Sky Snap was started by myself and my wife, Ivy Lampe. Ivy has a bachelor’s degree in Health Sciences with a triple minor in Leadership, Biology, and Natural Sciences. Being a diabetic since the age of 5 has presented its own challenges, but nothing that couldn’t be overcome. In 2014, after her legs were numb for over a month, Ivy was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. Thankfully this was caught early enough that modern medicines have been able to slow the progress of the disease to the point of almost being un-noticeable. Still, the combination of the two diseases can be wearing at times. This has led to a determination and sunny disposition that can’t be stopped.
As an IT professional I found himself feeling tired of the same old 9 to 5 as many of us do. At the time, I was working for a local Civil Engineering firm and planning my wedding. In April of 2015 Ivy and I had bought a house together and were marriedon April 11th. I thought this was going to be my life path. I had the job, the beautiful bride, the white picket fence (literally), and job security. This was all changed the day we got back from our honeymoon. My first morning back to work after our trip I was let go from my job. Finances were stretched thin with the wedding and new house, and we just couldn’t justify our cost of living. We had to give up the house.
So here we are, a newlywed couple without a dime to our name, no place to live, and living off Ivy’s part-time income. I can safely say that I haven’t felt that lost in my entire life. I’m supposed to be the provider for my new family, but can’t even keep a roof over our head.
How do I dig myself out of this hole? We didn’t feel sorry for ourselves, we teamed up to shift gears. We moved into a basement apartment, thanks to my in-laws, and reduced our lifestyle. We no longer have a mortgage, no outside obligations, an abundance of free time, no kids, nothing to lose, and a desire to do something different with our lives.
We had a UAV that we had purchased before all of this trouble began, but never really used. We started playing with it, filming friends, and got some decent shots. Pretty soon, a group of friends going over the Pit River Falls in California invited us to film the adventure. Not being rafters ourselves, we failed to realize the obsession and depth of comradery rafters have. The trip turned out to be a great experience both professionally and personally. We both made life-long friends on the trip, gained valuable experience for our new business, and learned that we truly do want to pursue this as a career choice and lifestyle. You can see the video of our trip here: https://vimeo.com/152623048
Going forward we are still living in the basement apartment the in-laws rented us. Ivy was slotted to begin nursing school in 2016 but has put her aspirations of becoming a nurse on hold as we continue to work on our fledgling business. We can’t seem to keep up with the amount of new work coming through our door, and hope to someday make a living by flying UAV’s to get those shots that others just can’t get. Ivy will soon be attending photography classes to learn as much as possible about the craft, and to improve our film editing. Meanwhile, I’m finishing up flight school in hopes to be a licensed pilot by the middle of 2016.
With the two of us facing these challenges together we have managed to keep a positive attitude and keep pushing forward. I have learned more from my wife in the last 6 months than I can ever express in words. Facing the challenges in my life seem small in comparison to what she goes through on a daily basis, and she consistently out-paces me. From all of this, we have both learned some valuable lessons and developed an informal family motto of “No Excuses.” This motto serves its purpose to remind us that the little stuff in life can’t pose a threat to our happiness unless we let it. There is no excuse for not doing what makes you happy in life.
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