From Burnout to Bestseller: How Deepika Sandhu Is Redefining Publishing and Purpose
In a powerful episode of Pivot to Profit, Pam Jordan sits down with Deepika Sandhu—six-time award-winning author, speaker, and founder of Soul Sparks Press—to explore what it truly means to pivot from burnout into purpose-driven success.
Deepika’s journey is one that resonates with high-achieving entrepreneurs and professionals alike. After a successful 25-year career in Silicon Valley, where she helped scale major tech companies, she found herself questioning everything. Despite external success, fulfillment was missing. That realization led to a turning point in her early 40s—what she calls a “scheduled breakdown”—that ultimately sparked a complete life transformation.
Her return to writing, a passion she had since childhood, changed everything. At 43, she published her first book, Hello Universe, It’s Me, which went on to become a bestseller and win multiple literary awards. That success didn’t just open doors—it revealed a gap in the publishing industry.
Today, Deepika is the founder and CEO of Soul Sparks Press, one of the fastest-growing publishing companies in North America. Her company offers a fresh alternative to traditional and self-publishing by combining the best of both worlds. Authors retain full ownership and royalties while benefiting from professional editing, design, and strategic marketing support.
What sets her approach apart is a deep focus on visibility. With over 35 million books published annually, simply writing a book isn’t enough. Deepika emphasizes the importance of positioning authors as thought leaders—through speaking opportunities, media exposure, and strategic book launches—so their stories actually get seen and make an impact.
Since its inception, Soul Sparks Press has helped more than 100 authors bring their stories to life, ranging from entrepreneurs and executives to parents and creatives. The common thread? Each story has the power to inspire and create lasting legacy.
This episode is a reminder that success isn’t just about income—it’s about alignment. As Deepika’s story shows, when you choose purpose, the impact—and the profit—can follow.
For entrepreneurs ready to step into visibility, build authority, and share their story, this conversation offers both inspiration and a clear path forward.
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
Pam Jordan (00:02.082)
Hello and welcome to today's episode of Pivot to Profit. My amazing guest today is a brilliant powerhouse, Deepika Sandhu. How are you?
Deepika Sandhu (00:11.6)
I'm wonderful! Thank you for having me, Pam!
Pam Jordan (00:15.342)
Absolutely. I'm so excited for this conversation. I know you in real life. We've had a number of adventures together. So I'm so excited to share your genius with my audience. Let me officially introduce you. Deepika is a speaker, six time award winning, bestselling author of Hello Universe, It's Me and founder and CEO of Soul Sparks Press, the fastest growing publishing company in North Carol, in North America. Today she helps high achievers turn burnout into breakthroughs and build lives that feel as good as they look. Through SoulSparks Press, she employs authors, empowers authors to turn their stories into legacy while retaining full ownership and royalties, helping over 100 authors what what step into their visibility and authority. What's up? This is so exciting.
Deepika Sandhu (00:45.518)
Yeah.
Deepika Sandhu (01:07.214)
Yeah, I think so.
Deepika Sandhu (01:12.496)
Thank you, thank you. It's so exciting to be here and to talk about all of this.
Pam Jordan (01:18.836)
Yes, and the fastest growing publishing company in North, North, I keep saying North Carolina because I live in North Carolina, but North America is way bigger.
Deepika Sandhu (01:24.048)
Way bigger, way bigger.
Pam Jordan (01:29.376)
And you are based in California with your beautiful daughter. But let's start from the beginning of what did little Deepika want to be when she grew up?
Deepika Sandhu (01:39.704)
I wanted to be a journalist. I was always writing all of the time. so not reading as much as I was writing, I was also super obsessed with watching the evening news. Our routine in our house was we would have dinner with Peter Jennings of ABC News every night. So my dad, my mom, my brother and sister, we would eat dinner watching the news and discussing current events. That is my fondest best memory. And then I also always remember we would get the physical newspaper, you know, at the door every morning. And in the evenings, I would read the paper out loud just to practice my journalist voice. But when I went to college in 1999, it seemed a little far-fetched to really pursue a career in journalism. There were not a lot of women who looked like me on national TV, alone on the news. So I never went down that path, but life has a funny way of coming all the way around. because now TV, movies, all sorts of things that put me in the spotlight have happened, which is exciting. I think our youngest self kind of always knows, right, where we're headed.
