Leila Chesloff
Interview Posted By: Ashley Smith
1. Can you tell us a little about your background? i.e. Where you grew up, what education do you have, a summary of your resume, did you always want to do what you are doing now, when did you start to become interested in STEM, what internships/ volunteering
I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. I went to CSU, Northridge and majored in Creative Writing. I always assumed I would be a writer, an actor or something abstract, but then I landed a job as an Admin Assistant at Industrial Light & Magic. At the age of 23 I had never logged into an SGI/IRIX/LINUX based desktop. The only programing I had ever done was in the 4th grade on a Commodore 64.
But I was hooked the minute I logged in. My co-workers were all eager Technical Assistants… most MIT Computer Science graduates. They were the most generous people, happy to teach me everything I needed to know to become a Technical Assistant. It took me 3 months to convince my manager that he did not need an assistant and that he should let me become a TA.
I spent 2 years as a TA, learning everything I needed to know about how an image moves through the pipeline. I never got bored. I learned something new every day. Eventually, I graduated to become an Assistant Technical Director (ATD) for Star Wars Episode 1. I learned how to code in python and continued as an ATD on the Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle. After 1.5 years as an ATD I was finally given the chance to light my first shots. I fell in love with lighting. I fell in love with compositing. I couldn't imagine a better career.
The years passed by quickly, 15 years later I found myself wanting to teach others. I transitioned to the ILM training department, while still running shots (on Transformers 2, Rango, Ironman, etc…). I no longer wanted to run shots… I wanted to be a part of training full time. It was at that time that Pixar had a position open in their training department, Pixar University, and I left my "home" of 15 years.
2. What exactly IS your job? What do you do on a day to day basis?
My official title is Technical Training Project Manager for Pixar University. While Project Management it a part of my job, I find myself teaching lighting, compositing, pipeline and other various technical classes for at least 30% of the time.
As a project manager I organize special classes and learning events for our TDs and Tools group. I figure out what classes need to happen and who can teach them.
3. How does STEM relate to your job?How do you use the information you learned from your degree in your job?
My job is all about STEM. I plan classes and teach classes in all these area. People are always eager to either teach or take STEM classes.
The information I learned from my degree (as a Creative Writing Major) is really useful in all the documentation I write and emails I send on a daily basis. While I appreciate STEM, I feel like I would not have passed college classes if I had focused on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. These are areas that I did not test well in. I love all of these areas, and I am always planning classes at work that focus on these area. I tested well in the arts.
4. Have you faced any discrimination/ challenges being a woman in a stem field? If so, how did you deal with it? Do you have any advice for up and coming women in STEM?
There is a huge amount of discrimination towards woman in this industry. It's a huge boys club. My advice is to be yourself and be strong. If your natural state is not particularly strong/confident, this is an area worth focusing on. You need to be able to work on a team, with a team and be able to successfully lead a team. Be honest with yourself about your strengths and weaknesses. I would highly recommend improv classes - they are just as important as math classes!
5. What is the best and worst part of your job? What do you look forward to in your job on a day to day basis? What do you wish you could change?
The best part of my job is teaching people new tools. I look forward to meeting with my team and coming up with new ideas. I wish we could get time from more Technical experts to be able to teach classes for us more often.
6. How do you balance your work and personal life? Any secrets or advice you’d like to share?
The moment I found out I was pregnant with my first child I let my manager know that I no longer cared about work as much as I had before. My manager said that "priorities change" and she told me not to worry. This allowed me to give myself a break and just go with my new life changes.
I doubt that I will ever have a perfect work/personal life balance, but I try to leave work early and check email/work stuff from home after the kids go to sleep.
7. What do you define success as?
Success is being happy with who you are. You are enough. No matter what.
If you can see that, you have success.
You can always make more money and have more responsibilities, but that does not equate success in my eyes.
8. What is one personality trait that you think is universally important for a successful career?
Creative optimism. Figure out a way to make things work!
9. Who was a mentor to you throughout your career? (can be more than one!) What did they teach you? How did they impact your life?
My mom, of course. She was the one who told me not to take crap from anyone. She gave me the confidence I needed to be able to sky rocket in my career. She continues to give me great advice and helps me avoid taking things personally. You have to have the confidence to know that even when the worst case scenario is unfolding, and it is likely your fault, that doesn't mean you are not an amazingly talented awesome human being.
10. What do you think is the best advice you've ever received ? What advice would you give your younger self if you had the chance? What’s one piece of advice you can pass on to us?
I think the best advice would be to just pick a major.. My aunt gave me that advice when she realized that I would not keep on my graduation schedule. She said to just pick something I got the best grades in. I feel strongly that graduating college is huge and should be done no matter what your major is.
The advice I would give my younger self is to have patience. I always needed change to happen immediately. I now know that change can take a long time.
