Member Spotlight: A Conversation with Nelia Torkia
Q: What is your family’s wealth creation story? How did your family come to the US?
I come from a long line of entrepreneurs who’ve built incredible businesses against all odds. On my mother’s side, my great grandfather’s father died when he was only 11 years old, leaving him to become the primary breadwinner of the household overnight. Since he was the oldest male sibling in a culture that didn’t allow women to work, he suddenly had to become an adult and figure out how to navigate the world. This was no easy task. He worked odd jobs throughout the day so that he could go to school at night. Despite the hardship he faced in receiving his education, he was so dedicated to his studies that he was able to land a scholarship to NYU all the way from Iran—something that was not commonly done.
Not wanting to take this tremendous opportunity for granted, he gave his all to his studies at NYU and promised himself that he would use what he learned to make a difference in the world. Little did he know that in just a few short years, his dream of making a difference in the world would become a reality. When he returned to Iran, he founded and operated the country’s very first airline—Iran Air—which is still in existence to this day. With access to an airline, travel in and out of the country became infinitely easier, and everyday Iranians suddenly had the opportunity to explore and become inspired by the world outside of Iran, just as my great grandfather had been.
Once Iran Air became successful, my great grandfather used his new platform to not just promote travel, but more importantly, to empower all those who’d been disempowered, starting with women and those with little financial means. He personally paid for the education of thousands of people as well as financially supported orphans and anyone who came across his path and needed help. He also put the empowerment of women at the forefront of his company and his life by often giving women opportunities that they would otherwise not be given.
Unfortunately, with the Iranian Revolution of 1979, my great grandfather lost everything. The government forcibly took ownership of Iran Air and began executing prominent businessmen like my great grandfather. So, my family had to flee Iran and seek refuge in the United States.
Once in the US, my family again had very little means and had to start from scratch. Since my great grandfather was quite elderly at this time, it was up to my parents’ generation to provide for the family and carry on his legacy. Once in the US, my parents met and got married, bonding over the fact that they both came from prominent families who had lost everything in the revolution and were now starting from scratch in a new country. My father came to this country as a teenager and started working by washing cars. He then got his contractor’s license and began building buildings for other people. Slowly, as his construction company started to see success, he began purchasing investment properties and building out development and property management branches of his company. Today, he’s built an expansive portfolio of investment properties all throughout Los Angeles and runs a vertically integrated real estate development firm that’s provided housing for thousands of people.
Q: What were your family’s attitudes toward wealth and values growing up?
Since my family has had first-hand experience with both extreme wealth and poverty, they have always viewed wealth as nothing more than a tool with which to serve the world and to help as many people as possible. I was always taught that what matters most is not what you have but who you are. So more emphasis was placed on character development than anything else.
Q: What was it like being the only daughter in a male-dominated culture? How has that shaped you, and what was that like?
Since my family was always progressive, I didn’t realize that gender-based inequality was still an issue in the US until I started working in real estate, which is an almost entirely male industry. It was quite the culture shock for me to realize both the subtle and glaringly obvious ways in which women are sometimes still treated like second-class citizens. I can’t tell you how many meetings I’ve gone to where the person I’ve met with has only made eye contact with the male members of my team, or how many times I’ve shown up to a site with my male assistant only for the person I’m meeting with to treat him like the one in charge, or even more frustratingly, how many times men have wrongfully taken credit for my work. The unfortunate truth is that gender-based inequality is still very much a problem, but the good news is, there are many ways to combat it. Of course, allyship from men helps tremendously, but the most powerful way to combat systemic gender-based inequality is to empower women to generate wealth for themselves. Because with money, comes options and real power. So one of my major missions in life is to empower as many women as possible to be financially literate and to be wealth generators.
Q: What’s one way the Spark community can be helpful to you? How can you see yourself fitting into the community? What’s unique that you bring?
What I love about the Spark community is that it’s all about giving back. Every single person I’ve met through Spark has been deeply committed to being the most authentic version of themselves and to using what they’ve been given to better their corner of the world. It’s been such a beautiful thing to witness and be a part of. I’m continually inspired by the people I meet through Spark and am excited by the overlap in my own life mission. I sincerely believe that every single one of us is born with a unique gift to give the world and organizations like Spark help us amplify that gift so that we can use it to serve the most amount of people. Both through my work in real estate as well as through my own media company, Dreamland Media, I’m deeply involved in personal growth, impact, and community growth and have many resources to share with the Spark community. I look forward to connecting with each of you one-on-one.