When Ramin Pourteymour logs onto his e-mail in the morning he receives a reminder to do at least one good thing that day. “I believe in karma,” says the chairman of Aviation Experts and a United Airlines captain. “I try to do at least one good thing a day. It brings positive karma back.”

Pourteymour worked his way through pilot school and then advanced through the airline industry to become a captain at United Airlines when he was just 21. Now 36, Pourteymour not only runs a company he helped establish, he owns various properties around the United States.

He has a strong belief in helping others. Four times a year, Pourteymour and several friends host a black-tie affair for which guests are required to bring a toy or sporting goods item to donate to nonprofits that benefit children. He donates blood and plasma and encourages others to do the same.

While those contributions are scheduled, Pourteymour also likes to help others on a whim. Recently, he met a man whose son became a paraplegic after a road rage shooting. Pourteymour took it upon himself to e-mail some friends and ask for money for surgery, similar to a stem cell transplant, for spinal cord injury. Together they paid for the surgery. After two months, the patient had some feeling in most areas. Full recovery is expected in about 18 months.

When he retires, Pourteymour plans to give one-third of his wealth to establish an orphanage that will support itself through its own real estate investments.

Family is important. Pourteymour credits his parents for teaching him well and thinks the world of his 13-year-old daughter Anais Lamers-Pourteymour.