Looking Back and Looking Forward

“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams.”
-Henry David Thoreau

Me and Christine in 2012 at SolSpring. Month's before the creation of KAW.

Has it really been five years? In early 2013, the dream and future vision for KAW was
firmly in my head, but I was happily working for SolSpring and assumed that
the reality of opening my own business would be at least 5 years down the road. Then
their main location unexpectedly closed and I realized that the time was NOW to
make my move. My dream was to offer the highest quality massage therapy and
personal training in the Kalamazoo area, with a special emphasis on athletes. I also
envisioned partnering with a chiropractor, health coach and sports psychologist – in
short, to provide a “one stop” health and wellness facility to support athletes and the
general public.
The first 2 years was rough – I won’t lie! I think I gained about 20 pounds! Start up
money was minimal and the challenges/stresses of starting up a new business and raising a new family were
very real.  I was feeling confident in what we were doing, but was also frustrated at the snail pace of growth. However, I persevered with the help and support of my family and friends – and here we are, celebrating five years!

Me and my favorite people hanging out last weekend.

And the best is yet to come!
In February 2019, we are planning to move to a new,
expanded location on S. Westnedge Ave, in partnership with Antoniotti Chiropractic.
Our new facility will have more therapy rooms, giving us the opportunity to also
add a sports psychologist – another piece of my initial dream of providing
comprehensive, all-inclusive, personalized, holistic health and wellness services
under one roof.
This move will involve changes – which are often hard and uncomfortable, while
they are happening. But the end result will be worth it all!
I am very proud and humbled by the great team of people who have come together
to make Kalamazoo Athletic Wellness so successful. I want to give a shout out to
everyone here past and present– I could not have done it without you!
And a big “THANK YOU” to all our clients (both individual and corporate) who have taken a chance on KAW and
allowed us the opportunity to work with you – especially the Western Michigan
University football team.  Without you, we would have surely perished in those first few years!
One lesson I have learned over the last five years is to say “Yes” more often. It hasn’t
always been easy, but it has been fun. I wouldn’t have missed it for the world, and I
can’t wait to see what the next five years bring!

Stay Healthy!!