Meet Leyla Ingalls

We recently connected with Leyla Ingalls and have shared our conversation below.

Leyla, so great to have you with us and we want to jump right into a really important question. In recent years, it’s become so clear that we’re living through a time where so many folks are lacking self-confidence and self-esteem. So, we’d love to hear about your journey and how you developed your self-confidence and self-esteem.

I grew up an extremely shy and awkward child. Speaking in front of the class at school was the most dreaded part of elementary through high school for me. As I got into college I realized my gift was in writing. Anything from essays, stories, skits, and my favorite of all, jokes. I had accumulated a notebook full of jokes by the time I was 24 but lacked the confidence to ever speak in front of an audience. I was working at a restaurant in Columbus, Ohio, when a customer who was there every Sunday pulled me aside. He told me “there is something special about you, you leave people feeling better after an interaction with you. You need to let the world see it.” This stuck with me because I had never expressed interest in doing standup to anyone before. It was as if he was meant to tell me that to give me one extra push to say “okay, let’s try this.” So I packed my bags and drove to Austin, Texas. Where I spent a month & a half doing open mics every night in what was newly considered “the comedy capital” of the United States. Once I realized that my body is simply the means to transfer what is written on paper to an audience, and that the audience actually likes what I have written, the rest was history. I never stopped doing standup and have overcome my fear of public speaking. A stranger’s kind words and standup comedy have developed my confidence and self esteem and I have never been happier or more comfortable with myself as I am before. 🙂

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I’m 26 years old from Dayton, Ohio and I found my passion 2 years ago in 2022. I felt directionless well into my 20’s, relationships, Covid, financial struggles, all the hard times of life made me realize even more how much I value laughing with people. I’ve never been a serious person, laughter is quite literally my favorite thing in the world and making people laugh is how I bond with people. I began standup in 2022 and use it as an “escape mechanism” so to speak. Life is hard, so I’m silly on stage and everything is okay for 25 minutes or however long I’m up there. We laugh together about the trials and tribulations of life and nothing is off limits. It’s therapeutic for me, a grand release. When all I have to focus on is being funny, present, and laughing collectively in a room full of beautiful people, I’ve never felt happier. I currently still live in Ohio but travel all over the country doing standup. Anywhere from Austin, Texas to Chicago. I’m currently partnering with TIMELESS vape distributors for sponsorship and will begin a LMAOF in January of the new year 2025. LMAOF is ‘onlyfans’ comedy content in which I’ll post weekly to my account and eventually release a 10 minute mini special of my standup on there. Ive also began producing my own comedy shows, one called “Leylaland” where I do a longer set and showcase my favorite local comedians and the other show is called “dark & dirty” where what is considered edgy & X rated comedy is encouraged. I’m currently working on the craft and getting on stage as much as possible, so when people come to a show they escape real life for a moment. We can all just relax and laugh at the absurdity of life together! There’s nothing more beautiful to me! I post all upcoming shows to my Instagram which is username Leylaingallz_ .

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

– Vulnerability. This is a big one for me. I used to be shy because I didn’t know how to be vulnerable. Now I embrace it, being honest & transparent with people has changed my life for the better. Vulnerability on and off stage entails a fearlessness of honesty and being in touch with one’s thoughts and feelings. This is such a quintessential part forming beautiful, meaningful human relationships and allowing a crowd to trust you.

– Bravery. As corny as it may sound, I can say that I am proud of myself for being brave time and time again. I have become comfortable with feeling uncomfortable. That doesn’t happen over night and that doesn’t come easy. You have to be scared, you have to do hard things. Self growth does not come from being comfortable. Forcing myself to speak in front of crowds on a consistent basis has allowed me to begin to develop a skill set, something that I would have never begun to developed had I not been brave.

– Passion. You have to love what you do, whether your a musician, chef, comedian etc. If it doesn’t make you happy what are you doing it for? I believe that when an artist is in love with they’re art, you can tell. There is an unspeakably beautiful amount of authenticity that is apparent. It’s god running through them, allowing them to express they’re higher self. Nothing will drive someone like passion. I found my passion and I will never stop pursuing standup even if fame and fortune never come. That’s not what passion is about, it’s about doing it for the sake of doing it. I could have $5 to my name but I’d die the happiest woman alive if I can walk into any room and make a group of people laugh.

What is the number one obstacle or challenge you are currently facing and what are you doing to try to resolve or overcome this challenge?

The number one challenge and obstacle for me thus far in my standup journey has been keeping up with social media. Before I did standup I was never on my phone much and was not perusing online attention. I believe social media can make people very mentally unwell but I’ve found myself having to be semi active on it if I wish to have success with comedy. This has resulted in a daily use of social media apps such as Instagram & Facebook and my first times dealing with haters & negative comments. It was overwhelming in the beginning, but challenges yield progress when persistence meets hard work. I now have found myself managing time better, I tend to set aside 1 hour each day to make a social media post or just respond to relevant messages. No more than 1 hour a day. The benefits of having an online presence have resulted in what is the ultimate goal, bringing people to shows in real life. Viewing social media as a means to an end rather than the end has shifted my perspective of daily use. Especially putting time restrictions on my use if it, it has allowed me to meet so many people in person and travel for so many shows I would have never gotten the opportunity to do had I not been active. I like to remind myself that I’m in control and It’s like my own creative self marketing strategy!

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