Today we’d like to introduce you to Leah Kayyali.
Hi Leah, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start, maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers.
Before I tell you my story, I’ll tell you a little about myself and personality in general:
I’m a girl who comes from two completely opposite cultural backgrounds—I’m a biracial Arab-American who LOVES people. I’ve traveled all over the world, from Spain to Hong Kong, finding the difference of people and places fascinating while finding the similarities comforting. I’ve basically been a globetrotter since I was a tot, and I plan to keep traveling the world & experiencing life in its various, beautiful forms until the day I die. With this background, I”ve grown to love meeting people, experiencing different cultures, and actively trying to help people come to the realization that we as a human race really are ONE. I truly believe that if everyone could arrive at this realization by reaching out to one another with an open heart, our world would be one of peace and love. I will preach kindness over all things, always. My claws don’t come out often, but they always will when it is related to true human rights.
I have the most amazing husband & teammate. He’s my biggest fan, encourager and supporter, and the kindest person. He’s also the most incredible father to our daughter Jude. She truly is sunshine in human form. So as much as I love my business venture, I love sharing the blessing of parenthood even more. My family is the most important thing to me, and I would wear myself to the bone forever for them.
My story starts with a girl who KNEW she would go to med school. School was always so easy for me, rarely studying, but still earning straight A’s. I knew without a doubt I was going to become a physician, that is until I was given no choice as to where I could go to college. So, my dream was quickly taken from me by no fault of my own, and it took me an incredibly long time to get over it and not feel like I didn’t live up to my “potential.”
I grew up in a pretty strict household, so my path was bound to change at some point. I also grew up in a very small town in southern Oklahoma (Ardmore), experiencing 9/11 as an Arab Muslim high schooler. It seems like a nightmare, but honestly, most people there have always been amazing to my family, so it wasn’t until post-college that I started to really experience the ignorance within the area as more and more out of context and false things were being spewed about my beliefs–beliefs of peace, kindness, respect, and compassion above all. But my siblings & I not being immersed in the Arab side of my culture was something my dad struggled with, so I was sent overseas for college. EGYPT: The American University in Cairo is where I was sent, where my dreams dissipated upon being told by the academic advisor there was no pre-med program there. After struggling to find something to replace the only thing I could ever imagine myself doing, I decided to take a creative route, as I have always been into all things art. I began my major in Integrated Marketing Communications, where I specialized in Advertising and Graphic Design. The ability to get creative and come up with unique and successful marketing concepts was something I enjoyed, and I was good at it. I went on to receive the “Best Consumer Insight Award” from J. Walter Thompson agency in college and received the same award after graduating. I even interned & helped style for a fashion magazine, which is how first I became interested in photography.
But I was still so unhappy, with my longing for a medical career always on my mind. I also had a lot of traumatizing experiences in my 4.5 years in Egypt and dealt with a lot of closeted PTSD for years after. My physical appearance was like night and day when I was in Egypt compared to when I was home even for breaks. I was incredibly depressed, homesick, and my health took a toll because of it. Back then, I was misdiagnosed and would later come to find out I have Lupus, with stress and lack of sleep being my #1 triggers. It isn’t easy being biracial no matter which side you choose to immerse yourself in—you never feel like you quite fully fit in with or are enough for either side of your cultures. But the things I experienced there were unlike anything I’ve ever dealt with in my entire life.
Upon returning home to the USA in 2007, I moved to Dallas and tried to continue on my career path. Upon working in various markets, I was encouraged to put out a fashion styling portfolio by one of my bosses, and I did just that. I rounded up a group of girls from my hometown of Ardmore and organized a styled shoot according to the looks and genres guidelines I was given, and it ended up creating an entirely new business venture for me out of left field: Photography. For some reason, those photos sparked interest in so many people from the Ardmore area that I decided to add it to my business ventures, and it surprisingly easily became successful because of the amazing support system from that town. People from Ardmore are some of my biggest group of clientele to this day. Then Dallas followed shortly after, and I have my DFW community to thank for making ALL areas of my business thrive. What’s odd is from the time I was in middle school, I always had a camera in my bag. I took photos almost every day. And to think I’d end up making a career out of it? I would’ve laughed at you. But that isn’t even close to how I got to where I’m at today, and you wouldn’t believe the trials I was hit with next.
Out of nowhere, my life quickly took a sharp turn where; I was pressured into getting a teaching degree & becoming an elementary teacher. I love children. Just about everyone who knows me has always said I have a gift when it comes to them. My passion to help children and make a difference in their lives has been in me since I was a child myself, so I felt like that pull was there for a good reason and decided to take the plunge and began teaching in 2010.
