Testimonials

Former barrister Nikki is now a specialist international coach working with female lawyers. When she went through Light Up, she was at a major crossroads in her life – unsure whether to return to the law after maternity leave or start her own business. Light Up not only helped her make that decision, it also gave her “a sense of knowing”. It guided her steps then, and has continued to guide her since. “If ever there’s a time in business when I need to make a decision or just feel a little unsure of anything, I just look inward and … I have a deep sense that things will be fine. And that’s what Light Up has given me.”

“We started the Light Up journey during the second national lockdown when we were remote learning through TEAMs – and it was immediately a game changer!” Sarah is a Year 6 teacher at an Independent Girls Primary School. and in 2020 she shared the Young Lights Programme (specifically designed to be used in the classroom) with her pupils. “My class took to the programme like a proverbial duck to water – they just got it! I believe it was precisely the Light Up tools which fortified their resilience through those testing times! Most importantly, the shared language and toolbox which the DNA Light Up programme has provided us with has helped the children in my class to recognise each of their unique and wonderful inner lights. Now they all shine so brightly – I often feel I should be teaching in sunglasses!”

“I’m a prouder, more confident person.” When business owner and musician Jamie first came to Light Up in 2019, “my confidence levels were at an all-time low. Even though I felt I was too proud to come forward and admit to myself and others that I was suffering mental illness and depression, I feel proud now that I’ve done it.” Listen to Jamie explain the difference he immediately felt and how it showed up, both in family life and onstage.

Owen, Creative Director at BrandFormula, found the experience of going through Light Up, both as an individual and in a team workshop, “genuinely fascinating and truly enlightening”. It’s made a difference to him personally and has transformed the relationships within his team and the way it operates. “This has genuinely altered our approach to work, and changed the way we communicate.”

“It gave me tools to really connect to who I was deep down … unaffected by everything else that had happened in my life.” Ellie is a mental health worker in the NHS. “Light Up came into my life after quite a long mental health journey where I’d come across several perspectives and therapies. Still useful – and I felt a real deep sense that I wasn’t sure who I was deep down.” It is, she says, something that is rife, especially among millennials, who have so many online distractions that they never foster real deep connection with themselves or others. For Ellie, DNA Light Up was a transformative experience.

“Everyone’s looking for their inner world, their inner connection, and DNA Light Up is an incredible way to do that.” Monica has been a transformation coach and a light worker for many years. At the time she came across Light Up she was already “struggling with a little bit of anxiety and depression … and then lockdown happened!” Light Up confirmed for her everything that she already knew and she was blown away by the power and simplicity of it, for herself and for the world. “We’re all whole and perfect beings and Light Up gives us that sense of how to reconnect with that part of you that’s really clear about who you are, who I am. And make that connection and live in that connection from now on.”

“DNA Light Up has taught me how to centre myself.” The arrival of Light Up was timely for Gerod, actor, singer and owner/manager of an internationally touring soul group. “I’d been in the passenger seat of my life for quite a while …” Thanks to Light Up he’s rediscovered and reconnected with his inner drive, and has a new focus on the present, the here and now. He’s taking this new focus into meetings and auditions and he can feel the difference it’s making. “I love to do these things and I’m excited about it and certain about what I want out of my life.”

“It really helped me in my business where things were feeling heavy and not light any more.” Mindset Alchemist Janine found that Light Up not only sparked creativity and new ideas, it gave her much deeper insights, which led to her taking focused action. “It resparked and rekindled my actual actions in my business in a far more effective way, a much lighter way, which has increased my engagement and helped me see things very differently. “

Kim is a communication coach, author and international speaker. She found Light Up to be “a really beautiful process … the way it’s structured together, the way it all flows. I’d highly recommend it … It really helped me to click into something. Deep shifts. And made it easier for me to navigate, letting go of a lot of judgement and just being me, doing what I love doing.”

