Kayla Brown moved to China from her native Bahamas in 2016 to study Clinical Medicine. She graduated from Peking University and today she’s a neurosurgical resident at Tiantan hospital/makeup artist with her own beauty salon where she also hosts events and workshops for those interested in makeup and DIY skincare products.
I met her when she came to my place to do my makeup and she struck me as an approachable person, one that’s very easy to talk to.
We had a nice chat while she was working on my face and it came up that she knew not a word in Chinese when she first arrived: “I’d respond to Ni hao with a smile and a friendly wave…I was afraid I’d mess up the pronunciation and offend someone.”
Being a student is hard enough, but being a student who doesn’t understand or speak the language spoken in the country is hard on a totally different level. And let’s not forget it’s medicine and medical vocabulary we’re talking about here: “It was an intense and rigorous program taught completely in Chinese. I had a panic attack in my very first semester before finals week…I literally forgot how to breathe. Eventually, anxiety became a normal part of student life and we helped and supported each other through it the best we could”, says Kayla about her university life.
Although studying for free in China does have its perks, I wanted to know what made Ms. Brown choose medicine as a career in the first place: “I’ve watched my mother struggle with mental illness my entire life. As a kid, I felt helpless to assist her in the way I know she deserves. Helping her and others like her through educating myself was and still is my main career motivation”.
Becoming a brain doctor became Kayla’s first and foremost goal despite all the obstacles: “Medicine is an already challenging field to study, but studying in a foreign language where you’re expected to not only learn, but read and write characters you just learned a few months ago…had me outside at 4am reciting and writing lines as if I was losing my mind. To use the word difficult to describe studying medicine in Chinese would be offensive to all the students who’ve experienced such as program “.
Although Kayla’s medical career is just starting and there will definitely be hardships to conquer, she admits that she’s looking forward to every step of the way: “I’m super excited because neurosurgery excites and humbles me at the same time. I know firsthand the importance of healthy brain function. Having observed them in action, I have great respect for surgeons in China and relish every opportunity to learn from them”. Apart from training in the field of brain surgery, she’s also doing medical research at Beijing Neurological Institute.
This lady is definitely something else because when she’s not busy being a neurosurgeon and doing research, she offers makeup services to expat and local ladies in Beijing.
Although makeup artistry was never a personal goal of Kayla (A.K.A Dr. Kay among her clientele), she was encouraged to start considering it by other women of color in Beijing and it turned out to be a creative outlet away from the pressures of school.
Dr. Kay’s beauty studio is located in Baiziwan, where she also hosts beauty events: “I started with these events mostly because I wanted to share my love for creativity in the beauty space and DIY; plus I have the space for it! I’m currently organizing one DIY event each month”. Both men and women are welcome to join these workshops where they get to choose and with Kayla’s help make their own skincare products.” After they are done, I provide the packaging, and cute labels and they are free to take them home and enjoy.”
As for the price, it depends on the product being made. For the attendees, there is also an option of choosing the number of products they’d like to do. Whether it will be as low as RMB 99 or as high as RMB 299 really only depends on you.
Being this busy and having two full-time careers must be draining: “Meditation, creative projects, and planning events and workshops (sounds like work, but I enjoy it) keep me sane. I’m also a super organized person. Daily planners, post-its, digital reminders, and alarms are all necessary to help me stay on top of my crazy schedule”, admits Dr. Kay. When it comes to her social life, it’s not at the top of her priority list: “Needles to say, at the end of a long, tiring week, I’m not that interested in socializing. I’d rather cook some random vegan dish, invite some friends over to hang out for a bit, or just SLEEP”.
The next DIY workshop will take place on Sep 25. Learn how to make a clay mask, body mist, or a lip gloss with Dr. Kay’s assistance. The price starts from RMB 92. If you’re interested in attending this or any of the upcoming events, search for this WeChat username: heydrkay
Photos: Kayla Brown
