We were lucky to catch up with Kasey Leedom recently and have shared our conversation below.
Kasey, we are so deeply grateful to you for opening up about your journey with mental health in the hops that it can help someone who might be going through something similar. Can you talk to us about your mental health journey and how you overcame or persisted despite any issues? For readers, please note this is not medical advice, we are not doctors, you should always consult professionals for advice and that this is merely one person sharing their story and experience.
From age 14, I lived and breathed storytelling. I devoured books, dreamed of acting, and eventually fell in love with screenwriting when I moved to LA at 18. For years, my identity was crystallized around a singular vision: I would write and act. I attended Q&As, absorbed wisdom from directors and actors, wrote scripts, and built my entire sense of self around this dream.
Then, in my early twenties, I moved back to Northern California to be with family—always with the intention of returning to LA to pursue my passions. But in 2020, I learned things about the entertainment industry and the powers at be that fundamentally shattered my worldview. The values I discovered embedded in Hollywood felt incompatible with my own, and suddenly, everything I’d built my identity around felt tainted. I wanted no part of LA. I stopped writing completely.
What followed was one of the darkest periods of my life. I became dissociated from reality, caught between who I thought I was and who I could no longer be. I engaged in destructive behaviors while simultaneously connecting with people around me more deeply than I ever had before. I was unraveling and rebuilding at the same time.
Getting out of that hole hasn’t been a single moment—it’s been a slow, deliberate climb that I’m still on. I’ve had to completely reimagine my relationship with creativity, success, and trust. I worked random jobs, searching for solid ground. Then I created Studio La Reverie, my graphic and web design business, and discovered that creativity could exist outside the framework I’d built for it. Design became my lifeline—a way to create beauty and meaning without the weight of my former dreams crushing me.
But the old wounds persisted. Procrastination and perfectionism became my coping mechanisms, keeping me safe from the vulnerability of putting my work—especially my screenwriting—out into the world. I have completed screenplays, stories that matter deeply to me, but releasing them requires trust: trust in managers, production companies, and the creative process itself. Trust I didn’t have.
Last year, I made a commitment to discipline. Not the punishing kind, but the kind that moves with energy rather than against it. I focused on showing up for my design work, on reaching out to connect with kindred spirits, on slowly rebuilding my capacity to believe in the creative process again. Each project I completed, each connection I made, was a small act of faith.
I’m still healing my relationship with screenwriting and with LA. Some days the wound feels too much to bear. But I’ve learned that persistence isn’t about powering through—it’s about honoring where you are while gently reaching toward where you want to be. It’s about rebuilding trust in yourself, in your work, and in the possibility that your dreams can evolve without being abandoned.
The mental health challenges haven’t disappeared, but I’ve developed a different relationship with them. They’re no longer obstacles to overcome so I can get back to “normal”—they’re part of the landscape I’m learning to navigate with more compassion, more patience, and more faith in my own resilience.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I’m the founder of Studio La Reverie, where I transform visions into reality through bold, professional design that captivates and converts. The name “La Reverie” — meaning “daydream” in French — reflects my imaginative approach to bringing brands’ aspirations to life with stunning visual impact.
My specialty is creating distinctive digital presences for professionals who demand design that stands out. I work primarily in graphic and web design, and what makes my approach unique is that each project receives tailored attention that honors the client’s unique story and audience. My background in screenwriting deeply influences how I approach design—I see every brand as having a narrative that needs to be told visually. I’m not just creating logos or websites; I’m crafting visual stories that connect with people on an emotional level.
What excites me most about this work is the alchemy of it—taking someone’s dream, their vision of what they want to create in the world, and giving it form and presence. There’s something deeply satisfying about helping people see themselves and their work reflected back in a way that feels both authentic and elevated.
Right now, I’m in an exciting phase of expansion. On March 1, 2026, I’m launching Lunaire Traveler, a new travel platform that combines my love of design, storytelling, and exploration. This project represents a new frontier for me—building something from the ground up that merges creativity with wanderlust.
