Read the story here.
Sport Clips owners have the
heart of champions and Shahin Urias exemplifies this heart. Sport Clips thanks Shahin for
being part of the team and looks forward to supporting her in her continued success.
