Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Leigh Marino. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Leigh, thanks for joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

The most meaningful project I’ve worked on is my most recent children’s book, “To Be A Christmas Tree.” A few years ago, I was taking down my Christmas tree and realized that I hadn’t spent much time considering its life and had basically just used it as a decoration and then thrown it by the side of the road. So, the following year, I made sure to give my tree attention and care. I spent time decorating it and admiring it.

A largely influential, spiritual teacher of mine, Eckhart Tolle, teaches the value of inner being-ness, and Presence – awareness. Inspired by his teachings, I practiced connecting my inner being-ness, or life-force, with the tree’s life-force. I felt the warmth and joy in my heart from connecting in this way, and at the same time, I recognized the fact that the tree had given its life so that I may enjoy it in my home.

I thought, “This feels like a good thing. How could this be good?” and in that moment, the answer to my question came to me in a vision – a vision for the ending of a story.

A year later, I wrote this story down. When I was finished, I read it to my partner and to my surprise, he was moved to tears. It was then that I knew this story needed to be shared. With no contacts in the publishing world or much experience in this realm, I read this story to everyone I knew who would listen (most listeners would cry). I researched online and emailed shots in the dark, trying to find a publisher to partner with.

Eventually, a friend of mine met a stranger at an event and told her about my book. She connected me with that stranger and we met for lunch. I read the story to her, and she cried. I learned that her son had passed away in a freak accident when he was just shy of 14, and in the wake of that tragedy, she had founded an organization that holds weekly support groups in schools for children who are grieving the loss of someone or something.

She told me that she frequently uses books in her groups and that she was going to do anything she possibly could to help me find a publisher, because she wanted to be able to use this book with her kids. To help them process and share their grief. To teach them about the importance of support and hope and the possibility of joy living on, in tandem with sadness. In the end, it was through her that I found my publisher.

My book launch was this past holiday season. Since then, I’ve done readings and signings in my area and have had countless people tell me in person, through email, in comments and private messages on social media how touched they are by this book. I even received a handwritten, thank you letter from two teachers (who to this day, I’ve never met) thanking me for sharing this story with the world. On multiple occasions, strangers would approach me at a book signing event, ask me what my book was about, and be moved to tears from just the synopsis.

The fact that this beautiful masterpiece (the illustrations are unparalleled) was born in a moment of true curiosity and connection with a being from another species (my Christmas tree) and then has been serendipitously brought to life through the hearts of people who love this story as much as I do, and consequently touched the hearts of strangers and friends alike – honestly, words can’t begin to describe how meaningful this is to me. What a gift it has been to be able to bring a creative vision to life and witness its effect on the world.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

This is a hard question to answer because it feels like trying to distill who I am at my core and the evolution of my creative life’s work down into a few paragraphs. I will try my best!

I have always known that I am an artist and creative. I am also someone who is very grounded and practical and dedicated. I have a skeptical mind that is simultaneously very open to magic and always searching for more than meets the eye.

Since I was very young, I have had a creative drive that tells me I have important work to do. The challenge for me has been figuring out how and where to place that creative drive.. I believe my life’s journey thus far has been to explore many creative mediums, learn crafts, and also gather various heart-breaking life experiences so that I could develop my voice and eventually have something to say.

I have held many creative (and some non-creative and soul-sucking) positions throughout my life that include going to film school, working in the film industry, being a stay-at-home mom, working as a photographer, web designer, graphic designer, social media maven, and writer.

All this to say, I am now at the point in my career where I am shifting from using my many skills to support others’ dreams, to focusing on fulfilling my own. I finally know what they are. A few years ago I self published my first children’s book. This past year I launched my second children’s book into the world – this time with a publisher and an illustrator. The success I have seen with this latest book has been my crowning achievement thus far. And I am just getting started.

I now have many stories to tell. That deep drive and passion that has always existed in me, to some degree or another, finally feels as though it has direction. This latest children’s book is a very unique, heartfelt story that transcends age. Most adults who read the book are deeply touched and this, to me, is the highest success. My goal with my work is to share compelling, unique stories that land powerfully and share distinctive perspectives that are fresh, unexpected, and resonate deeply with audiences.

I am finally beginning a deep dive into my most treasured medium, Film & TV. I am in the early stages of preproduction on an animated short film adaptation of my recent book. It is both scary and exciting! My goal with this project is to create something authentic that will make people feel. And not just for the sake of it (while there’s nothing wrong with that) – I also aim to inspire by illuminating and empowering ideas that encourage others to think outside the box and connect profoundly with one another.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I had always held positions in creative industries, from my first job at an art / framing shop to working in Film & TV post production facilities and on film sets. When I became pregnant with my daughter I made my first unexpected pivot to a desk job and then to being a stay-at-home mom.

