Some people choose a profession. Some keep discovering themselves through the work they do.
Lory Pattanaik belongs to the second category.
An engineer by education, a journalist by instinct, an entrepreneur by choice and an author by passion, Lory’s journey has never really followed a straight line. Perhaps that is also why storytelling came naturally to her.
Her professional journey began in 2009 in the power sector as an Instrumentation Engineer. Working on a greenfield power project and being part of erection and commissioning gave her a very different beginning from what people would normally associate with a writer. But somewhere between technical drawings, plant floors and engineering assignments, another side of her kept asking questions.
Why do people behave the way they do? What makes someone successful? What happens behind the achievements that people see from the outside?
Those questions eventually took her towards journalism and content.
After moving to Bhopal, Lory began working across writing, media and communications, eventually contributing to publications including The Times of India, Hindustan Times and Dainik Bhaskar. Interviews became an important part of her professional life. She met entrepreneurs, doctors, professionals and leaders and slowly realised that every person carried a story far bigger than a headline.
That realisation changed the way she wrote.
For Lory, storytelling was never simply about putting words together. It was about listening. It was about understanding what a person wanted to say, including the things they sometimes found difficult to articulate.
Her work eventually moved from journalism into books. She explored fiction, non-fiction, biographies and autobiographical writing, while also documenting the journeys of people whose professional achievements deserved a larger narrative. Her association with projects such as The Luminaries of Central India further strengthened that transition.
Today, writing books has become an important part of her identity.
Her recent work, The City That Learns to Breathe, takes her storytelling in a deeply human direction. The contemporary fiction explores mental health and the emotional realities that often remain invisible behind ordinary lives. The book was launched by the Hon’ble Governor of Madhya Pradesh, Shri Mangubhai Patel, adding another significant moment to Lory’s literary journey.
But perhaps the more interesting part of Lory’s story is not the number of books she has written or the personalities she has interviewed. It is the willingness to begin again.
She moved from engineering to media, from journalism to authorship, and alongside it built an entrepreneurial career. None of these transitions happened overnight. They came through curiosity, conversations, failures, experimentation and the courage to take the next step without knowing exactly where it would lead.
Today, through her author platform, Miss Author, Lory continues to bring together her worlds of writing, journalism and storytelling.
Her journey offers a simple thought: sometimes a career is not a ladder that you climb. Sometimes, it is a collection of stories that you keep adding to.
And perhaps that is why Lory Pattanaik continues to write not merely because she has stories to tell, but because she believes every life has one worth listening to.
