When a freak accident ended her performing career, Lala Ziemski turned pain into purpose—pivoting from the stage to the kitchen, and eventually building The Firefly, a boutique hotel and restaurant in Panama. Now a private chef in New York City and host of the podcast Put It In My Mouth, Lala joins Dr. Lauren Umstattd for an open conversation about resilience, creativity, and redefining success. They discuss how hospitality principles can transform any business (even medicine), finding alignment after chaos, and why balance—not perfection—is the ultimate luxury.

Host: Dr. Lauren Umstattd

Connect with Lauren: @lauren_umstattd_md

Guest: Lala Ziemski

Connect with Lala: @ohheylala & @thefireflybocasdeltoro 

Presented by: The Hippocratic Collective

0:00 – Meet Lala Ziemski: performer turned chef, hotelier, and podcast host

1:00 – From the Mickey Mouse Club dreams to musical theater life

2:40 – The freak accident that changed everything

4:00 – Learning to start over: from injury to imposter syndrome

5:00 – The restaurant that sparked a new passion

7:00 – Building a hotel and restaurant in Panama

8:30 – The grit it takes to open your own business

9:30 – Lessons in resilience and the power of saying “yes” before you’re ready

10:50 – How simplicity became her food philosophy

11:40 – Working for yourself and learning to let go

14:00 – Moving to NYC and reinventing again during the pandemic

17:00 – Finding alignment and creating her own rhythm

18:10 – The importance of autonomy and mental health

19:25 – How Unreasonable Hospitality changed her approach to service

22:00 – Making guests feel seen: small gestures that matter

23:40 – Inside her podcast Put It In My Mouth — Bourdain meets Sex and the City

24:45 – Food, pleasure, and rejecting diet culture

26:30 – Turning setbacks into creative control

29:00 – Building a show that finally clicked

30:00 – Which Sex and the City character is she most like?

31:00 – Dating in New York at 47 — and loving her independence

33:00 – What makes a perfect first date (and why it’s about thoughtfulness)

35:30 – On self-trust, journaling, and slowing down

38:30 – Flipping the script: Lala interviews Dr. Lauren on facelifts & filler

46:45 – The deep-plane facelift debate explained

49:40 – Medical tourism, brow lifts & the “Forever 35 Face”

54:00 – Why the neck is the ultimate giveaway

56:00 – Wrapping up with travel, food, and the art of balance

58:30 – Final reflections and where to find Lala online