Gahram is no stranger to the ups and downs that business owners may experience. She understands overcoming fears, success and rejection, resiliency in disappointments, and the challenges of navigating changing economies.
When Gahram was young, she wanted to be a doctor, so she could help her patients grow from infants to adulthood. She became a Biology/Public Policy Analysis major at Pomona College, but ultimately she ended up experiencing rejection from med schools, which derailed her childhood dream.
So during her senior year, Gahram scrambled to find another career direction and became an expert at taking standardized tests, such as the MCAT, GREs, CBEST and eventually, the LSAT. While figuring out her next steps, she started working at the family business her father started, and he suggested to her “maybe you should think about law school, because it seems like you have the personality for it: you’re stubborn, logical and analytical.”
During Gahram’s two years at the start-up engineering firm, she wore many hats and watched the company grow to almost 40 employees at its peak. She served as the purchasing agent, administrative support and eventually became the Assistant Manager of International Sales, procuring 13 international sales representatives for the company in Europe, Asia and Israel before she left to attend law school at USC.
It marked one of the toughest years of her life, as her father’s company also experienced its own decline and ultimately closure. The company started being sued by equipment lenders on defaulted leases and other creditors.
But during those difficult times, hope kept them going through the kindness of others, such as litigators who took on some of the cases for a flat fee, Gahram’s supervisor (at her first law firm position) who coached her through some of the cases, and even family friends who gave generously to help meet the family’s needs.
In the midst of those crazy times, Gahram felt dissatisfied in her current job as a construction defect litigator at a mid-sized firm, because she couldn’t really help those who needed her legal expertise.
A family friend encouraged her to start her own law practice, so that she could finally enjoy serving as general counsel for small to mid-sized businesses and their owners. That was October 2004 when Gahram decided to take the leap, quit her stable job and start her own law practice.
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