Being born and raised a vegetarian, a healthy lifestyle was a way of life for Layla from a very young age. Layla's parents always looked for positive outlets for her to expend her tremendous energy. If she wasn't doing flips on the balance beam in gymnastics, she was practicing her kicks at karate, running laps around the baseball field, breaking it down in dance class or shooting baskets at the basketball court. 

Aside from health and fitness, Layla has always been passionate about teaching. Layla started co-teaching karate classes at her dojo when she got her black belt at the age of 12 and continued to develop her teaching skills when she was student teaching during a two-year college teaching program at New York City elementary schools. A hiring freeze made it impossible to find a teaching job, so Layla began creating and teaching karate, fitness, and Latin dance curriculums at summer school and after school programs. Being able to share her passion for fitness and the importance of building healthy bodies and lifestyles was extremely important to Layla. 

In addition to teaching both group and private fitness classes, Layla is also a professional model, certified elementary school teacher, dedicated martial artist of over 19 years and an aerialist.