By Paul Bonnette
Kim Crowell can tell you all about the benefits of stretching. Stretching not only helps improve flexibility, helps keep muscles strong, helps to prevent injuries and improves range of motion. It can also help change your life as it did hers.
Ten years ago, Kim Crowell’s world was all about software programming in the world of Information Technology (IT). After a 30-year career in IT working for International companies such as Electronic Data Systems (EDS), Kimberly-Clark Corporation, and Nestle’, Crowell’s life suddenly changed course.
In 2016, Crowell was diagnosed with a very rare disease called Portopulmonary Hypertension and would require a life-saving Liver Transplant which cut short her career in IT. For Crowell, her life changed overnight. “I was doing a project in the Nashville area, and we just finished up phase one, I went from being in a meeting one day to being in ICU with Liver and Kidney failure the next day. They didn’t expect me to make out of the hospital…there was no choice but for me to have a transplant.”
After receiving the transplant, Crowell found both a new ambition and direction after taking on a variety of volunteer roles including Ambassador for American Liver Foundation, Donate Life America and Global Liver Institute. During recovery, Crowell would discover a new way for her to stretch her limits.
“After my transplant, I had a long recovery, so I had started working out again. A friend of mine who is a massage therapist in Dothan told me about a stretch place in Birmingham. I started doing a little reading about it and doing research on assisted stretching. So, I made an appointment to go and try Stretch Zone and it was amazing and I never felt so good.”
After recovery, Crowell was eager to get back out into business and decided to try something different.
“After my transplant we moved back to Dothan for my husband and in Spring of 2021 I was working on a business plan. So, I decided to give Stretch Zone a call and talk to them about franchising. I really liked their model and what they did. It was in line with what I wanted to do which is doing something good for people which was my number one goal and trying to give back to the community and giving people the opportunity for a job and something I could feel good about,” she explains.
In November of 2021, Crowell opened her first Stretch Zone location in Dothan and shortly after started looking at locations in the Florida panhandle. It’s a decision that Crowell has not regretted.
“I love the panhandle, so I decided to open two stores, Destin and Panama City Beach and in October of this year, we opened the Panama City Beach store in Pier Park. It’s been very well received.”
Crowell plans to keep expanding in the Panhandle with a Stretch Zone location on Highway 30-A opening early next year as well as getting involved with the community by sponsoring the Panama City Beach Marathon.
Seven years ago, Kim Crowell’s life changed, however with some positivity and flexibility (both literally and figuratively), she has managed to make the most out of her second chance.
“I’d like to be remembered as someone who used their second chance in life to try to do something good for people and make something out of it and make it about giving back to the community,” she says. “My goal is to get up everyday and make my donor proud of me and if I do something everyday to make her proud of me then I feel like I deserved the gift that I got.”
