(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) - Tonight on At Issue, we don't have an issue to talk about.

Just a very interesting person to talk with.

Dr.

Sophia Omoro is an ear, nose, and throat surgeon, with Graham Medical Group.

And how she got to central Illinois is a pretty fascinating story.

Doctor, thanks for coming in.

- Thank you.

It's my pleasure.

And I'm happy to be here.

- You have traveled the world and done a lot with yourself, but I wanna talk about your upbringing first in Kenya.

What was it like growing up there?

- Very different from here.

So Kenya is a country.

A lot of people don't realize that Kenya is in the equator.

It's pretty high, it's very tropical, 'cause a lot of people think Africa is just hot, but Kenya's not.

But I grew up in a little village in Kenya, one of eight kids, number six, a family that was quite poor.

But thankfully we had no idea we were, because you kind of live on what you got.

And it's not until you leave that you realize that you don't have.

But out of that, my father, with minimal education, knew at a very early age that the way up and out of all of that was education.

So he hammered that into all of us and we lined up like little ducklings listened up and here we are.

But it's a very, very different lifestyle, very community based, very focused on just day-to-day survival.

We didn't have running water, no refrigeration.

So a lot of it is what are you going to eat for your next meal and going to the market to get it.

So it's very different.

- [Mark] Did both of your parents work?

- My father was ultimately employed by the government.

My mother was a seamstress stay-at-home mom.

- Okay.

- And that was her source of supporting the family.

- So did you find yourself on your own a lot as a kid, kind of having to, not necessarily fend for yourself, but keep yourself occupied, keep yourself educated?

- Well, that's the thing in Africa in general, and Kenya for sure.

There's a whole bunch of kids outside.

So you never had to be alone.

You were actually never alone.

The neighbor, if you end up at the neighbors at lunch, you go eat with them.

And if you end up at the neighbors who's known to your family in the evening, sleep over there.

So it's very communal in that sense.

So when you're not busy doing things you're supposed to be doing structurally, so you're schooling your chores, you are out and about with community in a safe community.

You know, herding cows, going to the river, doing stuff.

So, yeah.

- How was the education system there as a young person?

- So Kenya was colonized by Britain.

So for most of my life, it's different now.

We were under the British system, which is a very focused educational system from a very young age.

You start broad, but you start narrowing very early on, very focused and at marked levels.

So after first eight years, all of the country, all the kids in that year take one exam, the same exam for all the kids in that, I know, it's crazy.

And then they'd publish the results and rank it, and then again at four years and then at two.

So it was a very different system, but very, very focused.

I had no idea what multiple choice questions were until I came to the US.

Everything was essay type, including math and chemistry.

- Wow.

- Yeah.

- I don't think I would've gotten through any of those classes if they weren't multiple choice.

So that's pretty amazing.

So at what point were you multilingual?

I mean were you taught English and, you know, your native language early on?

How did that work?

- So Kenya has 44 different tribes, 44 distinct people who don't understand each other.

They speak a different language, different tradition, different custom, different everything.

But when Kenya was made a country, these tribes had to live together.

So the tribal languages are maintained.

So my tribal language is Luo, L-U-O.

That was the first language I spoke in life.

And that's still my first language.

And then since my neighbor next door might be another tribe, the country adopted Swahili, which is one of the two national languages.

So from a young age, most kids speak two languages.

You don't even know you're speaking two languages at that point.

And then for everyone who's lucky enough to go to school, the other national language is English.

So language of instruction is English.

All newspapers in Kenya even now are published daily in two languages.

And then after that, they encourage another language so you can communicate with the world.

So I'm pretty fluent in French as well.

- Wow.

- Yeah.

- So at what point does your family decide, okay, you need that education, that they're, you know, pushing on you, but are your options limited in Kenya as far as where you can go to school and further that?

- Very limited.

There are very few schools at each tier.

And so the higher you get to university level, now I think there maybe 5 population of 54 million.

