⚖️ From Therapy to Inside Out 2: A Serendipitous Career

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I was listening to a podcast featuring the psychologist who was a consultant on Pixar’s Inside Out 2. How did she land that dreamy gig?

We don’t really know where life is going to take us. Dr Lisa Damour, a Clinical Psychologist, captures this when she said that, ‘there is a career I had, thought I was going to have, and there is a career I ended up having’.

Lisa has written 3 New York Times Best Selling Books focused on translating research for the wider audience. She shares that she fell into the world of commercial writing by accident.

How did Inside Out 2 happen? Her books have been focused on the emotional world of teenage girls, the exact expertise Pixar needed inputs on as Riley reached teenage in the second movie. So they reached out to her.

What really stayed with me? Lisa speaks about being able to keep trust amongst academic circles despite occupying a space in broader, commercial circles. She does so by keeping her roots in science and clinical practice as she translates this knowledge for the wider public.

Check out the podcast here.

Until next week,
Suvrita

Harshali has a fantastic newsletter on Mental Health and Tech. We had a conversation about how I found opportunities for non clinical work and landed in tech. Read here.