Join us for our Open Evening at Leiths on Thursday 5th February 2026, 6:30–8:30pm, and discover how the Culinary Diploma can launch your career in food.
Join us for our Open Evening at Leiths on Thursday 5th February 2026, 6:30–8:30pm, and discover how the Culinary Diploma can launch your career in food.
Laila Mirza graduated from the Culinary Diploma in 2024. She has since worked as a private chef in the Hamptons and a garnish chef at Clipstone in London. Now she working full-time in food content creation.
A McGill University graduate from Canada, Laila initially planned to explore her love of food during a gap year before law school. ‘I come from a Pakistani family, so food is the epicentre of our life. Like all we do is eat.’
During Covid, her boyfriend challenged her to build her online following, prompting Laila to consider food as a career. ‘I was like “OK, I will post every single day for a year.” Then one of my videos did really well and I got an influx of followers on my TikTok. My social media was doing fairly well. And I knew if I kept at it I could make a career out of it.’
She decided to pursue the Culinary Diploma wanting ‘that feeling like I was doing a post-grad.’
‘I loved the progression from Foundation, to Intermediate to Advanced on the Diploma. I loved how small the school was and it felt very open, bright and airy. It’s such a nice area of London too. Lou (now the Diploma headteacher) was my teacher and she was the best teacher I’ve ever had. I decided to go to Leiths and I totally changed my life.’
Reflecting on the Diploma’s impact: ‘Leiths is the reason why I’ve been employed for the past year. I graduated in 2024 and then, through Sarah at Leiths List, I got a job with a family in the Hamptons as a private chef.
‘On the way back to the UK, I was looking at Leiths List and they’d posted a job at Clipstone. So I sent an e-mail to Sarah asking, “Can I apply for this job?” And then I landed had the trial and then a few weeks later they called me and I got the job.
‘But the part of my life the Diploma has been reflected in most is the content I’ve been putting out. I’ve been able to make such educational content because I have such a deep grasp of like the fundamentals of cooking.’
Laila is building her Substack and considering YouTube, with a dream of working in a test kitchen or development kitchen. She hopes to do supper clubs with her close Diploma friends.
‘Social media feels very rewarding depending on how you’re doing it. But right now, I’m cooking the food I love to cook and I’m developing recipes which I love and I get to teach people at the same time. So it feels very fulfilling.’
You can find Laila on @lailaspantry on TikTok and @lailas_pantry on Instagram.