While most 18-month-old toddlers are learning to say their first words and perfecting their walking skills, Audra Bryant had much bigger issues to deal with at that age. One day, while home with her father and another relative, she mistakenly pulled off a table a cup of scalding hot coffee which splattered on her causing severe burns to her chest, neck and shoulders, hospitalization, and permanent scarring.
“I had six scar removal surgeries between the ages of 2 and 16 but the burns remained highly visible” said Bryant, a certified Life Coach. “As a result, I didn’t look at myself in the mirror until I was 25 years old because I didn’t want to see my scars.”
In her self-help memoir, “I’ve Got Scars Baby! How to Embrace Your Scars and Power Your Purpose”, Bryant details a lifetime hiding her burns which prevented her from having the confidence to pursue her dream of being a singer and maintaining loving relationships. Through prayer, affirmations, therapy, and other methods she shares in the book, Bryant eventually found her purpose by embracing her scars.
“I always wanted to encourage people through my music,” said Bryant. “What I received (in my spirit) was “How are you going to encourage others if you won’t even look at yourself in the mirror?”
In her book, Bryant provides readers with questions and advice to help them towards self acceptance and healing from their own trauma.
Since her healing and self-discovery, Bryant has gained success as a motivational speaker and performs “Scars” a song she wrote to encourage her audiences. She’s also made a name for herself as a podcast host on her show “I’ve Got Scars Baby!”, where she interviews guests about how they’ve become empowered by their scars. Among the guests who have appeared on the show include popular actress and social media personality Tabitha Brown.
Bryant’s book will launch early 2021 soon after Burn Awareness Week (February 7 -13) is sponsored in part by the California Arts Council, a state agency, and the National Arts and Disability Center at the University of California Los Angeles.
The American Burn Association estimates that roughly 486,000 patients receive hospital and emergency room treatment for burns each year. Of those, roughly 3,400 burn injuries result in deaths each year.