Raising my child is hands down the most difficult and most rewarding job I’ve had, and when she was 4 years old, I had to make a second unexpected pivot, when her dad and I split up. It was a time of severe heartbreak and a demanding time of necessity. I had to support myself fully and no longer had the luxury of creative exploration. I took a job working for an insurance broker because it was steady and paid well. I knew it was temporary and while I was good at it, I hated it.

It sucked the soul out of my life. I would cry on the way to work and after a while began an earnest search for a new job in some sort of creative industry. But two years of searching for and applying to creative jobs proved fruitless. Things had always materialized for me when I pursued them so I found myself confused, frustrated and in despair. I didn’t understand why I couldn’t find any other work.

Until thankfully, finally I realized what the universe was trying to tell me. If a job wasn’t appearing for me in the world, I needed to create my own. So I spent a challenging and difficult year thinking about what I was good at, what I wanted to do, what I wanted to do for money, and what I wanted to do for fun. From those things, I chose 4 related services and built my own brand offering them.

I hired a friend to design a website and business cards and I took on my first client as a side hustle. This was the birth of my company, Encourage Thought. I continued working at the insurance job during the day and worked as a mom, photographer, social media creator, and writer at nights and on weekends. It was a slow process, but eventually I was able to reduce my hours at my day job and take on more and more creative clients.

After about another year, I was finally able to quit that job altogether and work solely for myself. This was no easy task, but the biggest lesson I took away from it was that I was the most powerful person in my life and was not a victim to my circumstances. It took great courage and determination for me to create a business out of nothing and I did it, one step at a time. And I know, if I can do this, anyone can.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

This is a more recent story, About two years ago I was humming along working in my company, Encourage Thought, as a photographer, graphic designer, website designer and writer. I had designed my work schedule so that I had Tuesdays off, in order to focus my attention on my own creative works. I was in the midst of working with my publisher and illustrator on the final steps of a children’s book that I had written.

As life sometimes does, it threw some big challenges my way and I found myself in a couple extremely stressful situations at the same time. These situations were prolonged and seemingly all-encompassing. I began having headaches every night by 5pm and was unable to function past dinnertime. I kept thinking that things would get better soon. But they just didn’t.

This stress escalated and escalated until one day I had a panic attack. This had never happened to me before and I suddenly became afraid of having another one. This only added to my anxiety. It quickly snowballed into me not sleeping for 3 days, having to go to urgent care, and needing to be temporarily, heavily medicated.

As a person who almost never gets sick and has always prided herself on being healthy, this was terrifying. I was afraid of medication and also realized that I held a stigma against it. While I absolutely believe that many medications are over prescribed, I found out that I held a belief that meds were for people who didn’t “do the work.” This was a humbling realization for me.

I pursued many avenues of support for myself during this time and was able to semi-recover for a while. However, I always felt as though I was pushing something down inside of myself and trying to distract myself so that I wouldn’t panic. I had a huge fear that it would all happen again. After a few months, this caught up with me and it did happen again.

I began having more panic attacks and developed insomnia. I struggled heavily for about a month, trying everything that worked for me before – but it didn’t work this time. Long story short, I ended up checking myself into a psychiatric ward as a last resort. My nervous system was so shot that it could no longer regulate and I had rolling panic attacks all day and all night. It was no way to live.

I knew that I had this big creative dream on the brink of being realized (my children’s book) and I was afraid that I wouldn’t live to see it come true. Yet somehow, through all of this pain and terror, I still had a little pilot light of hope inside of me. I kept trying. I kept asking for help. I lived moment to moment and did the best that I could. And little by little, I healed.

I was stabilized by the help I received at the hospital and then I continued to heal over the months that followed – going to group therapy 5 hours a day, 5 days a week. Time spent in therapy slowly reduced and I found myself blooming again. I persevered through the hardest time of my entire life and now feel strong and equipped with self-knowledge, tools and support, so that I can not only now live, but I can thrive.

I am more excited and determined than ever to realize my creative dreams and I know that I am living on my purpose. To me, there is nothing more fulfilling than that.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.encouragethought.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/encouragethought

Image Credits

Michael Lewis, Leigh Marino, Tricia Kleinot, Monica Murray