Were you to label Australian singer, songwriter and producer Leah Haywood a one-hit wonder based off her sole top 10 hit, We Think It’s Love, released in 2000, you’d be way off base – but forgivably so.

Although she has had a string of successful songs since, none has featured her voice – or her name.

Since relocating to Los Angeles in 2002 with songwriting partner Daniel James, the New Zealand-born artist has penned tunes for pop royalty such as Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez, Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, Nicki Minaj, Blackpink and Kygo. It’s all a long way from those early days in the US.

“When we moved to the States, we were selling demos on Craigslist for $250 just to make ends meet,” says Haywood in a Mona Vale cafe, back home to visit family over the holidays. “We had nothing, except for a few contacts I had from making my first album.”

Haywood’s initial plan was to get a record deal in the US after a series of “bad decisions” made by her Australian label saw her 2001 debut LP Leah underperform, but, thanks to a serendipitous moment in an LA dentist’s office, a new door opened.

“One of the girls that we did a demo for, her father was a really well-known dentist in LA, and one of his patients was a huge TV composer named Mike Post, who did the themes for shows like Magnum PI, Hill Street Blues and Law & Order,” says Haywood. So, Mike hears the demo while getting some dental work done, loves our music, signs us, gives us $120,000 and says, ‘I’ve got three artists – pick one to develop’.”

Haywood and James chose to work with teenage sisters Aly & AJ, their 2006 debut album Into the Rush on Disney-owned Hollywood Records going on to sell more than a million copies worldwide.

With some runs on the board, Haywood and James’ songwriting and production company Dreamlab began to attract other Disney-affiliated stars like Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez and Vanessa Hudgens.