We recently had the chance to connect with Tyler Beauchamp and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Tyler, thank you so much for taking time out of your busy day to share your story, experiences and insights with our readers. Let’s jump right in with an interesting one: Have any recent moments made you laugh or feel proud?
Two moments from this last week come to mind, one from the writer world and one from the medical world. I received a letter from a fan regarding my first book, “Freeze Frame,” who singled out a specific passage that helped them get through a tough time in their life. Those moments mean the world to an author, and I feel so incredibly blessed to have had even the smallest positive effect on another’s life. The other moment took place in the hospital, after a particularly dark shift, my co-residents and team took a moment to lean on each other and find a way to laugh with one another. It’s the little moments like that that keep us moving forward, and I am so grateful to work with the greatest team of doctors a resident could ask for.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I am a Pediatrician and Children’s/YA Author from Savannah, Georgia. Growing up, I was obsessed with independent filmmaking and writing stories. They served as an outlet during my hospitalization. Stories were always the perfect escape from a waiting room or a frightening research center. My passion for writing continued while I received a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. There, I fell in love with medicine, and I realized that my time as a patient could be used to help others in similar predicaments. During medical school, I published my first novel, FREEZE FRAME, which became an Amazon #1 Bestseller in Coming-of-Age fiction and sparked a television adaptation currently being pitched to streaming services. As I continue on in pediatrics, my writing has expanded to new series and mediums, hopefully with the next book to hit stores soon. No matter where the road takes me, I hope to combine art and science in new ways in order to support patients’ health and hearts.
Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. Who taught you the most about work?
My father. Not only did this man escape from a home full of turmoil and neglect, but he trekked out into the world with nothing other than his willpower and creative spirit to make a name for himself. For years, he worked every hour to build a music career from nothing, and at the same time became a renowned professor of sound design. He single-handedly showed me that there is no such thing as an impossible dream. The only dreams you cannot achieve are the ones you walk away from, and if something hasn’t been done before, then go be the first one to show the world it can.
What did suffering teach you that success never could?
I think most anything worthwhile in this life is found through failure. How do you know what you really want if you don’t challenge yourself and lose? If after losing, you find yourself working to get it back, it’s probably part of your purpose. I don’t think I grew up with a purpose. I didn’t know as a kid I wanted to be a doctor or an author. I tried everything I loved and failed a ton along the way, but the struggles I faced on the paths to medicine and writing were never enough to make me question my love for either pursuit. To me, purpose is loving the process of a journey and not letting setbacks define where that journey ends. Failure is one of the most invaluable tools to any pursuit or dream. It’s where you learn who you are and how you can improve. Try your best to reframe failing as the positive that it is. Just strip away all the negative perceptions others place on failure or how others may inaccurately measure one’s worth by it, and focus on why you failed. What went wrong? What can you do between now and the next time you try to help yourself succeed? And honestly, in creation, as pleasant as it is to hear why others like what you’ve made, hopefully they like it for the same reasons you made it! There isn’t much growth from success. But when others feel passionately enough to express why your efforts fell short for them, that’s where, as a creative, you can (with a grain of salt) grow in ways you never could have possibly imagined. If I’m ever in a place in my life where I don’t think it’s possible to fail, I’m either not growing as a person, or I’m not being honest with myself.
I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. What truths are so foundational in your life that you rarely articulate them?
I think what’s become understated is the reason I chose to go into pediatrics and why I feel connected to telling Children’s/YA stories. Simply put, magic is real. Growing up, I would open a book and watch the real world ripple into a fantastical one. It’s only as we get older and are repeatedly told, “Magic isn’t real,” that we stop believing. I believed books were our world’s last source of magic, that is, until I found Pediatrics. Children possess the power to rewrite the world before them and simultaneously live out their new story. They see everything as endlessly possible, which makes them our hope to build a better world. I realized that medicine and writing could really be two halves of the same coin: tools to protect the most vulnerable. Whether in or out of the hospital, I want to prevent problems and help preserve the last traces of magic in our world, giving every child the chance to write their own story.
Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. What will you regret not doing?
First and foremost, my life will feel incomplete if I never find someone to share it with and raise others to bring joy into the world after we are gone. Family above all else, at the end of the day, nothing else matters. Other than that, I already know that one of my deepest regrets when I leave this world will be the stories I never got the chance to tell. I also know that it’s the greatest blessing that a single lifetime of sharing stories could never be enough. It means every day, there is a chance to reach others and move their hearts if I just sit down and write. So here’s to tomorrow’s story, and here’s to the next hundred to follow.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.tyler-beauchamp.com
- Instagram: @tylerbeauchampmd
- Other: Amazon: https://a.co/d/chR0j7v
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62690978-freeze-frame
