Leila, of Swedish-Moroccan background, began her career in the restaurant world. Today she works primarily in TV, has written three cookery books and her work also features in many leading newspapers and magazines, including her very own magazine called Leila's Country Living.
 
Leila has worked at several well-known restaurants including Aquavit in New York, Operakällaren and Fredsgatan 12 in Stockholm. In 1999 Leila was named "Female Chef of the Year" in Sweden. That same year she became the "Young Scholarship Recipient of the Year", which was awarded by the Association For Chefs in Sweden.
 
In 2004 she was voted "TV Chef of the Year" by the viewers of TV4. The same year her first book, Leila's Easy Dinners, was awarded Cookbook of the Year by one of the leading health and lifestyle magazines in Sweden. It was also nominated Best Cookbook Connected To A TV series in the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards 2004.

In 2006 Leila released her second cookbook, Leila's Food With a Golden Touch.

Her third book, A Piece of Cake was released in Sweden in May 2008 and was then launched on the German and UK market in 2009.