A friend in college showed me the DVD of the Secret in 2007 and I felt so relieved! I had known my whole life that my positive attitude was the reason for every great thing in my life but I never had the right words to describe it. When I was younger people actually made fun of me for being so happy all of the time. Can you imagine? They would say, “what, are you part of the Brady Bunch or something? Why are you always smiling?”

I was shocked, the idea of walking around miserable was foreign to me at 12 years old. Needless to say I kept smiling.

I was able to fill my life with Fine Arts and studied abroad in Rome for a year. I actually didn’t have the money to do that but everyday I thanked the universe for my beautiful apartment in Rome. I ended up in an apartment a block from the Pantheon!!!

In 2009 I graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Art in Photography but found myself waitressing. All I heard were negative remarks about the job market. I didn’t listen. I found a photography position at a portrait studio and became manager in a short 3 months.

It still wasn’t what I wanted though. I was running around getting screamed at, hit, and vomited on by children who didn’t want their picture taken! I had no control over my schedule and was working all of the time and even holidays. However, there was a point after each photo shoot where we would sit and download our images and edit them. Every time this happened I would zone out, visualizing myself at a job where I got to sit and relax and edit images all day and get paid a nice salary. I would repeat to myself “thank god this is my job…I love sitting here getting paid to edit! thank you thank you thank you!”

Well sure enough, a couple of months later I came across the website of an incredibly talented photographer. I was so moved by his imagery I wrote to him immediately. I told him how amazing I thought his work was and how I would love to help him out with anything he ever needed. He was not hiring at the time and said he NEVER opens those kinds of emails but for some very strange reason he opened mine.

Cut to – we met and I was hired on the spot.

I have been here for a year and a half. I am sub-contracting, which means I make all of my own hours. I have a beautiful office where I edit and process images and still find time to make my own photographs as well. Next up….My Dream Home!!

Thank you Thank You Thank You to The Secret team, the universe and the unwavering positivity I was born with!!