The one piece of advice that I would pass on to you is to be kind to yourself. Allow yourself to make mistakes and really learn from them. And the most important thing to be able to do is take criticism, advise, reviews… take it all and roll with it. Know that it is not an attack on you personally. You are enough. But maybe your shot could use a little more work :)
I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. I went to CSU, Northridge and majored in Creative Writing. I always assumed I would be a writer, an actor or something abstract, but then I landed a job as an Admin Assistant at Industrial Light & Magic. At the age of 23 I had never logged into an SGI/IRIX/LINUX based desktop. The only programing I had ever done was in the 4th grade on a Commodore 64.
But I was hooked the minute I logged in. My co-workers were all eager Technical Assistants… most MIT Computer Science graduates. They were the most generous people, happy to teach me everything I needed to know to become a Technical Assistant. It took me 3 months to convince my manager that he did not need an assistant and that he should let me become a TA.
I spent 2 years as a TA, learning everything I needed to know about how an image moves through the pipeline. I never got bored. I learned something new every day. Eventually, I graduated to become an Assistant Technical Director (ATD) for Star Wars Episode 1. I learned how to code in python and continued as an ATD on the Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle. After 1.5 years as an ATD I was finally given the chance to light my first shots. I fell in love with lighting. I fell in love with compositing. I couldn't imagine a better career.
The years passed by quickly, 15 years later I found myself wanting to teach others. I transitioned to the ILM training department, while still running shots (on Transformers 2, Rango, Ironman, etc…). I no longer wanted to run shots… I wanted to be a part of training full time. It was at that time that Pixar had a position open in their training department, Pixar University, and I left my "home" of 15 years.
2. What exactly IS your job? What do you do on a day to day basis?
My official title is Technical Training Project Manager for Pixar University. While Project Management it a part of my job, I find myself teaching lighting, compositing, pipeline and other various technical classes for at least 30% of the time.
As a project manager I organize special classes and learning events for our TDs and Tools group. I figure out what classes need to happen and who can teach them.
3. How does STEM relate to your job?How do you use the information you learned from your degree in your job?
My job is all about STEM. I plan classes and teach classes in all these area. People are always eager to either teach or take STEM classes.
The information I learned from my degree (as a Creative Writing Major) is really useful in all the documentation I write and emails I send on a daily basis. While I appreciate STEM, I feel like I would not have passed college classes if I had focused on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. These are areas that I did not test well in. I love all of these areas, and I am always planning classes at work that focus on these area. I tested well in the arts.
4. Have you faced any discrimination/ challenges being a woman in a stem field? If so, how did you deal with it? Do you have any advice for up and coming women in STEM?
There is a huge amount of discrimination towards woman in this industry. It's a huge boys club. My advice is to be yourself and be strong. If your natural state is not particularly strong/confident, this is an area worth focusing on. You need to be able to work on a team, with a team and be able to successfully lead a team. Be honest with yourself about your strengths and weaknesses. I would highly recommend improv classes - they are just as important as math classes!
5. What is the best and worst part of your job? What do you look forward to in your job on a day to day basis? What do you wish you could change?
The best part of my job is teaching people new tools. I look forward to meeting with my team and coming up with new ideas. I wish we could get time from more Technical experts to be able to teach classes for us more often.
6. How do you balance your work and personal life? Any secrets or advice you’d like to share?
The moment I found out I was pregnant with my first child I let my manager know that I no longer cared about work as much as I had before. My manager said that "priorities change" and she told me not to worry. This allowed me to give myself a break and just go with my new life changes.
I doubt that I will ever have a perfect work/personal life balance, but I try to leave work early and check email/work stuff from home after the kids go to sleep.
7. What do you define success as?
Success is being happy with who you are. You are enough. No matter what.
If you can see that, you have success.
You can always make more money and have more responsibilities, but that does not equate success in my eyes.
8. What is one personality trait that you think is universally important for a successful career?
Creative optimism. Figure out a way to make things work!
9. Who was a mentor to you throughout your career? (can be more than one!) What did they teach you? How did they impact your life?
My mom, of course. She was the one who told me not to take crap from anyone. She gave me the confidence I needed to be able to sky rocket in my career. She continues to give me great advice and helps me avoid taking things personally. You have to have the confidence to know that even when the worst case scenario is unfolding, and it is likely your fault, that doesn't mean you are not an amazingly talented awesome human being.
10. What do you think is the best advice you've ever received ? What advice would you give your younger self if you had the chance? What’s one piece of advice you can pass on to us?
I think the best advice would be to just pick a major.. My aunt gave me that advice when she realized that I would not keep on my graduation schedule. She said to just pick something I got the best grades in. I feel strongly that graduating college is huge and should be done no matter what your major is.
The advice I would give my younger self is to have patience. I always needed change to happen immediately. I now know that change can take a long time.
The one piece of advice that I would pass on to you is to be kind to yourself. Allow yourself to make mistakes and really learn from them. And the most important thing to be able to do is take criticism, advise, reviews… take it all and roll with it. Know that it is not an attack on you personally. You are enough. But maybe your shot could use a little more work :)