Pam Jordan (02:47.53)
Yeah, she, our inner self knows what's going on. So in those early days Deepika, what were you taught about money from your parents, society, culture? Was money good? Was money bad?
Deepika Sandhu (02:51.351)
Yeah.
Deepika Sandhu (03:00.301)
I think you worked hard for money. My parents were two time immigrants from India first to Canada and then from Canada in 1984, 85 to the United States and they were hard working immigrants. just worked hard every day, went to their job, saved their pennies, but they had the full belief that if you worked hard things could work out for you. They also fully believed that if you got your education and you were focused on that, Education would pay off for you in droves. So my dad used to play the lotto all the time. He was a big lotto player and One day he came home. He goes, you know what my lottery my lottery ticket is my kids You know if they do well, I'm gonna do well and he didn't unfortunately live long enough to see everything his kids did but that fundamental belief that you always have your two hands your brain your own ethics around working that you can do anything with that I think was so deeply instilled with within myself and my siblings for sure.
Pam Jordan (04:05.176)
I love it, so beautiful. So you went to college for journalism.
Deepika Sandhu (04:10.816)
No, I went to college to study economics because I didn't anybody would, I didn't think it was a practical
Pam Jordan (04:14.702)
You
Deepika Sandhu (04:19.912)
a career to pursue. Anything that we, I had researched about journalism while I was in high school and I had worked as an intern at the San Diego Union Tribune. Like I really tried to learn and understand journalism and careers in writing while I was in high school and I knew I wasn't gonna make any money at this, at least not at first, right? And so I was just wanting to have a sure bet. I wanted to have a great job. I wanted to make my parents proud, make that immigrant experience a success story for them and for me. And so I studied economics and political science and I went on to a 25 year Silicon Valley business career where I was helping some of the apps that are probably on your phone right now, very known tech companies to wow the world with innovation and to help them ring the bell on the floor of the stock exchange. And that career was fantastic, but writing never left me. I was always starting and stopping different writing projects, but I always had my safety net of my nice fancy corporate career to keep the lights on, more than keep the lights on.
Pam Jordan (05:24.536)
Yes, exactly. Okay, so tell me about the moment where you're like, corporate's amazing, I'm making a big impact in the world, but my heart is writing and my heart is authors and sharing their stories. Tell us the birth, origin story of Soul Sparks.
Deepika Sandhu (05:40.475)
You know, I was always a writer, I say this from the youngest of ages, my very first... writing that I remember doing was in my little journal with the little butterflies and the lock and the key on it and the whole thing. And I wrote all my preteen angst in that. And I kept writing. I was writing all my life. So even though I didn't pursue it in college, I went to a college which was very writing intensive and where writing was really the focus. And then even when I graduated and started my job, I was always journaling or starting blogs or writing articles or whatever it was to keep writing alive. And I started and stopped many a book during my time because every time I had a choice between my professional career or writing, I always picked the professional career. Well, it all came to a head at my 40s when, which is what my book, Helluva Universe, It's Me is based on where I scheduled a breakdown, manifested a new life and teaching everyone how they can do this too. Because I just realized if everything that I had worked so hard to build and to achieve. wasn't making me happy? What was I even doing? Why am I in this world? And it all came to a head in my early 40s and I realized I was allowed to live this life for me. I was allowed to do things that lit me up. I was allowed to pursue things that I loved. So even though I won't ever knock on corporate, I won't knock on my Silicon Valley career because it opened so many fabulous doors for me. I mean, I was a Silicon Valley woman of influence. I've spoken on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. I have done big things, so I'll never knock it.
