ARC
Ancient Roots Circle
Before you join ARC, please read our most important community rule
No anonymous accounts. All members must join using their real name and a real profile photo.
Accounts without a real profile photo and a real first and last name will be removed from the community.
We understand that this may not be possible for everyone, and we completely respect that. That's why we want to be upfront about it before you sign up.
Our goal is to build a community based on trust, meaningful relationships, and genuine conversations. Anonymity makes it impossible!
If using your real name and photo isn't something you're comfortable with, we kindly ask that you don't join ARC. We truly appreciate your understanding and helping us create the kind of community we're all looking for.
قبل از اینکه به ARC بپیوندید، لطفاً مهم‌ترین قانون کامیونیتی را بدانید
عضویت با هویت واقعی الزامی است. همه اعضا باید با نام واقعی و عکس واقعی وارد شوند.
حساب‌هایی که عکس پروفایل واقعی و نام و نام خانوادگی واقعی نداشته باشند، از کامیونیتی حذف خواهند شد.
می‌دانیم که این موضوع برای همه امکان‌پذیر یا مناسب نیست و کاملاً به آن احترام می‌گذاریم. به همین دلیل می‌خواهیم از همان ابتدا این موضوع را شفاف اعلام کنیم.
هدف ما ساختن یک کامیونیتی بر پایه اعتماد، ارتباطات واقعی و گفت‌وگوهای صادقانه است. ناشناس بودن، مانعی برای شکل گرفتن چنین فضایی است.
اگر امکان یا تمایل استفاده از نام و عکس واقعی را ندارید، از شما خواهش می‌کنیم به ARC نپیوندید. از درک و همراهی شما برای حفظ فضای امن و قابل اعتماد این کامیونیتی صمیمانه سپاسگزاریم.
Rediscover your roots.
Build your future.
A modern home for Iranian immigrants to stay close to culture, food, wellness, and each other, wherever in the world you've landed.
A home away from home, for the whole Iranian diaspora.
ARC is where Persian immigrants, new arrivals, established families, and busy professionals alike, gather around food, culture, wellness, and growth. Not a course. Not a cooking club. A living community that keeps you connected to where you come from while you build the life you came here for.
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Not just learning. Doing it, together.
Three new ways to take what you learn at ARC into real life, with experts and the community beside you.
Learn it, practice it, keep it.
Every spotlight now comes with interactive Live Rooms and a challenge that turns the lesson into a habit.
How it works →Small circles. Everyone talks.
Small, intimate circles around a different topic each time. Cameras on, never recorded, no judgment, and everyone gets to talk.
Meet the idea →Guidance from people who have been there.
{{ mentorSessionCount }} group sessions with {{ mentorCount }} mentors, then one on one matching with the mentor who fits you.
Meet the mentors →Hoda & Shervin started ARC for the community they wished they'd had.
Two immigrants who know what it means to rebuild a life far from home, and how much lighter it feels with a table full of people who get it. Food, wellness, and honest conversation are how they bring everyone back together.
We came to the US separately, Shervin 24 years ago, Hoda two years later, not knowing each other yet. Twenty years ago, we met at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where we were both working on our Ph.D.s in Mathematical Modeling. We fell in love, started dating, and three years later we got married right there in Ann Arbor. Since then: careers in science and tech, two boys, a few moves around the country, and finally settling in Seattle.
Twenty years of building a life together has taught us this: the degrees and job titles are nice, but what carries you through is family, good friends, and people you can call when you're stuck. Like a lot of immigrants, we've had to figure things out as we went... careers, money, marriage, raising kids in a culture different from the one we grew up in, staying healthy, trying side businesses, and learning how to put down roots in new soil without letting go of the ancient ones we came from.
Ancient Roots Circle came out of that experience. It's a community for Persians anywhere in the world to swap ideas, share what's worked (and what hasn't), and support each other. We're not experts and we don't have all the answers, but we've made enough mistakes over two decades to have learned a few things worth passing on. Mostly, we want this to be a place where people can make real friendships, celebrate our culture, and build good lives without having to figure it all out alone.
Read our full story→There's always room at our table.
Come find the people who just get it, the food, the language, the small things about building a life somewhere new. Pull up a chair whenever you're ready.
Where Iranian life happens, every week.
Hosted on Circle, ARC blends live sessions, real conversation, and a growing library of resources into one warm, ongoing community.
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We don't stop at the lesson.
Every spotlight runs in three steps, so what you learn actually becomes part of your life. You learn from experts, you practice with them, and then we build the habit together, with the community beside you.
Learn
Experts teach the theory in clear, practical sessions you can follow with no background at all.
Practice
Interactive sessions where members share what has worked for them, put the lesson to work in real life, and bring the questions that only show up once they start.
Build the habit
A challenge of a few weeks with daily prompts and small tasks, so the new habit keeps going long after the session ends.
Learn how saving and investing really work. Then try it for yourself in a Finance Live Room and ask what comes up. Then the money challenge prompts you, task by task, until saving and investing become a habit.
Learn what your skin needs and how a routine works. Then build your morning and evening routine in a Skincare Live Room. Then the skincare challenge keeps you doing it, every part of the day, until it sticks.
Practice the spotlight. Learn from each other.
Every spotlight has its own Live Rooms. This is where theory meets your actual life: members share what has really worked for them, you practice what you learned, and you bring the questions that only come up once you start. Live Rooms are recorded, so you can catch up if you miss one.
