Overcoming Depression: How Helping Others Helped Tony

In this blog we’re going to go beyond health tips and hemp facts. We think it’s important to introduce you to the man behind Shah Saffron. It’s our hope that hearing his story will inspire you, give you context for our company, and help you remember how precious life is.

Tony Moayyer would describe himself as a risk taker. If you talked to him long enough, he might also tell you he has struggled with depression nearly all his life.

You wouldn’t know it from looking at him and seeing what he’s accomplished. Tony is gregarious and full of passion. He’s a successful real estate agent, owns his own hemp company, and is practically the poster-child for healthy living. But it wasn’t an easy journey, and the journey is far from over. He’s learned that the struggles we face in life are the very things that can give us purpose. In fact, the start of his company Shah was the result of several risky and life-altering experiences. 

Growing up in Iran during the Iran-Iraq war, Tony learned that life as we know it can change in an instant. Loved ones can die. Bombs can fall from the sky. The world can be a brutal and unpredictable place. 

Tony is no stranger to the brutal and unpredictable. He’s seen war, death, disease and heartbreak. But in the midst of all of this, he’s also seen how the power of human connection can heal; how miracles occur in the least likely of circumstances; how great risks often bring greater reward.

What reminds YOU that life is precious?

Sometimes it’s the lowest point in life that produces the breakthrough we’ve been waiting for. In his younger years, Tony woke up from a 6 month coma to find that his whole life had changed. 

Daredevil that he was, Tony loved racing motorcycles. It made him feel alive and free and relieved of the pain and sadness he had for his past.

He was in a race at the track, feeling particularly daring and was at a high speed going into a sharp corner. 

As he turned the corner his back wheel slipped out, throwing him to the ground in front of oncoming motorcyclists. His head was run over twice before he was rescued off the track. He was lucky to survive at all.

When Tony awoke from his coma, he had to relearn english, his native language and basic motor functions. Shortly thereafter, he had lost his job of 17 years and his wife had divorced him. He began to spiral into a deep depression.

Tony was used to living his life as though he had nothing to lose. He craved adventure and novelty and freedom. But underneath those desires were deeper desires—to have meaning, to contribute and to experience love. He always noticed that the times he felt the most fulfillment were when he was helping others. 

There were months at a time that he felt unable to move from the couch but as soon as a friend or family member reached out to him for his help, he rose to the task without hesitation.

According to Tony, this has been the key to surviving depression. 

“It’s always felt like there were two Tonys. Tony #1 could be in a deep depression and just wanted to watch TV all day. Some days I still do that. But as soon as someone needs my help, Tony #2 jumps into action. He will do anything he can to help a friend or client, no matter what the obstacles may be. Helping others has always been the driving force in my life.”

This is what revived meaning into Tony’s life—this is how Tony was reminded that life is precious. 

Having lived through the loss of loved ones, a war in his childhood home, a motorcycle accident, prostate cancer and a divorce, he found that the only way to make sense of all the pain he endured is to offer help and encouragement to others.

That’s how Shah Saffron came to be. 

From Rags to Riches… From Hopelessness to Inspiration… 

Tony has always been a do-it-yourself kind of person. When he was 12 he moved to America with his father and older brother.

Then his father, with whom he was very close, died suddenly, leaving Tony and his brother alone in Grand Rapids with basically nothing.

With nowhere to go Tony decided to grow up at the age of 14, drop out from school, stole a $69 bike from Walmart in order to ride to his job at McDonalds. 

He rode every day, even in snow in order to get to work and make a living. When he had saved enough money, he went back to Walmart to pay for his bike. But after explaining his situation to the store manager, they refused to collect the money. 

In 2006 Tony was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He decided he was going to fight it or die trying the natural way.

He dedicated himself to a vegan diet and ate 100% organic fruits and vegetables. He had surgery and incorporated a ton of saffron into his diet, recalling how his mother would often use saffron in her cooking as well as in concocting remedies for a variety of ailments. Throughout his childhood it seemed that saffron could cure almost anything, from a bruised knee to a broken heart.

Within two years of a strictly organic vegan diet, Tony had cured himself of cancer.

In 2012 Tony met the love of his life, April, and they decided to move to Las Vegas so that they would begin a whole new chapter of life together… one in which they would get to help people worldwide to feel better and live more optimally.

Why Hemp?

Tony’s first experience with hemp was an attempt to relieve a 20 year stint of chronic tennis elbow. Being adamantly against pharmaceuticals and most other Western medical practices, Tony searched for plant-based alternatives to relieve the pain.

He decided to give hemp a shot. Little did he know that beginning a regimen with hemp supplementation would give him relief for far more than his tennis elbow. 

Tony had suffered from depression for decades. He found that using hemp helped him feel less hopeless and more excited about creating his future. He noticed it helped his digestion. He lost weight. He started taking hemp after long bike rides and noticed he recovered faster and felt less sore. 

It didn’t take long for Tony and April to realize that if they were going to help people feel better all across the globe, hemp was a great place to start. It had improved their quality of life so greatly.

They designed their very own recipe using only the best organic ingredients and incorporating the long-adored and deeply healing spice of Tony’s childhood: Saffron.

Tony’s vision for Shah Saffron is that it continues to reach those who want to further optimize their quality of life and get relief from pain and stress. As COO he hopes to empower others on the journey of self-healing and self-betterment. 

He hopes that his story serves as a testimony to the resilience of the human spirit and to each of our ability to create meaning out of hardship.

“Welcome to the Lion’s Den”

~Tony. M