Shehnaz Soni was born and raised as an orthodox Muslim in Karachi, Pakistan.
She was asked to be fitted in the box that didn't align with her true calling from day one.
She was a "Firstborn as a Girl" and wasn't accepted by the patriarchal cultural mindset where women are groomed to be wives, house makers, and not encouraged to go to school.
Being rebellious, she became a high school valedictorian and continued her path to be an Engineer.
While studying engineering, based on the cultural tradition, she was married off to a stranger after the one-hour interview and immigrated to the United States, leaving everything behind.
Upon her arrival in the United States, she overcame financial, cultural and language barriers to get herself acculturated in this new life.
She truly has lived by this quote from Christopher Columbus, "You can never cross the ocean unless you dare to lose sight of the shore."