While based in Mumbai, Mangaldas worked as an actress and was a co-founder of Evoke India, an organization curating speaker events. She had a lead role in the 2014 film
W, about
sexual violence against women in India. She also wrote a 2013 opinion article noted by
The Indian Express to address themes in the film about shame and self-blame by survivors. While working as a newscaster, and with experience as a reporter that included the
Indian Super League, Mangaldas began independently posting
sex education videos in 2017 on
YouTube in English to help address what she felt was "a lack of easily accessible information and non-judgemental platforms to share questions and experiences, and obtain facts and resources pertaining to sex, sexuality, gender, sexual health, relationships, and the body." In 2021, she began the podcast
Love Matters, produced by
The Indian Express and
Deutsche Welle. In December 2021, she began the Hindi sex education podcast
The Sex Podcast with Leeza Mangaldas on
Spotify. In 2022 Mangaldas founded a sexual wellness brand called Leezu's which sells massagers and lubricants. Mangaldas is a first-cohort Pleasure Fellow with The Pleasure Project, an international education and advocacy organization that has worked alongside the World Health Organization to make a case for pleasure-based sexual health.
The Sex Book In October 2022, Mangaldas published her first book
The Sex Book: A Joyful Journey of Self-Discovery with
Harper Collins, and released an audio version on
Audible. and
The Hindu described the book as "an invaluable sex-education manual that helps readers navigate and celebrate their bodies, identities and relationships." According to
Vogue India, "Far from the grim scientific jargon and convoluted infographics of a biology textbook,
The Sex Book is a breezy read. Mangaldas is like a good friend [...] No question is too stupid, no concern too small." == Honors and awards ==