Meet Dr. Lulu | Pediatrician, Parent Coach, Author, Speaker, Youth Suicide Prevention Activist and LGBTQ+ Advocate

We had the good fortune of connecting with Dr. Lulu and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dr., what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
In 2018, I retired from “active-duty” pediatrics practice. Following that, I decided to start my own direct primary care practice (a type of concierge medicine) where I only cared for high-risk teenagers who struggled with depression and suicidal ideations. I found that a good majority of these patients are in the LGBTQ+ community and many of them struggled with a lack of acceptance, affirmation and support from their parents.

With the current barrage of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation running around, my job as a parent coach working exclusively with families of LGBTQ+ kiddos, is that much more needed.

In today’s world, we are experiencing an unprecedented increase in acceptance of the Queer community by the younger generation like the GenZeers, as well as a markedly increased antagonism from the church and the larger society as a whole.

So, I am super excited about the validity of my work in youth suicide prevention by working with parents of LGBTQ+ youth who are struggling with acceptance and support of their children.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
My business as an entrepreneur is as a public speaker, life coach, and author. I am a Black immigrant woman from Africa who is also a pediatrician and mom of a Black Trans woman. I currently speak publicly about the parental affirmation of their children who are in the LGBTQ+ community, particularly Black parents.

I am most proud of my heritage as a Nigerian, Igbo woman, coming to the United States and doing this work with parents. I represent them as well as their children (I was once that queer kiddo who was not affirmed by my father).

I am most excited about having been interviewed by Ms. Oprah Winfrey for her OprahDaily.com series on Service in September of 2022, as well as my revolutionary workshops on The Intersectionality of the Black Trans Child, which as of today, is the first of its kind, anywhere!

To get to where I am today business-wise was as simple as leaning into the power of my own story, and using it as a lead point for my Intellectual Property.
When I was 16, I told my father that I liked girls… As my first child grew up, I began to realize that I also was a parent of a queer child, but it took me into their early adult years to finally realize that she is a blessing and exactly what I needed in order to become the parent that I am today and to do the work helping other parents and family members of LGBTQ+ children, particularly Black ones.
I have been given this child to help others.
I have been given this child to do the work of healing others.
I have been given this child to do the work of God, and my George, I will.

As I always say, “it’s NOT easy, but it’s ABSOFREAKINLUTELY doable!” I don’t believe I have overcome my challenges yet. I think that as long as there is racism, homophobia, and transphobia ANYWHERE, I shall always see them as challenges for me. I realize as a Black parent, that I shall always stand at that intersection of Black, Queer, and Mom of a trans child, so, whatever seeks to destroy that intersectionality, will always seek to be a boulder in my path.
Thus far, I have reached out to allies amongst the (more) privileged members of our community. I have also reached deep down to quieten my voice of discord and voice of Impostor Syndrome each time she rears her ugly head. But, for the most part, I remember my why (which is my own child) and that keeps me going.

The lessons I am learning are ongoing. For now, the major lesson is to #keepgoing and #dontgiveup and #believeinyourself aka #radicalselfbelief

I want the world to know the following things:
1. We are all in the LGBTQ+ spectrum, every last one of us. And if you doubt it, look in the mirror and ask yourself why. Why do you choose to not believe that? Where did your thoughts come from? What about you do you hate so much as to project it to others? To innocent people who are simply going about their business and minding themselves. Why do you feel a need to hate any other person on this earth, when truly the hatred originates from within you and is directed at you?
2. Majority, if not all of the parents who struggle to accept and affirm their children are struggling with a lack of self-acceptance. That is often rooted in a lack of self-love. So, I help my clients learn how to love every bit of themselves including the parts that they feel “caused” their kids to “turn gay”.
3. I am available to do workshops and speak at events that help educate people on what I have learned about myself as a queer person and myself as a parent of a transgender young woman, particularly coming from my unique background and lived experiences.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Aaaagghhh! Unfortunately, I live currently in San Antonio, and planning to move to San Diego this fall…

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Naturally, I must first thank my firstborn. She is the reason I made the final pivot to start working with parents of LGBTQ+ kiddos on a larger scale. She came out first as gay, then nonbinary, and now as transgender. She is my muse and my reason for getting up each day to keep pushing. I learn a lot from just watching her and her journey. Her brilliance and bravada, her resilience, and her insistence on living in authenticity no matter what give me the courage to keep going.

I’d like to recognize the book: Think and Grow Rich for helping me think outside of myself, and for giving me the audacity to believe in myself and my calling.

I’d like to give a shoutout to my current clients. Parents of queer kiddos who are currently needing support along their journey of self-acceptance and support of their kids. They are my inspiration, and they have helped me improve my coaching and given me support along my own journey. They have been very valuable to my ministry…

Naturally, I’d like to thank my family, both immediate and extended. They support me through my ups and downs and hold me accountable and give me a dose of reality whenever I need it.

Website: www.dr-lulu.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drlulutalkradio/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drlulu/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/uchennaumeh9?lang=en

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100082578953611

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCniyYyULNDE7S3rxoTtTJRA

Image Credits
Lafayette Photography