We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Sydney Guerrette a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Sydney , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about the things you feel your parents did right and how those things have impacted your career and life.

Growing up, my parents were heavily invested in our community. My siblings and I were taught, at a very young age, the importance of giving back and helping others. I keep this in mind when decision-making, both in my life and career.

When opportunities arose, my parents stepped away from their careers/dreams to help me pursue my own. That level of selflessness has changed my perspective and been a part of my growth as an individual. Our original plan was to stay on the road for a few months, but when the opportunity arose to stay on the road indefinitely, despite not having an income, my parents said yes because they saw the potential to help others, even to the detriment of their careers and their financial security.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Be The Change Youth Initiative (BTCYI) was created, in part, out of a deep church hurt. A youth pastor belittle my desire to create change in my community because of my age. So, I wanted to create a way for youth to use their gifts and talents to help others. Before 2019, we organized several Fundraising Initiatives that helped grant a wish with Make-A-Wish America, built a daycare in Haiti, supported a food program in Rwanda, and sent instruments. During this time, I also had a surreal experience of meeting one of my music idols. When he heard about my work with BTCYI and that I was a singer-songwriter, he asked to hear some of my music, which led to me traveling back and worth from Maine to Nashville every 6-8 weeks to write and record met first EP, as well as music projects for Be The Change Collective, the music arm of BTCYI.

In 2019, we had the opportunity to work with a chapter of Make-A-Wish in Houston, Texas. During that time, my younger brother, Brayden, started struggling with suicidal ideation. Our family made a REALLY drastic life change. That story is really cool, but also long, so I won’t go into it here. But essentially, my dad quit his dream job as a federal drug prosecutor with the Department of Justice, we sold our home, and bought an RV… having NEVER been camping a day in our lives. (During that time, my dad had a co-worker that lost his high school son to suicide and my parents didn’t want that to be our story, too.) So we decided to take BTCYI on the road for a few months hoping the time away (and together) would help Brayden.

In May 2019, at show in Austin, Texas, event organizers asked if I could talk about the struggles facing teens in our society today so I talked about my experiences navigating social media, specifically the pitfalls of comparison and self-image. Brayden also talked about his struggles with depression and suicidal ideation while sharing a song he wrote called Conscience. After the show, a middle-school student shared with me her own story of attempting suicide. That moment led to our family staying on the road for 11 months, traveling over 25,000 miles, as we were shown a deeper purpose for Be The Change Youth Initiative. (This story is part of a new book that came out in September called The Musical Imprint.)

We happened to be staying at a RV park in Chattanooga when Covid started shutting everything down, which lead to us re-examining BTCYI and how we could better meet the needs of youth who were struggling with their mental health. Three years later, we’ve created several initiatives locally and we’re now working to expand that work regionally, and hopefully nationally. Below you can read a little bit about our current Initiatives:

YOUTH ART INITIATIVE: This is an after school program we run in two local schools, one high school and one middle school.. We bring in local artists to share their art with students and how they use their art to help process their mental health. The artists walk the students through independent art projects and also create a larger piece with the students that will be part of an Art Auction in 2023. 100% of the proceeds from the auction will go back to the community. (50% will be divided between the public school art teachers to help buy supplies. The other 50% will be used to create summer art scholarships for students in the community.

(BE)KIND INITIATIVE: We partner with a local coffee shop that donates their coffee sleeves to us. We go into local schools to share our story and our music. We also partner with two regional mental health organizations (Tennessee Suicide Prevention Network and Mental Health Association of East Tennessee). We asked students to write words of encouragement on the coffee sleeves that (Be)Caffeinated uses in their Chattanooga stores.

FUNDRAISING INITIATIVES: We create fundraising packets for non-profits that help youth learn how they can use their gifts and talents to help support organizations in their communities. (We recently raised $10,000 for Songbirds Foundation.)

CONCERT FOR A CAUSE: We put on concerts to help raise money for local non-profits working with youth in our community. Part of our purpose in this is also to support local business and local musicians.

BE THE CHANGE COLLECTIVE: This is the music arm of BTCYI. This includes a fellowship with 6 local musicians, as well as a music project that focuses on local musicians creating music for the community.

the WONDER podcast: We created a podcast that focuses on sharing the stories of people we met on the road, as well as people we work with who are doing advocacy work in their communities. There is definitely a mental health component, but it doesn’t strictly focus on that.

Brayden and I also perform under the name In the Company of Wolves. We use our music as a way to advocate through art. We talk about the importance of sharing our stories and the stories of other youth. We want our music to be a home for those who feel alone, cast aside, abandoned, etc.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

To reduce the number of youth suicides.

This is our WHY and what motivates us when we get discouraged. We work with youth on a weekly basis and are constantly reminded of the mental health crisis facing our generation.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Hands down, seeing how our music impacts the youth we connect with. Last month, we traveled to Hickman County (Tennessee) to talk to all of their middle and high school students. After one of our performances, a student came up to share her story with us. (Her sister attempted suicide and is now blind.) She shared a poem with me and asked if we could write a song based on the poem to share he story with others. The weight of this is immense, but so is the honor. While this all started by us sharing our family’s story, this isn’t about us. The more we perform and talk to other youth, the more we understand the importance of our work.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.bethechangeyi.com
• Instagram: @bethechangeyi @inthecompanyofwolvesindie
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BeTheChangeYouthInitiative
• Other: Be The Change Collective: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1iWnNiYo2NaQOIgO96RHTH the WONDER podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/5WQ8RlE96AMnM4oiH6LEYe?si=2669af8dac1d4cd7

Image Credits
Mark Herndon (picture of me and Brayden performing on stage) Kiersten Noonan (group picture on the bridge) Thirty3 Photography (PR picture: Brayden sitting on the bench) All the rest were taken by our parents.