And so the way that worked is this one exam that I'm talking about, everybody takes at each step.

It's ranked, and then the top tier get to continue on.

And so sometimes a B is just not good enough 'cause there's a whole bunch of As.

And so they get to continue because of the limitation of education.

So many really good people fall off along the way.

So, yeah.

- So how do you end up as a teenager in Western Canada?

- Huh.

I have no, no, I'm kidding.

So, again, those exams, so my dad had this thing about, actually he used to say, "I don't want your best, I want an A-plus.

Keep your best for yourself."

And so this A-plus mentality that he put into us including waking us up at 3:00 AM to study, not to do homework, to study, got us most of the family performing really, really well.

So there is and was a scholarship that was awarded to one student per country per year based on academics.

So for my year, I got that one scholarship.

So that scholarship was to one of the seven.

At the time, there were seven United World Colleges, an amazing system brought on by philanthropists whose idea it was let's promote world peace by putting different people together, and you guys figure it out for two years.

And so I ended up in the one in Canada, at the Pearson College in BC.

And so there was me and 199 other students like me who didn't know what the other was speaking.

But for two years we lived together, worked together, did a lot of community service.

I did my first kayaking there.

I did my first and last rock climbing there.

But they exposed us to everything.

But it was all based on education.

- And what was the biggest culture shock?

- In Canada, not so much, because all of us were culture-shocked.

(laughing) I mean those 200 of us from different countries.

So it almost was like we're in the same boat.

But outside of that system, the way things work so regimented in North America was absolutely mind-blowing.

Meaning that when the traffic light is red, it actually means stop.

It's not a suggestion.

(both laughing) Like it is in many parts of, of other parts of the third world.

But the biggest culture shock for me was actually when, after those two years, I came to the US, because we all have this idea of what America's like.

And I realized it's just an idea, yeah.

- What did you think it was like, before you got here?

- All just ferries and beautiful fields, and everybody gets together and gets so long, and the neighbors know each other.

And so it's just very different.

People work very, very hard.

And I've been in America for a long time.

The mentality of life is a little different.

Not so loose.

Yeah, life goes by very quickly in the US.

- Sure.

- Yeah.

So when you make the move from Canada to the US, where did you go?

- So I went from Canada to Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama.

- Okay.

- Yeah, I know.

- Lots of rockets there.

- Lots of, I was right next to them.

It was actually beautiful, next to NASA.

But that was my first taste of America, did my undergraduate there.

And, again, you know, I say in life there, these people who are your champions, who see in you what you want to be and open a path.

So I had one there who said, "You know, you're very talented in sciences and we know what you want, so you need to apply to Tulane University in New Orleans for your MD PhD."

So I applied, and again the A-plus mentality, I got the scholarship, and did six years of MD and PhD.

Again overachieving for absolutely no reason.

(both laughing) - Well, again, you know, New Orleans is another lifestyle too, that we see in different parts of the country.

I'm curious, I always like to ask doctors this, how do you choose which field you wanna focus on?

Because there's so many.

And, you know, you're an ear, nose, and throat surgeon.

Why that specific field?

- For me, and I hope for everybody else, being a physician is a calling.

It's not a job.

And when I talk of callings, I think when you hear that called voice, it should come with something.

I'm like, "Whoever's calling me, you need to give me some talents here."

And so I've always loved to use my hands.

Even in the village, I was the kid fixing a chicken's leg.

You know, we rarely ate our chickens 'cause they're priced possession.

But on the rare occasion when, you know, a guest came and mom says, "Go get a chicken," there was this one chicken where, the kids were off to get the chicken.

The poor chicken's leg was broken.

I'm like, "Mom, we can't eat that."

And mom's like, "What are you gonna do with it?"

I'm like, "I'm gonna fix it."

So I did.

Took a little splint, banana-leafed it, and it walked.

But that had always been me not knowing that I was pre-programmed for surgery.

So fast-forward, how I picked what I was gonna be, so I knew I was gonna be a doctor again at age 12 in that village 'cause I noticed that we had no other options for any medical care and kids were dying from very simple things.

