Today we’d like to introduce you to Kimri Crawford.
Hi Kimri, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Honestly, The Second String started because I was a sports mom before I was ever a sports store owner.
I have two boys who are constantly playing something — football, baseball, soccer, basketball, track — and over the years I saw firsthand just how expensive it can be to keep kids in sports. You buy a pair of cleats, they wear them for one season, and suddenly they don’t fit anymore. Meanwhile, there are closets and garages all over town full of perfectly good equipment that another kid could be using.
Club sports really opened my eyes to it, too. Uniform packages can be incredibly expensive, and so much of what you’re buying is the exact same practice gear year after year. Your child doesn’t necessarily need a brand-new practice jersey and shorts — they just grew and need the next size up. Meanwhile, another family has that exact size sitting in a drawer because their child outgrew it.
I remember thinking, why are we all buying the same things over and over again when we could be passing them down within our own sports community?
I kept coming back to the same thought: “Why isn’t there a place specifically for this?”
That little thought eventually turned into The Second String Sports Consignment.
I didn’t want to just open a resale shop. I wanted to create the kind of store I wished existed as a sports mom — a place where you could bring in the gear your kids had outgrown, find quality new and gently used gear without spending a fortune, find the next size in the practice gear your club uses every year, be able to afford the name brand athleisure all of the kids want to wear at school, grab something cute to support your local school or team, and feel like you were part of a community when you walked through the door.
Opening a business from the ground up has definitely been one of the biggest leaps I’ve ever taken. There was so much I didn’t know, and a lot of it has been learning as I go. I’ve painted walls, built displays, learned how to use power tools, designed an aesthetic shopping experience that doesn’t feel cluttered with a play area so parents can shop around while their kids are occupied, researched products, designed spirit wear, worked behind the counter, answered messages late at night, and changed plans more times than I can count.
But somewhere along the way, the purpose became much bigger than the store.
I started seeing families come through our doors who weren’t just looking for a good deal — they were trying to figure out how they were going to afford for their child to play at all. Registration fees are expensive. Then you add cleats, uniforms, practice clothes, equipment and everything else a child needs just to step onto the field, and that cost can become a very real barrier for families.
That’s something I can’t stop thinking about.
It’s also why my next step is starting a nonprofit focused specifically on helping remove those barriers. My vision is to offer sports camps, community events and other fundraisers that raise money to help cover recreational sports registration fees and provide athletic gear for kids who need it.
I feel very strongly that a family’s financial situation should never be the reason a child has to sit on the sidelines. There is zero reason a child should miss out on recreational sports because their family can’t afford the registration fee. And when it comes to school athletics, I especially hate the idea of a student being unable to fully participate because they don’t have the proper shoes, practice clothes or equipment they need to play.
Sports give kids so much more than something to do after school. They give them confidence, friendships, discipline, accountability, mentors and a place where they belong. Sometimes they even give a child a reason to keep showing up.
That’s what has really changed for me since opening The Second String. In the beginning, I thought I was opening a sports consignment store. Now I realize I’m building something that has the potential to make sports more accessible for kids in our community.
Of course, I still love the fun side of it — seeing our shirts in the stands on Friday nights, watching a kid light up over a pair of cleats, and seeing something I designed walking around town will never get old.
But the part that means the most to me is knowing we can actually fill a need.
The mission behind The Second String has always been “Quality gear so every kid can play.” As we grow the store and launch the nonprofit, I want to take that mission even further.
Because ultimately, that’s the goal: every kid who wants to play should have the opportunity to play — and the gear they need to do it.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Definitely not! I don’t think starting a small business is ever a completely smooth road. I went into this with a big idea and a lot of passion — but also with a whole lot to learn.
One of the biggest challenges has simply been figuring things out as I go. There really isn’t a blueprint for the exact kind of business I wanted to create. We’re part sports consignment store, part retail store, part local spirit wear shop, and now we’re growing into something with an even bigger community outreach component. I’ve had to learn everything from inventory and consignment systems to buying, staffing, marketing, designing products, building a website, and figuring out what our customers actually want.
And sometimes what you think people are going to want is completely different from what they actually want! That has been one of my biggest lessons — listen to your customers, pay attention, and don’t be afraid to pivot.
