The Road That Led Us Here - Celebrating 5 Years In Business!

Five years ago, you would have heard me say something about "never wanting to own a business". I should have known better than to say that because the last time I said something like that, it was about NOT dating anyone in the military, and what do you know, I married that guy in the military! 

In all seriousness, looking back at all the things that had to come into place to seamlessly start Imperium was all God ordained. 

My life was changed after my chronic pain vanished after just two stretches. After that,  I made a very out of character decision to fly to Arizona all alone to go get certified in Fascia Stretch Therapy because I needed to share FST with my community. My husband came off of 10 years in the military when we moved to Nashville, which meant that we had no plans to relocate once we settled here. This allowed me the opportunity to truly invest in my career. 

After coming home from my first of four certifications through the Stretch To Win Institute, I began stretching friends and family and coworkers for free. I started our instagram page, and got to work. Imperium started as a mobile business offering concierge services to the greater Nashville area. 

There would be weeks where I would have one client followed by weeks of having 12! Our instagram was where we truly started to see interest, and where some of my first paying clients came from. Many of which are still with us today, and we are so grateful for them! 

My personal schedule was beginning to be more consistent with 10-15 clients per week every week around February 2020. As you can imagine, that all came to a screeching halt the second week of March when nobody knew what this sickness was, that was spreading rapidly, and how to prevent it. 

So, like the rest of the world, Imperium took a pause. We offered online guided self stretch sessions during shutdown, and just remained patient. By the time we opened back up in June 2020, I was starting from scratch. Because of the pandemic, there was a good chunk of clients who preferred that I not come to their homes. I took some clients at the park and even in my own backyard before the sun got too hot at the early hour of 6am. Since many small businesses were abbreviating their hours due to low volume from the pandemic, I rented a space two days a week out of a local chiropractors office, The Spine Shop in East Nashville. 

This opportunity truly allowed me to test the waters with renting a space full time. After about two weeks, I was fully booked at the chiropractors office and had so many mobile clients that I started working up a cancellation list. 

By August, I had found our current home base in Green Hills. I told the chiropractor about it and he let me know he was planning on opening back up on the days I was renting from him. So there was my answer. I wouldn't necessarily say I dove head first at the opportunity. I was hesitant to say the least, especially after shutdowns. Would another shutdown come again? Should I take on a big financial obligation when we don’t know what the future looks like surrounding this pandemic? The chiropractor gave me the push I needed, and I’m forever grateful for his generosity, hospitality, and his push! 

Of course this transition came with all the obstacles. Mostly personal ones. In September 2020, I lost my mother to cancer. We were set to open our doors in Green Hills the week I ended up rushing to my home town in New Jersey to say one final goodbye to my mom. To say the loss of my mother was earth shattering is a complete understatement. The grief of losing a parent is something I will never be able to fully have words for, because the truth is, I carry it with me wherever I go. My mom was not only the woman who raised me, she was a true friend to me. And from an anatomical and biological perspective, I was a part of her, and she was a part of me. There will forever be a part of me that feels like I have withdrawal from her absence. My safe place from conception.  I don’t share this for sympathy. We've all lost, hurt, and felt immeasurable pain. I share this to simply say losing her somehow made the work I do even more important to me. And I look forward to the day that I will see her again in Heaven where we will spend eternity in our perfect bodies, praising our Savior. I also share this to say, losing her created about another month of me not working, and rightfully so. 

My clients were there though. They understood and were patient with me as I got myself back to a very different world. A world without my mother. 

By October of 2020, we opened our doors in Green Hills. By January, I was working 6 days a week and had 40 people on a cancellation list. I was slammed. And so grateful. But I needed HELP. Over the span of 2021, I began searching for our first hire. This was something I truly never dreamed of doing. I liked the simplicity of Imperium just being me. But, my reality was that I planned to have a family someday and a maternity leave was not only needed but very necessary due to the labor FST demands as a practitioner. My husband agreed and by November, Nicole Toomey had made plans to join our team in February of 2022. 

Nicole truly joined at the perfect time, because I was expecting our first child who arrived in December of 2022. Nicole was literally a saving grace for me during my pregnancy and maternity leave. She kept the boat afloat! 

I came back to work in March 2023, and quickly realized that more help was needed. I relisted our job posting, but had noticed a message I had received on LinkedIn while I was on leave. Jennifer had heard about FST and wanted to connect. I decided to text the number she left at the end of her message which again, is not like me to do. But I thought, why not! 

During our FaceTime call, Jennifer told me about her 23 year career as an Occupational Therapist at a skilled nursing facility in Lynchburg Tennessee. She was looking for a change. I assumed she was just wanting to ask some questions about FST before she took the plunge to start a business of her own. To my surprise, after I answered her questions she immediately asked, "well, are you hiring?!".  

Fast forward to July, and Jennifer jumped right in with gusto and has spent the last year growing her client list, all while studying through massage school. She has become a truly cherished part of our team at ISR and I couldn’t be more grateful for her passion, attention to detail and love for our clients. 

As Jennifer was getting established, I met Luis Luna. A Physical Therapy Assistant who was about to travel to Arizona to the Stretch to Win Institute to become a certified Fascia Stretch Therapist. He wanted to connect with another practitioner in the Nashville area, which I loved. After we met and talked all things movement, fascia and business, I knew Luis would be successful on his FST journey because of his passion for helping people move throughout life with ease. 

After the New Year, Luis and I reconnected and it was then that Luis applied to work with Imperium. His determination and passion is exactly what ISR is all about and I am so thrilled to grow our team even more! Our team member, Nicole was also set to give birth to her first born and chose to focus on preparing for motherhood. It was the perfect transition, and something I believe God wrote from the start. 

This year, 2024, has been a huge year of growth with lots of pruning to prepare for even more growth in 2025. There has been a project that I have had on my heart since the beginning of 2020 after seeing what my clients were lacking and what their fascia truly need to thrive. 

I believe it will be something that everyone from any walk of life will benefit from, just like Fascia Stretch Therapy and I truly can't wait to share with you what this project is and will be. 

We are getting close and my excitement is bubbling. 

But in the mean time, Ill just say this...

If you were to ask me where I thought we’d be five years later, I would have probably said something like, “Well, I just hope I'm busy and maybe even busy enough to make FST a full time job.” That came true within the first year, and I have you to thank for that. 

So, to our clients, thank you. Thank you for your love for FST, our practitioners, and lastly, thank you for your trust. We have so much more coming in the months and years ahead and I can’t wait to share with you when it’s time. 

We wouldn’t be here without you! Thank you for walking with us on this road. YOU have led us here.