I’m also still deeply connected to my roots in screenwriting. While Studio La Reverie is my primary focus, I continue to write and am actively connecting with producers to transform those works to the screen in the future.
For anyone considering working with Studio La Reverie: I bring not just technical skill, but a storyteller’s heart to every project. I understand what it’s like to have a vision that feels too precious to trust to someone else, and I approach that trust with the care and dedication it deserves.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
The three qualities that have been most transformative for me are discipline, adaptability, and acceptance. Each one built on the others, and together they became the foundation for rebuilding my life and career.
Discipline was the hardest and most essential. For years, I struggled with procrastination and perfectionism—two sides of the same coin that kept me frozen. What shifted everything was understanding that discipline isn’t about forcing yourself to do things you hate. It’s about moving with energy rather than against it. I started showing up for my design work consistently, not because I white-knuckled my way through it, but because I learned to recognize and follow the energy that naturally propels creative work forward.
Adaptability saved me when my original path crumbled. When I could no longer pursue acting and screenwriting in the way I’d envisioned, I had to completely reimagine what creativity could look like in my life. Graphic and web design became my unexpected lifeline—a new channel for the same storytelling impulse that had always driven me. The skills transferred; the medium changed.
Acceptance was perhaps the most profound shift. I had to accept that the entertainment industry wasn’t aligned with my values. I had to accept that I’d lost years to dissociation and destructive patterns. I had to accept that healing doesn’t happen on a timeline, and that some wounds still feel too much to bear even as I move forward. Acceptance isn’t resignation—it’s the radical act of working with reality as it is rather than as you wish it were.
The journey isn’t linear, and I’m still learning. But these qualities have given me a foundation solid enough to build on, even when everything else feels uncertain.
Before we go, maybe you can tell us a bit about your parents and what you feel was the most impactful thing they did for you?
The most impactful thing my parents did for me was show me, through how they lived, that there’s no single “right” way to build a life. Both of them lived outside the box—neither worked typical jobs, but rather started their own businesses and carved out their own paths. Growing up watching them create their own opportunities rather than follow conventional routes planted something essential in me: the belief that I could do the same.
They taught me to dream big and live unconventionally, not through lectures, but through experience. We traveled constantly—sometimes grand adventures, sometimes just local explorations—because they wanted us to have a worldly point of view. They understood that education happens everywhere, not just in classrooms. We watched countless movies together, and through those stories, I learned about human nature, conflict, creativity, and the power of narrative. Those movie nights weren’t just entertainment; they were my parents opening windows to different worlds, different ways of being.
My mom, in particular, moved heaven and earth to give me the life I’ve had. She believed in my dreams with a fierceness that made them feel possible, even when they seemed improbable. When I wanted to act, when I wanted to write, when I needed to move to LA and then back home again—she supported the journey, not just the destination.
Looking back, especially through the lens of everything I’ve been through, I realize how profoundly their example shaped my resilience. When my original path crumbled and I had to reinvent myself, I had a blueprint for doing exactly that—I’d watched my parents do it my entire life. When I started Studio La Reverie, I wasn’t just starting a business; I was following in their footsteps, trusting that you can create your own way forward.
Their unconventional approach gave me permission to pivot, to change course, to build something that didn’t fit a traditional mold. It gave me the courage to say “this doesn’t align with my values” and walk away from what I thought I wanted. And now, as I prepare to launch Lunaire Traveler and continue nurturing my creative work, I’m still drawing on what they taught me: that life is meant to be lived boldly, creatively, and on your own terms.
The greatest gift they gave me wasn’t a specific opportunity or resource—it was the unshakeable belief that I could create my own path, no matter how unconventional it might look.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.studiolareverie.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/studiolareverie/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kasey-leedom/
Image Credits
Kasey Leedom
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