What our first spotlight left behind.
Real messages from members after Personal Finance Foundations, our three month money spotlight.
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Small circles. Real names. Everyone talks.
Until now, mostly we did the talking. Now it's time to get to know you, and for you to get to know each other. Each Dorehami is a small circle around a different topic, from making friends to relationships after immigration. Everyone talks and shares, and it's the place for the things we can't say in public: no judgment, nothing recorded, and nothing leaves the circle.
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{{ roadmap.blurb }} Every session is live and all times are Eastern. The whole season is on the Calendar.
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Career & growth
Cypress {{ careerNote }}One Career Lab every month, a focused hour with Hoda on the real turning points of a working life. Exclusive to Cypress members, all times Eastern.
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Spotlight sessions
CypressOne theme at a time, taught by experts. This season’s spotlight is skin. Each spotlight now comes with Live Rooms to practice and ask your questions, and a challenge that turns what you learn into a habit. Everything is mapped out below.
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The recommendations you'd ask a friend for.
Starting over somewhere new means asking a hundred small questions who's a good hairdresser? a fair mechanic? a dentist who actually speaks Farsi? These are the real notes members leave for each other, passed the way you'd hear them from family.
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Featured this month
MembersA recipe, a guide, or a resource worth bookmarking, delivered as interactive live docs: tap to scale servings, check off steps, and follow along.
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Choose how you belong.
Pick the tier that matches what you need. There's no wrong choice. Start free, change anytime, cancel whenever.
As long as your membership remains active, you'll have access to everything included in your current plan, including session recordings from the past six months.
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If you downgrade — for example, from Cypress to Juniper — you'll immediately lose access to Cypress-exclusive content.
Personal Finance Bootcamp
The next step after Personal Finance Foundations: three Finance Live Rooms in smaller groups, where you ask the experts your own questions and get advice on the spot, plus a 21 day Money Challenge to start saving and investing for real.
Learn more, practise what you learned, and leave with habits that last. All times Eastern, and every Live Room is recorded.
Skin Spotlight
Three expert sessions that take you from your everyday routine to professional treatments and cosmetic surgery, plus a 21 day Skincare Challenge to turn what you learn into a routine that sticks.
No membership needed. Buy it on its own and join every session live. All times Eastern.
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Compare every tier
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Questions, answered
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The season, planned to the day.
Every session is live. Skin is our new spotlight, Live Rooms and challenges help you put it into practice, and mentorship begins in November. Science in Review, Yoga and goal setting stay open to every tier, free Sapling included. All times Eastern.
{{ calHeroCta }}Season calendar
{{ seasonRangeLong }}Every session, months out, all of them live. Times change from session to session, so check each one, all times Eastern. Live Rooms and Dorehami show a Recorded or Not recorded badge, and a ribbon counts the days while a challenge is running.
The people behind every session.
Mentors from our community who guide you one on one, and experts who teach ARC sessions month after month.
Mentors
Experienced professionals from our community. It starts in a group, around one real theme at a time, and grows into one on one mentoring with the mentor who fits you best.
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This season's group sessions
One group session a month, each with three mentors. All times Eastern.
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Start in a group. Find your mentor. Go one on one.
Each group session has its own theme, like difficult conversations at work or deciding whether to stay or move on. Mentors teach the basics, share what they have lived, and answer your questions.
After each session you can ask to be matched with the mentor you connected with. We look at what you need and who can help most.
Matched mentees and mentors meet one on one, so the guidance gets personal: your role, your situation, your next step.
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Every group session is on the calendar.
Experts
The specialists who teach ARC sessions month after month, bringing real expertise into the community.
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Twenty years, two immigrants, one table.
How Hoda & Shervin met in Ann Arbor, built a life across science, tech, and family, and turned two decades of lessons into Ancient Roots Circle: the community they wished they'd had.
Hoda Parvin is a technology executive, AI leader, nutrition coach, fitness educator, and the co-founder of Ancient Roots Circle.
With a Ph.D. in Mathematical Modeling from University of Michigan and more than 15 years of experience building AI-powered products at companies including Amazon and Walmart, Hoda has always been passionate about solving complex problems. Today, that same passion extends beyond technology to helping people build healthier, happier, and more fulfilling lives.
Having built a career and a home in a new country, Hoda understands that thriving abroad is about more than professional success. Through career coaching, evidence-based nutrition, fitness education, and meaningful conversations, she enjoys helping others grow with confidence while building strong communities and lasting friendships.
At Ancient Roots Circle, Hoda brings together science, wellness, and community to help members succeed in every aspect of life while staying connected to their Persian roots.
Shervin Beygi is a scientist, lifelong home cook, history enthusiast, music lover, and the co-founder of Ancient Roots Circle.
Originally trained as a mathematical modeler, Shervin approaches cooking the same way he approaches science, with curiosity, experimentation, and a desire to understand how things work. His passion for cooking began at the age of eight, and instead of teaching recipes to memorize, he teaches the why behind ingredients, techniques, and flavors so people can cook with creativity and confidence.
When he's not in the kitchen, you'll likely find him exploring Persian and world history, listening to music, or diving into conversations about culture and ideas. At Ancient Roots Circle, he loves bringing people together to learn, share stories, celebrate traditions, and build meaningful connections that make a new country feel like home.