Parham Parastaran is an Iranian-American entrepreneur and author with a passion for discussing mental health issues in the business community. After fleeing Iran as a child during the midst of the Iranian revolution, Parham became the epitome of the American Dream. He built the multi-million-dollar business Car-X Tire & Auto, a franchise of tire and auto repair shops that quickly grew from a single store in Champaign, Illinois to 16 locations. Although he enjoyed success as an entrepreneur, he had a secret: He suffered from severe depression and addiction. A rock-bottom moment led to him signing himself up for psychoanalysis, which started a journey that opened up the darkest doors within himself and found him revisiting a childhood of trauma. Over 15 years after that first psychoanalysis session, he chronicles his powerful story in the new memoir, Perfect Pain.

• Website: www.perfectpain.com

• Bruce Lee

• I think mindfulness keeps my emotions at a steadier rate. My psychiatrist would call it self-regulation of my self-esteem. I think it keeps my emotions on more of an even keel.

• I do actually practice breathing. It's another way that I try to think of it in terms of finding the present and it humbles me. The reason it humbles me, it reminds me that I am a human in a living body and I can feel my organs. It humbles me and reduces me to something smaller. That always is a healthy exercise for me. 

• Book: Perfect Pain by Parham Parastaran

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