Hello! I am Lady Love, President of Krystal's Kandy Shop LLC, and the founding member of Hotties with Hearts.
I was born in the beautiful state of Alaska. My family traveled around a little, but settled in Illinois when I was young. I am blessed with a nurturing and wise mom, who did well to teach me the grace of patience and the virtue of empathy. I watched her heal people with kindness, respect, and physical therapy. I would go to work with her often, playing Candy Striper at the age of 11, secretary by 13. I also volunteered assisting instructors for nature classes at a reserve during the summertime. I have always loved nature, especially animals.
I dreamed of being a veterinarian when I was older. After a few life-struggles, I finally started working in the vet field at 18, as a technician (nurse). It felt like I had found my true calling. After several years, I found my way into an emergency hospital. The work and people were amazing--full of experiences you can't replace or forget, nor would I want to. After years of not heeding the advice of many co-workers, one painful weekend I threw-out my back lifting two rather large patients (very sweet dogs though!). Neither a couple weeks of acupuncture nor a chiropractor could not stop the sand-storm that was soon to occur--3 weeks later I coughed once and forever changed my life.
My legs felt like funny-bones as I dropped to the floor, unable to get up. I completely ruptured my L5-S1 disc. As the numbness crept down my right leg, I was only comforted by my kitties. All five came to my side, including my 4 month old kitten who didn't leave me until help finally came, 2 hours later. Two weeks later, at 23, I under went surgery to repair the damage to my spinal cord. It took 8 months to get most of the feeling back in my leg, but I still have yet to feel my right pinky-toe...
The crippling pain kept me from dealing with the world for months. I stopped going to school, I stopped working, and damn near stopped trying all together. I fully credit my cats for helping me recover, physically and mentally. There was always one, or more, by my side, comforting and caring for me, like I had done for them and many others. I was unable to return to the strenuous work of the vet-world and reluctantly ended my career in the field.
While I was home recovering, I put together an online company and have branched it out a little. I always had the idea to do a fun, adult-themed, charity calendar--I even joked about using the x-ray table as a prop (when I was a tech). That fun idea led to doing an entire charity. In 2010, I launched the first attempt at HwH. After writing 20 pages of By-Laws and preparing the 501(c)3 application, I started to approach other people and organizations to get feedback. Sadly, a lot of the feedback was negative. It seemed that the 'boudoir theme' was a little too much for a lot of people. So, instead of submitting the application, I spent the rest of 2010 contemplating how to operate the charity successfully.
In 2011, my dear cat Callie and my littlest kitty, Itty Bitty, both had to visit the emergency room. Callie even required surgery a few days later. I was fortunate enough to be able to pay for most of it, and my family helped me with the rest. It brought back a lot of memories of my vet teching days and reminded me of a lot of families that needed help also. It gave me a direction for the charity again.
I am a fulltime business management student and entrepreneur, but there will always be a part of me that needs to help others.
Source: http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=230705640289480