There’s also the financial reality of owning a small business. You can have a great sales day and feel like you’ve finally figured it out, then turn around and have a slow week and question every decision you’ve ever made. There are so many expenses and moving pieces behind the scenes that customers never see. Learning how much inventory to carry, where to invest, what ideas are worth pursuing and when to say no has been a huge learning curve.
Another challenge has been balancing everything. I’m a business owner, but I’m a mom first. My boys are a huge part of why this store exists, and I still want to be present for their games, practices, school functions, and all of the things that inspired me to start this in the first place. There have been plenty of late nights working after everyone goes to bed and plenty of messages answered from the sidelines of a ball field.
And I truly could not do any of this without the team behind me.
Alexi is my college kid, and she’s been with me since the beginning. I love her and care about her like she’s my own. I probably mother her a little more than I should sometimes, but somewhere along the way we really became a family.
One of my biggest priorities with her is making sure she’s doing well outside of the store, too. School comes first. Her goals, family, and her own life matters to me. I want her to be successful long after her time at The Second String is over. I believe that when the people working for you feel supported and are doing well in their own lives, they’re able to come to work and give their best. And when they give their best, it helps us make this store successful.
She’s also been along for all of the growing pains. She’s watched ideas completely flop and others take off faster than we could keep up with them. She’s helped me rearrange, rethink, problem-solve and probably listened to a thousand sentences that started with, “Okay, I have another idea…”
I also have to give a huge shoutout to my friend and partner, Rebekah Terry, with Circle T Designs. Rebekah and I have been friends for over 10 years. We met when our oldest kids were babies and we did MOPS (mothers of preschoolers) together. She has become such an important part of the spirit wear side of Second String. She’s truly my partner in bringing so many of our ideas and designs to life. She’s a mom of three, a fellow business owner, and someone who understands firsthand the beautiful chaos of balancing kids, sports, family, and a business. I’m incredibly grateful to have someone I trust creatively and personally working alongside me. There’s something really special about getting to build something with a friend who has been in your life long before the business ever existed.
Having people beside me who genuinely care about what we’re building has made the hard days so much easier.
I think that’s one of the biggest things this journey has taught me: success isn’t about doing everything yourself. It’s about surrounding yourself with good people, being willing to learn, admitting when something isn’t working and not being afraid to change direction.
So no, it definitely hasn’t been a smooth road — but I wouldn’t go back and skip the hard parts either. They’ve forced me to learn quickly, get creative and become very clear about why I’m doing this.
And on the days when owning a business feels especially hard, a family walking in excited because they found exactly what they needed — or looking around and realizing I have people beside me who believe in this crazy idea just as much as I do — has a funny way of reminding me why I started.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Second String Sports is really a little bit of everything sports — and I think that’s what makes us different.
At our core, we buy and consign quality new and gently used sports gear and give families a place to find what they need without always having to buy everything brand new. We carry cleats, athletic shoes, equipment, practice wear and gear for a variety of sports and activities. Kids grow SO fast, and there is absolutely no reason a pair of cleats that still has plenty of life left in them should sit in someone’s garage when another kid could be wearing them.
And we aren’t just for kids! We also carry adult-sized athleisure and athletic wear. We want parents, coaches and athletes of all ages to be able to come in and find something. Whether you’re looking for gear for your child, a cute athletic outfit for yourself, something comfortable to wear to the ballpark, or local spirit wear for game day, there’s a little bit of everything.
One area I’m especially passionate about is club and local team gear. Club sports can be incredibly expensive, and uniform packages are a perfect example. So many clubs use the same practice jerseys and shorts year after year, but parents are still purchasing new packages because their child simply needs the next size. I want The Second String to become the place where a parent can bring us last season’s practice gear and another family can come in and find exactly what they need in the next size up.
But the store has grown into much more than consignment.
Spirit wear has become a HUGE part of what we do, and honestly, it’s one of my favorite parts of the business. We create and carry spirit wear for our local schools, teams and sports organizations. I want it to feel different from the typical school shirt. I love finding and creating pieces that are fun, current, and things moms, kids and families actually get excited to wear. Rebekah and I joke often about how just about everything I design looks like it’s from 1994, and I hope to keep it that way. I love vintage looking sportswear, and love that I have a place to express my own personal style and be creative in that way. It scratches an itch for me that I didn’t know existed.
