Alex Flórez

My father fled Iran during the revolution. He landed as a young man in Paris and decided to become a doctor. But…he failed his first year of medical school. Because he didn’t speak French. Then, he retook the first year again…and failed for a second time (because he still barely spoke french and was taking organic chemistry in a language with a different alphabet). He decided to move to Brussels to give it a third try and start over. And on his third try, he’d learned enough French to pass. He went on and graduated top of his class. Then, he met my mother and she convinced him to come to the U.S. He came here with $1000, a suitcase, and, yet again, didn’t speak the native language (now English). They wouldn’t recognize his foreign MD and no one would give him a residency because he was a foreigner. So he spent 2 years as a technician working barely above minimum wage. Then finally, he was finally given a residency in the U.S. After residency, he joined my grandfathers practice (moms dad). Just as he began to develop a reputation, he found himself locked out of his own office. The locks changed on him overnight. My mother decided to get a divorce. He had to start over, again, this time on his own. But he didn’t have the money. And - to build a surgery center was $250,000 (in 1995 dollars). He didn’t have that kind of money. So looked up the legal requirements and he built his own. The entire thing. Himself. To code. Actually. Out of sheer will. And built it for under $30,000 (all the money he had at the time). Finally, he was on his own. This time, he kept growing and growing his practice until he became the top eyelid surgeon in Maryland. And eventually, in the U.S. He’s done more than 16,000 cases meaning somewhere upwards of 50,000+ eyelids. And every year he (on his own) does more eyelid cases than all of John’s Hopkins eye department combined. My father taught me many lessons. Most of them through example, not preaching. He’s not a man of many words. But the few things he did say, he’d say with his actions over and over again: Failures are just detours. Don’t let anyone tell you you aren’t good enough for what you want. Whatever you do, be the best. God gave you the power to ignore, use it. It’s better to be envied than pitied. You won’t even remember their name in 20 years. You’re only stressed because you’re underprepared. There’s nothing anyone can put you through that you haven’t already put yourself through that was worse. And finally… You only get one name, tell the world what you want it to mean by what you do with it. **** Whenever I go through hard times I like to remember what he went through to make my life possible. And somehow, everything always falls into focus. PS - I get a lot credit for what I’ve done. But I often think what he accomplished was far harder than what I have. And - I don’t want his sacrifice to be in vain. PPS - Whats the best piece of advice your father (or father figure) gave you?

You can choose your goals. You can’t choose their price.