Business Talk
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Business Talk
Stretching Success Lessons from a Collegiate Athlete
Discover how a collegiate athlete turned entrepreneur transformed her passion for assisted stretching into a thriving business. Maddie Conway, the dynamic owner of Stretch Lab Oviedo, shares her journey from swimming at the University of Florida to delivering personalized stretch sessions that enhance flexibility, posture, and sports performance. Her story unfolds with insights on the power of stretching, inspired by her own athletic experiences, and how it led to establishing a unique studio that caters to the personalized needs of individuals aiming to improve their physical health and reduce stress.
Join us as Maddie walks us through the customized approach of Stretch Lab, where clients benefit from 25 to 50-minute sessions designed to meet their specific goals—be it boosting mobility or shortening recovery time. She also offers practical tips on integrating short stretching routines into daily life, especially for those tied to desks, highlighting the impact of small, consistent efforts on overall well-being. Tune in to uncover these transformative practices and how they could revolutionize your approach to physical health.
Welcome back everybody to our podcast, where we uncover the stories behind thriving businesses and bring you expert insights straight from the source. I actually am your host, DDA, and in today's episode we're going to be speaking with Maddie, who is one of the owners, or the owner, of Stretch Lab Oviedo. Good morning, how you doing, Maddie.
Speaker 2:Good morning, I'm good. How are you doing? Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1:You're very, very welcome, so we're so excited to get to know you. You know for you to share with our listeners a little bit about your business and your background. But before we go into that, this podcast, listeners, is all about behind the scenes experience and gives you valuable advice. It's a go-to resource for learning about the businesses that shape our communities and discovering how to make the most of their services. Of course, and if you do like this podcast and you want to see more content like this, feel free to like, share and subscribe, you know, to this video as well and leave some comments. So, with that being said, let's dive right in and get to know maddie a little bit. So kind of congr, you know to this video as well and leave some comments. So, with that being said, let's dive right in and get to know Maddie a little bit, so kind of you know. Welcome again, and share with our audience a little bit about your background.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so thank you for having me. My name is Maddie Conway. I grew up in Florida. My whole life I was a collegiate athlete swam at the University of Florida, which essentially led me to Stretch Lab. So I'm currently here in Orlando now working with Stretch Lab and just really excited to be here.
Speaker 1:A graduate of the University of Florida, Go Gators right.
Speaker 2:Go Gators.
Speaker 1:You gotta love it. So let's kind of dig deep a little bit. You know, you're the owner of Stretch Lab Oviedo, and when I was looking at your website, maddie, I came across a couple things that stood out, and those were like you know, you guys improve posture, you reduce the stress, increase range of motion and flexibility, improve sports performance and as a swimmer yourself, right, is that what you said? You were? Yes, yeah, as a collegiate athlete in swimming, all these things help reduce muscle and joint pain when you're in the water. I'm assuming that's very good therapeutic as well. So, but without me going into detail, talk to us about some of these services that you guys provide.
Speaker 2:Yes, so yeah, I personally have experienced the one-on-one assisted stretching back in my college days, right? So that is what essentially led me to be with Stretch Lab today. I experienced the benefits firsthand and wanted to share that with everyone else. So, essentially, how Stretch Lab works is we are a one-on-one, personalized stretching studio, right? So we offer 25 or 50 minute stretch sessions. The 25 minute stretch is specialized and focused on just specific areas of the body that people really want to work on, and that 50 minute stretch allows enough time for a full body stretch so we really can hone in on those upper body and lower body stretches. All our stretch sessions are very customized and personalized to the individual, which is great. So that's how we're really able to allow people to reach those goals that they want to accomplish with assisted stretching, like you mentioned, whether that be reducing recovery time, improving sports performance, increasing mobility, even down to decreasing stress.
Speaker 1:Interesting. So are there any tips, things they can do on their own thing that you can suggest?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so we kind of live in a world today, right, where people are like constantly on the go or we see a lot of remote jobs, so people are sitting for eight plus hours a day.
Speaker 2:Take five to 10 minutes I know stretching at home is like the easiest but the hardest thing to do. Really, try and carve out five to 10 minutes just to stand up, move your body, do a couple stretches whether it's literally just sitting at your desk doing this right, standing up, touching your toes, just to get your body moving. Those little actions that add up week over week will make a huge difference in the long run. Majority of our members that we see coming through our door are not doing that right, so they're just sitting for eight hours a day or they're going from a workout class straight to work, straight to the grocery store and they're not letting their body recover or move the way that it needs to. So literally just really being smart with it and carving out five 10 minutes send an alarm on your phone right, stand up and stretch will really help you.
Speaker 1:And it seems like it can actually do wonders. Like you mentioned, a lot of people are sitting at their desk for six, eight, 10 hours a day and they don't realize by sitting so much it can affect your posture as well, correct?
Speaker 2:Exactly yeah. Posture and lower back pain is the most we see from our members and what they're dealing with, and it always ends up being that they're just sitting for long periods at a time.
