It was a chance meeting that led Kristy Fassion to Stroller Strides more than three years ago, but it’s no accident that she has taken over the Maple Valley franchise.

“I happened to be walking through a mall in Bellevue that I never go to,” Fassio said. “I had heard of Stroller Strides but was scared to go. I ran into Bonnie. She said, ‘I’m starting a class (in Maple Valley) tomorrow. You should go.’ I’ve been doing it since the day she opened here.”

Fassio had a 3 1/2 month old at the time and she “was going stir crazy.”

“It’s really what I needed, not only for exercise, but for motherhood support,” Fassio said.

Her firstborn daughter, Bella, is now 3 1/2. Bella and her younger sister Charlottte, who is 19 months old, rides in a BOB double jogging stroller while their mom teaches other mothers with youngsters in strollers ranging in age from a few months to 4 years old.

The former owner, Bonnie Raffo, approached a few of her students over the summer looking for someone who might be interested in buying the franchise from her.

Fassio was interested and took Raffo up on the offer. The franchise was officially hers in early August. She traveled to San Diego Aug. 13-14 to partake in instructor training then returned and began teaching the hour long class which incorporates the use of strollers into a variety of exercises.

“It was a much easier transition than I had imagined,” Fassio said. “I think the fact that I was a participant for so long made the transition much easier because I had seen the classes for three years.”

A former English language learner kindergarten teacher, instructing came naturally, but there was a little bit of a learning curve to running a business.

“Stroller Strides runs in my blood,” Fassio said. “I had the enthusiasm for it, so, that part was easy. It was just about figuring out how to run a business. Bonnie has given me a lot of support in that and so has Stroller Strides.”

For now this is a part-time job, so, in a way it’s like going back to work for Fassio though she said it doesn’t feel like work at all.

“What I need to do is get out and do more marketing,” she said. “That’s what takes up the majority of my time, getting out and finding business partners, getting the word out that we’re here and growing (the franchise).”

She credits Raffo for building a strong client base in Maple Valley so that’s an advantage.

“The rest of it is just paperwork and keeping track of who’s paid and who hasn’t paid and paying bills, which is not new if you run a household,” Fassio said. “What’s new is paying taxes (for a business). That’s a whole new world. The trick is finding time for that. Nap time has become office hours.”

Classes are currently offered from 9:30-10:30 a.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The group just moved indoors to the Lake Wilderness Lodge. There is also a Saturday class which will wrap up in November because it is still outdoors. Once the weather warms up in the spring the Saturday class will start up again.

Fassio said she has 13 or 14 participants per class on average.

“I’m hoping we’ll get a little bigger in January when New Year’s Resolutions kick in,” she said.

She also hopes to expand to Kent in the spring. Her girls will be done with pre-school in May and she would like to offer classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, maybe even Saturdays, in Kent.

That may mean it becomes a full time job, for Fassio.

“If I can grow it enough to be able to have a full time instructor, that would be fabulous, so I don’t have to do it six or seven days a week,” she said. “Then maybe I can offer an evening class. There are options I have. That’s another thing I love about this company, they can reach moms where ever they are in life.”

For more information about Maple Valley Stroller Strides log on to www.strollerstrides.net/maplevalley.

Reach Kris Hill at khill@maplevalleyreporter.com or 425-432-1209 ext. 5054.

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