Rising Stars: Meet Kimberly Althauser-Lucas

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kimberly Althauser-Lucas.

Hi Kimberly, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Late August in 2008, I was in my first semester at NAU in Arizona. I’ve always wanted to be a business entrepreneur and own my own businesses, so I assumed going to college for a business degree would be a great start. It was far from the truth, well at least for me. I soon came to find out college wasn’t for me. I knew there had to be a faster way to get to my dreams and goals. One night I was searching different career paths and I came across the National Personal Training Institute in Chandler, Arizona. A six months trade school to become a personal trainer. I sat back and thought to myself, I love working out and helping others, why not become a personal trainer? I told myself that night I’ll sleep on it and if I still have that strong gut feeling about being a personal trainer, I am going to do it. I woke up that morning and knew this was the path I needed to take. I called my parents and told them I am dropping out of college and joining this trade school to become a personal trainer. They were hesitant and unsure if I was making the right choice. Even though they doubted me they still supported my decision.

That next year, 2009, I joined the six months trade school to become a personal trainer and loved every minute of it. I hustled a side job working at Officemax to help pay my rent and pay off my student loan while still in class full time. Barely getting by and eating peanut butter jellies everyday for lunch and sometimes for dinner. I managed to make it through the trade school and got my first job at Lifetime Fitness in Gilbert, Arizona as a certified personal trainer. I was so nervous and excited at the same time. Came into LifeTime with no clients, but I had the confidence in myself and I started to build my clientele from the bottom up. A year and half later at the age of 22, I decided to make another leap of faith and leave LifeTime Fitness and start my own LLC business doing personal training. The corporate world wasn’t for me. I was grateful for the experience I had, but I got the call that it’s time for me to leave.

I left LifeTime and started my own LLC business called Arizona Personal Trainer. I found a beautiful spot to rent space from and began to rebuild my business and clientele again from the ground bottom up. I remember only having 10 dollars in my checking account and second-guessing myself if I made the right decision leaving my high-paying job at LifeTime. I stuck to my gut feeling and continued to believe in myself and regained my confidence. I started to rebuild my business and became a Holistic Health Coach along the way. A year later from grinding, I had managed to have a successful personal training business working for myself. The sweat and tears paid off. The next three years, I continued to educate myself and took other training certifications and became a Fascial Stretch Specialist through Stretch to Win. I started integrating Fascial Stretch Therapy with my clientele and they absolutely loved it. My clients were getting stronger and out of pain at the same time. I began to have a new passion along with personal training and that was working with the fascia tissue.

In late September 2015, I met the love of my life, Timothy Lucas, who was at the time playing professional basketball in Portugal. He loved what I was doing in Arizona and wanted to join my team. He was done with his basketball career, for his body was taking a toll from injuries. I knew I needed help and thought to myself why not? He bought a one-way ticket to Arizona and sold his car to pay for the training at Stretch to Win to become a Fascial Stretch Specialist. We joined together in business and in life. I changed my LLC business from Arizona Personal Trainer to TK Stretching (TK for Timothy and Kimberly). We knew there was something special and powerful about Fascial Stretch Therapy (FST) and began to put our full energy towards it.

Beginning in 2018, Him and I got a gut feeling we needed to relocate the business in order to take it further in FST. Austin, Texas has always been on our radar when we first met, but I was too afraid to leave everything I built. My personal training business was my baby, but I knew if I wanted to grow and fulfill my dreams, I needed to leave. It was one of the hardest decisions I made, but again I made another leap of faith and we were off to Austin, Texas leaving everything behind. No one or very little knew about FST in Austin, Texas. We knew we would be able to grow the business and take it further in Austin due to all the fitness and health enthusiasts. We began to rebuild our clientele and share FST to the city. The first year was very challenging and I started to doubt myself again if this was the right decision. But, I felt a strong feeling from God that we needed to be here.

Three years later and we have taken our business to the unthinkable. We have worked with all kinds of professional athletes from NFL, MLB, UFC, NHL to WWE. During our time in Austin, I also furthered my education on the spiritual side and began to guide others out of pain by addressing trapped emotions in the body. This was a great addition to FST since our fascia tissue stores emotions.

If it wasn’t for making that leap of faith, self-confidence and what Tim and I provide, we wouldn’t be where we are today. Our motto: Stretch Your Lifespan. We guide you out of pain by healing not just the body but the mind and soul.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I’ve definitely have had my ups and downs. The biggest struggle was taking a leap of faith into the unknown. Sometimes we get so comfortable where we are at that we are afraid to leave or transition into something new. The struggle is second-guessing myself and if I made the right decision. But, if it wasn’t for me listening to my intuition or my gut feeling, I wouldn’t be where I am at today. It can be very scary listening to the intuition when my mind/ego tells you the opposite. It’s having complete faith and letting go of the fear.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I provide two services that guide individuals out of pain, whether that is physically or emotionally. The first is Fascial Stretch Therapy (FST). FST is a modality where I am able to stretch the whole connective tissue, also known as fascia, throughout the body. It provides more blood flow throughout the body, increased range of motion, helps prevent injuries, helps with current injuries, and overall improve mood and sleep.

The second service I provide is called Spiritual Guidance where I combine two methods, The Voila Method and The Completion Process. With these two methods, I am able to guide others out of pain by addressing emotions that are trapped in the body. This service will leave you with a sense of freedom, clarity, confidence, and safety with self and with life.

So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
Community and Family. I feel and believe we are a species that thrives off of community and family. Community gives us a sense of purpose and reminds us why we are here. We are here to uplift each other and help each other grow.

Pricing:

• 60 mins of FST – $120
• 90 mins of FST – $150
• 60 mins of Spiritual Guidance – $250
• 90 mins of Spiritual Guidance – $300

Contact Info:

• Email: tktreatchteam@gmail.com
• Website: https://www.tkstretching.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tkstretching/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fascialstretchtherapy
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtC1f0gIRR8ehUYmEm4Umqw

Image Credits:
Lunacy & Company: Kaylynn Salcido