I am an IT guy by trade. I was in the IT industry for over 20 year. It was a great career, but it has never been my passion. To be honest I didn’t know what my passion was for most of my life. I saw glimpses but didn’t recognize or focus my attention on them. It wasn’t until I went through my own dark night of the soul experience that I truly was able to look at myself with clear vision, and really see who I was.

Through the course of my life I have experienced a number of different life challenges. I had an abrupt faith crisis which shattered my beliefs, my understanding of life’s purpose, and my identity overnight. I had to rebuild my identity from scratch which was one of the hardest, and best experiences of my life. I left a very conservative religion as a result which brought many challenges in my marriage. During that growth time I put up a wall with all things spiritual. I associated spirituality and religion together and as a result, related my shame and guilt I felt from the religious teachings to spirituality.

This all changed when I hit deep depression. Many people think depression is just feeling sad all of the time. That’s not what it was for me (and many people). For me it was a lack of feelings. I was numbing anything I didn’t want to feel, including sadness. When you block, shove down, or numb all of those feelings, they eventually find their way out, often in an unpleasant way.

Once I recognized I was depressed I knew I needed to change. I was offered medication but chose to try other methods first. This led me to a whole new world of growth and a new understanding of emotions, mindfulness, and even spirituality. I cracked the door open to explore what spirituality meant outside of religion and how it could benefit my life.

My experience learning how to climb out of the pit of depression and re-train my co-dependency taught me amazing life skills that have transformed how I approach every day. I frequently questioned why I didn’t know these concepts before I desperately needed them. And in that question is where I found my passion. I always loved teaching people, usually IT related topics like how Wi-Fi worked or how to use different products. Now I could take that love and apply it to something that could have real meaningful change.

Now I find my passion in introducing people new tools, new mindsets, new perspectives, and a new way to look at yourself that will change your life.

—Scott Manning - Founder and Chief Engineer