Amir Farokhi’s brush with failure happened in 2009, when he ran for a citywide seat on the Atlanta City Council.
The lawyer-turned-candidate woke up the day after the runoff election with no job and a stretch of empty days before him.
“I never even thought about losing,” said Farokhi, 38, now director of strategy at BrightHouse, an Atlanta-based business consulting firm. “I wasn’t prepared for it. Everything you do is focused on winning — from knocking on doors to asking people to donate to the campaign or help by volunteering.