Her second floor café on a dusty industrial road was painted with dashes of psychedelic colors. And Sabeen Mahmud surrounded herself there with books, people, and discussions on technology, human rights and women's entrepreneurship.
Introducing others to Jimi Hendrix, street art and talking politics was not supposed to get her killed. But in Pakistan, free speech is dangerous, and Mahmud's exuberant exercise of it made her stick out nationwide.
Two gunman shot her dead at point-blank range late Friday after she locked up The Second Floor café in Karachi for the night, police said. Mahmud died from five bullet wounds.
The gunmen also shot her mother. She is in a hospital but is expected to be released on time for her daughter's funeral.
Mahmud's killing broke hearts beating for non-violence and progressive values across the country. She freely said what she thought in a place where many people are too afraid to and by doing so spoke for many more people than just herself.
She had become a Pakistani figurehead for humanism, love and tolerance.
"She took that torch into the dark forest and so many people followed. She really, truly was a success story of the heart," said close friend and BBC journalist Ziad Zafar.
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