Some people build careers. Others build lives that become stories. Sheetal Ohri has done both.
Behind every award is a story. Behind every business is a decision. Behind every book is an experience that was lived long before it was written.
And behind every new beginning in Sheetal Ohri’s life is a choice—to try again, to move forward, and to believe that the next chapter can be better than the last.
Today, Sheetal Ohri is an entrepreneur, award-winning author of Two books, California Realtor, radio talk show host, philanthropist, business professional, and community advocate. Her career spans nearly three decades and crosses hospitality, public relations, marketing, sales, operations, facilities management, real estate, media, and business consulting.
She runs Sheetal Ohri Inc. from San Francisco, serves as Senior Director of Facilities, Remodel and Development for a major restaurant organization across California and other states, hosts her weekly radio program, Making a Difference with Sheetal Ohri, on Bolly 92.3 FM, and is the author of two award-winning books, with a third currently in progress.
But titles only tell part of her story.
Behind them is a woman who has repeatedly found the courage to begin again.
When Pain Became a Purpose
As an immigrant mother in the United States, she spent nearly eight years navigating the American family court system during a custody dispute. During those difficult years, she wrote—mostly poetry.
Writing became a way to express what she could not always say aloud: a mother’s fear, frustration, determination, heartbreak, and hope.
When the legal battle finally ended and Sheetal regained full custody, she looked back at what she had written and realized that her experience could help others.
So she turned her pain into a book.
Custodial Battle became more than a personal story. It became an effort to give a voice to immigrant parents who may find themselves facing an unfamiliar legal system while struggling to understand what comes next in family law matters especially on the Citizen vs Non citizen situation.
The book received international recognition in India, the United Kingdom, and the United States, including the International IMPACT Book Award in the Inspirational and Motivational category in 2025. In 2026, it received the Distinguished Book Award in the Inspirational, Motivational and Self-Help category at the New York Big Book Awards.
For Sheetal, however, the greatest reward is not the trophy.
It is knowing that someone reading her story might find the strength to keep going.
The Power of a Second Chance
If Custodial Battle emerged from adversity, Sheetal’s second book emerged from reflection.
Second Chances in the Journey of Life, published in early 2024, explores relationships, personal growth, healing, rebuilding, and the belief that everyone deserves another opportunity in life.
Because surviving is only one part of the journey.
The next question is: What do you do with the life that comes after?
How do you rebuild? How do you trust again? How do you move forward without allowing the past to define everything that follows?
Sheetal began writing the book in 2023. It eventually received recognition and media attention and won in the Relationships category at the 2026 New York Big Book Awards.
Two books.
Two categories.
Two recognitions at the same ceremony.
Yet both carry a similar message: life can change without warning, but the human spirit has the ability to change with it.
For Sheetal, a second chance is not simply another opportunity.
It is the courage to take it.
Nearly Three Decades of Building
Long before the books and literary awards, Sheetal was building a career.
Her professional journey began in hospitality in India before taking her to London, where she worked in restaurant and hotel management. Over nearly three decades, her experience expanded across public relations, marketing, sales, operations, facilities management, real estate, business development, and consulting.
She has never believed that a career has to fit neatly into one box.
For more than a decade, she has led Sheetal Ohri Inc. in San Francisco, working across the United States and India in media, branding, public relations, and consultancy. Her professional responsibilities also include serving as Senior Director of Facilities, Remodel and Development for a major restaurant organization.
Her career reflects a defining quality: curiosity.
She keeps learning.
She keeps evolving.
And she is not afraid to reinvent herself.
A Voice That Connects People
For more than a decade, Sheetal has also been a familiar voice on San Fransico’s Bay Area radio.
Her weekly program, Making a Difference with Sheetal Ohri, airs on Bolly 92.3 FM and provides a platform for conversations with entrepreneurs, community leaders, professionals, advocates, artists, and individuals whose stories deserve to be heard to empower her listeners.
For Sheetal, radio is not simply about being behind a microphone.
It is about connection.
It is about asking questions.
And it is about giving people a voice.
Her work in radio has also kept her closely connected to the South Asian community while highlighting people and organizations making meaningful contributions to the wider community.
The message behind the show remains simple:
People have stories worth hearing.
Success With a Purpose
Sheetal’s definition of success has never stopped at personal achievement.
In 2012, she founded Silicon Valley Awards, a red-carpet recognition platform created to honor individuals, businesses, and nonprofit organizations making meaningful contributions to their communities.
Her philanthropic efforts have also focused on children, education, school supplies, tuition assistance, and community support. Through nonprofit and volunteer work, she continues to support people who may not have access to the same opportunities others take for granted.
Her philosophy is straightforward:
Success becomes more meaningful when it creates an opportunity for someone else.
That belief has shaped much of her work.
From an Idea to a Stage
Sheetal has also demonstrated a willingness to turn ideas into reality.
In 2013, she launched, directed, and produced Bollywood Dreamz: Journey of a Star, a Bollywood Broadway-style production in San Francisco featuring local talent.
It was another example of her entrepreneurial spirit—the ability to see an idea, believe in it, and then do the work required to bring it to life.
Whether she is building a business, producing an event, hosting a radio show, writing a book, managing development projects, or supporting a nonprofit initiative, she approaches challenges with a simple question:
Why not try?
Recognition—and a New Dream
Sheetal’s work has been recognized at local, state, national, and international levels, including recognition from the California State Legislature, California Senate and State Assembly.
In March 2023, she received the NRI Institute Pravasi Indians of the World Achievers Award at the House of Lords in the British Parliament in London, presented by Lord Swraj Paul.
In 2024, she received the Hi Flyers 50 Global Icon Award in Mumbai, India, and was featured in the Hi Flyers 50 Global Icon Awards Coffee Table Book. She was also named a finalist at the Global Book Awards in the United States for both books.
In 2025, she received International Impact Book Award in Phoenix, Arizona.
Then came 2026 and the New York Big Book Awards, where both books were recognized in separate categories.
But Sheetal’s story is still evolving.
She is now a strong contestant in the RISE “Next Runway Star” competition, an opportunity centered on individuals who make a difference. After progressing through the preliminary rounds, she is now among the top contestants.
For Sheetal, the possibility of walking New York Fashion Week represents more than fashion.
It represents a dream.
It represents courage.
And it represents the message she has carried throughout her life: it is never too late to step into something new.
For her, walking a runway would not simply be about how someone looks in a moment. It would be about the lasting impact of seeing someone who continued to believe in herself despite everything she had faced.
Still Writing. Still Building. Still Rising.
Today, Sheetal is working on her third book.
She continues her professional responsibilities, radio work, entrepreneurial projects, and community involvement.
She continues to learn.
She continues to create.
And she continues to look toward what comes next.
Her story has never been about an uninterrupted climb to success. There have been challenges, uncertainty, reinvention, and moments when moving forward required tremendous courage.
But each chapter became the beginning of another.
A difficult experience became a book.
A passion for writing became an award-winning literary career.
A love of communication became radio.
Professional experience became entrepreneurship.
A desire to recognize others became awards and community initiatives.
And personal challenges became an opportunity to encourage others.
That is the thread connecting everything Sheetal does:
Making a difference—not as a slogan, but as a way of living.
There is a line that has resonated with her throughout her journey:
“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.”
Perhaps that is the simplest way to understand Sheetal Ohri.
She has tried one more time.
And then one more time after that.
She has rebuilt.
Reinvented.
Written.
Created.
Led.
Given back.
And continued walking forward.
Some people build careers.
Others build lives that become stories.
Sheetal Ohri is still writing hers—and her next chapter may just begin on a runway.
