I graduated from college in 2008 and went into corporate America grateful that school was behind me and life was in front of me. Since it was during the recession, I happily took a full-time grounds maintenance job I was offered right out of school. I had worked with the same company during summers in college. However, going full-time, I discovered I didn’t resonate with my supervisors. I knew if I got into an office setting, more people would see me, and I’d be able to transition into something “better”. That’s exactly what happened. Over and over again.

I accepted a job where I was the main administrative person for 80 – 100 office clients. I answered the phone for many of those clients as well as other office duties like conference room management and assisting clients with large projects or presentations.

The first six months I was there, a few clients offered me positions. At the time, I was living with my boyfriend, Brendan. He and I would discuss the positions that came up. None of them seemed to feel right though. That’s probably because I was mulling over a side business using an Equine Light Therapy Device my aunt and I had seen demonstrated years before. We witnessed a horse begin to soften after major injuries from kicking out the back of a trailer. During the session, the horse’s head lowered and big sighs, yawns, etc. began to occur. Unbelievable is an understatement to what was happening with the horse and the light, and the bonus was it seemed rather easy to do.

So fast forward back to 2010. Brendan and I drove and hour and a half to watch another person use the same Equine BioScan Light Therapy Device on their client’s horse. This horse began having the same reactions I had seen years before. We went online to see if there was negative feedback out there and we couldn’t find anything. So, in November of 2010, I purchased the device for $5,000. Understanding the large investment, Brendan advised that it didn’t sit in a closet and collect dust.

Meanwhile, during one of the discussions about a job offer, Brendan said to hold out for something better. He said, “You wait. Someone like George is going to offer you a job one day.” George was a client of mine. I saw him in passing mostly. He was always coming or going, but he did make time to have quick discussions with me during his comings and goings. Or when mail was delivered. I knew I appreciated George’s presence and character.

Within months of Brendan saying to wait for a client like George, Brendan died in a car accident. He hit an underpass and was the only person in the accident. Three weeks later, George offered me a position. I was grateful I already knew what Brendan would say, and accepted the job.

My next position was helping entrepreneurs in biosciences, advanced manufacturing, value-added agriculture, and information technology to receive grants and loans from the state. Picture the television show, “Shark Tank”. It was my role to get experts in the room to vet a company out prior to them presenting to the state. I really enjoyed the people I worked with at this job and as far as corporate America goes, it was rather laid back. Which was perfect considering I was grieving.

And the $5000 Equine Light Therapy investment? It sat in a closet collecting dust.

During a meeting working with George and the company that assisted entrepreneurs, I had met a civil engineer firm CEO. It wasn’t a memorable meeting. No more than a handshake and a card exchange. Although, the CEO had handed me a brochure as well. It sat on my desk for a few weeks before I could remember why I had it, and I threw it away. Within a day or so of throwing it away, the civil engineer firm CEO called me and said he was looking to hire me as his executive assistant. It offered 20% more money and, I was ready for the transition to something new.

The third time was the charm for discovering that corporate America seemed to always be the same thing just in a different costume. I enjoyed helping people, but it seemed like a shady deal regarding companies dictating how much time in my life I could use for vacation, only having an hour for lunch, the commute, etc. None of it included cranking music and dancing randomly throughout the day or completing a writing project at 10:00pm because that’s when I felt like writing.

By the time I was working for the civil engineer company, I had worked through the hardest parts of grieving and my curiosity about Equine Light Therapy was raising again. After all, I did invest in the equipment and for four years it had been collecting dust in a closet. It was time to take it out, open it, read the materials, and do more research.

What better place to be researching it than while working at my corporate America job? Now, four years later, there was much more information online. I spent hours reading about how light affects the body, did my best to understand the science, and looked for people who were actively using the modality.

That’s when I came across Kay Aubrey-Chimene’s online presence. Kay had a website (photopuncture.com) with great information, she had webinars every Tuesday and the recordings were saved on YouTube. I joined Kay’s first live Tuesday webinar, and when Kay asked if anyone had questions, I had a statement: I exclaimed, “This is what I’ve been looking for!”

In May of 2014 I took all my vacation hours and put them toward Kay’s intensive week long Equine Light Therapy Class. By October I realized that I would need to leave the corporate world to make my Light Therapist dream come true.  I called Kay and said “It’s Photopuncture or Bust!”.

From then on I started working on horses and spreading the word about the benefits of light.  My life opened up and could be lived on my own terms. While beginning my horse therapy business (Connolly Photopuncture), the main question I got asked was it if worked on humans too. So, in 2015 I took the human Light Therapy course and in October of 2017 completed my Light Therapy Instructor Certificate!

Today I am a full partner in Photonic Therapy Institute, assisting others to learn about all the possibilities Light can have for physical and emotional releases in humans, horses, dogs, and cats. And yes, random cranked up music and dancing is very common in my work life now too!