And I was like, "I'm gonna change that."

So come to medical school, we are all exposed to a whole bunch of different specialties.

You love some.

You hate some.

One of the things other than knowing I needed to be a surgeon 'cause I need to do medicine where I can use my hands, I hang out with some of the happiest people, ENTs.

They're surgeons, but they're kind of happy surgeons, I think because of the work-life balance, the balance between treating people both with surgery and medications, treating kids all the way to adults.

So it's very varied.

And then the head and neck area was very intriguing to me.

It's the smallest part of proportion, but the most dense with structures.

So again, the overachiever in me, I was like, "I'm gonna know all of that."

- That's great.

- Yeah.

- So tell us about your journey after Tulane.

Let's go from Tulane until you land in Galesburg.

Where all did you live and what did you do?

- I know, that's crazy.

So Tulane, finished my, actually my education, let's say that.

Then after that, we have to do residency.

Residency is where now you pick what you're gonna be and you go train in that.

Mine started in Seattle at the University of Washington.

It was a six-year program, very intense.

Four years into it, Katrina happens in New Orleans, and everybody leaves as they should have.

And I remember that phone call, my department chair back at Tulane calls and says, "Hey," and these were his words, Dr.

Amity.

He says, "Do you wanna come back home?"

And I said, "Sure."

And I said, "But you guys just had a hurricane."

He says, "I know."

But they needed to get two residents per graduating class to keep the program open because everybody else had left and they'd been traumatized, and thankfully other programs had absorbed them.

So in order to keep that training program open, they needed two.

And I was one of the crazy people to go back.

No regrets.

So I transferred and finished my training at Tulane.

From there, I was offered a job locally, worked there for eight years.

Was a beautiful job.

Very busy.

But like most physicians, that's when my burnout came.

And I was, I was tired.

Yeah.

And then being tired, I said, "I'm done," at a very young age.

And they said, "What are you gonna do?"

I said, "I have no idea.

I'm going back to Kenya to the village."

But two months into, I'm done.

I'm like, "Okay, my hands are itching."

So I initially signed up with a temp agency, and there are such things for doctors, that place you in areas of need without certain specialties.

So my first stint was in Ohio.

That turned into a permanent position.

And then I went back closer to home to Mississippi three years ago.

And then I got the wonderful call from Graham Hospital, and I've been here since April.

- Now, when Graham calls you, do you have to get out a map and say, "Where is Galesburg?

Where's Canton?"

- I have to do that every time I come.

No, people who know me, and I said, "I work in Canton," and these are Americans, not even foreigners like me, they say, "Where is that?"

So absolutely I had to get on a map and figure out, "How am I going to get there?

Who flies there?

Did anyone fly there?"

- Right?

- Yes.

- So did you take that job sight unseen or did you go there first for an interview?

- So I had an interview first, came out for a couple visits, made sure that I would survive.

Still I don't know whether I'm surviving the winter, you asked me that after the winter comes 'cause I don't do good in snow.

But, no, I came and met with the people and really what sold me was the community.

I love rural communities.

The hospital, the staff, the leadership is just so supportive.

It was a no brainer for me.

- So since you like rural communities, I mean, was it a hard transition at all going from, you know, of course New Orleans's one of the biggest cities in the country, to Canton.

- Yeah.

- Much smaller obviously.

- Absolutely.

It is a transition.

So I call myself a global citizen.

As you say, I've been all over.

And these eight siblings of mine I talk about literally scattered all over the world, Australia, all over.

So I fly very easily, whereas some people will be like, "Oh my word, that is a long flight."

I'm like, "No, it's not.

Just hop on a plane and go to sleep and get there."

So for me, as long as there's access to other places, the world is very small in my head.

And so that's not a problem.

If there's a flight going, it's fine.

- Yeah.

- So it's all about the access.

- So you've only been in Canton/Galesburg six months roughly?

- Yeah.

