Born in Iran in the early 80s, Lena immigrated to Canada with her parents at the age of 3. Lena and her family settled into one of Scarborough’s rougher neighbourhoods with limited resources and no relatives or friends. Surrounded by gang violence, drugs, and crime her parents did all they could to create a sense of stability and normalcy by enrolling her in sports and music.
From an early age Lena began developing a fierce passion for competitive swimming. She worked part-time through school and quickly became the highest producing salesperson in whatever position she decided to pursue. At the age of 19 she became the youngest to be promoted to club manager at a women’s fitness club downtown Toronto. Yet despite her performance and drive, she soon began to recognize that a standard job with a fixed pay rate was not the best way to earn.
Lena’s goal was to pursue a career where she could not only live and breathe her true purpose, but to control her financial destiny. Her determination to thrive allowed her to quickly accelerate into the world of real estate. In January 2003, she met a budding entrepreneur whom she partnered with and together, by the end of that same year, they began their real estate investment business of purchasing distressed properties in Ontario to buy, fix, and hold. By the age of 25 Lena had amassed a multi-million-dollar investment portfolio and was running one of Ottawa’s premier asset management firms.
It was during the early years of her business, gentrifying neighbourhoods that once tipped toward a state of distress that she observed a major gap in the support and financial education provided to women. So in 2013 she founded Stilettos & Hammers™, a growing investment network focused on educating women, providing them with resources necessary to help them take control of their finances. Since inception the network assists and educates women and their families in selecting the correct investment strategies to meet their short and long-term goals so their wealth is managed and preserved.
Lena lives by the philosophy: “It doesn’t matter where you come from; it’s where you decide you want to go.” She understands what it is like to work hard for what you have. Her business answers her calling to provide women and their families with the tools and knowledge needed to excel in whatever they embark on, while ensure that their futures are secure so that they can live the lives the desire.
