From Dragons’ Den to UFV: Shervin Azar’s journey

Shervin Azar was 13 years old when he first stood in front of the Dragons. But the moment wasn’t just about entrepreneurship — it was part of a much longer journey of finding his voice, a journey that would later lead him to create the UFV Volunteer Network, connecting students with community organizations across the Fraser Valley.

Standing on national television and pitching with confidence wasn’t inevitable. Years earlier, he had struggled simply to get his words out.

Between the ages of four and five, a serious fever left him with a significant stutter. It made him deeply self-aware and forced him to think carefully about how he expressed himself.

Not long after, his family immigrated to Canada. At eight, Shervin was navigating not only a new culture but a new language. Learning English meant building his voice all over again. Those early experiences — managing a stutter, adjusting to a second language, and finding his footing in unfamiliar spaces — shaped his understanding of resilience.

“I would say that I’ve always been ambitious,” he says. “You need to be ambitious in a new culture — to learn the language and to communicate.”

As he worked through those transitions, writing became one way to process it all.

“Immigration is a huge life challenge,” he says. “I got the idea of writing a story about my entire immigration process and the experiences I learned from it.”

That idea eventually led him to pitch his book on Dragons’ Den, the Canadian TV series where entrepreneurs pitch to investors.

“I told my dad, ‘We have to go there,’” he recalls.

Being on Dragon’s Den wasn’t about recognition for Shervin. After securing a deal with the Dragons, it was simply another way of proving to himself that he could keep moving forward — even in spaces that once would have intimidated him.

Shervin has written two books, the first of which he pitched on Dragon’s Den.

A few years later, he built on that momentum by publishing a second book, Beast Mode, featuring a foreword by the Dragons.

When it came time to choose a university, that same mindset guided him. He considered what would best support his long-term goal of medical school. That led him to the Biology Honours program at the University of the Fraser Valley.

“For a bachelor’s, I wasn’t ready to completely leave home yet,” he explains. “For master’s or medical school, then I could move away.”

At UFV, he found an environment where he could take ownership of his growth — academically and beyond. “Because of the smaller nature of UFV, you actually meet your professors on a deeper level,” he says.

Outside the classroom, Shervin sought opportunities to make a meaningful impact.

While studying biology, Shervin became deeply involved in community volunteering, working with organizations such as the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, Tabor Village, Archway Food Bank, Big Brothers Big Sisters, MCC Thrift, M2W2 prison mentorship, the Mission Friendship Centre supporting Indigenous youth, and Circle of Friends.

Through those experiences, he noticed a gap. Students often wanted to volunteer but didn’t know where to start, while community organizations needed support but lacked direct access to student volunteers. “What if I make a club that connects students to more volunteering opportunities?” he recalls thinking. “That way I can help students get volunteering experience on their résumé and interact with the community — and I can also help organizations get more volunteers.”

Supported by the environment at UFV, Shervin turned that idea into reality. He founded the UFV Volunteer Network, a student-led initiative designed to connect students with meaningful opportunities across the Fraser Valley. Today, the network has grown to around 200 members, strengthening ties between the university and the communities it serves.

For Shervin, these experiences weren’t separate from his academic path. They helped define it.

“UFV has shaped me into a more mature person,” he says. “And it’s instilled more community awareness in me.”

That awareness of people, systems, and community needs aligns closely with the kind of physician he hopes to become. His volunteer work has grounded that understanding in real relationships and lived experience.

At UFV, he found the space to turn ambition into action, building a foundation rooted in service, leadership, and purpose. “Don’t let life change who you are,” he says. “Just try to keep moving forward.”