Today we’d like to introduce you to Alia Alston.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Alia. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
When I was 18, I was in a serious car accident that left me with a debilitating neck injury causing chronic pain. My dad, who is a Chiropractor in Florida, heard about the first Cryotherapy sauna in the US that was being utilized by Nike and encouraged me to undergo the treatment before having surgery. After a few sessions of Cryotherapy, I had regained sensation in my left arm and leg and felt a significant decrease in my pain level. At the time, Cryotherapy saunas were only available in professional and medical facilities. I saw an amazing opportunity to create a retail environment that would provide an upbeat, spa-like health studio, offering Cryotherapy and other complementary services. The icebox was the first brick and mortar retail Cryotherapy studio in the US, and continue to be the leader and trendsetter in the industry. You could say my injury created a great opportunity. I’m so excited to be able to share this innovative technology with people, just like me, looking for another way of healing themselves naturally.
In 2018, Icebox sold its first Franchise in Alpharetta, Georgia and was able to prove our model was successful. As of to date, Icebox has 41 locations under development throughout the US.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Like opening any new business concept, it was not easy, the first year was just to survive and not without tears and sleepless nights, but dedication and persistence made the risk pay off. After eight years of owning and operating Icebox, there is still many obstacles we have to overcome. The newest one is closing our doors due to the COVID outbreak for seven weeks. We have slowly, successfully and carefully opened up our Georgia stores and Florida will follow in June. Any hurdles a business owner goes through can be turned into unexpected blessings. You can learn from every lesson.
Please tell us about Icebox Cryotherapy Studios.
Icebox specializes in innovative cold therapy. Inside our modern studios, we provide a fun atmosphere with highly trained staff and the best equipment in the industry. I’m so proud that Icebox pushes past the norms of a typical wellness studio and delivers the Icebox, customer-centric, best three minutes of your day, cool experience. In the last eight years, the Icebox team has created a culture and community that makes us special. Most of the Icebox leadership team has been with the company for over five years.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
Traveling! Growing up, I lived and traveled all over the world. I split my time between Africa, Asia and Tallahassee Florida, where I was born. I loved the trips my family went on exploring different parts of the world. It has contributed to my curiosity that has grown over the years. Being curious on how things work, figuring out the best way of doing things and never looked at a challenge as a challenge, but as being curious in seeing if I could actually do it is what feeds my entrepreneur travel addiction.
Pricing:
- We offer a Jump Start initial visit special to all our new guest at Icebox for $50. It offers 2 Whole Body Cryotherapy sessions and one Compression. Cryotherapy works best by compounding the treatments to really see the full benefits of what it can offer.
Contact Info:
- Website: iceboxtherapy.com
- Instagram: Iceboxtherapy
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Iceboxtherapystudios/
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