Speaker 1:So there are so many different trends in every industry and I speak with a lot of business owners, you know when I do this podcast are there any trends that are shaping your industry that you're seeing of? And it could be trends of using technology, better equipment, you know. Information, you know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I would say honestly, the biggest trend that we've started to notice is people like personalized individual services. Right, we're starting to realize that not every not like something that works for someone is going to work for someone else, and people are catching on to that. So what we're doing is we're creating these stretch plans that are not going to work for everyone. It'll work for you as an individual and the goals that you want to accomplish and every member that comes through our door. That's the stretch plan that we're creating so to kind of keep up with those trends. You know we're investing a lot of time, money and energy into training, certifications, doing the research that we need to figure out exactly what everyone is dealing with and what they want to accomplish with assisted stretching to get them to that goal.
Speaker 1:I like and I wrote this down. You know you're actually tailoring a specific program for each individual that walks through the door, which is which is powerful.
Speaker 2:Yes, yeah, cause everyone wants to feel special right At the end of the day. They want to feel like they're taken care of, and that's our goal here at Stretch Lab.
Speaker 1:So, speaking from you know there's a lot of I'm sure there are businesses that do what you do, what makes you guys unique. And then I also want to talk about a story that, if you can think about a story of a customer, of a client that has benefited and you don't have to, An instant that really pops out.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So what makes us unique is, again, kind of tying back to that. We're not just a generic stretch studio, right. So you're not just coming in to get a stretch that everyone else is getting. You are getting a stretch designed specifically for you, what your body can handle and what you're wanting to accomplish and get out of that whether it's that 25 or 50 minute stretch, which is kind of tough to get these days right, just because a lot of businesses are seeing a lot of people and it's hard to really curate a plan specifically for each individual.
Speaker 2:But that is our main focus and that's exactly what we do. So a prime example of that, right. So we had a member come in who actually got diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and he really lost a lot of his mobility, started developing tremors, started to not be able to do the things resort. He never really heard about it before. Assisted stretching is such a new concept to a lot of people. So he came in giving it a shot, right. He's like I don't know what I'm going to get out of this, but I'm going to try it out anyways.
Speaker 1:Good for him.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, we were really happy he came in. You know, we assessed everything that he's been dealing with and, at the end of the day, the root cause is what is your goal from assisted stretching and how can we get you there? So we sat down with him. We figured out what his goals were and at the end of the day, he almost just wanted to regain his life back. He wanted to start to be able to do the things that he loved, and it's just small little activities that a lot of people take for granted but is really big for him, right. So we created a stretch program for him.
Speaker 2:He's been coming in consistently, once a week for 50 minutes and actually the other day he came up to me and his stretch practitioner and told us that he is feeling the best he's ever felt in his entire life since being diagnosed with Parkinson's, and he's starting to be able to work on his car and like do those small little activities that he once wasn't able to do. And I literally almost started tearing up. I was like this is why I do what I do and it works. Like assisted stretching truly can change people's lives.
Speaker 1:I love that Assisted stretching can truly change people's lives. I love that Assisted stretching can truly change people's lives. And then I was going to ask you how does that make you feel when he comes up and tells you that? And then you said you know you started to tear up too. So it's really personal. You know when you're working with, you know your clients and kudos to you for being able to offer a service that helps people.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean at the end of the day it brings me back to. This is why I do what I do. Right. It makes everything worth it. All the ups, all the downs, like hearing testimonials like that truly changes. Obviously it's changed their life, but it changes your own life too, just to keep going and to keep pushing through those tough times to know that it's all worth it at the end of the day.
Speaker 1:Absolutely so, maddie. We have individuals that are wanting to become business owners that you could give to these individuals that want to push the needle forward and keep moving forward.
Speaker 2:I would say honestly don't be afraid to fail, right? You're not going to know all the answers from day one, and that's okay. And just knowing the why behind you, do everything you do and you know, kind of like how I mentioned that member testimonial brings me back to all the struggles that I had dealt with from the beginning and I'm like this is exactly where I'm supposed to be, this is why I do what I do, and just to keep pushing forward because you're going to get to where you are. You know where I am today, right when I'm like, wow, it all works out for a reason. And just don't give up and just know your why and why you're doing what you want to do and keep pursuing it.
Speaker 1:Great advice. So, as we're wrapping up here, could you provide our listeners a way to get a hold of you, your phone number, your website?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so you can get a hold of me at Ovito, at stretch labcom. Um always on my email. Email is probably the easiest way to get ahold of me. Um would love to answer any advice, any questions anyone has. And social media too. Um on Instagram and Facebook. Uh, we are Stretch Lab Oviedo, so we'd love to connect.
Speaker 1:Well, Maddie, thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule and to be able to share your business with our listeners and hopefully we can have you back again in the near future.
Speaker 2:Sounds good.
Speaker 1:Thank you for tuning in to First Media Consulting Podcast. If you enjoyed the podcast, subscribe today To nominate a business you would like to recommend to be on our show. Go to firstmediaconsultingcom or call. Thank you for listening.