Mahin Goodall (nee Rashvand) was born into a large family in Ghazvin, Iran. Her paternal grandfather who was Head of the Rashvand tribe, was killed in a tribal war when her father was just 7 years old. His family traces its origins to the Valley of Alamut, the site of the famous fortress which in medieval times constituted the headquarters of the deadly enigmatic Ismaili Assassins. Mahin's mother inherited most of the flour mills and vineyards around the city of Ghazvin. After leaving school Mahin studied Farsi and modern languages in Tehran and successfully secured a position as Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture which she held for 7 years before meeting John.

John Goodall was born in Swindon in 1943, the same day as the Germans surrendered 95,000 troops to the Russians outside Stalingrad.

John qualified as a Chartered Surveyor in 1969 and spent 45 years in the construction industry, of which about 30 years overseas in Switzerland, Iran, USA, Nigeria, Gabon and France, principally working in the field of the commercial management of major infrastructure projects.

John spent the last 15 years of his career in Brussels in Public Affairs defending the interests of contractors all over Europe with the European Institutions.

Since retiring in 2008, John and Mahin have spent some considerable time drafting their memoir which describes the extraordinary story of how they met and married in Tehran in 1969. They now have 2 sons and 4 grandchildren. John is a keen yachtsman and DIY enthusiast.