Roughly, yes.

- What's been the most surprising thing, either work-wise or personal-wise, that you've encountered?

- You know, the surprising thing is the piece of driving.

You know, I think we were talking about me doing surgeries currently in Canton at the Graham Hospital until they build a surgery center in Galesburg.

So I'm doing that drive every day.

And I thought it would be bothersome, but it's so peaceful.

I'm finding that I love the rolling hills and the cows and some, so that was surprising, 'cause I don't typically love to drive, I like to fly.

So I'm finding that I love that.

The other thing is, everybody's so grateful, and it reminds me of why we go into medicine.

You know, in big cities where there's a whole bunch of specialists, there's a lot of access to all kinds of specialists and subspecialists, you find, for lack of a better term, maybe a little bit of an entitle mentality in medicine both ways.

But here where, you know, it's a privilege for me and for my patients to have specialties like me.

It's a beautiful synergistic relationship.

People come, there are not too many no-shows.

Whereas, elsewhere, you make an appointment and, eh, they're not coming 'cause something else happened.

And people come because they genuinely need help for real things.

So it's a very different way of practicing medicine that goes back to the core of why I chose it and reminds me that I, you know, to be a steward of someone's life.

- I wanna talk about your other career, which has nothing to do with medicine.

You're a fashion designer.

- I am.

- Tell me how you got into that.

- I think it got into me at birth.

(laughing) So my mom, we mentioned she was a seamstress, that was initially her way of clothing six girls, those six girls and two boys.

And so she would get a piece of cloth and say, "Girls, what you want?"

And so each one of us girls would have to literally sketch what we wanted, because if my fabric's gonna look like yours, my style is not.

You know, I'm your sister, but I don't love you that much.

So unbeknownst to all of us, and to me, we were actually sketching and working that from birth.

And then when my mom made that, her at-home career, she would use us, the girls, as her finisher.

So I can sew a buttonhole, like you'd never know that a machine didn't do that.

I can do invisible helms.

She would teach us how to sketch and do patterns and all of that.

So it's always been in me.

Now, fast-forward coming to the US or to North America, it was a big shock that I'm not privy to having custom clothing as I was back home.

You know, custom clothing is a different thing here.

So what I'd do is either get my own off the rack and alter it, or I would sketch things, and when I got a chance to go back home, have someone make it, wear it.

And then people around me started asking, "Who made that?

And where is that from?

And can I have it?

Can I borrow it?"

And so the brand was born because one of my friends, a nurse at Ochsner, kind of challenged me and say, "Hey, why didn't you make a capsule?"

A capsule is a group of clothing that go together, and then we'll hold a trunk show, which is when you have an open house somewhere and people come.

And she invited, people came, and everything sold.

And people were asking, "Where do I get the rest?"

And I was like, "I have no clue."

But anyway, so that's how the brand was formed.

And once that started, it was a no brainer for me that I had to support the people back home with it.

- And tell me the brand name.

- odAOMO.

- Okay.

- A whole bunch of Os, a whole bunch of vowels.

(both laughing) And two consonants.

But odAOMO is actually my name.

- Okay.

- Yes.

Od in Luo, that first language of mine means, house of.

I know two letters saying all of that, house of.

So odAOMO is House of AOMO.

My name though, in my tribe, and in most African tribes, is bestowed.

So I carry it from someone.

So I'm carrying the name of my grandmother.

It means born during harvest time.

And I don't have any kids.

But if I did, I would bestow that on.

So it's a matriarchal, maternal lineage name.

I do have a lot of nieces who are carrying it on my behalf.

But odAOMO is house of AOMO.

So beyond being my name, it represents a maternal lineage.

- Okay.

Looking at your website, and we've been showing some pictures of your creations.

I don't, believe it or not, I don't know anything about fashion.

But looking at these clothes, they definitely look unique and like things that we're not seeing on the racks around here.

So how much work have you put into this?

How much work are you putting into this as you're also a full-time doctor obviously?

