My Story

If you had told me years ago that I would one day launch The Runiverse, a spiritual home for healing, intuition, and transformation, I would have laughed and gone back to drafting another report on gender equality that no one read.

But life had very different plans for me.

I was born and raised in Lahore, Pakistan, in a family of academics, artists, and strong personalities who did the best they could to raise me and my brother with the limited financial and emotional resources they had. As a child, I faced several adverse and traumatic experiences, scoring high on the ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences) scale. I remember not having electricity, running water or enough money to buy groceries for extended periods of time. At an early age, I experienced abuse, witnessed domestic violence and manifestations of mental health issues, and experienced the death of a loved one. By the time I was a pre-teen, I was using food, especially sugar, as a way to cope with everything happening around and within me, and I developed an eating disorder. I kept gaining and losing weight. It was the only thing I could control.

Despite our challenges, my family and I loved eating food and watching TV together. We listened to music together and devoured everything from Old Hollywood movies to Spaghetti Westerns and British TV shows. I was captivated by films, TV, theater, and music. This was the perfect way for me to escape from my harsh reality and create worlds of my own. I was mesmerized by the power of storytelling and channeling emotion to impact others in a positive manner. I dove into voice lessons and school theater plays on one condition from my parents: that these pursuits remain a hobby, not a career. By the time I was a teenager, I already knew I was meant to feel deeply and love fiercely; to speak my truth. Even though I was not allowed to pursue acting as a full time career at that time, I knew that one day, I would grace the biggest stages of the world, from Broadway to the UN to Oxford University.

But my path wasn’t linear. At all.

In 2011, I left everything I knew and moved to the United States, alone, with barely enough savings to get me through a couple of months. I did not even have enough money to buy a new mattress, laptop, or a winter coat and I had never traveled before or experienced the kind of winter brought on by the Polar Vortex of 2011. But I survived, thanks to a full scholarship and stipend I manifested to complete grad school in Ohio (yes, I know) from 2011 to 2013. Then I hustled even harder to get the job of every Pakistani's dream at a prestigious international organization right on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC. And finally, after more plot twists than a Pakistani soap drama, and a miraculously manifested Green Card, I landed in New York City in 2022.

In between those moves, I navigated:

Immigration processes that tested every ounce of grit and manifestation capabilities I had
A marriage in 2015 that taught me about love
A painful divorce in 2020 that taught me about myself
A 20-year career in international development, policy, and humanitarian work
A parallel career as an actress, singer, and writer because my soul refused to shrink and let my dream fade away
Traveling to nearly 40 countries in search of purpose, meaning, and, let’s be honest, excellent food
Leading teams, global campaigns, crises, multimillion-dollar projects, and leadership roles that shaped me into a woman who can walk into any room and hold her own

From the outside, it looked impressive. I was doing everything on my own, making a lot of money and achieving great success. On the inside, I was exhausted, spiritually starved, and disconnected from my own desires. I spent more than 11 years in one of the most toxic, racist, and cutthroat organizations in the world, where I worked thrice as hard to prove my worth because of my brown skin and Pakistani Muslim background. Yet, I still managed to become a star performer, all while jumping through hoops and begging for raises, recognition, and promotions, even as my wh*te colleagues breezed ahead. So insecure they felt around me that a few of them banded together to destroy my reputation and make my work life a living hell. I remember being told on multiple occasions to say yes more often, to not take up too much space or shine so bright, to be at their beck and call, to not speak up and speak out so much. As my hair turned white, I burned out, and developed a host of mental and physical health concerns, I knew it was time to leave. But how could I, an immigrant with no family in America and hardly any safety net, let go of the financial security this job provided?

2018: the year I started my own transformation.

Leading up to 2018, I again went through several traumatic experiences, including my grandfather's death, and one day, in August 2018, I finally decided to get sober. No alcohol. No cigarettes. No numbing. No escaping myself. And suddenly, I could feel everything! Every emotion, every wound I had pushed away for years. All the grief, all the intuition, all the magic I had silenced. Sobriety cracked me open spiritually. From then onwards, I embraced meditation, breath work, somatic work, EMDR, EFT tapping, shadow work, inner-child healing; I dove headfirst into everything that helped me understand the source of my patterns, pain, and power and transform it all into an authentic, abundant life. I healed my eating disorder, healed my patterns to heal my dysfunctional, codependent family dynamics, and sought forgiveness from everyone I had hurt while I was numb, unconscious, and wounded.

And then something wild happened: People started noticing all the changes in me and coming to me for advice. For comfort, clarity, guidance. They wanted what I had. And they kept saying the same thing: “You should do this full-time.”

At first, I ignored it.

Then it became undeniable. Then it became destiny. After decades of people-pleasing and living for everyone else’s expectations, I finally asked: “What do I want?”

The answer surprised me. A voice inside me said, "Go! Build a life of artistry, service, spirituality, truth, beauty, and freedom. Help people heal the way you healed so they can live their best lives, personally and professionally. Use your intuitive gifts out loud instead of whispering them in private for free. Blend your passions and gain complete freedom so that you never have to prove your worth or dim your light for anyone."

And so in 2025, I finally quit my toxic job and stepped fully into my purpose as a certified, trauma-informed, transformational life coach as well as a spiritual guide and tarot reader. I am also finally able to say that I am an actress, writer, singer, and humanitarian, pursuing my passions not as a hobby, but as a true calling.

This is how The Runiverse was born. A combination of Rudaba and Universe.

Because my world is finally a reflection of who I truly am. The Runiverse is a space for:

Life and career makeovers
Trauma-informed transformations
Connecting with your creative power and intuition, developing self trust, finding your voice again
Healing and stepping into power and purpose
Taking aligned action and staying on track
Manifesting the life, love, and career of your dreams
The messy, beautiful, human journey toward becoming who you really are

Today, as I coach and act, I live a high-vibration, substance-, drama-, and chaos-free life. I meditate twice a day. I nourish my body with good food, good energy, good connections, and good intentions. I practice Hoʻoponopono, yes, even on my toxic colleagues who made it impossible for me to continue in my job. I thank them for pushing me towards my destiny; had it not been for them, I'd have stayed in that job, in my comfort zone, never fully stepping into the limelight of my purpose.

Most importantly, now I show up for my inner child, my loved ones, my passions, and my purpose. And I teach others to do the same.

I’ve packed up my life in two 23-kg suitcases and rebuilt everything from the ground up multiple times. I’ve reinvented myself across countries, cities, careers, and identities. I’ve healed, failed, risen, collapsed, risen again, loved hard, lost deeply, and kept going. And now I’m here, finally, fully sharing my gifts with the world. Being the kind of coach to others that I wish I had when I was going through all that I went through.

Everything I’ve lived has prepared me for this work. Everything you’ve lived has prepared you for your transformation.

Welcome to The Runiverse.

Let’s elevate your life.