“If you’re looking for something that’s going to enrich your life, transform your perspective, empower your language, your thoughts, your words, DNA Light Up is the place to be!” Women’s empowerment coach Yvonne has overcome many obstacles in her own life and is a super inspiring and remarkable coach and mother. She loves how Light Up allowed her to recognise “patterns about myself, limiting beliefs, empowering thoughts” and affect real change. “Thank you for showing me what’s possible when I tap inside and listen to that still small voice.”

Alberto is an international Business Consultant and professional negotiator in corporate finance. Talking four years on from his Light Up, he feels, he says, what he wasn’t feeling when he got in touch with Light Up: peace. “I have the ability to get myself back to peace, to be in peace every time I need it. To me it’s been like a walk back home and I feel at home every time I use the tools I learned through this wonderful path.” What would he say to someone wondering whether to start Light Up? “The best advice I can give you is: Do it! If you got here, now, there’s a reason. Trust yourself and trust your guts. Embrace the journey.”

“The sessions have really brought me to a place of true solidarity, a true place of belief in myself every day.” Andrew is an entrepreneur who connects people up. He was full of self-doubt when he came to Light Up – not about the process itself, more “Can I do this? Am I ready to tackle these things? Can I accept myself?” Of course he discovered that there is no right or wrong in Light Up, and every unique individual journey is just that – unique and perfect! He’s so grateful he went ahead.

Billy was nine and having issues at school, and mum Stacey was concerned. “I could see there was something he was battling with but I had no idea what.” She’d loved Light up herself so was confident it could help Billie. He loved the experience and was keen to share what he’d discovered with both family and teachers. Three years on? “He’s been a shining light ever since … There are no communication problems, there are no meltdowns or shutdowns or hiding under a table. He’s such a confident young man now and it’s been so lovely to see him progress from that child under the table to the shining light that he is.”

Gabrielle has shared Young Lights with children of all ages, individually and in the classroom. She’s a passionate advocate for the difference that Light Up can make within a school environment! “It’s enabled our children to be the best they can be and believe in themselves in everything – from their academics to the personal to their sports to their art. The whole of our school has benefited from our children going through Light Up – the parents, the children, the school, everybody. It’s the most amazing thing we’ve done at school!”

Claire teaches years 5 and 6 at a primary school in Warwick and has been sharing the Young Lights programme with her 10 and 11 year olds. Claire says the children loved the videos and the practical fun tools, and that the programme “really supports what we’re doing as teachers in the classroom in practical ways … it fits in perfectly with day to day”. It was particularly beneficial for those who had been struggling with their mental health during and after the lockdowns. “There was one little boy who just flourished … he completely changed in himself. Light Up gave him these tools to be himself and to feel better within himself”.

“I now have the tools to help me get through the difficult things and it has made an enormous difference in my life. Thank you Light Up!” Emma has worked tirelessly since 2013 with Les Ami-e-s des Femmes de la Libération (Friends to the Women of Freedom) in Poitiers, a small city in South West France, helping (largely Nigerian) women to escape the prostitution they were forced into by traffickers. When she stumbled across Light Up in 2016, she was at a very low ebb, with “lots of really negative thoughts (because of) these stories that were just so horrible and terrifying and that made me really sad with life in general”. In 2021 she describes how she ”went from suicidal and never wanting to bring children into this horrible world, to pregnant and blooming and loving life” – thanks to Light Up.

(Emma filmed in June 2021)

“I had just passed through a horrible moment of my life. Light Up brought up this beautiful light in my life. I got the courage to stand up and fight for my son and fight for what I want – and today it’s perfectly okay.” Eichie Benedicta left her home in Nigeria and moved to France with the promise of an education and a bright future. Instead, she was forced to sell her body. Raped. Tortured. Abused. Penniless. Living in fear for three years, she very nearly gave up hope. Somehow she found Emma, one of our trainee activators, and Emma brought her to Light Up. “It has been beautiful ever since,” she says, five years after her Light Up. “I am no longer depressed, I have a beautiful family and I’m very very happy.” She has left behind the trauma and shame and agony that she carried when she first found Light Up. “I became a fabulous mum. A wonderful woman who encourages other women out of their situation. I can proudly state: I did a good job and I am so proud of myself.”

