A Conversation with Behdad Jamshidi

It’s not often that you come across somebody that’s having extreme success in their career and having just as much success in their side gig.


Behdad Jamshidi (Bee) a senior engineer, has been moving up the ranks in his career but has also pursued a side business that is going very well for him. His business has now allowed him to become a well-established marketing broker with countless relationships as he helps businesses of all sizes get to the next level.

In his side gig, CJAM MARKETING, Bee works as a marketing broker and introduces businesses to marketing services that can help them meet their needs.


Essentially, he saves businesses time and money by finding them the best company to do the service they are looking for in marketing. His value is that he’s vetted and interviewed hundreds of marketing companies to save the customer from doing it.

We are thankful at TeenLearner that Bee was willing to give up time in his busy schedule to share some tips for us.

Bees Lifestyle

As I engaged in conversation with Bee I asked him some simple questions about his day to day, his lifestyle, and his work environment.

While talking to Bee it became very obvious that he believes in a modest and humble lifestyle. I asked Bee what his thoughts on life and work were and he was quick to answer with an excellent lesson for not only teens and students, but everybody.

As we live in an environment of consumption and glorified spending, it doesn’t have to be like that.

Bee stated that just because you make more money doesn’t mean you need to spend it. He comes from a family of multiple income streams and his family lifestyle has not changed as a result. Living a simple lifestyle reduces your level of stress and allows you to not have to worry about things such as payments.

A takeaway for teens here: you don’t have to spend money just because you have it. Saving it will pay off in the long run.

How Does Bee Manage His Investments?

Our conversation turned to investing and Bee was very confident with his answers. I asked him what his approach to investing was and he had one simple answer, “passive.”


Bee believes in boring long-term investments that will drive him to his goals. With every raise he gets he sends 80% of his paycheque to an investment account and 20% contributes to enhancing his lifestyle.

Investment wise? Bee invests in ETFs (exchange-traded funds) which follow the index.


As these funds are buy-and-hold investments, Bee doesn’t stress over how the stock market is performing, what specific companies are doing on a day-to-day basis, and doesn’t research individual companies in depth. This gives him the freedom to pursue his own work in a focused manner as he continuously contributes to his portfolio monthly.

What Should Somebody Learn About Investing?

I asked Bee what teens and students should learn about investing, as there is so much to learn and it can be overwhelming. He himself had a lot to learn and is continuously learning.

Bee says that learning everything about investing isn’t necessary, at least all at once. Learning the “fundamentals” of investing is key, and that spending time building and learning from there will get you ahead.

Learn how investing works, how to make investments, and how to contribute at first, then take time over the course of your early life to learn more in-depth practices.   

What’s Your Goal for Retiring?

It sounds very early to think about retirement as a student, but the end goal for most is to retire financially secure and stress-free. I asked Bee how he knew how much to invest and how he sets his goals. He had another clear answer.

Bee’s investment plan involves thinking far ahead in terms of where you would like to be for retirement. Questions to ask yourself are: When would you like to retire and how much money would you like to have? Once this number is established, Bee recommends working backwards and letting the math guide your investments.

Bee has done this himself. He has an investment dollar amount he’s striving to hit, then has a plan to live off the interest and dividends he’ll be able to collect from his investment. How long it will take to get there depends on many life and economical factors, but his goal is clear and he’s working towards that.

The question to ask yourself is how much money would you need to have on a monthly basis to be happy in retirement? Once that number is established, see what you have to do to get there.

Some Life Advice from Bee

As teens and students try to figure out the next steps in their life and career, there’s nobody better to provide ideas than a person who’s had success themselves. As Bee has succeeded in his education, career, and business, I asked him my favorite question.

What would you tell any teen and student trying to figure out where to go from here? He had some very specific and clear advice.

“You may not figure out who you are for a while. Try things and move on if they don’t work. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself.”

Bee has tried different things throughout his life until he found his groove. From business to investments, exploring will bring you the experiences to know whether something is for you.

Another piece of advice from Bee was clearly something he excelled at himself. A characteristic of Bee’s success comes from the people he knows and who he surrounds himself with.


As Bee’s ability to meet people has brought him much of the success he sees today, he left us with this advice. “Build and create connections.” You never know where your network will be able to help you in your adventures as an adult.

Bee Advocates for Financial Literacy

As we at TeenLearner believe in the need for financial literacy, Bee shares the same thoughts. He believes in it so much that he also created a resource for everybody to learn financial literacy on his BEINGBEE website. Bee created Investing 101, a course he offers for free. I highly recommend taking this course!

Keep Learning

As my conversation with Bee came to an end, I noticed that the foundation of his success seems to meet a certain theme. Simplicity. From speaking to Bee I learned that he reads a lot of books, is nice to everybody and always willing to help, and thoroughly enjoys learning.


He keeps his investments simple, works hard, and understands the value of money, not spending frivolously. There’s a lot to be learned from Bee and I can’t thank him enough for taking the time to meet with me.

Takeaways From My Conversation with Behdad Jamshidi

• Make regular contributions to your investments and let them grow
• Don’t rush your career path, be open to everything
• Keep learning and read lots of books
• Always be nice and help people
• Meet as many people as you can. Learn from them and keep them in your network

By: Robert Puharich | July 15, 2022 |