 After high school while attending Pasadena City College, Hadjinian was a member of an Offshore race team winning the 1997 World Championship title in Biloxi, Mississippi and setting a World Speed Record for the Open Outboard class.Hadjinian ran for Montebello City Council in 2011 and was elected as a city council member on November 8 and became the first Armenian-American to hold a political position on the city council.After three years on the City Council, Hadjinian ran for mayor.