I was born in Kabul, Afghanistan; started school at five and was one of the top 3 students in all of my grades. I advanced to twelfth grade skipping eleventh grade at Rabia Balkhi high school, and graduated at sixteen. After a few months in Kabul University majoring in English Language Art, I had to leave Afghanistan with an unknown destination. Lived as a refugee in Iran for ten months and India for two years, immigrated to the United States in 1987. I got married in Iran at seventeen and had my daughter, Sahar, just before my eighteenth birthday in New Delhi.
Shortly after arriving in New York, I began attended a business school for a word processing certificate. At the beginning of the course I couldn’t speak a word of English; but finished my program a year later with the highest GPA average and became the valedictorian of my graduating class in 1989. I could type 70 words per minute.
Started working for Queens General Hospital in New York. A year later, I moved to California to be close to my family.
I settled in the beautiful city of San Rafael. Out of 300 candidates who applied for a Word Processing position for the County of Marin, Health and Human Services, Child Protective Services, I was the lucky one to get the position. I held that position for ten years, but decided to change careers due to the lack of opportunity for advancement. My son, Suhrab, was born in 1993 in San Francisco.
In 1998, I helped my husband start a business called Marin Sign Company; attended college part time; began to utilize my skills in all aspects of a business: accounting, graphic design, advertising, marketing, customer relations, networking, business formation and growing a business. I finished my AA degree in Business Management and Entrepreneurship after ten years (talk about patience!).
Within the next decade, I have founded and helped grow five different business ventures. Four out of five was successful endeavors which I am proud to say that I have done it. I have invested in real estate, hosted 7Khazana and the Business Hour shows at Noor-Tv, an Afghan Satellite TV Station, broadcasting to North of America, for a total of fourteen months. Currently I am the president of Berkeley-Bamyan Education Foundation, a non-profit organization empowering women in Afghanistan through literacy and vocational education and starting a new adventure of 7 Treasures web series. I also half way done towards a BA degree in Multimedia Communication major from the Academy of Art University.
At 40+, I am blessed with good health and peace of mind. Using the experience from my past trials and tribulations, I am motivated and energized to carry on my projects and live in the present moment. I love beauty, horizon, fresh air, running rivers, the moon, horses (especially white ones), reading, laughing, camping and traveling.
I have learned that my family and my children are the most precious gifts from God to me and I cherish my time spent with them. I am fortunate to have a supportive and loving husband who is my best friend. My large extended family and friends are my biggest strength and support system. My life is blessed by love, gratitude and prayer. I thank God for what I have been given and for making my wishes come true. I continue to seek guidance through prayer and be open to learning to be a better person every day. My goal is to live a simple life in a complicated world.