My story
by Kristy Jenkins, MS
In 2013 I didn’t think I could do any more than I’d already done about my OCD, anxiety or concussion symptoms. “This is just the way I am” I thought. My name is Kristy Jenkins and I am going to tell you how I became the founder of BrainSpa Mobile Neurofeedback.
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I went to therapy and I took my vitamins. I consulted MDs, naturopaths, and willed myself to do better and be better. Something was still missing.
In 2008 I was on top of the world. At 31, I was working at the #1 branch of a fortune 500 company selling software. Then the economy crashed. You remember that, right? My clients tightened their belts and upgrading their software was one of the first things to go. Their current software was working so there was no need to upgrade. End of discussion. Stop bugging us. We mean it.
The thing was, my boss was not a nice person. My sales team was repeatedly pulled into the conference room where she raged at us about not meeting sales quotas. This goes on for weeks. We keep telling her what’s happening and she doesn’t believe us. She yells, she insults us, she loses her mind over the falling sales numbers. I think, “What’s this lady’s problem? Is she ok? Am I going to get fired?”
I never paid attention to my own stress levels because it wasn’t a priority at the time. Selling something and fast was the priority. The last time my boss pulls my team in for a tongue lashing, I exit the meeting and decide to take an early lunch. I get into my car stressed out, distracted, and overwhelmed; I never engaged my seatbelt.
I crashed into the back of a woman who was driving a SUV… and she was eight months pregnant. She and the baby were fine because I wasn’t going very fast, but I wasn’t fine. Me and my little car were crushed. An off-duty paramedic witnesses the accident and like the hero in a movie, takes action.
I end up in the hospital with internal bleeding, a concussion, an inverted sprain in my ankle, and plenty of stitches in my face.
Three days later I was sent home, never fully remembering the hospital stay due to the concussion. I couldn’t walk, I couldn’t work, and eventually my employer did fire me. I spent eight months recovering and realized that I never wanted to work in ‘corporate’ America again.
I enrolled in a graduate program and upon graduating with my MS, I briefly worked in a clinic that offered neurofeedback and started training myself and my clients. I thought, “Wow, this stuff actually works!” As I noticed improvements in my own OCD, anxiety, and concussion symptoms, I realized that neurofeedback was an untapped resource. More people could benefit like I had.
I noticed that there were two main objections for people who wanted to begin neurofeedback brain training: 1) time and 2) cost. I founded BrainSpa in order to solve those two issues and here we are today offering a unique brain training experience that happens in the client’s home and moves them toward healing so much faster.
BrainSpa’s NeurOptimal software produced permanent improvements in my own symptoms and my quality of life is sooo much better today. My symptoms are now manageable without medication and my sleep, mood, and ability to be present in everyday life are all vastly improved.
I have documented an 80%+ improvement in my clients with many other diagnoses and symptoms over the last 3 years. Every day is a joy for me because my clients tell me how much BrainSpa’s neurofeedback is improving their lives and supporting the work they do with their own doctors and clinicians.
Today, I handle stress well and my symptoms are a non-issue.
Kristy Jenkins, MS
BrainSpa Founder