Deepika Sandhu (07:21.507)
heart. And I believe my calling was all in books. And so I published my first book at 43 and that book went on to win six literary awards, become a bestseller, translated into Spanish, currently being translated into French, and just opened door after door after door for me all the way through to Soul Sparks Press, my own publishing company, 105 authors strong. But how did it start? It's a great question because this did not start with some business
Pam Jordan (07:39.406)
Amazing.
Deepika Sandhu (07:52.733)
plan, some strategy, some here's this big lofty idea I had. No, when I published my book Hello Universe, It's Me, people were always really impressed by it. You know, it's something that people aspire to do to write a book. And then they would tell me when they would meet me about their own stories and I would be like, you really should write a book someday. And they'll be like, I know I should. And that was sort of where the conversation ended. But one day, two and a half years ago, Eric Bigger, who is my friend, my trainer, and
Pam Jordan (08:06.573)
Yeah.
Deepika Sandhu (08:22.546)
also the former contestant on The Bachelorette, he turns and I was grieving about him and his life and how this should be a book, his spiritual fitness method, we need to teach it to the world. And he goes, you write it with me and I'll do it. And I said, let's go. And I really feel it was God source creator like speaking through him to me that this is your next step. So that is how Soul Sparks Press started. And we grew to our first 25 authors completely word of mouth. have a website, we didn't have an Instagram page, we didn't have anything. And then we were like, wait a second, we must be on to something. And then all the other pieces of the puzzle came in and now we haven't looked back since.
Pam Jordan (09:06.478)
Love it. And you started Soul Spark Express with the passion and the desire of, want to have a hundred authors. And now you're sitting at a hundred and five. Let's go. That's amazing.
Deepika Sandhu (09:18.67)
I know, I think there's this thing about metrics in her head, right? I was a business woman, so I wanted to have a goal and an aspiration and something I was working to and a marker that would tell me that I was. quote unquote good enough at the business I was doing. And so 100 was in my head and I just was like laser focused on bringing 100 aligned, fabulous, wonderful authors into SoulSparks Press and bringing their sweepingly inspirational stories to life. But I realized it was a completely arbitrary metric. It had no true meaning other than it sounded really nice to me. And so now I think it's more for me to really think about the other ways that we met. the business right beyond just continuing to acquire authors which of course we're going to do but also understanding the different author journeys that authors can go on not just writing their books but how they're seen for their books how they get on stages for their books how they get press for their books like really allowing them to step into their own visibility
Pam Jordan (10:22.798)
And your publishing is kind of a hybrid between self publishing and traditional publishing. break that down so that people can understand the difference. Because when you explained it to me, I was like, I get it. But as someone who's not in that world, it's hard to understand. help understand where the different options and where you sit in the middle and are really changing the story.
Deepika Sandhu (10:47.714)
Yes, we're completely changing the story. I actually even no longer really call myself a hybrid publisher anymore. I like to call myself a bespoke boutique publisher and I'm going to explain exactly why. You've got traditional publishers on one end of the spectrum. These are the names that you know of that if you looked on the back of the books of your favorite books, their logos will be there, right? Whether it's Hay House or Simon and Schuster, these are the big guys in the industry and those are the ones that typically writers who have wanted to write books have aspired to write with these big traditional publishers. But the problem with the big traditional publishers is they've gate-kept to the industry for a very long time. You had to have an agent, you had to do all these pitches, and even if they liked your book, you would give up a lot of control over your book, you share your royalties with them, etc., etc., etc. And that ability to get published with them got smaller and smaller and smaller. It was like winning the lottery, really, to get a deal with a traditional publisher. So along came self-publishing, which allowed so many people to finally access the publishing space and bring books to life thanks to platforms like KDP, Kindle Direct Publishing, Amazon that allowed this to come into existence. And that's been fantastic because people can bring their books to life. But here's the problem. If you want to create a high quality book, if you want to create an award-winning book, if you want to create a book that is truly going to get noticed and you don't want to learn every little step yourself, which is what's required in self-publishing. And you don't want to have to jump through the hoops and give up creative control and royalties and everything else that might be required to get a traditional publishing deal. How do you get your book out into the world? So for us, we sit in the middle of self-publishing and traditional publishing as a boutique publisher to help give you the rigor of a traditional publisher, the editing teams, the design teams, the caliber and quality to get your book really seen and visible. But the benefits of you being able to keep your royalties, keep your copyright, but still benefit from all the collaborative creativity that me and my team bring to the table. So we're sitting in the middle now. So I always like to say, know, self-publishing is nice, traditional publishing is nice, you'll find the space for you, but if you've got a desire to create something that's gonna move the needle, that's gonna change lives, and you want to be seen for your book, then you gotta come hang out with us here at Soul Sprite Express.