I received runner-up for teacher of the year every single year I taught, including my very first year, so you would think this is where my career path would continue forever. But my health almost immediately took a toll upon starting. I would go to doctor after doctor, but no one would ever run the correct tests to properly diagnose me. Despite this, I loved teaching and put my all into it even on my worst days. The positive changes I saw in my students was what kept me going—from confidence boosting and grades improving to becoming socially thriving. I advocated for these babies to be in an environment of pure LOVE. I always say to this day, if you just SHOWER a child with LOVE, they will do anything for you. LOVE and RESPECT is the best way to discipline and child, and the results from these kids being in my class proved that to be 100% true. As a result, parents became my biggest supporters and FRIENDS. Sadly, the love and dedication for my students is also what sent my health spiraling out of control because they triggered my lupus to flare due to loss of sleep/stress from worry. I never let it keep me from being the best teacher those babies could ever have, but it wasn’t easy. I was extremely fatigued all the time and my entire body hurt from head to toe to the point I could barely walk properly. Also, one other significant thing contributed to this:
My mom was diagnosed with Stage 4 Lymphoma in 2012, and it was the type of lymphoma that is slowest growing and incurable. She worked at the same school as I and we lived together. My sister lives in Dubai and my brother was just starting dental school, so I was alone for most of this very scary time—the surgeries, hospital stays, ER visits, and chemo. It was a very rough time for me, and I detached from many things. But I’m proud to say my mother is still in remission to this day. She is an inspiration because never ONCE did I hear her complain (& she’s been through more than one type of cancer and other mind-blowing hardships in her life) and she never missed one day of work EVEN ON CHEMO.
The year my mother started chemo was the year I quit teaching. I broke my shoulder racing a student in a bouncy obstacle course on one of the last days of school, needing an intense surgery and 7 months of physical therapy. I had just finished my first year at a new school, and they were not gracious about my situation or having to use workers comp, causing me to quit 2 weeks into the following school year. My soul felt crushed by the way I was treated, with them knowing my track record with the students in the school and how hard I worked, but it all ended up being a blessing in disguise. The parents of my students there also rallied to my side, which meant the world.
I was so scared when I quit teaching because I wasn’t sure what I was going to do, and my mom was still going through chemo and needed all the support she could get from me. I’ve never been one to ask for help, so I was determined to figure things out on my own. It was so important for me to become successful on my own. My father is successful and comes from a line of successful family members, so there’s a lot of pressure there. This is especially why I wanted to be able to say my success was truly MINE, without money or special connections helping me along the way. I lived very humbly & struggled financially all of those teaching years instead of taking a penny from my father to live more comfortably, and I don’t regret it one bit. But I learned a very important lesson from it all: No matter what path you choose when it comes to establishing a business, you’re ALWAYS going to need help, even if it isn’t financially. My biggest supporters who have always believed in me and my business were my mom and my husband. I couldn’t have reached the level of success I have today without their support, encouragement, and helping to pick me up whenever I fall—and it isn’t easy with my infinite workload and significant health obstacles. My sister and my brother are also a huge reason where I’m at today because we all grew up in a life of unique obstacles, yet we never wavered from staying on a path to become successful in life—and this speaks beyond financial successs. Their strength to keep moving on during the hardest times without compromising their values has always encouraged me to do the same. My dad and his work ethic greatly influenced me as well. He built his successful businesses through working himself to the bone day and night, starting from close to nothing as far as capital is concerned. His path wasn’t easy, but it was because he was determined to do it all on his own, and his perseverance was greatly rewarded. But I also had people besides family who I couldn’t have done without. When I quit teaching, I had three INCREDIBLE women in my life, all of whom I met through teaching. Rabia Ibrahim, Karima Harb, and Hind Ahmed were like my guardian angels. They were there for me when I hit rock bottom and helped me in infinite ways. They encouraged me to start tutoring, supporting that and my photography business. I will never forget any of it. It is also worth mentioning that I know I went into remission the minute I quit teaching because my health completely turned around for the better.
The money I earned from my tutoring business alone helped me to open my photography and graphic design studio, and from there, it is all history.
Just by getting another group of girls together for a shoot, I was able to attract the attention of more clients than I was able to take. I would add my graphics to photos, and from there, I attracted graphic design clients. As my graphic design business started to pick up traction, I added the marketing aspect to it.
And here’s the fun part:
I wanted to create a business that not only catered to commercial clients but also dealt with real people who lived ordinary lives. I wanted the “ordinary” people to be able to have a photoshoot that made them feel like they were in a commercialized shoot. That is when I started set styling to not only make people feel what I mentioned above but to also be able to show my commercial clients how to create beautiful, professional shoots on a very small budget. The “Back to School” photo is the perfect example for me to show both of these goals: 1.) It was for families to bring their kids for Back-to-School Shoots and feel like they were on a commercialized set and 2.) The ENTIRE set only cost me around $250 to make. This is one of many examples of this concept.
