We were lucky to catch up with Pearl Guyer recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Pearl, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear the story behind how you got your first job in field that you currently practice in.

After nursing school, I started my first job in the CVOR at Methodist hospital. I had never seen surgery before and of course I chose the most hardcore job ever, Open Hearts and Transplants. I had to learn my job quick and efficiently because the patients and my coworkers depended on me. It was crazy at first, Seeing the heart pumping, chest cut open, The elevator we used to get to the ICU was big and set up for surgery, in case our patient crashes and we need to crack the chest open. Working in the CVOR, you learn to handle high stress situations., for one instance, while transporting a patient to the ICU, the patient coded and one of the Anesthesia techs jumped on the bed and started doing compressions. We turned around to head back to the OR. I ran ahead to let my coworkers know that we are coming back. Our sets and table was not broken down yet and we ended up saving a life.
I learned that day how much I enjoyed working in the operating room.. I also learned for the hiring process, it is based on who you know.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I am a nurse, a photographer and I love to travel. I’ve been told I have the “eye” for photography. I like getting shots that show a story. I started out taking nature pictures, then your typical cloud pictures, iphone head shots and then wedding pictures. I use my husband’s old nikon camera and would love to upgrade to a newer model as his is 20yrs. I usually have my client buy the memory card and I’ll take all the pictures they want . I do not do any editing of the pictures since there are awesome editing apps out there, my client can do what they want with their pictures. I am proud of the work that I do and I know I can get the shot that some people don’t see.

If you could go back, would you choose the same profession, specialty, etc.?

If I can go back in time, As much as I love nursing, I would not redo this career. I would definitely focus more on my art career and photography. Maybe do something in the film industry.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

I’ve found the best process for me and growing my clientele is word of mouth and creating an instagram based off of my photography.