Meet Lally Pia

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Lally Pia. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Lally , appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?

The basic and most prominent braid in my memoir, “The Fortune Teller’s Prophecy: A Memoir of an Unlikely Doctor” is one of resilience. My resilience results from adjustment to many years of setbacks and obstacles, coupled with an inner sense of optimism ingrained into me after observing my parents’ unfailing belief that all boulders are surmountable. They focused on the good in people, not the bad. This ability to take on challenges with confidence was also the prevailing culture in the countries, where I grew up. I have lived in Sri Lanka, Ghana, the United Kingdom and America. During my journey my medical school in Ghana abruptly closed when I was half way through training because of a political coup. Subsequently an immigration snafu stranded my from my family as a refugee awaiting my Green Card for the United States. I subsequently had to ditch an abusive relationship and work as a mortician and welfare before I finally achieved my dream of becoming a physician. As I came up for air after each potential barrier, a sense of power and belief in myself took hold as I navigated each hurdle.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I spend three days a week working as a child psychiatrist for Sacramento County. My patients are most frequently victims of trauma and abuse and they reside in the foster system of care. Although I provide medication management for mostly inattention, anxiety and depression, I work with a team of dedicated therapists and behaviorists. Together we help our child patients to adapt back to living with their families or foster families after months of intense treatment. This includes parent/child participation and therapy (with or without medication) to target the specific problems we are treating. This may include working with the juvenile courts. My happiest day is one when I have been able to successfully taper a patient off all medication and the team is able to discharge the patient (and family) from mental health services. Although the actual work in mental health is pretty challenging on a day to day basis, at the end, when you realize that the team has helped alter the child’s trajectory to one that is more positive, the reward is indescribable.

My artistic life is my writing career. My debut memoir launched on April 30, 2024 and has already won several awards including a Chanticleer First Place award for uplifting and inspiring non fiction and a Bronze award in the IPPY’s (Independent Publisher Book Awards). I have been on several podcasts and was a finalist on America’s Next Great Author, a TV pilot in Fall, 2022. My work has been published in back to back years in the California Literary Review. I am currently half way through a novel of psychological suspense.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

My family support and nurture. I couldn’t have done what I did without them.
My knowledge base as a doctor, without which I could not have done my “day” job
The numerous other writers and hand holders along the way that stayed with me or guided me when I thought I had no way out.

Advice
1. Never give up
2. Cherish your support network and friends and discard toxic relationships which drag down.
3. Take time out of your day to marvel at the other animals we share the world with and exclaim at the miracle of life on this planet.

One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?

I seek people who may collaborate to get the word out about my memoir. Tooting my own horn is not something that comes naturally, and in order to reach people to inspire them to hold on when life is rough I would like to work with other writers who might want to work with me. This might include those in the medical or mental health field who might like me to present a talk to patients/medical students/families. It may include writers who wish to combine a presentation or talk with me. It may include podcasters or other folks that can get the word out.
I have many ways they can contact me on social medial or on my website: www:https://lallypia.com

Contact Info:

• Website: https://lallypia.com
• Instagram: unlikelydoctorpia
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lallypiamd
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lallypia/
• Other: TikTok: @theunlikelydoctor