Every time a new Real Housewife enters the scene her boyfriend, husband, and or partner becomes a character on the show by default–whether he likes it or not. And this year on the 2015 season of The Real Housewives of New York City Dorinda Medley, 50 has joined the cast with her current boyfriend John Mahdessian, 50 who owns a very high end couture repair and cleaning business on the Upper East side.
She talks about John a lot on the show and how he is different than the men that she has dated in her past like Richard Medley and Ralph Lynch who were really serious heavy hitters in the financial or Business world.
She describes new beau John as boisterous, social, easy-going, outgoing, attentive and very loyal. So what is John’s back-story?
I found this article on John in Armenian Weekly from last September with a lot of interesting details on his family’s history in this country.
Source: Facebook
John is the CEO of the world famous Madame Paulette’s which recently celebrated their 55th Anniversary in September.
He was born September of 1964 to Armenian parents: father Noubar Mahdessian and mother, Ann Mahdessian who inherited the business from Noubar’s uncle.
In fact, Mahdessian attributes his success to his rich Armenian heritage.
The family has a long history of intense loyalty and fierce determination. His grandfather was a survivor of the Armenian genocide and was forced into an orphanage to be converted to Islam.
“At the age of seven, my grandfather watched his father and his brother get shot, and his mother and sister become slaves on their own estate.”
“I heard many stories, as a child, from my grandfather. He would tell me how he worked from 10 years old on in the United States, and when he went to school, he had to wear newspapers around his shoes. The kids would make fun of him, because he couldn’t afford a new pair,” …..“Those are the things that I remember, so for me to work 12-15 hours a day, 6 to 7 days a week, is nothing compared to what he had to go through.”
The business was actually founded by John’s great uncle in the 1950’s, after he left his home in Cyprus and married a French woman—the namesake of the business.
Mahdessian’s father, started working for his uncle during the day while attending NYU in the evening. John’s uncle eventually got too sick to maintain the business and his father, Noubar took over.
As a child John Mahdessian displayed a very strong work ethic working for his dad. “I remember as a child my dad used to give me a wire hanger and tissue, and for each one that I made he would give me a penny. So, I would assemble hundreds of them and get two dollars.”
As a teenager in high school John continued to work hard and started selling things at the flea market. And by college, he was selling real estate.
After college, he got a high-paying job as an investment banker — at the same time his mother, Ann Mahdessian, quit her job as a school teacher to run the family business since John’s father became ill. But prior to the Wall Street job John decided to help his ailing father for a month— the experience convinced John to change course.
“And it was then that I watched my dad, and I realized that even if I made millions of dollars on Wall Street, he wouldn’t be around to enjoy it.”
Well, the decision paid off because John has built quite a name for himself and he must be very wealthy because he inherited the family business in the 1980’s and has proven himself to be a very talented executive.
“From restoring historic gowns and family heirlooms to interior cleaning of private yachts and estates, Madame Paulette is the vanguard of its industry in every imaginable service. Remarkably, what drives the most trusted man of the world’s renowned fashion design houses is not a desire for fame or wealth but rather an overwhelming love for his family and an intense pride in his Armenian heritage.”
Mahdessian clients include more than 50 billionaires and his work includes the Trump wedding, VOGUE photo shoots, Exhibits at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, etc. The store obviously doesn’t need much advertising.
John’s story is a really an inspiring tale about the American Dream. His family fought against serious adversity and through sheer determination and hard work achieved enormous and unparalleled success.
That said…..is John really “too good to be true”? Is there more to this story?
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