Light Up “gave me a confidence and a surety – I fear the future far less and that has been very freeing”. Jack was abused at a young age, causing his world to crash and him to question everything. He battled with mental health issues throughout his teens and at university, where he studied psychology. Three weeks as an outpatient at the Priory was, he says, “a stop gap. It stopped me doing something dangerous … and it didn’t feel long term or effective.” Light Up shifted everything, allowing him to recognise his own strength, let go of the over thinking and again feel secure in himself.

“The way I see it, it’s a ventilator for the soul.” Medical practitioner Fenella went through Light Up In 2017. “It was a gamechanger – it altered the way I view myself and also the way I approached both my personal and professional relationships.” Working as a frontline doctor throughout the pandemic, she became acutely aware of both the physical and the emotional and mental struggles that people were facing. “To find a quicker solution than the traditional therapies that we have, something that would support people in the here and now, and also into the future – this is what DNA Light Up offers.

“It changed my life in such a beautiful way and I utilise these tools every day in the work that I do with patients.” NHS mental health worker Ellie went through Light up in 2019. Dealing on the frontline with people in crisis during Covid, she says “I believe in this moment the NHS has to be directing its funding towards things that are fast … simple … and make a deep change. And I know Light Up does all three of these.”

Writer/performer/actor Nathan loves the practicality and the ‘pragmatics’ of the Light Up tools and how they enable him to get the best out of himself – and others. They continue to be “really useful in my performance and my wider creative practise”.

Coach and children’s entertainer Donna was already on a personal journey when she happened upon Light Up. It took her to the next level and confirmed that, not only was she on the right track, she knew this stuff already! “From the moment it started right up to the end of the three sessions and almost instantly thereafter, I was using DNA Light Up. Small things I’d learned were having big impacts. I’ve been using it like you wouldn’t believe and I’m so excited!”

“I found my footing … I just knew who I was and I knew what I was capable of.” Before her Light Up journey, Canadian artist Aggie was feeling lost. “I didn’t know how to go about my days without being doubtful of my skill and experience.” It was frustrating her and holding her back. Nine months on from her Light Up, her own work is flourishing, her creativity is on fire and she is running successful online art courses.

A life of challenges left Bridget with “so many questions about life and myself. I didn’t know whether I was coming or going. I didn’t know how to make my business work.” Just three months on from her Light Up and her confidence has grown exponentially. “Something inside was unlocked and suddenly things started making sense … I feel absolutely amazing and strong.” And her business is booming!

“Just six hours to change my life! I’m no longer afraid to be me and to let my inner light shine … I would recommend it to anyone who’s been through what I’ve experienced in childhood, because it doesn’t require you to revisit past trauma and horrific memories.” Sharon, founder of the wonderful children’s safeguarding charity Dot Com Digital, had a successful career as a news reader with Sky, ITV and BBC, and made TV documentaries. What people didn’t know, as she read the news nightly to millions, was that she was a survivor of childhood violence and abuse and was still haunted by her experiences at the hands of her paedophile grandfather between the ages of 3 and 7. Growing up with the messages that she was stupid, useless and nobody was ever going to love her, Sharon undertook countless different therapies to help her heal and make sense of her life. With Light Up, everything fell into place and she found the final missing piece.

“It gave me all these tools I could use to make me feel calm in a very hectic world and life.” Stacey is a successful entrepreneur, business owner and visibility coach, and the busy mum of four amazing children. She started her Light Up journey four years ago. “Immediately I could just feel a sense of calm, a sense of understanding.” She knows that Light Up also powered her forward in her business. “It gave me focus, it gave me clarity, it gave me understanding of the kind of person I wanted to be. That allowed me to look at different avenues of my business and see what was serving me and what wasn’t.”

Jamie explains how the tools of Light Up helped him navigate long months of lockdown “I’m so thankful I did DNA Light Up before Covid hit, because I really don’t know how I’d have got through this whole pandemic… my outlook just improved and improved and it’s been a horrible dark time for us all. But I got through it okay, still smiling!”