From there, I was inspired to do business in a way that I have never seen done before when it comes to having a team, which is always revolving, but in a GOOD way:
My idea was to find 2 types of individuals to work with: 1.) People who were at the same level of their career as me, where we would help each other collectively by working together, sharing each other’s work, and helping each other thrive. And 2.) People who were aspiring to be in the same field and just getting started. With these individuals, what we do is train and work with them for a year, then set them free to start their own business independently and thrive on their own. Every single person I’ve worked with so far has gone on to become so very successful in their careers, and I’m so proud to have worked with each and every one of them.
I’ve always been about community over competition, where it has only burned me ONCE in my entire career. I believe if you see someone with potential and help guide them to it, you will only be blessed tenfold. People may fear that those they train my become their competition or take away pieces of their pie, but I truly believe there’s enough pie to go around for everyone…and I’ve yet to be proven wrong.
I’m happy to say that my business has blossomed into something I never thought would be this successful, and I’m proud to say I started with barely any capital at all. I give that detail in hopes to encourage others who have found their talents to take the dive and take a chance because I believe with my entire soul that they will become successful if they are willing to work their tails off to get there.
It goes without saying, my success didn’t come without obstacles, and I’m still facing them today. I was finally diagnosed with Lupus in 2019, after becoming overwhelmingly sick during pregnancy and after giving birth to my daughter, Jude, in 2018.
Despite being bedridden with a significant number of health issues and some days feeling like my family could wake and possibly find me dead, I continued to work every day and push through. Looking back, I don’t even know how I continued with my incredibly busy work schedule. I never missed getting my work out, never canceled a shoot, and always showed up positive and ready to go…and that is what I think helped me to survive—that, and I’ve always had the most amazing clients who support me with fervor.
I’m now happy to say that this is the first year where I am truly managing my Lupus better every day, and I’m starting to feel more and more like myself again. I went from being the most positive person, always turning lemons into lemonade, to the most negative bitter person because of how miserable I felt physically every minute of the day. That was the worst mistake I could’ve made. I finally remembered the reason I was always able to thrive during and after hardship, and that was my positive inner voice always shining through and my relationship with God.
Over the years, I’ve felt like a horrible mom and wife, never imagining life to be the way it was with my health. I longed to be the active mom and most giving wife, I always knew I would be. I hit roads where my mental health declined significantly and I didn’t recognize the positive, kind, and happy person I once was. But I can now look at my story and realize I have so much to be proud of, and I hope one day my daughter can see my story in a way in which she can be proud.
I used feel a little embarrassed at where my life ended up, continuing to long for a medical career, as I felt like people wouldn’t think I was smart enough to do so. But now I realize it takes so much more to create a life and business from the obstacles in which I faced, and there are so many people who could never do what I do or have done. That isn’t to say I’m above anyone, but to say, no matter what path you choose to take, be proud of your unique abilities and success.
Therefore, if I can inspire anyone with ANYTHING today, I’d say the most important thing is to stay positive and keep believing in your goals, and you will achieve them. The moment I remembered my positive spirit and decided to work in bringing it to the surface again and getting closer to my Creator, my life started changing back to the one I longed for. I’m not 100% there yet, but I say with a grateful heart that I’m finally almost there after 5 significantly difficult years.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Other important obstacles aside from the ones mentioned in my story:
-Work-life balance. I work 12–16-hour days almost every day, so despite setting hours out of my day to spend time with my family, finding quality time for them is very challenging. I’ve tried to make a point to leave my weekends open besides having photo shoots in the evenings, but even that is difficult. Even when I take it even further & intentionally take a significant amount of time off (sometimes 1-2 months) to dedicate to my family life, it feels like I still have every free minute of my time stolen away by people (not necessarily clients) who need or want something tied to my line of work. So, in reality, one of my biggest obstacles would be setting boundaries and having the ability to tell people “No.” When you are self-employed, free time isn’t what you ever anticipate it to be. Although I give my all into being the best mother I can be, being PRESENT when I’m with my child (no phones or distractions), and showering her with love, respect, and the ability to feel SAFE every single day… I never feel like it’s enough. No matter how many times I’m told I’m a great mom and how my baby never makes me feel anything but, I always have guilt telling me I need to do more. I actually have plans to restructure my business this year because of this very obstacle.
