HELLO, I’M LEAH SOLMAZ.
The All-Round
Creative.
A curious mind. A few unexpected plot twists. And absolutely no intention of settling.
Writer, filmmaker, former actress, marketing strategist, entrepreneur and lifelong student of the wonderfully complicated business of being human.
GET TO KNOW ME
Apparently, I could have been a rocket scientist.
At school in Ireland, I scored in the top 5% nationally in my SATs. My careers guidance counsellor called me into his office and enthusiastically informed me that I could pursue something like rocket science if I wanted to.
My response?
“Yeah, but I just want to write films.”
I’ve always been curious about how things work, particularly people, stories and the world around us. But I’ve never been especially interested in following a path simply because someone else thinks it’s the sensible one.
That probably explains quite a lot about everything that happened next.
NO STRAIGHT LINES
A life of
plot twists.
I moved to Ireland when I was nine. By my teens, I knew I wanted to tell stories, and I had my sights set on studying screenwriting back in England.
When the grant I’d hoped for didn’t materialise, I took a different route and studied Art, Craft and Design in Cavan. It wasn’t the original plan, but it kept me creating.
Eventually I returned to England, where a chance conversation with a family friend changed everything. She suggested I consider acting. I was shy, had never seriously considered it, and thought the whole idea was rather unlikely.
Still, I gave it a go.
My first audition was a disaster.
So, naturally, I decided to keep going.
THE EARLY CREATIVE YEARS
A DECADE IN INDEPENDENT FILM
One audition.
A whole new world.
In 2010, I enrolled at Birmingham Theatre School. That decision opened the door to more than a decade of independent film, working as an actress, writer, director and producer.
I built my own website, invested in headshots, worked my way onto Spotlight, developed a social media following and found opportunities through networking, persistence and a willingness to learn.
Along the way, I co-wrote and co-directed my first feature, Checking In, which won Best British Film at the 2014 London Film Awards.
I also had the opportunity to attend an Ashley Walters workshop and was subsequently selected for a Kingdom Drama School Blueprint Session with Daniel Kaluuya.
All while juggling full-time jobs outside the industry. The glamorous side of independent filmmaking doesn’t always include the early shifts, manual work and exhaustion behind the scenes.
WHEN THE DREAM CHANGES
Sometimes the bravest thing you can do is change your mind.
By 2019, I’d worked hard to build a creative career. I’d developed scripts, made films, won recognition and been offered opportunities I once would have considered extraordinary, including a £15,000 BFI short-film producing contract.
Then the pandemic arrived. The project was put on hold, I lost my job and found myself working in a Tesco warehouse as a key worker.
Somewhere in the middle of all that, I had to admit something to myself.
I’d lost the spark.
Not my love of storytelling or creating, but my desire to pursue the industry in the way I once had.
I’d also started questioning the value I placed on visibility and external recognition. Eventually, I deleted the social media accounts I’d spent years building, keeping only my YouTube channel.
It wasn’t the end of my creative life. It was the beginning of a different relationship with creativity.
And, although I didn’t know it at the time, another career was waiting around the corner.
FROM STORYTELLER TO STRATEGIST
Different medium.
Same creative mind.
In 2022, I began studying marketing. What surprised me was how naturally my experience in filmmaking translated into understanding audiences, communication, psychology and storytelling.
I secured my first marketing assistant role and progressed to Head of Marketing within seven months.
In 2024, I founded Solmaz Marketing Ltd, building a business around strategic thinking, specialist expertise and measurable results.
I’ve also created Horrorfied, a horror-inspired clothing brand, and I’m developing Orxytek, an AI-powered sales and marketing operations platform.
Different projects, different industries, but the same instinct: spot an opportunity, learn what I need to learn and build something.
EXPLORE MY VENTURESTHE CURIOUS MIND
Question everything.
Including yourself.
Usually found reading, learning something obscure or watching videos about animals, science and the human brain.
Outside work, I’m fascinated by consciousness, philosophy, psychology, neuroplasticity, spirituality and the extraordinary potential of the human mind.
I’ve spent years exploring esoteric traditions, astrology and Gnostic thought. In 2017, I discovered the Nag Hammadi Library and found ideas that resonated with beliefs I’d held long before I knew there was a name for them.
At the heart of my outlook is a belief in self-knowledge, questioning external expectations and learning to trust your own judgement.
I’m also a trained Mental Health First Aider. My interest in resilience isn’t purely academic. Life has taught me how important it is to look after what we feed our minds, the environments we inhabit and the habits we practise.
I believe creativity can be a powerful part of personal growth. I also believe we should never stop learning, particularly when we’re convinced we’ve already figured everything out.
And despite working in marketing, I try not to spend too much of my own life scrolling through social media. Make of that what you will.
NO RULEBOOK REQUIRED
Still learning.
Always questioning.
Never settle.
Not for someone else’s definition of success, not for the limits of your circumstances and certainly not for the idea that your story is already written.
Stay curious.
Learn constantly. Question your assumptions. And when you think you know everything, leave a little room to discover something new.
Know your power.
I believe creativity, intuition and the capacity to grow belong to everyone. They aren’t reserved for a talented or fortunate few.
Create for the love of it.
Don’t make recognition the reason you create. Make something because it matters to you. If it can help someone else, share it.
Keep your boundaries.
Be compassionate without becoming a pushover. You can’t save everyone, and you certainly can’t please everyone.
Leave room for the unexpected.
Set your intentions, take action and stay open to opportunities. Sometimes the most meaningful turns are the ones you never planned.
ON THE PAGE
Some stories
never leave you.
Writing has remained a constant throughout every reinvention.
I’m the author of the self-published Nexus: Book One, and I’m continuing to develop its sequel. I’m also working on Between Two Wars, a historical love story that began life as a screenplay, alongside revisiting my poetry collection, Rambling Revelation.
Some projects take years. Some change shape. Some wait patiently until you’re ready to return to them.
I’ve learnt that there’s no expiry date on a story worth telling.
THE BIGGER PICTURE
Leave the world a
better place than I found it.
That’s what I said in a podcast interview a few years ago, and it’s still what I hope to do. Through the things I create, the businesses I build, the knowledge I share and the people I can help along the way.
I don’t believe our beginnings, our setbacks or our circumstances have to dictate how our stories end. There’s always room to learn, to change direction and to begin again.
“As long as there’s tears in our eyes and breath in our lungs, there’s always hope.”