We recently connected with Leah Maurizio and have shared our conversation below.
Leah, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about the things you feel your parents did right and how those things have impacted your career and life.
My parents allowed me to be me. They did not force me into something they saw fit for my life, rather, they encouraged me to pursue my truest dreams and passions. For this reason, I have been able to become many things, not just one.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I have been a hip hop dancer since the age of 8, which will always be my first love and biggest passion. I developed a love and passion for writing poetry in middle school, and it has always been an outlet of expression ever since. I obtained a BA in business administration from Point Park University, achieving summa cum laude, but I truly did it just to have a degree. At 27, I decided to pursue my esthetics career, which I had wanted to pursue in high school, but felt societal pressure to go to college. This career allows me to take care of others, study skin, and it coincides nicely with my career as a choreographer. I am very big on living in your truth and never holding back, so with that being said, I aim to spread that value in everything that I do. As a lesbian, it has always been of importance to me to advocate for the LGBTQ+ community. Through fearlessness and self expression, you never know who you are inspiring to live in their own truth. This is why I aim to use my areas of passion for equal representation. My free verse poetry book, “Monarch.”, is a volume that depicts lesbian love. It is my proudest accomplishment yet. In my earlier 20s, I released a dance video titled, “Fast Car”, that also aims to represent lesbian love. This video had a lot more reach than I ever expected it to, giving hope to many others on their coming out journey. My book is available for purchase on Amazon and the dance concept video is available for viewing on YouTube.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
A lesson I had to unlearn was the ideation of perfection. Through schooling and competitive dance, perfect scores took over my life. Those numbers equated to success, titles, and “winning.” As I got older, I realized numbers mean nothing. Releasing the idea of “perfection” and focusing on what felt good yielded better results. I began to find myself outside of numbers and realized I was so much more than a scoresheet. I became focused on leading with what I believed in, not what others expected, and with this I always trust that my people will find me. A little bit of this, being a good human, and a whole lot of faith really got me to the place I am.
Have you ever had to pivot?
The Covid 19 pandemic was a very transformative time for me. This is when I decided to pursue my esthetics career that could offer me more stability. During the lockdowns, my dance career became nearly nonexistent. Our industry really struggled. It was during this time that I decided to pursue the passion I never got to pursue. I’m very happy that I did take that leap of faith because this career has opened my eyes to a whole part of me I wasn’t fully aware of. I love who I am as an aesthetician, so one day when my body isn’t young enough to dance full time, I’ll be walking in something that still keeps me happy.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.amazon.com/Monarch-Leah-Ann-Maurizio/dp/B0CM26RNVG
- Instagram: @leahmaurizio
- Youtube: https://youtu.be/O8bpuQ_R7uE?si=kqFQgIx-84zpcsV7
Image Credits
Talia Sugarmann
Jack Cerasuolo