There is something really cool about designing something at the store and then going to a football game, baseball tournament or school event and seeing people wearing it. I don’t think that will ever get old.
What I’m most proud of, though, is the heart behind the brand.
Our motto is “Quality gear so every kid can play,” and I want everything we do to come back to that.
The Second String is becoming a bridge between families who have sports gear they no longer need and families who need it. Sometimes that means selling a gently used pair of cleats for a fraction of what they cost new. Sometimes it means helping someone track down a specific piece of practice gear. And sometimes it means giving gear away entirely.
That community piece is becoming an even bigger part of our future. I’m currently working on starting a nonprofit that will help children who otherwise might not be able to participate in sports. The goal is to host sports camps, community events and fundraisers and use that money to help cover recreational sports registration fees and provide athletic gear to kids who need it.
I really believe finances should never be the reason a child has to sit on the sidelines.
I also want people to know that when they shop or consign with us, they’re supporting a truly local small business. We know these schools. We know these teams. My own kids are playing on these fields. Our customers are people we see at practices, games, school events and around town. When someone tells us, “Our team needs this,” or “Nobody carries gear for our school,” I listen. A lot of what you see in our store exists because someone in our community asked for it.
We’re not trying to be a giant sporting goods store. We’re trying to be our community’s sporting goods store.
And I think that’s what I’m most proud of brand-wise. The Second String started as an idea for making sports gear more affordable, but it’s becoming a community built around youth sports and the families who support them — from the kid who needs their first pair of cleats, to the teenager looking for athletic wear, to the mom who wants a cute game-day outfit.
We’re still growing, still learning and constantly adding new things, but I never want to lose the reason it started.
Quality gear so every kid can play. That’s The Second String.
How do you think about happiness?
My family, without a doubt. My husband Trey, my boys, and our two French bulldogs, Leo and Curtis, are my whole world. I’m happiest when we’re all together — and usually that means we’re at a football field, baseball field, soccer field or gym somewhere. I love watching my boys do what they love, and I’m definitely that mom in the stands who is way too invested.
But when I really think about what makes me happy, it goes deeper than that.
I want to love people like Jesus did. I want people to feel loved, cared for and seen when they’re around me. I want to meet people exactly where they are, without judgment or expectations. If someone needs the shirt off my back, I want to be the person who gives it to them — even if they’re a complete stranger.
I think some of the smallest acts of kindness can make the biggest difference because you never really know what someone else is carrying. Sometimes people don’t need you to fix anything, they just need someone to notice them, listen to them and remind them that they matter.
That’s something I want my boys to see in me, too. Of all the things I could accomplish in my life, raising them to be kind, generous men who notice when someone else needs help would make me incredibly proud. I want them to know that you can have an idea, and see it to fruition. I want them to know their mom could own a business, and still be there for everything they needed. I want them to know that mom had a dream to do something bigger than herself, and she accomplished it without having to sacrifice their wellbeing in the process. I want them to know they can do that too.
I also genuinely love creating things and bringing ideas to life. My brain rarely turns off, and I’m constantly thinking, “Okay, but what if we did THIS?” Whether it’s a new design for the store, an event, a way to help a family, or some completely random idea I convince everyone around me to help bring to life, creating something that didn’t exist before makes me happy.
I think that’s ultimately why The Second String has become so personal to me. It has given me another way to love people. Yes, we sell sports gear and spirit wear, but underneath all of that is an opportunity to make someone’s day a little easier, help a child feel included, make a parent feel supported, or simply make someone feel like they walked into a place where they belong.
My happiest moments are still usually the simplest ones, though — my husband beside me, my boys happy and doing what they love, our puppies running around, our friends and family around us, and knowing the people I love are okay.
At the end of my life, I don’t think I’ll care very much about what I sold or how successful a business became. I hope what people remember is how I made them feel. I hope they felt loved. I hope they felt cared for, and most importantly, I hope they felt seen and accepted for who they are no matter their circumstances.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/secondstringsportsgtx
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/secondstringsportsgtx?stkn=MTZqZmV5NnBndTBjdw%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1B1j8shDn6/?mibextid=wwXIfr
