Billy Dees

In this conversation, Billy Dees talks with Nigerian-American physician, novelist, and speaker Dr. Nneka Oluoha about mental health, culture, identity, family expectations, immigration, empathy, and the power of storytelling.As an internal medicine hospitalist, Dr. Oluoha has witnessed firsthand the deeply personal stories people often carry beneath the surface. Those experiences helped inspire her novel Live for Me Nkem, which explores depression, marriage, motherhood, family relationships, and the immigrant experience through the story of a Nigerian woman living in America.Billy and Dr. Oluoha discuss why asking for help can be so difficult, how cultural expectations can influence the way people understand emotional struggles, and why empathy and trust are essential when someone is finally ready to open up.The conversation also explores identity and the idea that we are more than any single label or role. Dr. Oluoha shares her own experience coming to the United States from Nigeria, adapting to a new cultur