Alison Bowden

After high school, I went to Brookhaven Community College and then moved to Greensboro, NC (1995) to intern at American Express for the summer. I moved back to Dallas (Plano) on August 12th and went back to Brookhaven. In 1997 I transferred to KD Studios Actors Conservatory in Dallas, TX to study acting. This was a dream of mine since I was kid. I was in a few plays, which found their way to the radio and television news coverage… but nothing more. During this time, I also began singing on a Praise Team at my church. For those of you who know me well and know how shy I can be; you know what a huge deal this was. Well, as many of you know… acting rarely pays off big, so I went back to the “work force”. Honestly, I hated the corporate political structure that I was employed by, mostly due to some of the activity that was going on behind the scenes. So, I spoke about it to one of my good friends and he suggested that I not limit myself to thoughts of just making a paycheck. He said I should think really hard about what would make me happy… something that I might really enjoy doing. That is when I decided to go to school to become a licensed Massage Therapist. So, I enrolled in a very creditable Massage Therapy school and began taking classes. My first day of class was on September 11, 2001. Obviously, I will never forget that. I did really well and passed the State Board exam. I rented an office space and set up shop. Well, at the time, I wasn’t very experienced in “selling” my services… but I did alright. My goal was to either study infant massage or exotic animal massage. I thought I would love to work at the San Diego Zoo because I love animals and I always wanted to move to San Diego. Well, this brings me to the man I married. I met Bradley on June 15, 2002 at a church luau that my great friend Billy invited me to. As soon as I saw him, I felt drawn to him. He was the only person who ever made me completely comfortable to be myself. He also made me laugh, genuinely, from day one. He was my soul mate. We began talking immediately and never stopped. We were both insistent on just being friends due to past hurts, etc. but our relationship was truly beyond my control. When God brings two people together, nothing can separate them. So, we became engaged on September 9, 2002 and were married on May 10, 2003. Bradley had his own company and so I began helping him run it from the back end. My forte has always been organizational / detailed / research / office management, so that is what I did. Bradley is a natural born mentor / trainer / motivator / sales professional and so that is what he did. I know a lot of people couldn’t work well with their spouse, but we work wonderfully. We are opposites in those areas, so we complement each other yet we are the same in the other areas. It’s a perfect match. In April of 2004, we moved to Del Mar, CA. This was a dream come true for me. If you have ever been there, then you know it is perfect. They launch hot air balloons each sunset and they would go right over our home. It was fantastic! I loved going to the beach and eating at the famous restaurants in the L.A. area. We would always make time to go for a day trip each Monday. That was our day. It was great! All this time, however was not all a dream. During the first 4 years of our marriage, we lost 5 babies and this is an extremely difficult situation to go through in a marriage… especially in the beginning years. I was in and out of the hospital with a condition called Hyperemesis Gravidarum. It was quite traumatic, but it led to us moving back to Dallas to be near my family. We dedicate most of our time over the past few years to volunteer work for our community and local charities. Bradley and I both served as the Co-Chairs for the Welcoming Committee for our local chamber of commerce from 2006-2007. I was then voted on to the Board of Directors and elected the Board Secretary from 2007-2008. I cherish all of the wonderful individuals and corporations that I was able to interact with through this experience. So, now we are in Dallas and starting a new company. We have been really busy the last part of 2008 and going into 2009, preparing to launch our company. The goal of our company is to be the world’s largest “Green” referral network in the world, providing a way for individuals to “Get Green, Going Green”. It is a huge task, but a worthwhile cause. You can find out more at our website: Green Shield International. Currently, we are still making updates on this site but we appreciate your patience. I am excited to reconnecting with friends from the past as well as gaining some new friends here, so… please leave me comments so that I can connect with you. I hope that you are having an outstanding day and I look forward to getting to know each of you better.