[1] In 1987, Sofia Ashraf was born and brought up in an orthodox Malayali Muslim household in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
Sofia was part of a Muslim youth group in Chennai, and studied Islamic History and Philosophy ardently.
She studied graphic design in Stella Maris College, Chennai, where she used to zealously participate in extracurricular activities.
[3] Ashraf worked as a creative supervisor for Ogilvy & Mather, a global advertising firm that counts Unilever as one of its clients.
O&M executive chairman Piyush Pandey said the firm had wanted Ashraf to stay on, but that she left to pursue a new career path in 2015.