- You know, a lot of people say it's a hobby.

Well, I found out very quickly, it was not a hobby.

And the accountant will tell you that.

But I'm also very blessed to have a team.

And very early on I knew that that was the only way to do this if I could be good 100% of the time in every space that I am.

So I have a creative director, who's actually from New Orleans, Quintin Alexander.

He also runs the brand.

He's the brand director.

And I forced him to start traveling and see the world as small.

So he's back and forth between here and Kenya, (clearing throat) excuse me, multiple times.

He also does the content, the website, the fashion shows, the everything.

So it's made my job.

The fun part, sketch.

So I simply do the sketches.

I do the designs.

We come up with the collection concept.

He digitizes everything.

We're making our own fabrics now in India.

And then I do the quality checks.

So once I do the sketch, I make sure that it is what conceptually I want it, then be graded.

So that part, when it's all done, and it's production, and comes back, it's out of my hands.

So that allows me time to be who I need to be.

- Is this one of your creations what you're wearing?

- This one is not.

- Okay.

- I should have brought one of my creations.

But no, this one is not.

But we'll be showing a whole bunch on Thursday.

- Oh, yeah.

- Yeah, in Galesburg.

- Oh, very nice.

Very nice.

- Yes.

- Before we go, I have to ask you about your Blooming Lily Foundation.

Tell us what that's all about.

- All right.

So that one's touches my heart in a very different way.

So Blooming Lily Foundation is a 501(c)3 foundation that I started in 2014.

I always knew, and in 2014, it came very clear as to which direction, but I always knew that I wanted to shine a light to girls or people like me who come from a tiny little village, who want to be something big, and you have no clue how.

'cause a lot of people see me and they think, "Oh, there's something special about me."

And I say, "Heck, no.

There's absolutely nothing special about me."

I was just blessed with knowing my calling at a very young age, and a father who said, "This is the path, the first step is education," and follow it.

And so following that path got me to where I am.

And so Blooming Lily Foundation does exactly that.

So we take 25 girls at a time each year, so far we've done 305, to a four-day all paid retreat, during which we tell them, number one, you have a purpose, you can choose it or leave it or not have it.

But if you choose it, let's map out your path towards it.

And then we do what's called remove the first obstacle for them in their path.

We let them tell us what that is.

Unlike a lot of foundations, which very well meaning say, "Hey, we've brought you stuff," we let the girls tell us what their first obstacle is.

So, for example, in this one school of 180 girls, their collective first obstacle was their monthly needs.

And so we said, "Fine, we'll supply that for you so you can stay in school," because for these girls, otherwise one week a month, that'd be at a school.

And they expect it to perform and compete.

So out of 305 girls, since we started in a village where no one had gone to college, 41 have made it.

- Great.

- Yeah.

And the name Lily was actually, I picked it because it's named after my sister.

My sister Lily passed away.

I see her as a flower that bloomed and then got truncated.

But she died at age 46.

So very young.

She was kind of my path.

I wanted to be like her.

She was number three.

I'm number six.

But Lily's circumstances were very preventable.

It was a lot of undiagnosed and untreated mental health and abusive situation.

And when she got colon cancer at age 38, she did not get any treatment.

And so she passed away.

So Blooming Lily is a twofold.

You know, flowers need to bloom in order to be any good to anyone, either fragrance or color.

But you need to know where you're planted so you can afford your obstacles.

So that's Blooming Lily.

- Well, that's a great story.

And I wish we had another half an hour to talk, but we're out of time, unfortunately.

- That's okay.

- [Mark] But we are happy to have you in Central Illinois.

Hope to stay here for a while.

- I will, I will.

Plan to.

- And keep up the good work.

- I'm honored.

Thank you so much.

- Thanks for your time, Dr.

Sophia Omoro, with Graham Medical Group in Canton and Galesburg.

That's our time for now.

Thanks for joining us.

You can check us out anytime at wtvp.org and on Facebook and Instagram.

Have a good night.

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