Life & Work with Britney Lewis

Today we’d like to introduce you to Britney Lewis.

Hi Britney, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was born in Los Angeles, California but raised in Dallas, TX. I grew up in a close-knit family. I am the oldest. I have a younger sister. My parents always kept me in some type of sports growing up but soccer was the one sport I fell in love with. I’ve been playing soccer for about as long as I can remember. I played select soccer growing up, traveling the world catching flights and then getting right back to the books. My parents didn’t play when it came to my education. I also played soccer in High School. I was on the Varsity Team all four years. We were district champs in 2006-2007 and Regional Finalist in 2006, which made us the top 8 in the state of Texas! It was such an exhilarating experience. I received a full-ride scholarship to Southern University A&M College playing soccer. There is a reason I gave you guys my soccer background, bare with me. Let me show you how God’s been working in my life. I majored in Nursing in College. Which is easily one of the hardest degrees to obtain. It’s hard to get into the program, your GPA has to be a certain number and if you are lucky to get into the program, it’s hard to stay. You can not fail more than two classes while being in the program or you are kicked out! Let’s get into my story of how I survived nursing school. So mind y’all, I received a full scholarship to college to play soccer. So I’m a student-athlete. Studying was foreign to me. I never had to study. School came easy to me.

Growing up, all I had to do was listen in class and I would pass the test. I never had to open up a book at home. But once I got into the nursing program boy oh boy did that change. I had to teach myself how to study. I had to retain the information that was being taught to me. I’m going to be dealing with people’s lives! Playing soccer in college we traveled a lot, we had 6am practices. and then I would have to turn around and go to 8am class straight from practice stinky and all, lol. I was so overwhelmed my first semester in nursing school. I failed. I thought my whole life was over. I failed two nursing classes my first semester in nursing school. You can only fail two classes, once you fail a third you were kicked out of the program! I was in tears seeing my final grades come in. I felt defeated. I wanted to give up. I was franticly trying to find another major because I was like maybe nursing isn’t for me. Around this time, my grandmother was battling cancer. Me and my family went to Wichita, Kansas and visited her. Me and my grandmother were sitting at the kitchen table eating breakfast. And she looks at me and says “Don’t give up Britney. I wanted to be a nurse growing up but I didn’t have the financial means to do so.” With tears in my eyes, I promised her that I would stick to my plan of being a nurse and graduate. I stayed in the program. I lost my soccer scholarship. But it was inevitable I had to focus on graduating that was the only thing that mattered to me. I had to finish with that nursing degree. All the odds were against me. I literally could not fail another class for the rest of my nursing school career. My grandmother passed while I was continuing through the nursing program. I know she was watching over me, I felt her. I finished my last semester in nursing school with a 4.0. I know she is so proud right now. I could’ve easily given up. But I didn’t let the negative connotation get to me. I beat the odds and thrived!

Even if your back is against the wall keep fighting! I’m a living testimony that you can do whatever you put your mind to. I’ve been a registered nurse now since 2015. I work in a level 1 Trauma Center Pediatric Emergency Room. Let me show you how God keeps working in my life. I’ve always been told that I should be a model but I never actually really believed that I could do it or that anybody would take me serious because I’m not a size zero, nor do I have flawless skin and did I mention that I’m 30 years old! One day I was on my computer and I saw an ad for a huge modeling agency looking to sign models. I sat there and looked at the screen for a minute. I thought to myself oh what the heck let me see what happens and I submitted some pictures my little sister took of me on her camera. I had zero professional photos. A couple of days later, I received an email back from the agency! She was like we love your look, can you send me a couple of fresh face photos. I was in shock reading this email! They are really interested in little ol’ me! I quickly sent over some photos I took using my camera with a self-timer. She got back to me the next day and said she wanted to sign me. I was on could 9. I am signed by one of the biggest model/talent agencies out there! And I did this all with zero professional photos. I say all of this to say what’s for you is what for you and nothing will get in the way of that! I’m here to break barriers.

Whatever you want to do in life go for it. Don’t let anything or anyone stop you. I could’ve easily not submitted my application and be sitting here like what if. God continues to work it doesn’t stop there. I’ve been booking already! I’ve been signed to my agency for only three months. Guess what my first booking was. LOL, I booked a huge commercial for FitBit as a soccer player! How crazy is that? LOL, I would’ve never guessed that the next time I’d be stepping on a soccer field was for a commercial! God is so good. But it doesn’t stop there. I booked something else that’s absolutely crazy and ties into my life. LOL. I booked a photoshoot as a Nursing Student. LOL. I’m a nurse in real life and literally sitting on set as a nursing student. God is so good, without him none of this would be possible. I’m just excited to see what else is in store for me because I’m constantly in “aww”. I hope my story motivates others to go for their dreams even if the odds are against you. Who cares! You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. So go take those shots! LOL.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
It has not been a smooth rode. I had to fight. I had to pray. I literally prayed and journaled everyday in nursing school. I prayed that I would be able to retain the information and to be able to pass the test with flying colors. I used to write in my journal literally every day “I Britney Lewis am a registered nurse”. Or I would sign my name and put BSN-RN behind my name. And when I journaled, I believed it. You have to believe it, that’s part of manifesting. When the odds are against you, it’s so hard to keep pressing forward. But you have too. You can’t give up! But the key is you have to believe that you can do it! The brain is a powerful muscle! I don’t think people realize that. If you say something over and over, you are eventually going to believe it. So just think if you sit there and keep telling yourself something negative. Boom! You believe it. But what if we turned those negative thoughts into something positive and then boom! You believe that. So much better. Lol. We need to use our brains to our advantage.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m a registered nurse. I work in a level 1 trauma center pediatric emergency room. I’ve been a nurse for seven years and I absolutely love what I do. Everybody always asks me how do I do it. I literally feel like I was placed on this earth to be a nurse. I’ve always wanted to be a nurse even when I was little. I went straight to college knowing exactly what I wanted to major in. Somedays suck at work. I see a lot of things. ALOT. But also there are rewarding times too. I am also a model. This is a new career path for me. I’ve been doing it for a couple of months now and I’m falling in love with it more and more everyday. Modeling is something that is coming easy to me. I’m constantly getting booked. And I’m so thankful.

Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
NEVER GIVE UP! KEEP FIGHTING!!!

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/nurse.lew
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCm7q98ZxkEoT-HovDhLW3Ww/videos

Image Credits
The modeling pictures of me – Tony Bowen is the photographer.