Hello humankind, my name is Shehnaz Soni. I came from a very diverse background. Not because I am originally from Pakistan and was raised in a very orthodox Muslim culture, but also because I came to USA with nothing, literally nothing, and created a life that is very fulfilling and magical and full of possibilities. I like to inspire humanity by sharing my stories and experience of personal alchemy as I transform myself from ashes in to “Sona”, Hindi word for Gold.

Have you ever been in a situation when you felt devastated and helpless and wanted a knight in shining armor or equivalent to come save you? Have you ever wondered why life doesn’t get easy? Have you ever thought of how to attain happiness that is consistent? I was a starry-eyed girl who looked up to the sky through her balcony in a very busy city of Karachi, Pakistan and gazed at the stars and wondered about life every day. I asked a question to myself, is there life beyond the sky and the stars? If someone would have shown me a video recording of my life today, I would have said, this can’t be me! I never knew that one day would come and I would get to become an aerospace engineer who could contribute to programs that enables humankind to explore space or defend us from nuclear attacks.

We all have stories and few of us have childhood traumas and most of us have day-to-day challenges as we came here for experiences. Experiences can be good or bad and therefore how we manage them ends up deciding what type of life we will have, one where we are reactive or the one where we are proactive.

During my long but fruitful journey, I have embraced freedom in spite of many odds; therefore, I like to share my experiences and treasures I collected as I overcame obstacle via tenacity and perseverance.