My Story

Hi! I’m Mekhala. I’m a journalist, musician, and story producer based in Los Angeles, drawn to the exploration of the human condition.

I graduated from USC in 2020 with a degree in Theatre and a minor in Cinematic Arts. While there, I founded a theatre company to give students more creative opportunities, producing all our shows and leading the team. I also gained experience producing, writing, directing, editing, and acting in a range of plays and short films. In a pivotal moment, my TV Writing professor encouraged me to focus on writing after observing my work as co-showrunner of our writers’ room. Since then, I’ve explored writing across journalism, poetry, short stories, and songwriting. I’ve been particularly drawn to documentary and podcast producing, where I can combine research and creativity to shape compelling narratives.

During the pandemic, I threw my creative energy into music after rediscovering my childhood passions for singing, playing guitar, and songwriting. I taught myself audio production and wrote, recorded, and produced a 6-song rock EP.

Through all of my work, my goal has been to help people embrace vulnerability, release shame, and challenge the societal and cultural norms that shape the way they feel about themselves. When I encounter an injustice that affects people’s ability to feel safe and seen, I enter a mode I like to call “productive rage”, where I can harness the energy of emotion to create powerful work. I believe emotions feed intelligence and I use that belief as a guiding principle. I always lead with radical vulnerability, combining it with deep research in my articles and immersive sound and story in my creative work, to help others understand why they think, feel, and act the way they do.

Outside of writing and music, I love dancing, watching documentaries, reading, and going to comedy shows. I’m currently trying to break my habit of compulsively doomscrolling.