Pam Jordan (13:15.118)
But you also do a ton with the marketing side of things. So help people understand like it's not like you can just write a book publish it and be like, okay world, good luck. Like have fun with my book. You have to let people know it's there. So how are you helping authors get their books seen and noticed?
Deepika Sandhu (13:18.212)
Yes.
Deepika Sandhu (13:24.805)
Yeah.
Deepika Sandhu (13:31.473)
35 million books were published last year.
Pam Jordan (13:35.235)
a lot.
Deepika Sandhu (13:35.909)
That's a lot of books, right? So if you think I'm just going to publish it and get it out and the right people are going to see it, that's hope marketing. You're just hoping it's going to work out, right? What we want for you instead is that we create those structures that allow your book to actually get seen in the world. What if you can be on the stage? What if you can have your signature talk? What if you can have your own marketing and launch team who know exactly how to market and bring your book to life? What if you could win awards for your book? And what if doors could keep Opening for you over and over again just because your book is out there in the world and you had the team behind you to get it seen The only reason that hella universe sits me All these different things happened for it is because I kept saying yes to doors that were opening but I did a very good job at marketing and launching my book and that is why it opened door after door after door for me, but I always say if I did it you can do it too like benefit from the knowledge and the skills and the the steps that I took because I know exactly what it takes to launch the book and I don't want you to have to go figure it out or read a hundred Google articles about it or chat GPT it and all that stuff like what if you just step in and you get to step into being seen and visible for your book and how brand enhancing that is for whatever business you run or for whatever platform you're trying to build your book is your legacy it is the story that is going to live and live be on any content on social media that you're going to swipe your way through, your book will still be there. 100 years from now somebody walking through a library is going to find your book and I find that incredibly exciting.
Pam Jordan (15:18.016)
Love it. I love it. So let's talk about SoulSparks as a business. So when you left corporate, and I'm sure that was a nice paycheck and consistency, scheduled a breakdown, which y'all, you need to read her book to understand how- she did that. It was pretty brilliant. And then started your publishing company. Tell me about an early financial win where you're like, I think I can do this.
Deepika Sandhu (15:45.539)
Yeah, well when the author started to say yes and they're putting down their deposits, I was like, and early on. I knew my price point was probably wrong because everybody was saying yes and everyone who was paying me right away and I was like, wait, could we charge a little bit more for this? Because I didn't even know. I didn't even know what my costs were at the time either. So we just were throwing numbers out there and wondering if it would work. So one thing, I think the first moment where I was like, this works is when we could see that not only were we at the right price point, people were willing to pay it and there was profit in this, there was margin in this. And I think that was a really exciting moment for me. think another really exciting moment for me was, you know, we host very big marquee events for our authors and our first one of the ones we did last year, this time last year actually, was at the Barnes and Noble in Los Angeles. It's this gorgeous three-story Barnes and Noble where all the celebrities do their book launches. Well, we had 22 of our authors fly in from around the world. We had a packed house. We had people standing around trying to hear and listen to us. We had Ken Honda and Marie Doherty. surprise the crowd and be there too. That was quite a moment, right? To realize that our authors not only showed up at this event, they flew in for this event, people in the bookstore couldn't get enough, the tickets were sold out, and that we had these surprise celebrity guests. I think those were my big moments when we're like, okay, we really are onto something. And then being able to sign authors right there in that room who had stories to tell, people who had stories to tell, and you realize, wow, they all wanna come into this. And that was exciting.
