By ALEXANDER SIMONE

Staff writer

As a high school student, Amber (Richmond) Thompson didn’t plan on becoming a chiropractor. She became interested when she shadowed Bruce Skiles on the job and learned more about the practice.

“Chiropractics is a little more holistic,” she said. “Our ideas are like eating better foods and taking care of ourselves the wellness way.”

Now Thompson, a Marion ’05 alumnus, not only works in the field but owns a business in Boulder, Colorado.

“That was a bit of a leap of faith,” she said. “I’m a planner, so that was a little scary because I didn’t have a job.”

Thompson and her husband, Scott, moved to Boulder eight years ago after she finished graduate school. She originally started her own practice, but after six months decided to buy an existing practice instead.

Working in Boulder makes Thompson’s job easier, too, because many residents live health-focused lifestyles.

“People kind of speak my language out here and understand why it’s beneficial and useful,” she said. “We grow organically pretty easily so that’s pretty nice. As far as living, it’s just a little easier to come by your healthier foods.”

Despite moving from Kansas nearly a decade ago, Thompson fondly remembers her time in Marion, and tries to make seasonal trips back with her family.

“We have a lot of family there, so I loved growing up there,” she said. “I appreciate the small-town feel. We got to participate in everything.”

Thompson maintains ties with her former classmates and finds people that some are surprised she fostered those relationships so long.

“Well yeah, we grew up together for 18 years,” she said.

While she lives near Boulder, Thompson and her husband feel it is important to take advantage of small-town benefits. As a result, the family moved to Niwot, with a population of 4,000 people.

“It’s like growing up in Hillsboro or Marion,” she said. “We have one elementary, one middle, and one high school. They’re bigger schools, but with that number of people we have parades down our little Main St.”

She also appreciates the social aspects from high school in the 2000s, listening to music like Sugar Ray and using early instant messaging.

“I still remember talking to my friends in the evening on a dial-up connection,” she said. “We used MSN messenger in high school to talk and would pass notes in school.”

Thompson’s staff members deal with social media at her business since she doesn’t use it often, but there was one exception. She still remembers the anticipation of getting her first social media account as a teenager.

“We had to wait to get our college emails to join Facebook,” she said. “I remember waiting and waiting for my mail to come with my email address so I could get a Facebook account.”