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His name is a mountain in Armenia.
When his family moved from Iran to Los Angeles, there was no English equivalent for the letter. So his parents invented one. Aragad. It became his identity — which is exactly how he has approached everything since.
Aragad Abramian grew up in Los Angeles as an Armenian-American kid born in Iran who was not the tallest player on any court he ever played on. He was the point guard. The coach on the floor. The one responsible for making every person around him better.
He played professionally in Kazakhstan. He travelled twelve times a month. His coaches did not speak English. His teammates did not speak English. When he stepped on the court none of that mattered. There is only one language on the court — and he spoke it fluently.
When COVID shut down professional basketball he did not wait. He pivoted in days — completely, fully, without one foot still in the door — into financial services and real estate investing. The same discipline that built his basketball career built his investment firm.
He also coaches youth basketball in the Armenian-American community because there were not enough coaches and somebody had to show up.
In this episode of INSIGHT, Emma Sargsyan sits down with Aragad Abramian for a wide-ranging conversation about hunger, discipline, losing, leadership, motivation and what it actually takes to rebuild yourself when the first plan does not work out.
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ABOUT ARAGAD ABRAMIAN
Aragad Abramian is a former professional basketball player who competed in leagues across the United States, Armenia and Kazakhstan. He is the founder of a real estate investment firm and runs Mini Ballers Academy USA — a skills development programme for youth basketball players in the Armenian-American community of Los Angeles. He is based in Los Angeles.
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ABOUT INSIGHT
INSIGHT is the first Armenian-English language power and culture podcast in the United States, hosted by Emma Sargsyan. Each episode is a long-form conversation with an extraordinary guest at the intersection of business, identity, leadership and culture. Distributed across all major podcast platforms. 
Subscribe for new episodes every week.
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TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Cold open 
00:38 The name — a mountain in Armenia 
03:00 Where the hunger came from 
08:00 The Armenian household and education 
13:00 Kazakhstan — grinding where nobody is watching 
20:00 Motivation is a match — discipline is the candle 
26:00 Losing, scars and learning from wins 
32:00 Coachability and the two types of coaching 
38:00 When the game is on — personal problems do not belong on the court 
43:00 Blaming and taking responsibility 
47:00 Leadership as action — leading from the front 
51:00 No plan B — transition 100% or not at all
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FOLLOW EMMA SARGSYAN
Instagram: @emmasargsyan 
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This episode is for everyone who is grinding somewhere nobody is watching — and wondering if it is worth it.
It is.
#Basketball #Entrepreneur #INSIGHT #EmmaInsight #Motivation #Discipline #Leadership #ArmenianAmerican #Kazakhstan #RealEstate #AragadAbramian #PersonalDevelopment #GrowthMindset #ProfessionalAthlete #SportsToBusiness

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