About Keli H: From Stethoscopes to Storytelling

 

A candid headshot of Keli H the author

If you had told me in high school that I’d one day leave a successful career as a medical doctor to build a storytelling empire, I might have laughed—but I would’ve believed it deep down. Because I always knew I was born to share the most inspiring stories the world would ever read, even though I'd never been encouraged to follow it as a viable career. 

Today the world knows me as Keli H, an award winning author and prestigious publishing house head. But I was once the ordinary Kelisha Hariparsad, born on 17 July 1993 in Durban, South Africa. This blog is a glimpse into the creative life I knew I was always meant to live.

Growing up, books weren’t just a passion—they were my identity, my compass, my purpose. But like many of us from the millennial generation, I was told things like 'creative skills are not real careers' and 'you could always just do that as a hobby', and the big one - 'you'll never make a living out of that'. So I followed the 'respectable' path instead. I studied medicine, graduated in 2017, and spent two years working in Durban’s hospitals. It was meaningful—but something vital was missing.

At the end of 2019, I took the boldest leap of my life: I walked away from the white coats and into the world of words.

In 2020, I founded The KREST House, a publishing company with the vision of being the greatest storytelling empire in the world, sharing the most inspiring stories the world would ever read. What started as a dream quickly turned into a movement—earning 13 award nominations, including three nods for Best Publishing Company in South Africa. I now proudly serve as CEO, helping authors find the kind of platform I never had growing up.

In 2021, I released my debut novel, The Four Hundred Club, under the name Keli H. It went on to win me the title of Best Upcoming Female Author 2022. I followed that with my writing guide, Creating Literary Art, for aspiring storytellers with a dream like mine.

This blog isn’t just about books. It’s about becoming the truest version of yourself—through fashion, creativity, and living beautifully outside the box.

For the more formal retelling of this story, you can read it on About Keli H

For more articles written by Keli H, the author, visit this blog's home page on keli-h.com

Keli H is the award winning author of the 400 series, which includes The Four Hundred Club and Splitting an Empire. The 400 series is high brow contemporary fiction revolving around the lives of wealthy circles. Keli's other works include Creating Literary Art. She is also the founder of The KREST House, a storytelling empire.