We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Alia Alston. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Alia below.

Alia, appreciate you joining us today. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?

Icebox Studios was started in 2012 with a vision that all communities should have access to a treatment that was non-invasive, easy, quick, and produced instant gratification. We were the first brick-and-mortar cryotherapy studio in the US and knew from the start that I wanted to have locations nationwide!

When I started Icebox, it was to address athletic recovery, injury, pain management, and overall wellness. I didn’t know that Cryotherapy or cold therapy had beauty benefits till after I opened our first Icebox Studios in Atlanta Georgia. After being opened a few months, a beautiful woman from eastern Europe came in and was so excited to find a Cryotherapy studio in the US. She frequented one in Europe for many years, she said, and used it to keep her skin beautiful. She told me how many European women and men used whole-body cryotherapy not only for pain management but also for beauty. As we all know, cold is great for our skin and hair, but whole body cryotherapy can help with issues like circulation, spider veins, cellulite, acne, collagen production, and skin disorders like psoriasis and eczema.

I started doing research and found that a German doctor in LA had developed a localized cryotherapy machine that could perform not only localized treatment on a knee, back, or shoulder but also give guests a unique facial called the CryoFacial that he designed. I flew to LA and tried it immediately and loved it so much I bought a machine the next week! Icebox started offering CryoFacials in 2014 and now in 2022, we rebranded this part of our business from CryoBeauty to Icebox SKIN which is now 25% of our overall business and growing rapidly. We wanted to take out the word beauty to be more flexible and attractive to our audience which makes up 50% of men. Skin health is our focus at Icebox and all facials services that we offer use cryotherapy treatment. When we were looking at rebranding and launching Icebox SKIN, we spoke with our guests and studios about what we could do to better serve them. What we learned from them is that they wanted fast, easy, and see skin change, not just a feel-good service. Our studio leadership wanted repetitiveness in visits from guests so they could accomplish skin change. With that information, Icebox HQ designed a pricing program that is curated just for our guests. With a 3 month commitment and monthly consultations with our talented estheticians, we are able to help take our guests through a skin health journey that no other businesses are doing.

From education, marketing, testing, pilot programs, change in vendors, and of course the curation of our services, rebranding took us over a year to do. We are so excited and proud to have taken this leap and developed Icebox SKIN.

Alia, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

In 2012, I founded and, opened the first brick-and-mortar Cryotherapy studio in the US. After a horrible accident, I was left with multiple spinal issues that lead me on a mission to heal myself without surgery. After trying a treatment called Whole Body Cryotherapy, which many athletes were using for recovery, I knew that I had to share this with my community of people just like me that was struggling and living with pain. Icebox is an innovative concept in the fast-growing health & wellness industry. Inside my modern studios, something amazing and magical is happening. We are educating our communities on how to heal themselves without pills, needles or invasive procedures. Giving them another choice!
With our fun atmosphere, we push past the norms of the typical wellness or physical therapy business. We make self-help fun and sexy with instant gratification. From athletic performance to pain management and overall wellness and skin health, Icebox delivers the best innovative cold therapy experience in the industry.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

When I first started Icebox, I didn’t have a marketing budget. I was scrappy and creative and used that to build a system that we still use today in all our studios. It’s called Community Connect and it’s an easy, step-by-step process for any studio or business to follow to strategically connect with local, complementary businesses in their communities. I opened my first studio in an area I didn’t have friends in or lived in. It was located almost 45 minutes from my house and I needed to connect with that community fast. So, one business at a time, I built a relationship, figured out how I could help them, and taught them how they could help me and send me business. A business owner needs to be creative and scrappy to succeed. I built Icebox on a shoestring budget and 10 years later, I’m still teaching my franchisees to use the same system I did.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Before I opened up Icebox, I started an organic baby product business called Sweet Olive. It was built in my kitchen after I had my first child and didn’t like any of the options of diaper cream that were on the market. My grandfather had an olive grove that I grew up roaming in. With an agrarian influence, I turned to natural ingredients to be able to solve a diaper rash problem. From a diaper cream called Biscuit Butter, the line grew to many sku’s. I sold online, at farmers’ markets, and at local retail stores. I loved sharing a different way to take care of babies. All my careers and businesses have been about serving others and it honestly fills my soul to do it. I also knew that in the world of cosmetics and personal care, I wouldn’t be able to compete and didn’t have the passion once my kids were out of diapers. As I was thinking of closing down Sweet Olive, Icebox came into my life. It was the perfect time to pivot and take care of me and the thousands of other me’s out there that suffered from chronic pain.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.iceboxtherapy.com
• Instagram: iceboxytherapy and Aliaalston
• Facebook: Icebox Cryotherapy Studios
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alia-alston-78993019/
• Youtube: Icebox Cryotherapy
• Yelp: Icebox Studios

Image Credits
All owned by Icebox Studios Corp;