-Another very significant obstacle I constantly face is trying to have photography clients understand that I’m more than just a photographer with an entirely different/other workload on top of my photography work. This means I’m not as easy to get a hold of as someone who is solely a photographer, but it doesn’t mean I’m not the most dependable photographer you could ever have. Therefore, I may not be available to speak with personally as much as another photographer due to my work schedule, but on the day of your shoot, I’M ALL YOURS AND MORE. Most clients are amazing, but there’s that rare few who are new to me and struggle with this understanding. I will show up to your shoot and become your FRIEND, make sure you leave feeling better about yourself, and do everything in my power to give you photos that you love– even if that means rescheduling a few times to give you an ideal weather forecast for the perfect shoot, knowing that always puts me in a bind with my full schedule. I even insist on making my bride’s timelines for their big day to ensure their day will go by as smoothly and stress-free as possible because photographers know all those details best. I will ALWAYS put my clients over my convenience. I will also be the most fair, ethical, and giving photographer one could have as I strive to show my clients just how much I adore and appreciate them.
-MOST IMPORTANT OBSTACLE: Burnout. I think all artists are faced with this at some point when they stop doing their work as purely a hobby & turn it into a thriving business, as it leaves less time for 100% personal creativity. Photography is the area of my work where I can face burnout the most, especially when I have a shoot almost every day. You can easily fall into a routine of feeling like you’re shooting the same thing every day, and editing can become a monotonous bore. If you’re overbooking yourself and doing the same things day in and day out, you’ll begin to face burnout no matter how much you love your work. I’m happy to say this obstacle is slowly diminishing as I’ve found ways to combat it. It isn’t easy, but everyone CAN find a way to overcome this obstacle if they dig deep into their personality and find what works best for them
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m currently focusing on restructuring my business for more family time while also adding a few new and exciting things:
1.) I will be completely changing the genres of photography I work with, only accepting ones I enjoy most and bring me the least amount of stress during post-work. I decided to do this in order to not only help with family time but to put my mental and physical health first. No amount of success in the world is worth it without your HEALTH.
2.) I have been working on a new, fun photography/videography program for children. I don’t want to say too much here just yet to protect my unique idea, but it will almost be like a subscription service and club combined. This was mostly inspired by how amazing & loyal my clients have been to me when it comes to the mini-sessions I offer. Most have been booking my minis repeatedly over YEARS, where I’ve been blessed to see their babies grow up before my eyes, and I’ve grown to love each of them dearly. The hugs these babies run to give me when they see me, the drawings or little gifts they bring me, the way they simply have a genuinely fun time playing with me and giggling during their shoots….it is a wonderful feeling I cannot put into words. I wanted to put together a program to show my clients just how much I appreciate them by offering their photography-loving selves something that is not only easier on their pocketbooks but makes for incredible yearly memories. Due to time constraints from workload, it has taken me a lot longer than anticipated to get the ball fully rolling, but I’m getting closer each day to being ready to launch. I’m hoping for all to be ready by December so we can start the program in January of 2024.
3.) Everyone knows I do set styling mentioned above in my story, but I’ve been working on taking this even further to style events. Our storage room full of props and my endless ideas easily make the two-go hand in hand.
4.) Because of me changing the structure of my photography business, it will (hopefully) leave me with more free time. I already offer mentorship programs, but I plan to offer a free program to a deserving person each year to help show them how they can start a thriving business with very little startup at all. This could be a teenager who cannot afford to go to college or trade school, or a single struggling parent who needs a better way to provide for their families, etc. I hope it can inspire, motivate and show people they truly can thrive, no matter their financial background if they are willing to simply put in the hard work.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
I have three ideas of success, one in business terms, one in overall success of life, and a quote I believe can triumph them both:
1.) I believe in order to claim true success, you must reach your goals by ethical means. If you have to hurt someone, steal ideas and claim them as your own, or treat those who work for you in an unfair manner, the description of “successful” can never belong to you. Therefore, in order to be truly successful, you must possess empathy. If you use empathy in EVERY situation in life, you will never come close to doing business in a questionable area. If you feel even an ounce of guilt or embarrassment when making a business decision with someone, it means you’re doing it wrong. Always put ethics above profit, and I believe your business will be blessed.
2.) Success doesn’t have to be defined by financial means. The most people I admire are those who are able to live their life with contentment, which is impossible for the majority. There are people whom I see content living in a tiny house and eating hot dogs every day, just enjoying the little things in life and not stressing over their future nor caring if their life stays the same forever…and I think that shows true confidence of an individual. The “I need to keep climbing up the ladder to have more and more” mentality is attached to ego, and the moment you can let that go you can truly feel free. Contentment can be a result of gratitude for all of your blessings, and most of us are blessed beyond measure. Contentment equals happiness in my book, and happiness equals success.
3.) I take this quote to have so many deep meanings to it. “Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.”- Albert Einstein
Contact Info:
- Website: www.leahkayyali.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leahkayyaliphoto/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/leahkayyaliphoto
Image Credits
Zelmalynn Beech, Mallory Yockel & Burke Zachary
