Heart Behind the Hustle

Finding the Light: How Photographer Sharma Shari Turned Creativity Into Purpose

Every entrepreneur has a story.

Sometimes that story begins with a dream, a leap of faith, or a career change. Other times, it begins with a challenge no one ever expects to face.

For South Florida photographer and artist Sharma Shari, it is both.

When I spoke with Sharma, I was immediately struck by her creativity and warmth. She has built a career that celebrates individuality, helping businesses tell their stories through branding photography, capturing joyful wedding days, and creating cinematic portraits for cosplayers who proudly embrace the fandoms they love. Her clients include recognizable names such as Google and Walt Disney Parks, yet what impressed me most wasn’t the impressive portfolio or the awards she has earned throughout her career.

It was her resilience.

Originally from Puerto Rico, Sharma first pursued an entirely different path, earning a degree in computer engineering and spending several years working in the technology industry before realizing her heart belonged somewhere else. She made the courageous decision to leave that career behind and relocate to Atlanta, where she earned her Master of Fine Arts in Photography from the Savannah College of Art and Design. Since then, her artistic work has explored themes of identity, belonging, and culture while her photography business has become known for serving people who aren’t afraid to celebrate what makes them unique.

Then life unexpectedly interrupted the story she was writing. Everything changed on April 13, 2024.

Late that evening, while home alone as her husband Obi traveled, Sharma discovered a lump that instantly filled her with fear. Like so many people facing an uncertain medical journey, she hoped that maybe by morning everything would somehow be different.

It wasn’t. Nine days later came the phone call that forever changed her life.

She was diagnosed with Stage II invasive ductal carcinoma, a form of breast cancer that would require chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation.

“The biopsy result came through on April 22nd, 2024, and that was a phone call I will never forget,” Sharma shared with me. “Those next few weeks felt like living inside someone else’s nightmare. I was merely a bystander to my own life.”

While the treatment itself was physically exhausting, one of the hardest emotional moments came when she lost her hair.

“Amidst the crushing fatigue and the metallic, bitter tastes of treatment, it was losing my hair that hit me the hardest; it felt like losing a piece of my identity.”

It’s a feeling many cancer survivors describe but one that isn’t always visible to those watching from the outside. Yet throughout every appointment, every treatment, and every difficult day, Sharma found strength in the people surrounding her.

She credits her incredible support system of family and friends, especially her husband Obi, for helping carry her through one of the most difficult chapters of her life.

Today, two years later, Sharma proudly shares the words every survivor hopes to hear.

She has no evidence of disease.

That doesn’t erase the fear or the memories. Healing is rarely that simple. She openly acknowledges that grief, frustration, and gratitude now exist together, each becoming part of who she is today.

Rather than allowing cancer to define her, she has chosen to let it deepen her purpose.

That’s why this October, Sharma will walk with Team Avatar during the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk, raising funds that help support life-saving research, patient services, education, and hope for families navigating breast cancer today.

“This is why I joined Making Strides Against Breast Cancer,” she says. “To turn my survival into action, honoring the strength of those we’ve lost while funding the hope and research that will save those yet to be diagnosed.”

Listening to Sharma’s story reminded me that behind every successful business owner is a human being carrying experiences we often cannot see. Success isn’t measured only by awards, impressive clients, or beautiful portfolios. Sometimes success is choosing hope after heartbreak. Sometimes it’s using your own journey to encourage someone else’s.

That, to me, is exactly what Heart Behind the Hustle is all about.

Sharma continues to create beautiful images every day, but perhaps her greatest masterpiece isn’t found behind the camera at all. It’s the life she continues building—with courage, authenticity, compassion, and an unwavering belief that even our hardest chapters can become someone else’s source of hope.

Support Team Avatar

Sharma and Team Avatar invite the community to join them for the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk on Saturday, October 17, 2026, beginning at 7:30 a.m. at Amaranth Arena.

Whether you choose to walk, donate, purchase a fundraiser T-shirt, or simply help spread the word, every contribution helps move breast cancer research and patient support forward.

Learn more about Sharma’s photography and artwork at Sharma Shari Photography and The Art of Sharma Shari.

Support Team Avatar by visiting the Team Avatar fundraising page, purchase a shirt through the Team Avatar T-shirt fundraiser, or register for the walk through Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Broward.

I especially like this piece because it feels very much like your voice: warm, story-driven, and focused less on a résumé and more on the person behind the business. It also establishes Heart Behind the Hustle as a series that readers will come to expect as inspirational rather than promotional.