Would you like to drive a vehicle that takes you beyond the mortal real world? In this episode of Before IT Happened, Donna Loughlin chats with automobile entrepreneur and innovator Ferris Rezvani. After a successful career working at IBM, Ferris decided to pursue his lifelong dream of designing military-inspired armored vehicles. Today he is CEO of Rezvani Motors, an avant-garde automobile design company dedicated to creating exotic, high-performance vehicles that have become favorites of the rich and famous. Listen now and learn how Ferris quit his job to design just the kind of cars that James Bond and the Knight Rider would buy in a heartbeat.
Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life.
JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:
(01:54) - Ferris Rezvani’s childhood story and his true calling, cars - “My inspiration was military-type equipment, aircraft, armored vehicles, ships. I was fascinated by all that stuff.”
(07:14) - Computer science, IBM and getting into car design - “I worked for IBM Global services for about seven years, then I started learning how car-design was done.”
(10:51) - Rezvani’s very first designs, production team, and investors - “I involved everyone with a piece of the effort and I was excited about it. I believed in it. I loved it, and that translated.”
(15:31) - Creating fantasies for exotic clients: The user experience of Rezvani Motors - “It allows them to go beyond themselves, beyond the mortal real world.”
(19:42) - Selling the first design and the current business - “We didn't advertise at all. We just let the design advertise itself. In 2014, it made it to the homepage of Yahoo.com and that was like the homepage back then.”
(23:30) - Expanding Rezvani’s range: From sports cars to the SUV market - “It's practical, you can pick up the kids from school with it. It's comfortable. But it's also bad-ass.”
(27:59) - Dealing with COVID-19, The New Beast, and the future of Rezvani - “We love what we do. Is there really a need to try to grow big? What do you really get by growing big?”
(33:17) - Ferris’s inspiration and experience in the industry - “I've realized that when you have your last name in the company, you will never let it fail because it is part of you and you will make sure that it's successful.”
EPISODE RESOURCES:
Connect with Ferris through LinkedIn
Follow Rezvani Motors on Twitter and Instagram
Learn more at Rezvani Motors
Watch The 2016 Rezvani Beast featured on Jay Leno’s Garage
Watch Building a Luxury Car Brand with Ferris Rezvani on Maz Jobrani’s ‘Back to School’
Read the Yahoo article that kicked off Rezvani’s rise
Read Top Luxury Cars Your Favorite Stars Love to Drive on Herald Weekly
Before IT Happened is produced by Donna Loughlin and StudioPod Media with additional editing and sound design by Nodalab. The Executive Producer is Katie Sunku Wood and all episodes are written by Jack Buehrer.
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