Pam Jordan (17:23.47)
Amazing. So epic. So let's talk about your authors. Are these business owners? Are these wives and moms like husbands and dads? Like who are you? Whose stories are you helping share?
Deepika Sandhu (17:38.801)
It sounds silly to say that it's everybody, but it truly has been everybody. Our youngest author is Dylan Sandu, not related to me. His book is Son of the Sea. He's 21-years-old years old. We've got our oldest author is 86 years old. We've got women, we've got men, we've got young, we've got old, we've got business owners, thought leaders, coaches, corporate executives, and people. moms, moms who have stories to tell about their kids and raising children and losing children. We have got stories that just cover the gamut of everything. And I think the thing that has brought the people to Soul Sparks Press is that we're here to bring your sweepingly inspirational story to life. So that moment where you've read that book and something in you has changed, those are the books that we're bringing to life. And they're in every genre from inspirational self-help memoir. We just published our first fiction. book with Paris Polo Match by Amy Hendrickson and we have three children's books coming out this year as well. So we truly are a little bit of everything. So I'd love to say that there's a niche, but there just isn't. I think this is for all the books out there that those stories in our hearts that we know are going to change people's lives because here's the thing, your own lived experience is inspirational to somebody else. For somebody else, it's a story that they're waiting for.
Pam Jordan (19:06.242)
Yeah, and everyone has a story within them that needs to be brought and given a voice. And a book is an amazing, amazing way to do that. I have a number of books myself. You know, I've talked about my next one already. So like, I love it. So I know you've got some amazing things coming. So why don't you share with everyone what's on the horizon for you?
Deepika Sandhu (19:28.048)
Ooh. There's a lot of things on the horizon for me. think personally for me, I'm in an upcoming film called Pillars of Power that is being released this summer. It is in celebration of the 20th anniversary of The Secret and we have several of the original Secret cast members in this film and I am part of the new thought leaders who are talking about how to bring in new waves of energy and beliefs and all of this into our lives. So I talk a lot about possibility because if you can't tell by our conversation, I really do believe everything is possible, right? If you want something, if you believe something, if you can just move in the direction of it and you can say yes to yourself instead of convincing yourself the 101 reasons why you can't do something, the doors will open for you. My life has been a testament to that. So I'm really excited about Pillars of Power because this is exactly what I will be talking about in that movie. but we're also working on the screenplay to my book Hello Universe, It's Me, so we're manifesting some amazing things there as well. There's always so much happening in my world and another book we're writing, I'm writing the sequel to Hello Universe, It's Me right now, so I'm back in my creative juices again too, so it's not just my authors writing and writing their stories, I'm right there along with them writing mine as well.
Pam Jordan (20:56.268)
I love it and I can't wait to read book number two and see you on the big screen. So, so stinking proud of you. Amazing and have you helped me with my future creations. So this is magical Deepika. Thank you for sharing your story. Where can people go to connect with you?
Deepika Sandhu (21:12.09)
Come find me on Instagram. That's where I hang out and it's really me on Instagram. So Deepakasandhu.co or SoulSparksPress, both one word on Instagram. You can also catch our website at soulsparkspress.com.
Pam Jordan (21:28.59)
Amazing. Thank you so much. You're a beautiful human. I heart you deeply. Thank you so much. We will do grand things in the future. So listeners, just check it deep because it links out in the show notes to learn more. If you have a story that you want to be told through a book and if you need help understanding your numbers, navigating the craziness that is taxes and knowing.
Deepika Sandhu (21:31.92)
Heart you right back.
Pam Jordan (21:52.952)
What do I charge for services? Because what is this thing called direct cost and profit? Just go to pamjordan.com, book a call with my team. We would love to help you. And remember, it's not what you make that matters. It's what you keep.